On Friday, February 21, 2014 5:54:42 PM UTC-8, Goomba38 wrote:
> On 2/8/14 9:27 AM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>
> > I want to retire FROM cooking.
>
>
>
> you say that NOW that you've got the new kitchen!?!?

Reminds me:

I keep reading the subject line as "Are most people who post here retarded?"

On 2014-02-22 17:16:16 +0000, said:

> On Friday, February 21, 2014 5:54:42 PM UTC-8, Goomba38 wrote:
>> On 2/8/14 9:27 AM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>>
>>> I want to retire FROM cooking.
>>
>>
>>
>> you say that NOW that you've got the new kitchen!?!?
>
> Reminds me:
>
> I keep reading the subject line as "Are most people who post here retarded?"

You should retire!

On Friday, February 7, 2014 7:15:43 AM UTC-8, ImStillMags wrote:

> I love seeing what everyone cooks and posts here, but most of you must be retired with the meals I see posted on a daily basis. Working full time puts a crimp in my creative cooking cause I'm usually too pooped to mess with a lot of prep or complicated dishes when I get home.
>
>
>
> I do most of my cooking on the weekends and then have that through the week.
> One of these days......maybe I'll be able to retire, but not yet.
>

It doesn't take long to chop an onion or a bell pepper, or open a can of
tomato product. We have plenty of two-minute pasta in the jar.

Stir fry is easy: chop the meat and let marinate; turn the rice cooker on, rinse and chop the vegetables, fry (steam if necessary) add a sauce to pull
it all together.

If I have chicken stock, I can have chicken soup on the table in 20 minutes,
provided I stopped to buy some parsley.

I just made stracetti for dinner (Roman stir-fry). Nob Hill had top sirloin
on sale. I sliced some up, salted, peppered, and sprinkled it with garlic
powder, and washed some arugula. Then I made the two minute pasta, and tossed
it with grated romano (using a microplane) and freshly ground black pepper.
Then I started stirfrying the beef, adding the arugula by handfuls, finally
dressing it all with some EVOO. Simple, easy, delicious, but above all: fast.

On 2014-02-10 11:37 PM, wrote:

>>
>> I do most of my cooking on the weekends and then have that through the week.
>> One of these days......maybe I'll be able to retire, but not yet.
>>
>
> It doesn't take long to chop an onion or a bell pepper, or open a can of
> tomato product. We have plenty of two-minute pasta in the jar.
>
> Stir fry is easy: chop the meat and let marinate; turn the rice cooker on, rinse and chop the vegetables, fry (steam if necessary) add a sauce to pull
> it all together.
>
> If I have chicken stock, I can have chicken soup on the table in 20 minutes,
> provided I stopped to buy some parsley.


I used to watch Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Dinners and wonder what took her
so long. I used to get home from work before my wife most of the time,
so I would cook dinner. There are a lot of stir fries that can be done
in about 20 minutes. Start the rice. It takes a few minutes to come to a
boil and then 15 minutes to cook. While that is cooking you start
cutting the vegetables and the meat. It takes 3-4 minutes to cook in
the pan. By the time the rice is cooked everything else is done.


>
> I just made stracetti for dinner (Roman stir-fry). Nob Hill had top sirloin
> on sale. I sliced some up, salted, peppered, and sprinkled it with garlic
> powder, and washed some arugula. Then I made the two minute pasta, and tossed
> it with grated romano (using a microplane) and freshly ground black pepper.
> Then I started stirfrying the beef, adding the arugula by handfuls, finally
> dressing it all with some EVOO. Simple, easy, delicious, but above all: fast.



Even dinners that require baking or roasting time are not that time
consuming. Learn to multi task. Preheat the oven, toss in the stuff
that is being baked/roasted.... go and do something else for a while.
You're talking 5-10 minutes actual work over the course of an hour.
That gives you time to do other things.

ImStillMags wrote:
>
>I love seeing what everyone cooks and posts here, but most of you
>must be retired with the meals I see posted on a daily basis.
>Working full time puts a crimp in my creative cooking cause I'm usually
>too pooped to mess with a lot of prep or complicated dishes when I get home.

