FoodBanter.com - View Single Post

In article >,
wrote:

> OK, I will confess. I am an older bachelor, and a lousy cook. But
> there is at least partially a good reason I am a lousy cook.

She finally threw you out? "-)

> The reason is that I never have the right ingredients.

Then you need to pay better attention to what you're about.

> For example, I bought a box of that Zatarins (sp?) rice mix. I get
> home and find that it needs to be mixed with a can of diced tomatoes.
> My question is this: How does anyone know how to have the right
> ingredients at home,

If you're going to "cook" from prepared mixes, you need to check the
back (or side) of the box for the instructions. Read them twice to see
if preparation requires anything not in the box. Then maybe check the
box again while you're standing in the checkout line.

I'm looking at a box of Zatarain's Gumbo Mix with Rice and Step 1 of the
instructions say to combine water, meat, and the mix. Meat? What meat?
Well, above the numbered steps is the note (Part of the directions, but
not one of the numbered how-to-do-it steps) that "gumbo can be prepared
with your choice of 1 pound of chicken (pre-cooked), smoked sausage or
seafood cut into bite-size pieces. So pay attention to your box before
you get to the checkout line. Take the time then so you're not cussing
when you get to the stove at home. It's not rocket science.

>or do all the good cooks go to the store at least 3 times a day?

I'd die first. If money's tight I can stay out of the grocery store for
two weeks.

> I opened another box of something awhile back that said "just add one
> cup of chicken".

See above about paying attention.

> So, what do you people really do? Do you actually read these entire
> boxes while you are in the grocery store,

Well, yeah. If I'm doing something from a mix, I *do* make sure I've
got what it takes--otherwise I'm cussing at the stove.

<> and make lists and fill out plans and menus for the week, etc etc???

I don't do written menus. I'm not a particularly adventurous cooker
and I'll bet that 80% of our meals are one of 10-12 that I make
frequently. And I've got a pretty good idea of what I have available
for "supplies." I've been cooking long enough to know that if I cook a
pot roast (they were on sale here last week), I'll have leftover meat
and will need to do something with it. My husband loves roast beef
hash, so when I cook the roast, I make sure I have plenty of carrots and
spuds in it so there'll be some of those to include in the hash. I do
make a shopping list but it's mostly to replenish staples -- the basic
tools of my trade. I use a fair amount of canned tomato products --
usually as sauce or diced tomatoes -- so I want to be sure they're
available from my pantry.

> This may be fine for a housewife that has nothing more to do,

Careful there, Rob. Most housewives have more to do than cook for you.

> but I am just not all that serious, nor interested in cooking. When
> I buy a box of something that is meant to be made into a meal, I
> expect EVERYTHING to be in that box, except the water and maybe some
> oil or milk.

"Welcome to the NFL, Kid." Either lower your expectations to realize
that there will be something else required (most common and almost
always); or start *looking for* the packages that DO contain everything.
I think I've seen some frozen bagged stuff that might fit your criteria,
complete with the meat parts included. Maybe Green Giant brand. It'll
take you another 5-10 minutes in the store, but you won't be cussing at
the stove.

> (I always have oil and keep powdered milk for those occasions).
> Unfortunately it dont work that way. If I need a cup of chicken,
> what am I supposed to do with the rest of that chicken.......????

Eat it?
You can buy canned chicken meat in a 6- or 8-ounce can, I think. That's
a cup. Are deli-rotisserie-roasted chickens available in your local
market? I can get one here for $5. I just saw (maybe a month or two
back) a Betty Crocker paperback-at-the-checkout cookbook that uses those
as the chicken source in the recipes. In my house, (husband and me),
we'll use about half of one of those for the first meal. The rest of it
will appear a couple nights later if it hasn't been nibbled away or used
for a sandwich or salad in the meantime.

> There's got to be a better way to deal with food, so it dont become a
> full time job, which I do not have time for. In all honesty, if it
> were not for health concerns,

Not wanting to burst your bubble or anything, but eating from those
boxed mixes isn't all that good for a person, either. They're very
often heavy on sodium fat.

> and times of bad weather where the roads are too bad to go to town,

Where are you located, Rob? Just curious.

> I would just eat fast food daily. It always tastes better than what
> I make, and by the time I figure all the wasted food, dish washing
> detergents, fuel to cook, and everything else, it's much cheaper to
> eat out, and that dont include my time either.

You pays your money, you makes your choice. :-) I'd rather eat
home-cooked food than most fast food. Then again, if I really hated to
cook, I'd do whatever I could to not do it.

> By the way, I made that rice stuff without the canned tomatoes, but i
> dumped in a can of tomato soup instead. It was ok, and got rid of a
> can of tomato soup that has been sitting around for ages, because I
> can not eat tomato soup by itself. That stuff is just plain nasty.

Do you like Sloppy Joes? Here's another way to use that can of tomato
soup.

Sloppy Joes (making this up as I go along)
1# lean ground beef
1 small onion, chopped (or 2 tablespoons dehydrated onion flakes)
1 tbsp cooking oil (optional)
1 can (10-1/2 ounces) condensed tomato soup
1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
1/2 tsp. black pepper (ground black pepper)
1/4 cup ketchup (four tablespoons)

Brown the meat and onion in a skillet, over medium-high heat, in the oil
(or just do it in a dry skillet) for about 5 minutes breaking it up so
it's crumbly. Stir in the remaining ingredients, cover, and simmer over
low heat for about 10 minutes.

Serve on toasted hamburger buns. Or untoasted burger buns.

> Rob

Good luck.
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> Sweet Potato Follies added 2/24/05.
"I read recipes the way I read science fiction: I get to the end and
say,'Well, that's not going to happen.'" - Comedian Rita Rudner,
performance at New York, New York, January 10, 2005.