View Single Post
  #2 (permalink)   Report Post  
Posted to alt.food.diabetic
W. Baker W. Baker is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,390
Default Are you cooking more or less than you used to?

Julie Bove > wrote:
: I was thinking about this. Although there have been convenience foods for
: as long as I can remember, the types of convenience foods I buy and consume
: have changes.

: As a child, my mom did cook some but they bought a lot of precooked things
: or packaged things. Like Rice A Roni, Noodle Roni, Kraft Macaroni and
: Cheese, Hamburger Helper (didn't come onto the market until I was older),
: boxed puddings, Shake N'Bake, canned soups, frozen fish sticks, frozen
: slices of turkey in gravy and of course the dreaded TV dinners. Our
: vegetables mostly came from cans. I did grow some in our garden but we have
: such a short growing season here. So we didn't get a lot from it. We did
: almost always have a salad with dinner but it was almost always just iceberg
: lettuce. My mom doesn't like a lot of other stuff on her salad. And she
: doesn't eat dressing. Her spaghetti sauce came from a little packet that
: you added water to. Perhaps there was meat added as well. I don't
: remember. She didn't make it often as we certainly didn't like it. The
: taco seasoning also came from a packet and that wasn't well liked either.
: We did like tacos. Just not the stuff from the packet. She never seemed to
: cook it long enough or something and it came out watery. We always had
: frozen berries which were often picked by us during the summer. We did have
: fresh fruit. She did bake cookies but often they were the packaged kind.

: Then I got my first apartment. At first what we ate was a mishmash of
: things. Partly because we didn't have a lot of money and partly because of
: our different cooking styles. I had a roommate. I considered his mom to be
: a very good cook, but she did cook things much differently than my mom did.
: We did eat some things out of packets because they were new to us. And some
: things were just bad! We did eat a lot of frozen pot pies. They certainly
: weren't good but they were cheap!

: That roommate moved out and the next one wasn't into cooking at all. I had
: a series of roommates after that. Most just let me do the cooking. One was
: very picky with her money and cooked only for her and her friends, although
: she did let me try a meal once. One was Jewish and had to keep to his own
: dietary stuff for that and some other reasons. He was a bit of an oddball
: and his mom was on the Pritikin diet. I never got into the whys or
: wherefores of his diet. I just allowed him to have his own spaces in the
: kitchen.

: So anyway... I guess I developed my own style of cooking.

: At first I made everything from scratch when I could. Pizza dough, bread,
: pasta, even ravioli. I did cook meats on occasion for friends but I myself
: was a vegetarian. Of course there were times when money was tough. Like
: the month that I ate spaghetti (from a package) and tomato sauce (I did make
: that myself) for the entire month because I couldn't afford much more.

: I did eat Carnation Instant breakfast bars for breakfast most mornings. I
: guess I felt they were loaded with vitamins or something. If I wasn't
: eating those I had hard boiled eggs. And there was the time that Safeway
: was closing out the Linda McCartney frozen meals. I believe they were vegan
: but they might have been vegetarian. They were not something I bought very
: often because they were normally not cheap. But at the closeout price,
: you'd be a fool not to buy them. Unless perhaps you didn't like vegan
: meals. My freezer was stuffed with them!

: There were other times that I did stupid things because I thought I was
: saving money. Like the time I bought the cart full of chicken flavored
: Ramen noodles. I don't even think there was real chicken in that stuff. It
: was Campbell's brand. I was sick when I bought them. I thought chicken
: soup would be good for me. I'd never had Ramen noodles before. And I
: quickly learned I didn't like them all that much. Heh.

: When I got my microwave, I made all sorts of things in it. Muffins, pudding
: from scratch. I even attempted to cook meats but I didn't care for how they
: came out.

: Now today it seems I am cooking less than ever. My pasta is dried. My
: sauce from a jar. My polenta from a tube. I buy frozen chicken nuggets,
: fish sticks and other fish. Frozen cooked hamburger and black bean patties.
: Pre-cooked turkey and chicken. Pre-cooked roast beef. I do buy occasional
: frozen meals like tamales, cheese enchiladas and other things for Angela,
: like lasagna. I know lasagna is easy, but time consuming to make. My
: problem with it is the egg. I always put egg in my cheese. And now I can't
: have egg. I've been afraid to try it without for fear that it won't come
: out well. But I can find a gluten free boxed single serve of lasagna for
: her. And the other day I found an organic meal of chicken and rice for her.

: So it would seem now that I am only making a meal at home about three times
: a week. Once or twice I double the amount so we will have leftovers. We
: don't really like leftovers but Angela has to take dinner to the dance
: studio at least twice a week. I may only be cooking from scratch once a
: week. And some weeks not even that! If I make pizza I start with a
: pre-made crust and use a canned sauce. Macaroni and cheese comes from a
: box. Some nights the meal is as simple as pre-made hummus with baby carrots
: and some olives and other raw veggies. Or a bowl of cottage cheese with
: canned pears.

: I find I am not cooking so much simply because I don't have to! Yes there
: are countless frozen meals on the market these days. Mostly I don't even
: look at those because we are allergic to something in them. And of course
: most are very high in carbs. But once in a while I will find something
: suitable.

: It's just that there are so many ingredients that are made up already. I
: can get sliced onions, chopped tomatoes, strips of pepper all cut up. I
: don't often buy these things but they are there. If I make meatloaf I
: always add veggies and I do get those from the salad bar so I can buy just a
: small quantity. It seems it is just so much easier these days to come up
: with a good, balanced meal without having to do a lot of work.

: So... Do you find that you are cooking more? Less? Or about the same as
: you used to?

I have always cooked using few prepared producs. I dotend to use jarred
spaghetti sauce for convenience, but stil would do up a home made one
usign canned tomatoes and fresh other vegetables. My mother only used
boxed puddings and Kojel, a kosher jello, but we both have always made our
own salad dressings. I generally cook from scratch, but no longer do much
baking. Even now, that I am alone, I still cook frm scratch, but I do
keep some packages of turkey, in case I don't feel like cooking a dinner
and can make either a turkey salad or sandwich on low carb bread. I have
trouble gettign quantities right, both in buying and cooking , but am
doing some soups and stews which I use for several days and freeze for
future meals. Aside from the occasional frankfurter, or other deli item,
I woudl never consider using a precooked meat in any form. Vegetables are
generally fresh. Just this week I pressure cooked a large number of beets
adn have been eating them for several days. I like beets and, for some
reason, they do not spike me.

I eat out a bit more than I did before Syd died, as it is just too lonely
eating in the dining foyer alone all the time. I have always cooked form
scratch and enjoy, both the doing and the eating of my own cooking.
That's not to say that I don't like beign asked out t somenes
house:-)(hint, hint hint!)

I enjoy making some of my family's traditional recipes and plan to make a
single, rather than a double batch of the honey/ginger candy that was my
great grandmother's recipe and who knows how much further back, for
Passover this year. I am, no longer physically able to make the
traditional Seder meal, so will be with my older son for the first night
and a close friend the second.

Wendy