If working puts a crimp in your creativity then you never had any and
never will. When I was working I did my food prep in the morning
before going to work, just get up a half hour early... and now that
I'm retired I still do my food prep early in the morning, I actually
wake up earlier now than when I worked. Sometimes prep for dinner
means simply setting the correct cookware on the stove, putting out
whatever kitchen tools like a colander, bowl, grater, spatula,
whatever... and if I'm going to cook say pork chops I season and place
them in a covered skillet and leave it in the fridge, when I get home
it's all ready to cook. Even retired I still hate waiting till the
last minute just before dinner to start playing with food. Last night
I cooked ****ghetti; first thing in the morning I set out my pot of
salted water on the stove, put my colander on the counter with a
wooden spoon, the pasta, put the frozen pasta sauce into a saucepan to
defrost (contained sausages too), even set out the dishes, silverware,
napkins, and hot pepper flake shaker... everything was all ready to
go, just had to light the stove. The sauce was made when I had time,
made like four gallons at once and froze it in quart containers
(sometimes I do sauce with saw-seege, sometimes shoulder poke chops,
sometimes just veg). Last night I cooked 1 1/2 pounds of pasta,
enough for tonight too plus some left overs for a lunch in a couple
days.... was a pound box of Barilla and an already opened box of
Prince with a half pound in it... I often cook 1 1/2 pounds of pasta,
extra pasta never gets wasted. I swear I couldn't tell which was the
Barilla and which was the Prince, not visually or taste wise. I
detest hearing that inane alibi that folks haven't time to cook when
they come home from work... what do yoose think restaurants do, they
prep in the morning prior to opening their doors... they do a lot prep
the night before after closing too... nothing is preventing yoose from
starting tomorrow's dinner right after tonight's dinner... at least
peel the spuds, set in a pot of water and place in the fridge... now
when you come home from work tomorrow you just need to light the stove
and in under a half hour you got real mashed, not buds.

On 2/7/14 10:15 AM, ImStillMags wrote:
> I love seeing what everyone cooks and posts here, but most of you must be retired with the meals I see posted on a daily basis. Working full time puts a crimp in my creative cooking cause I'm usually too pooped to mess with a lot of prep or complicated dishes when I get home.
>
> I do most of my cooking on the weekends and then have that through the week.
> One of these days......maybe I'll be able to retire, but not yet.
>
> envious of you guys.
>


Not me, I've got a few years yet to go before I retire, nor my husband
whom I'm letting retire in 5 years. He enjoys cooking also so between us
we can cobble together some good meals.

Some times we have an utterly fabulous easy meal and have sat in wonder
at how easy some meals are that others consider fancy.

On 2/21/2014 9:01 PM, Goomba wrote:
> On 2/7/14 10:15 AM, ImStillMags wrote:
>> I love seeing what everyone cooks and posts here, but most of you must
>> be retired with the meals I see posted on a daily basis. Working
>> full time puts a crimp in my creative cooking cause I'm usually too
>> pooped to mess with a lot of prep or complicated dishes when I get home.
>>
>> I do most of my cooking on the weekends and then have that through the
>> week.
>> One of these days......maybe I'll be able to retire, but not yet.
>>
>> envious of you guys.
>>
>
>
> Not me, I've got a few years yet to go before I retire, nor my husband
> whom I'm letting retire in 5 years.

You're "letting" him retire?

Jill

He enjoys cooking also so between us
> we can cobble together some good meals.
>
> Some times we have an utterly fabulous easy meal and have sat in wonder
> at how easy some meals are that others consider fancy.

On 2014-02-07 10:15 AM, ImStillMags wrote:
> I love seeing what everyone cooks and posts here, but most of you must be retired with the meals I see posted on a daily basis. Working full time puts a crimp in my creative cooking cause I'm usually too pooped to mess with a lot of prep or complicated dishes when I get home.
>
> I do most of my cooking on the weekends and then have that through the week.
> One of these days......maybe I'll be able to retire, but not yet.
>
I did a lot more cooking and a lot more experimentation when I was
working than I have been since I retired. I never had a lot of sympathy
for people who ate a lot of of prepared foods and crap because they
didn't have time. It does not take that look to prep and cook pare a
good meal. There are lots of things that can be cooked quickly, and if
it is something that takes a while to bake or roast you can find
something to do while it is cooking. Some people need to tear
themselves away from television to reclaim some time.

On 7/23/14, 8:01 AM, Dave Smith wrote:
> On 2014-02-07 10:15 AM, ImStillMags wrote:
>> I love seeing what everyone cooks and posts here, but most of you must
>> be retired with the meals I see posted on a daily basis. Working
>> full time puts a crimp in my creative cooking cause I'm usually too
>> pooped to mess with a lot of prep or complicated dishes when I get home....
>
> I did a lot more cooking and a lot more experimentation when I was
> working than I have been since I retired....

Same here. It was my routine to stop by Whole Foods or a farmer's market
almost every day on the way home from work, and start cooking as soon as
I got home. My wife got home about an hour after I did, and we'd do
brief workouts at home and eat supper.

Since I retired and we moved to Florida, we're playing tennis both
weekend days and at least three weeknights; another weeknight is a
regular music night out. Much of the time, we go out for food with a
group after playing tennis, and even if we go straight home, we're not
very hungry at night. Lunch has become our biggest meal -- I eat out
weekdays after playing tennis, and my wife is the queen of left-overs.

