Well okay, maybe I wasn't clear. I agree with you that you certainly aren't getting enough nourishment for an entire family - and in fact, even if you have enough food volume for an entire family, this crap wouldn't count as nourishment anyway. And you're probably paying this box of goopy shit dollars on the pennies it cost to make.

I was just pointing out that, like most things the agro industry puts on boxes, "family size" has no legal meaning and therefore is technically correct depending on how you interpret it.

Incidentally, another thing that means jack squat on your box of dubious food is "Now with more cheese". If they started out with zero cheese (and no, the stuff with a cheesy taste used in ultra-processed food isn't legally cheese) then adding a flake or two of real cheddar makes it technically possible to say "Now with more cheese".

I'm old and I don't think that's true. Frozen entrees have ways been on the light side. And frozen dinners for one would be 3 oz of meat, and a couple of spoonfuls of boiled peas or something.

here frozen family meals in the past would have at least satisfied everyone at the table without any sides

American in his fifties here. No idea what you’re talking about. Family size has only ever meant “larger pack.” It has never meant “complete on its own with nothing accompanying it.”

Your 'Murican is showing, very clearly. Mac and cheese as a side to chicken enchiladas? How do you not realise the obesity mental illness level that is?

A family size meal should have enough to at least be the entree for four people. With enchiladas that means two per person, not one. It's a corn tortilla with stuff rolled in it, barely larger than a taquito, you need two for it to not look like a depression meal (we're already cooking frozen enchiladas, we're there already, it doesn't need to be rubbed in).

I've noticed that sizes are shifting. Party size is now what used to be family size and can actually feed four, sometimes it's called mega family size or some bullshit. Family size now means two adults and maybe a child <10 yrs. I remember a family size lasagna had leftovers when I was a kid.

It’s 300 calories per serving (4 servings per box). If you’re on a 2000 calorie diet, a meal is 500 - 700 calories, so this would be a snack or a dish that requires a side. Or eat the whole box yourself and it’s about the same as a Big Mac combo.

Mac and cheese with "cantina style"? Throw some Texas toast in there why don't ya, and hit dairy queen after

Point being who looks at a random meal and says "let's fill the gaps with Mac and cheese, that's nutritionally sounds reasoning"