"jmcquown" > wrote in message
...
> On 3/21/2019 12:39 PM, Cindy Hamilton wrote:
>> On Thursday, March 21, 2019 at 11:06:47 AM UTC-4, Jill McQuown wrote:
>>> A co-worker was surprised when I mentioned I like to cook. "Just for
>>> yourself?" Yes. "You live alone, right?" Yes. "And you cook. Just
>>> for yourself." I laughed. Of course I do! You don't think I go out to
>>> eat every day, do you?
>>>
>>> Maybe the millenials go out to eat all the time but I'm not a millenial.
>>> The idea that people living by themselves don't cook seems to be a
>>> common misconception.
>>>
>>> I explained to her I have a small stand-alone freezer. Cooking for one
>>> isn't difficult. But with a freezer it's easy to cook some things in
>>> slightly larger quantities and have leftovers for homemade freezer meals
>>> for when I don't feel like cooking.
>>>
>>> I don't understand why the concept was such a surprise. Your thoughts?
>>>
>>> Jill
>>
>> My thoughts? A lot of people don't have a clue.
>>
>> Is your co-worker single? If so, what does he/she do for meals?
>> Lean Cuisine?
>>
>> Cindy Hamilton
>>
> She is seemingly divorced (I don't ask) but has a grown daughter who lives
> in Delaware. She either has a much younger son or a grandchild she's
> caring for here in SC.
>
> I have no idea what she does for meals. I mentioned fresh vegetables and
> she said they tend to go bad before she can use them. I told her about
> parboiling then shocking in cold water and freezing them to use later. I
> don't know what she has at her house.

A lot of people do not cook. My elderly friend generally does not. Never
did. Rarely dines out. Raised 4 kids. The only raw veggies she buys are baby
carrots, bagged salad, an occasional tomato, potatoes, sweet potatoes,
asparagus in season and perhaps some fruit. She does use the microwave to do
veggies. She does not call that cooking.

She will do a pot roast or chicken breasts in the oven. She only uses
seasoning packets if anything. Does not use salt or pepper. She has a rice
cooker and makes rice pretty much every days. Buys frozen veggies for the
microwave. She can do a grilled cheese and knows how to make some Japanese
dishes but rarely does.

Her adult son who lives with her does know how to cook and sometimes does
but he will go through great periods of time when he does not cook.

My friend is now on a very low fiber diet so that limits what she can eat
but prior to that, her dietary staples were yogurt, pudding cups, cereal,
nuts, breakfast type bars, tons of milk, hot dogs, tubs of some kind of meat
in BBQ sauce, frozen entrees and pizza, hamburger helper, crackers with
peanut butter or cheese and canned soup.

This is not a healthy diet, IMO. Whenever she comes to my house, she likes
to raid my fridge for leftovers. I also try to bake for her and when we go
shopping, I try to point out low fiber foods that she might not have
considered before. She is not an adventurous eater and doesn't like trying
new things but she will usually try them if I recommend them or if she can
try them at my house.

My mom never liked to cook and does not now. She doesn't have a full
kitchen. Her BF does but neither of them know how to use the stove.

My brother and his wife do not cook but they do know how to cook a few
dishes. The majority of their meals are eaten out somewhere. They do buy
some stuff at the grocery store like muffins or snack foods.

When I was a kid, I didn't mind eating out so much. Many of the places where
we dined had salad bars and I always had that for my meal when available. I
never ordered anything from the kid's menu if there was one. Those types of
foods didn't appeal. For the most part, the stuff you got in restaurants
back then seemed pretty good and was likely cooked from scratch.

These days so much of what you get in a restaurant is frozen and reheated.
Most people seem accustomed to that and are okay with it. I'm not. I do take
my mom out to eat each week because she enjoys it. We pretty much limit
ourselves to two places that cook from scratch. I will occasionally go to
some other places that cook from scratch if I am in the area. But for me to
drive to some place just to go out to eat is not something I enjoy. Mainly
the only reason I dine out otherwise is that something has taken me far
enough from home that I can't get back here in time to eat. I'll even try to
go to a grocery store and pick up something like hummus and cut up raw
veggies or bean dip and chips before I waste money on mediocre food in a
restaurant. But that's not always an option either.

One in a while, Angela and I will get Jack In The Box tacos before we
grocery shop. They're disgustingly good, bear no resemblance to a real taco
except that you can see that they are in a taco shell. They're also dirt
cheap. In that case it is the cheap that appeals. I generally only do this
when I need just a few things at the store to get me by until the next pay
day. I only get the tacos. I bring a drink from home. Sometimes I just feel
like slumming it.