That said, I'll be making a spread of casual food (grilled Italian
sausages, bratwurst, chicken legs, salads, veggies, desserts, etc.) for
ten people this Friday evening, so I hope I remember how. 8

-- Larry

Dave Smith wrote:
>
> On 2014-02-07 10:15 AM, ImStillMags wrote:
> > I love seeing what everyone cooks and posts here, but most of you must be retired with the meals I see posted on a daily basis. Working full time puts a crimp in my creative cooking cause I'm usually too pooped to mess with a lot of prep or complicated dishes when I get home.
> >
> > I do most of my cooking on the weekends and then have that through the week.
> > One of these days......maybe I'll be able to retire, but not yet.
> >
> I did a lot more cooking and a lot more experimentation when I was
> working than I have been since I retired. I never had a lot of sympathy
> for people who ate a lot of of prepared foods and crap because they
> didn't have time. It does not take that look to prep and cook pare a
> good meal. There are lots of things that can be cooked quickly, and if
> it is something that takes a while to bake or roast you can find
> something to do while it is cooking. Some people need to tear
> themselves away from television to reclaim some time.

People who are "too tired to cook" and thus eat prepared junk food are
tired *because* they eat prepared junk food. Stop eating crap and you'll
have the energy to cook real food. Also get rid of the TV, it is a truly
incredible time waster.

On 7/23/2014 8:44 AM, Pete C. wrote:

> People who are "too tired to cook" and thus eat prepared junk food are
> tired *because* they eat prepared junk food. Stop eating crap and you'll
> have the energy to cook real food. Also get rid of the TV, it is a truly
> incredible time waster.

You may be exactly right about some people.

The OP said, "Working full time puts a crimp in my creative cooking
cause I'm usually too pooped to mess with a lot of prep or complicated
dishes when I get home. I do most of my cooking on the weekends and then
have that through the week." She did not mention junk food.

Becca

On Wed, 23 Jul 2014 13:16:56 -0500, Ema Nymton >
wrote:

> On 7/23/2014 8:44 AM, Pete C. wrote:
>
> > People who are "too tired to cook" and thus eat prepared junk food are
> > tired *because* they eat prepared junk food. Stop eating crap and you'll
> > have the energy to cook real food. Also get rid of the TV, it is a truly
> > incredible time waster.
>
> You may be exactly right about some people.
>
> The OP said, "Working full time puts a crimp in my creative cooking
> cause I'm usually too pooped to mess with a lot of prep or complicated
> dishes when I get home. I do most of my cooking on the weekends and then
> have that through the week." She did not mention junk food.
>
Trader Joe's and most grocery stores sell pre chopped/shredded items
these days. They are a wonderful time saver for people like the OP. I
like them too, but I tend to buy the bags of prewashed lettuce and
things like precut broccoli florets rather than carrot sticks or
chopped onion. I do like the precut mirepoix (chopped celery, onions,
and carrots). I bought a container and froze it in thirds... used it
all in two weeks, so it was money well spent.

--
All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.

sf wrote:
>
> On Wed, 23 Jul 2014 13:16:56 -0500, Ema Nymton >
> wrote:
>
> > On 7/23/2014 8:44 AM, Pete C. wrote:
> >
> > > People who are "too tired to cook" and thus eat prepared junk food are
> > > tired *because* they eat prepared junk food. Stop eating crap and you'll
> > > have the energy to cook real food. Also get rid of the TV, it is a truly
> > > incredible time waster.
> >
> > You may be exactly right about some people.
> >
> > The OP said, "Working full time puts a crimp in my creative cooking
> > cause I'm usually too pooped to mess with a lot of prep or complicated
> > dishes when I get home. I do most of my cooking on the weekends and then
> > have that through the week." She did not mention junk food.
> >
> Trader Joe's and most grocery stores sell pre chopped/shredded items
> these days. They are a wonderful time saver for people like the OP. I
> like them too, but I tend to buy the bags of prewashed lettuce and
> things like precut broccoli florets rather than carrot sticks or
> chopped onion. I do like the precut mirepoix (chopped celery, onions,
> and carrots). I bought a container and froze it in thirds... used it
> all in two weeks, so it was money well spent.

Honestly, how much time does the pre-cut stuff actually save you? I know
I can chop up a mirepoix in about 3 minutes max. I think it's really
more of a way to profit from people's claims of being "too busy to cook"
than anything else. If perhaps 5-6 minutes makes the difference between
being able to cook and being too busy to cook, I think priorities and
time management need to be looked at.

