Rotiserie chicken: Simple Math: (aLittleBitOfJunk + a LittleBiOfJunkt + aLittleBitOfJunk)* everythingWeEatInAday = aLOT

There are two things I have been meaning to do for a long time.  One is to purchase a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store and compare it to our own.  The other is to purchase a hamburger and have my puppy (who really likes good food) compare it to our own.

First the hamburger -- I couldn't do it.  I will soon and let you know the results.  The packages are just so big and I don't really even want the dog eating it.  Though when we were on vacation in August, she did get boiled eggs from the grocery store -- very pale looking things -- and she got raw hamburg to supplement her kibble (a small amount of Wilderness Puppy) and the hamburg wasn't looking too good to us.

Now for the chicken.  It really doesn't stack up well against our Maple Heights Farm broilers -- or likely any broilers from any local farms around here. Ok, the price was cheaper.  I didn't weigh the bird, but it might have been a little more than half price compared to ours.  This was $8.99 for the rotisserie chicken and ours is $4.50/lb.

Ok, and it was cooked so easier to get onto the table (but not much).  But at what price.  I'm uncomfortable with plastic touching my food -- especially if the plastic is sitting in very (VERY) warm conditions for some number of hours.  And don't get me started on warming Styrofoam.   To cook one of our chickens, it needs to be thawed (about 30 seconds work), rinsed and placed on a roasting pan (about 3 minutes), sprinkled with salt and pepper (another 30 seconds) and put in the oven.

Perdue Giant Roaster Chicken Ingredients: whole roaster breast, water with 2% or less of salt, sodium phosphate, dextrose, brown sugar, carrageenan, flavoring.  Note that it is not saying that it is injected with 2% of water, just 2% or less of each of the following.  And why does a chicken need "flavoring" whatever that is???  Hmmmm???  And that is not all.  There is a BBQ Spice (probably the herbs on the top) salt, spices, onion and garlic, hydrolyzed soy protein, maltodextrin, oleoresin paprika, with no more than 2% silicon dioxide as an anticaking agent -- is that food??????  And if you could see spell checker going crazy with that ingredient list!

Maple Heights Farm Ingredients: CHICKEN!

Seriously, why do we need all that junk in our food?  Sure, you could say it is just a little bit, but it really isn't. 
It is a simple math equation: (aLittleBit + a LittleBit + aLittleBit)* everythingWeEatInAday = aLOT

Now the reviews from my family:  One wouldn't even eat it.  She can be like that (two of them can but one is away at college and didn't have the option of refusing this).  She doesn't have to eat food she doesn't trust -- and she won't eat it.  My foodie daughter says it was "fluffy" and that is not normal.  Another said it was salty and another didn't appreciate the "flavoring" as it tasted "fruity".  I have been spoiled by our real chickens that are real chicken and only chicken, that taste like chicken.

There is plenty of leftovers for the lunchbox, (quesadillas (family favorite) , chicken salad (add nuts, raisins and mayo)) but I don't know what to do with the bones.  Because I do not know what feed this bird has been fed, almost certainly laced with antibiotics, and the fact that it was likely raised in unhealthy conditions (by our standard) I am not a big fan of boiling the bones for my children because  I am concerned for what might accumulate in the bones.  I think I will make the broth anyways and feed it to the dog.  Surely it will be better than what she gets in her dog food??? 

Winner: Maple Heights Farm Broiler!  Yes, they cost more, but with careful meal planning they can be economical, more delicious, AND WHY WOULDN'T WE WANT THAT GRAVY!!! You
cannot get that from a rotisserie bird.