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i disagree, we eat out a lot. our photography takes us all over the place and we like eating out when on the go .
i was diabetic and reduced it to being just pre-diabetic and have to avoid salt and fats as well as the evil carbs and i am very strict about it as i need no meds by watching my diet . except for fast food i can always have them make me anything anyway i want and have been doing that for months now.
many times i bounce it off the chef telling him my restrictions.
it is always possible to eat out healthy. the only obstacle is folks don't have special dishes made and prefer to go for the menu.
our food bill at home has jumped to 200 bucks a week for groceries just buying the healthier foods which here in ny are quite expensive. produce is killer on a budget here.
between work and the gym we have little weekday time to prepare stuff so what we chose to buy is as much for our health as convience. things we can quickly stirr fry or steam are our usual picks.
Last edited by mathjak107; 09-20-2014 at 03:53 AM..
Then you should look into food co-operatives. Vegetables are the least-expensive ingredients I buy. I get a load of vegetables the size of a laundry basket for $25. I only need to buy one or two of these baskets a month.
Your statement "i was diabetic and reduced it to being just pre-diabetic" says all I need to know about your knowledge about food and cooking. You most certainly weren't doing it right when you hit "diabetic" and you're still not doing it right if you're "pre-diabetic."
I repeat: Cooking is a life skill. Emphasis on life. I can make inexpensive, healthy food that will rock your world. And I was doing this at home before I started doing it professionally. (I fell into this career by default.)
Let's face it: for all of the money it saves, cooking is drudgery. I do it, but I hate it. I hate driving to the market, navigating the car lot, and trying to find a buggy with wheels that don't catch. I hate the endless aisles and the hundreds of decisions I must make. I hate the self-checkout and the guy standing there prodding me to use one because "there's no waiting." I hate hauling everything into the house and trying to find places for it in the cabinets. I hate trying to figure out what to cook and knowing that no matter what I prepare someone will turn up his nose. I hate the odors that permeate the house when I cook and the greasy, dirty pans to clean. I hate dealing with leftovers. And I hate that nobody in my family really appreciates how much work I put into feeding them or ever offers to help.
I really need to write a book explaining how to cook. Not a flippin' recipe book. The world has too many of those already. But a nuts-and-bolts, "This is how you cook" cookbook.
I think cooking is a joy. I thought I'd never do it professionally because I love cooking -- I feared it would zap all the joy out of it for me. Well, it didn't. After a long week of cooking for the well-heeled masses, I still love cooking meals on my weekends.
I don't have to deal with greasy, baked on cookware because I cook in such a way that when I'm done with a pan I can wipe it with a rag and it's ready for cleaning. I don't have any leftovers because I know how to portion a meal. (Quit cooking for a platoon. Nobody appreciates that.) Anything that's going to be very smelly is cooked outside. But ventilation takes care of most of my day-to-day cooking, which smells AMAZING.
Drudgery? It's one of the most fun things that I do! I even cook on vacation. Instead of hotels, we rent condos with kitchens so I can buy local food in the markets and cook it.
Yeah, I should write a book. But I fear nobody would read it. They're too content to fight through it instead of embracing it.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ScoopLV
I really need to write a book explaining how to cook. Not a flippin' recipe book. The world has too many of those already. But a nuts-and-bolts, "This is how you cook" cookbook.
I think cooking is a joy. I thought I'd never do it professionally because I love cooking -- I feared it would zap all the joy out of it for me. Well, it didn't. After a long week of cooking for the well-heeled masses, I still love cooking meals on my weekends.
I don't have to deal with greasy, baked on cookware because I cook in such a way that when I'm done with a pan I can wipe it with a rag and it's ready for cleaning. I don't have any leftovers because I know how to portion a meal. (Quit cooking for a platoon. Nobody appreciates that.) Anything that's going to be very smelly is cooked outside. But ventilation takes care of most of my day-to-day cooking, which smells AMAZING.
Drudgery? It's one of the most fun things that I do! I even cook on vacation. Instead of hotels, we rent condos with kitchens so I can buy local food in the markets and cook it.
Yeah, I should write a book. But I fear nobody would read it. They're too content to fight through it instead of embracing it.
I'm with you. While my wife is a good cook she doesn't particularly enjoy it and I do, so I do all of the cooking. She's fine with doing the dishes so it works out great. We may eat out once or twice a week and it's not a matter of money as much as the time it takes to drive to a good restaurant and back taking longer than just cooking it ourselves. We also tend to rent condos and cook at least breakfast and lunch, but also some dinners on vacations. My problem with it is when having company, especially large holiday gatherings, trying to get all of the various dishes to come out at the right time for serving with people trying to chat and in the way. I would never make it cooking professionally.
I really need to write a book explaining how to cook. Not a flippin' recipe book. The world has too many of those already. But a nuts-and-bolts, "This is how you cook" cookbook.