"sf" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 23 Jul 2014 13:16:56 -0500, Ema Nymton >
> wrote:
>
>> On 7/23/2014 8:44 AM, Pete C. wrote:
>>
>> > People who are "too tired to cook" and thus eat prepared junk food are
>> > tired *because* they eat prepared junk food. Stop eating crap and
>> > you'll
>> > have the energy to cook real food. Also get rid of the TV, it is a
>> > truly
>> > incredible time waster.
>>
>> You may be exactly right about some people.
>>
>> The OP said, "Working full time puts a crimp in my creative cooking
>> cause I'm usually too pooped to mess with a lot of prep or complicated
>> dishes when I get home. I do most of my cooking on the weekends and then
>> have that through the week." She did not mention junk food.
>>
> Trader Joe's and most grocery stores sell pre chopped/shredded items
> these days. They are a wonderful time saver for people like the OP. I
> like them too, but I tend to buy the bags of prewashed lettuce and
> things like precut broccoli florets rather than carrot sticks or
> chopped onion. I do like the precut mirepoix (chopped celery, onions,
> and carrots). I bought a container and froze it in thirds... used it
> all in two weeks, so it was money well spent.
>
I think I only ever bought chopped onions once. Can't remember why. Did
buy sliced onions and sliced tomatoes at my dad's request. I do buy carrot
sticks when I am in the mood for them because I don't really like cutting up
carrots. Once in a while I will buy cut up celery. Really depends on what
else I am going to make. I particularly like the leaves for soup but
finding good celery with a lot of leaves on it isn't as easy as it used to
be. If I know that I won't be making soup, then I might by the cut stuff.

I do remember buying stuff that was cut up for stew. That was many years
ago though.

When we lived in CA, I could buy some really good precooked taco meat
(ground beef). Nothing like that here. I did buy a plastic shelf stable
package of some precooked taco meat but all I could think about was the
moldy rice in similar package and I couldn't bring myself to eat it.

On Wednesday, July 23, 2014 11:16:56 AM UTC-7, Ema Nymton wrote:
> On 7/23/2014 8:44 AM, Pete C. wrote:
>
>
>
> > People who are "too tired to cook" and thus eat prepared junk food are
>
> > tired *because* they eat prepared junk food. Stop eating crap and you'll
>
> > have the energy to cook real food. Also get rid of the TV, it is a truly
>
> > incredible time waster.
>
>
>
> You may be exactly right about some people.
>
>
>
> The OP said, "Working full time puts a crimp in my creative cooking
>
> cause I'm usually too pooped to mess with a lot of prep or complicated
>
> dishes when I get home. I do most of my cooking on the weekends and then
>
> have that through the week." She did not mention junk food.
>
>
>
> Becca

I don't eat junk food. I eat Primal/Paleo. I cook on the weekends. I prefer to do it that way because of my schedule. I've found that I can make my lunches and things that I can reheat for dinners all in one day which frees me up for doing other things in the evening.

I live alone. If I had a family it would be a different story, but I have the freedom to do as I please. I do cook some during the week but not every day. I'm one of those people who don't have to have something different every night so it works out well for me.

If I get all inspired from something I've seen on line in this group or on Facebook I'll stop on the way home and get ingredients and make it. But that's an occasional thing.

On Wednesday, July 23, 2014 7:25:24 PM UTC-7, ImStillMags wrote:
> On Wednesday, July 23, 2014 11:16:56 AM UTC-7, Ema Nymton wrote:
>
> > On 7/23/2014 8:44 AM, Pete C. wrote:
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > > People who are "too tired to cook" and thus eat prepared junk food are
>
> >
>
> > > tired *because* they eat prepared junk food. Stop eating crap and you'll
>
> >
>
> > > have the energy to cook real food. Also get rid of the TV, it is a truly
>
> >
>
> > > incredible time waster.
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > You may be exactly right about some people.
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > The OP said, "Working full time puts a crimp in my creative cooking
>
> >
>
> > cause I'm usually too pooped to mess with a lot of prep or complicated
>
> >
>
> > dishes when I get home. I do most of my cooking on the weekends and then
>
> >
>
> > have that through the week." She did not mention junk food.
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > Becca
>
>
>
> I don't eat junk food. I eat Primal/Paleo. I cook on the weekends. I prefer to do it that way because of my schedule. I've found that I can make my lunches and things that I can reheat for dinners all in one day which frees me up for doing other things in the evening.
>
>
>
> I live alone. If I had a family it would be a different story, but I have the freedom to do as I please. I do cook some during the week but not every day. I'm one of those people who don't have to have something different every night so it works out well for me.
>
>
>
> If I get all inspired from something I've seen on line in this group or on Facebook I'll stop on the way home and get ingredients and make it. But that's an occasional thing.



oh... and I watch very little tv....it is a vast wasteland.

