Dr. Phil Doesn't Like Bisquick?

About author / Christine Gable

Culinary enthusiast; kids cuisine and slow cooking; magazine recipe developer; professional writer. Her simple recipes are great for family dinners.

What can I say? That yellow box gives me an almost unexplainable feeling of comfort. Yeah, it’s just nice seeing it on the pantry shelf, knowing that it’s there to help out in a pinch. Knowing it’ll be there when I need it most. Now, it’s not something that I have in the kitchen all the time—and it’s not something that I even use that often. But it sure is nice once in a while.

The other day when I pulled out that familiar yellow Bisquick box, my son said that whenever he sees it, it reminds him of a Dr. Phil show he saw once. Said that this was an episode where they were going through an overweight lady’s kitchen and trashing tons of stuff she had in her cupboards.

And Bisquick was one of the items that landed in the can.

This just didn’t make sense to my kids … why in the world would you throw out perfectly good food?

What could I say? It certainly didn’t make any sense to me either. Is Dr. Phil now tapping into the eye-catching drama of reality shows instead of using practical, common sense reasoning? It’s like when Extreme Home Makeover uses bulldozers to smash up the lucky family’s old family room furniture. Sure, it may not be the most stylish set—but couldn’t it have helped someone out somewhere? Couldn’t it have done more good at a local thrift shop than being smashed to smithereens and added to the already-overloaded trash stream? But that’s a whole ‘nother issue …

So why did Dr. Phil trash the Bisquick? Is he out to get Betty Crocker and General Mills? I highly doubt it—but it did ram home the effect that this isn’t something he wanted this woman to rely upon (And yes, I’m aware that it contains white flour and some partially hydrogenated fats).

But how ‘bout once-in-a-while?

Would Dr. Phil say no way to using Bisquick once a month to help put a fast dinner on the table? A homemade one, at that?

I can’t help but think that it’s gotta be better than eating at one of the many fast food places, right? Especially if you pair it with some veggies or salad and partner it with a healthy, lean protein—the golden Bisquick topping might just be the best part. The part that will get your kids to eat that chicken potpie or veggie-topped deep dish pizza (and yes, it’s homemade!).

Sure, for someone who is watching their carbs, Bisquick is something that you won’t want to eat everyday, no kidding. But once in a while? I say OK. After all, how in the world would I manage to make that divine (and 20-minute) deep-dish pizza? Or that amazing bake-in the-pan cheeseburger pie? Those are family favorites that are fast and easy and families loves ‘em.

And that’s precisely how we ended up making a fast and easy corn pie. Daughter saw the corn pie at the farm stand again this year and we remembered that wonderful combination of corn in a creamy sauce tucked into a pie crust.

How to make it in the hour we had at home (there ain’t no pie crust rolling gonna happen in that amount of time)! Nope, it was back to the good ol' Bisquick. Comes through in a pinch—and that’s gotta be a whole heck of a lot better than relying on fast food.

How could Dr. Phil not agree?

Serves/Makes: 6

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 can (10.75 ounce size) cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup milk

***Topping***

• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup bisquick or other baking mix