I think cooking is a joy. I thought I'd never do it professionally because I love cooking -- I feared it would zap all the joy out of it for me. Well, it didn't. After a long week of cooking for the well-heeled masses, I still love cooking meals on my weekends.
I don't have to deal with greasy, baked on cookware because I cook in such a way that when I'm done with a pan I can wipe it with a rag and it's ready for cleaning. I don't have any leftovers because I know how to portion a meal. (Quit cooking for a platoon. Nobody appreciates that.) Anything that's going to be very smelly is cooked outside. But ventilation takes care of most of my day-to-day cooking, which smells AMAZING.
Drudgery? It's one of the most fun things that I do! I even cook on vacation. Instead of hotels, we rent condos with kitchens so I can buy local food in the markets and cook it.
Yeah, I should write a book. But I fear nobody would read it. They're too content to fight through it instead of embracing it.
Honey, I know how to cook, and I do it very well. The ventilation in my kitchen sucks --actually it doesn't, which is a big part of the problem. I don't cook for a platoon, and I know how to portion, but when one of my kids fails to show up for dinner (happens a few times a week for various reasons) or my husband has a late meeting, there are leftovers. And this is not a freaking restaurant with a staff of dishwashers to deal with the pots, pans, dishes, & flatware. I get to do it, and it gets tiresome. The market doesn't come to me on a daily basis with fresh, beautiful greens and the catch of the day. I have to go to a grocery, which is an entirely unpleasant experience for the reasons outlined above, none of which your imaginary book will resolve.
And this is not a freaking restaurant with a staff of dishwashers to deal with the pots, pans, dishes, & flatware.
We never have enough pots and pans at the restaurant, either. But we cook in such a way that we can take the pan, wipe it with a rag, and it's basically ready to go again. We clean it anyway, because, "ewww."
I see how people who "know how to cook" cook. Not only do they not know how to cook, they don't know that they don't know.
I could very likely show you a dozen ways to save time and reduce effort per hour of me cooking and you watching. What you're saying is like walking up to a Formula One driver and saying, "I know how to drive. Don't tell me I don't know what I'm doing behind the wheel."
We never have enough pots and pans at the restaurant, either. But we cook in such a way that we can take the pan, wipe it with a rag, and it's basically ready to go again. We clean it anyway, because, "ewww."
I see how people who "know how to cook" cook. Not only do they not know how to cook, they don't know that they don't know.
I could very likely show you a dozen ways to save time and reduce effort per hour of me cooking and you watching. What you're saying is like walking up to a Formula One driver and saying, "I know how to drive. Don't tell me I don't know what I'm doing behind the wheel."
OMG! It's not the cooking part of meal preparation that's the problem. It's all the other crap around it. Finding the time to get to the grocery (until very recently, husband and I shared a car). Trying to get everybody to the table at the same time, which is nearly impossible around here. Getting some appreciation for my efforts. Formula One driver or not, you and your cookbook CANNOT solve those issues for me. Nor can you fix the ventilation in my kitchen. Go massage your raging superiority complex elsewhere, please.
OMG! It's not the cooking part of meal preparation that's the problem. It's all the other crap around it. Finding the time to get to the grocery (until very recently, husband and I shared a car). Trying to get everybody to the table at the same time, which is nearly impossible around here. Getting some appreciation for my efforts. Formula One driver or not, you and your cookbook CANNOT solve those issues for me. Nor can you fix the ventilation in my kitchen. Go massage your raging superiority complex elsewhere, please.
I assure you, I can show you things that would reduce your total time in the kitchen. I can show you where to source food. I can show you alternatives to grocery stores that are almost surely in your area. (But I will allow that perhaps you live in an area that doesn't have the kind of ethnic markets and co-operatives that I have.) I can teach you how to better expedite your meals.
The only thing I cannot do is make your family help you. But from the sound of things, you are more of an indentured servant than a wife and mother. That is unacceptable. The social contract of "I'll cook you clean" has worked for millennia in households all over the world. I suggest that you drag your family to this post and make them read it.
"I cook. You clean." That's what teenagers are for, after all. Besides, make them learn how to cook, as much as you're able. It's a life skill. They need to know this stuff or you're condemning them to a life of crap food.
like everything else in life not everyone has the desire or interest in cooking . to be honest i rather spend my time not with recipe books but learning as much as i can about structuring my investments tax wise and becoming a better more effective investor. the rest of our time is spent finding new places to go and photograph or out with the grandkids. it is to the point we order on line and have our groceries delivered as they come 7am on a sunday and it saves us 2 hours shopping and it is 2 hours more we can put back in our lives ..
others rather devote time to their interests.
folks assume because they have a big interest in doing something others should follow suit but that is rarely the case.
while we cook we really don't devote much time to weekly meals and from friday night through the weekend we rarely eat home and are on the go and much prefer it.
Last edited by mathjak107; 09-23-2014 at 03:00 AM..
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