"ImStillMags" > wrote in message
...
On Wednesday, July 23, 2014 11:16:56 AM UTC-7, Ema Nymton wrote:
> On 7/23/2014 8:44 AM, Pete C. wrote:
>
>
>
> > People who are "too tired to cook" and thus eat prepared junk food are
>
> > tired *because* they eat prepared junk food. Stop eating crap and you'll
>
> > have the energy to cook real food. Also get rid of the TV, it is a truly
>
> > incredible time waster.
>
>
>
> You may be exactly right about some people.
>
>
>
> The OP said, "Working full time puts a crimp in my creative cooking
>
> cause I'm usually too pooped to mess with a lot of prep or complicated
>
> dishes when I get home. I do most of my cooking on the weekends and then
>
> have that through the week." She did not mention junk food.
>
>
>
> Becca

I don't eat junk food. I eat Primal/Paleo. I cook on the weekends. I
prefer to do it that way because of my schedule. I've found that I can make
my lunches and things that I can reheat for dinners all in one day which
frees me up for doing other things in the evening.

I live alone. If I had a family it would be a different story, but I have
the freedom to do as I please. I do cook some during the week but not
every day. I'm one of those people who don't have to have something
different every night so it works out well for me.

If I get all inspired from something I've seen on line in this group or on
Facebook I'll stop on the way home and get ingredients and make it. But
that's an occasional thing.

---

I don't eat your same diet but I am like you. Husband and daughter will be
going to visit his family for 10 days and I am looking forward to a cheap
eats week! I'm like you in that I can eat the same foods day after day.
Sometimes I will do this for long enough that I burn myself out on whatever
it is and switch to something else. And then I'll burn out on that and
maybe switch back to the other thing or something else. But... I also
don't eat a lot of food in the course of a week so I won't have to buy much
at all. I'll probably mainly use things from my stockpile and only buy
bread and a little fresh produce. Will be nice!

My family often gets annoyed if I feed them the same thing twice in a week,
even if not on subsequent days and even if I serve it in some other form.
Like making a lot of chicken and then taking that chicken and putting it in
a casserole or something. Only thing I can seem to get away with serving
repeatedly is really good steak. They both love their steak. Oh and
coleslaw. We're all on a coleslaw kick thanks to that new mayo. I just
made another double batch.

On Wed, 23 Jul 2014 19:25:24 -0700 (PDT), ImStillMags
> wrote:

> On Wednesday, July 23, 2014 11:16:56 AM UTC-7, Ema Nymton wrote:
> > On 7/23/2014 8:44 AM, Pete C. wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > > People who are "too tired to cook" and thus eat prepared junk food are
> >
> > > tired *because* they eat prepared junk food. Stop eating crap and you'll
> >
> > > have the energy to cook real food. Also get rid of the TV, it is a truly
> >
> > > incredible time waster.
> >
> >
> >
> > You may be exactly right about some people.
> >
> >
> >
> > The OP said, "Working full time puts a crimp in my creative cooking
> >
> > cause I'm usually too pooped to mess with a lot of prep or complicated
> >
> > dishes when I get home. I do most of my cooking on the weekends and then
> >
> > have that through the week." She did not mention junk food.
> >
> >
> >
> > Becca
>
> I don't eat junk food. I eat Primal/Paleo. I cook on the weekends. I prefer to do it that way because of my schedule. I've found that I can make my lunches and things that I can reheat for dinners all in one day which frees me up for doing other things in the evening.
>
> I live alone. If I had a family it would be a different story, but I have the freedom to do as I please. I do cook some during the week but not every day. I'm one of those people who don't have to have something different every night so it works out well for me.
>
> If I get all inspired from something I've seen on line in this group or on Facebook I'll stop on the way home and get ingredients and make it. But that's an occasional thing.

I think you're more the norm than Pete is based on Rachael Ray's 30
minute cooking show and the popularity of precut ingredients I see
everywhere. Better to use precut, or prepared ingredients than take
the family out for greasy fast food.

--
All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.

"Pete C." > wrote in message
. com...
>
> Dave Smith wrote:
>>
>> On 2014-02-07 10:15 AM, ImStillMags wrote:
>> > I love seeing what everyone cooks and posts here, but most of you must
>> > be retired with the meals I see posted on a daily basis. Working full
>> > time puts a crimp in my creative cooking cause I'm usually too pooped
>> > to mess with a lot of prep or complicated dishes when I get home.
>> >
>> > I do most of my cooking on the weekends and then have that through the
>> > week.
>> > One of these days......maybe I'll be able to retire, but not yet.
>> >
>> I did a lot more cooking and a lot more experimentation when I was
>> working than I have been since I retired. I never had a lot of sympathy
>> for people who ate a lot of of prepared foods and crap because they
>> didn't have time. It does not take that look to prep and cook pare a
>> good meal. There are lots of things that can be cooked quickly, and if
>> it is something that takes a while to bake or roast you can find
>> something to do while it is cooking. Some people need to tear
>> themselves away from television to reclaim some time.
>
> People who are "too tired to cook" and thus eat prepared junk food are
> tired *because* they eat prepared junk food. Stop eating crap and you'll
> have the energy to cook real food. Also get rid of the TV, it is a truly
> incredible time waster.

It's not even necessary to cook to eat good foods. When I worked, I would
often stay up late and cook things to be eaten later in the week. Pancakes
or muffins for the freezer. I sometimes made things like ravioli,
croquettes or pot stickers for the freezer. Sometimes I just make a quick
pot of soup or chili. Once I got a Crock-pot, I used that a lot.

But often I just had a good big salad. I used all sorts of greens, onions,
tomatoes, perhaps some carrots, celery, cauliflower, chunks of cheese or
hard boiled egg, and kidney or garbanzo beans. I might make tuna, chicken
or egg salad or even use cottage cheese and make a stuffed tomato.
Sometimes I had a bean tostada. I usually used canned beans. Yes, the
beans needed to be heated. But it makes for a super quick meal.

My TV is almost always on. But I am rarely watching it. I like the
background noise.

On 7/23/2014 7:01 AM, Dave Smith wrote:
> On 2014-02-07 10:15 AM, ImStillMags wrote:
>> I love seeing what everyone cooks and posts here, but most of you must
>> be retired with the meals I see posted on a daily basis. Working
>> full time puts a crimp in my creative cooking cause I'm usually too
>> pooped to mess with a lot of prep or complicated dishes when I get home.
>>
>> I do most of my cooking on the weekends and then have that through the
>> week.
>> One of these days......maybe I'll be able to retire, but not yet.
>>
> I did a lot more cooking and a lot more experimentation when I was
> working than I have been since I retired. I never had a lot of sympathy
> for people who ate a lot of of prepared foods and crap because they
> didn't have time. It does not take that look to prep and cook pare a
> good meal. There are lots of things that can be cooked quickly, and if
> it is something that takes a while to bake or roast you can find
> something to do while it is cooking. Some people need to tear
> themselves away from television to reclaim some time.

Many people view computers as being a waste of time, most people I know,
spend more time on computers than they do watching television - like we
are right now. Some people are not physically capable of doing much, so
I am glad computers are around. One of my friends just had surgery, so
the computer is keeping her company.

I can understand if people, who work full time and live alone, do most
of their cooking on the weekend. I did some of that, too, but I also
cooked in the morning before I went to work. After dinner, I would do
whatever I could, to begin preparing the next night's meal, then keep
that refrigerated overnight. I made everyone's lunch, in addition to
cooking breakfast every morning and dinner every night, and I wonder if
that mattered in the long run. I did want healthy children and I did not
want them eating prepackaged food, so I guess it was worth it.

Becca

"Ema Nymton" > wrote in message
...
> that refrigerated overnight. I made everyone's lunch, in addition to
> cooking breakfast every morning and dinner every night, and I wonder if
> that mattered in the long run. I did want healthy children and I did not
> want them eating prepackaged food, so I guess it was worth it.
>
> Becca

Well, my kids ate a lot of the stuff that is considered evil these days and
they were extremely healthy, still are. I'm a lot more of a scratch cook in
the later years, then I was then, but I also had 3 kids under the age of 4
in the days before people used disposable diapers, prepared formula etc.,
and they liked a lot of the prepackaged food.

Cheri

On 7/23/2014 1:17 PM, Cheri wrote:
>
> "Ema Nymton" > wrote in message
> ...
>> that refrigerated overnight. I made everyone's lunch, in addition to
>> cooking breakfast every morning and dinner every night, and I wonder
>> if that mattered in the long run. I did want healthy children and I
>> did not want them eating prepackaged food, so I guess it was worth it.
>>
>> Becca
>
> Well, my kids ate a lot of the stuff that is considered evil these days
> and they were extremely healthy, still are. I'm a lot more of a scratch
> cook in the later years, then I was then, but I also had 3 kids under
> the age of 4 in the days before people used disposable diapers, prepared
> formula etc., and they liked a lot of the prepackaged food.
>
> Cheri

Mine were the same ages. Looked at little tushies (changed diapers) for
over 7 years running. Two were breast fed before going onto formula.
The first one was put on "formula" of evaporated milk and dextrose
powder which had to be put in sterilized bottles then sterilized again.
After about two months it was discovered that she was allergic to milk
products so we switched to soybean based formula.

If they ate cereal, it was Cheerios or other unsweetened brands. They
did eat hot dogs, bologna and processed cheese because I don't think we
knew about the risks of nitrates back in the 70's.

I don't know if I would have used much pre-packaged food because it was
never in our budget. I had to be a scratch cook.

--
From somewhere very deep in the heart of Texas

"Janet Wilder" > wrote in message
eb.com...
> On 7/23/2014 1:17 PM, Cheri wrote:
>>
>> "Ema Nymton" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> that refrigerated overnight. I made everyone's lunch, in addition to
>>> cooking breakfast every morning and dinner every night, and I wonder
>>> if that mattered in the long run. I did want healthy children and I
>>> did not want them eating prepackaged food, so I guess it was worth it.
>>>
>>> Becca
>>
>> Well, my kids ate a lot of the stuff that is considered evil these days
>> and they were extremely healthy, still are. I'm a lot more of a scratch
>> cook in the later years, then I was then, but I also had 3 kids under
>> the age of 4 in the days before people used disposable diapers, prepared
>> formula etc., and they liked a lot of the prepackaged food.
>>
>> Cheri
>
> Mine were the same ages. Looked at little tushies (changed diapers) for
> over 7 years running. Two were breast fed before going onto formula. The
> first one was put on "formula" of evaporated milk and dextrose powder
> which had to be put in sterilized bottles then sterilized again. After
> about two months it was discovered that she was allergic to milk products
> so we switched to soybean based formula.
>
> If they ate cereal, it was Cheerios or other unsweetened brands. They did
> eat hot dogs, bologna and processed cheese because I don't think we knew
> about the risks of nitrates back in the 70's.
>
> I don't know if I would have used much pre-packaged food because it was
> never in our budget. I had to be a scratch cook.

By prepackaged, I mean cereal, canned soup, canned veggies, hot dogs, fish
sticks (lots of fishsticks) peanut butter, jelly, canned tuna for tuna
casserole etc.

Cheri

On Wed, 23 Jul 2014 13:07:22 -0500, Ema Nymton >
wrote:

> I can understand if people, who work full time and live alone, do most
> of their cooking on the weekend. I did some of that, too, but I also
> cooked in the morning before I went to work. After dinner, I would do
> whatever I could, to begin preparing the next night's meal, then keep
> that refrigerated overnight. I made everyone's lunch, in addition to
> cooking breakfast every morning and dinner every night, and I wonder if
> that mattered in the long run. I did want healthy children and I did not
> want them eating prepackaged food, so I guess it was worth it.

I cooked nightly, but I was a stay at home mother until my youngest
was in third grade so I could do that. I look at it as worth it,
because my kids are good cooks, healthy eaters (better than I am at
buying organic products) and are raising healthy children for whom
fast food is a rare treat... usually because gramma snuck them into
one during a visit.

--
All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.

On 7/23/2014 1:07 PM, Ema Nymton wrote:

> I can understand if people, who work full time and live alone, do most
> of their cooking on the weekend. I did some of that, too, but I also
> cooked in the morning before I went to work. After dinner, I would do
> whatever I could, to begin preparing the next night's meal, then keep
> that refrigerated overnight. I made everyone's lunch, in addition to
> cooking breakfast every morning and dinner every night, and I wonder if
> that mattered in the long run. I did want healthy children and I did not
> want them eating prepackaged food, so I guess it was worth it.
>
> Becca


When I was a working mom, I also did a lot of cooking on weekends as
well as coming home from a full day of work and commuting to prepare
meals. My children never ate soup from a can and never ate spaghetti
sauce that was not home made until they went off to college.

Though I made them hot cereal in the morning every day, I didn't have to
pack lunches when I was a single mom as we were able to get reduced
price school lunches. After Barry and I were married, I fixed them
sandwiches the night before and labeled the bags.

Guess what? It did not matter in the long run because they all feed
their kids frozen crap, bring in take-out and use packaged, prepared foods.

We did our parts, Becca, and we are not responsible for what they eat
any longer. All we can do is cringe. :-)

--
From somewhere very deep in the heart of Texas

Hey, I paid MY dues. I can remember going grocery shopping at 7 am, so as to get it home and then get to work. Or trips to the store on the lunch hour for non-perishables. I can remember all those quickie stovetop meals which wud yield enuf for four days runnin'. But I kinda miss working in a way - all the interaction with coworkers and the feeling of a project ending. The paycheck helped too - ha. That's why I volunteer at different things - ya get pretty stale fast sitting home, cleaning and watching old black and whites on TCM.

"Kalmia" > wrote in message
...
Hey, I paid MY dues. I can remember going grocery shopping at 7 am, so as
to get it home and then get to work. Or trips to the store on the lunch hour
for non-perishables. I can remember all those quickie stovetop meals which
wud yield enuf for four days runnin'. But I kinda miss working in a way -
all the interaction with coworkers and the feeling of a project ending. The
paycheck helped too - ha. That's why I volunteer at different things - ya
get pretty stale fast sitting home, cleaning and watching old black and
whites on TCM.

I really do miss working. We're planning a big get together sometime this
fall. Not sure where it will be. Might even be a potluck at a woman's
house who lives near here. We're all spread out as to where we live now
with some more South and some far North and one woman is coming from another
state.

Even though the job I had kinda sucked, I did have a great bunch of
coworkers and we did have really great parties.

> "Kalmia" > wrote in message
> ...
> Hey, I paid MY dues. I can remember going grocery shopping at 7 am, so
> as to get it home and then get to work. Or trips to the store on the
> lunch hour for non-perishables. I can remember all those quickie
> stovetop meals which wud yield enuf for four days runnin'. But I kinda
> miss working in a way - all the interaction with coworkers and the
> feeling of a project ending. The paycheck helped too - ha. That's why
> I volunteer at different things - ya get pretty stale fast sitting home,
> cleaning and watching old black and whites on TCM.

I recently 20% retired. I now take off every Wednesday.

I've said this before, it depends on the job. I still look forward to
going to work. I have no stress and truly enjoy the people I work with.
I get the tough problems to solve and while many people would be
stressed by them, that is the best part of what I do. Much satisfaction
from solving a problem be it in our shop or for a customer.

Meantime, Wednesday is for fun. Not for doing chores around the house,
but going out for a nice lunch and spending the day with my wife.
Yesterday I took her to breakfast, stopped at store in town, then went
to MA to pick up a marble piece I ordered custom made.

We then headed to Providence, RI to Federal Hill where all the Italian
stores and restaurants are. Andino's was our choice. We had a nice
lunch at a table by the front window. Good food, bottle of wine, just a
couple of hours of conversation. From there we stopped at Venda Ravioli
and Tony's Colonial for some meats, cheeses, bread, etc that will be
dinner tonight.

http://andinositalianrestaurant.com/...t_Opening.html

http://www.vendaravioli.com/
http://tonyscolonial.mybigcommerce.com/

Keep up that hard work. That is how we got our start. lol. Dont blame you on the too pooped to cook feeling. My wife goes through that a lot. I can live on beanie weenies and sardines from the can when the need arises. Lot of hard working folks seem to mention crockpots fairly fequently. Have you tried that..pack it in there in the AM and eat it in the PM. Make some kid wash it. There ya go. Then you eat on the concoction for a few days and go back for a reload. That sounds good huh?

> I do most of my cooking on the weekends and then have that through the week. One of these days......maybe I'll be able to retire, but not yet envious of you guys.


I am retired. I never thought I'd live long enough to say it. I'm getting the bare minimum $720 a month plus $160 in stamps. I would have traded in all my years of work to get that at a younger age. Of course, had that happened I'd probably already be dead from lying around doing nothing, which seems to have happened to me, even amid plans of freedom induced activities such as sun bathing and going to the gym.

Anyway, during my years of working I lived alone and always made food to be eaten 4 to 6 days in a row. Some changes are allowed of course. Changing up the last-minute veggies or whatever. I still have not shook free of the habit. Maybe it's a good one whether one is working or not. Also, even though I may eat the same basic meal 5 or 6 days in a row, I always have another meal prepped the same way for a different time of day. I'm a prepper.. I put assorted veggies in a container in the fridge and add per day cut up to just the right size to accommodate the reheating process to whatever the basic meal is. Anyway, I thought I'd do things differently when I got my 'freedom', but everything remains the same. I'm staid baby. Staid as staid can be.

TJ

"Tommy Joe" > wrote in message
...

> I do most of my cooking on the weekends and then have that through the
> week. One of these days......maybe I'll be able to retire, but not yet
> envious of you guys.


I am retired. I never thought I'd live long enough to say it. I'm getting
the bare minimum $720 a month plus $160 in stamps. I would have traded in
all my years of work to get that at a younger age. Of course, had that
happened I'd probably already be dead from lying around doing nothing, which
seems to have happened to me, even amid plans of freedom induced activities
such as sun bathing and going to the gym.

Anyway, during my years of working I lived alone and always made food to be
eaten 4 to 6 days in a row. Some changes are allowed of course. Changing
up the last-minute veggies or whatever. I still have not shook free of the
habit. Maybe it's a good one whether one is working or not. Also, even
though I may eat the same basic meal 5 or 6 days in a row, I always have
another meal prepped the same way for a different time of day. I'm a
prepper. I put assorted veggies in a container in the fridge and add per
day cut up to just the right size to accommodate the reheating process to
whatever the basic meal is. Anyway, I thought I'd do things differently
when I got my 'freedom', but everything remains the same. I'm staid baby.
Staid as staid can be.

TJ

---

Holy cow! You couldn't even rent a room here for that kind of money.

On Thu, 24 Jul 2014 01:22:32 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> wrote:

> Holy cow! You couldn't even rent a room here for that kind of money.

I know. One bedroom apartments up the street are going for $3,000 a
month. How anyone can save to buy a home is beyond my comprehension.

--
All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.

On 7/24/2014 9:43 AM, sf wrote:
> On Thu, 24 Jul 2014 01:22:32 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> > wrote:
>
>> Holy cow! You couldn't even rent a room here for that kind of money.
>
> I know. One bedroom apartments up the street are going for $3,000 a
> month. How anyone can save to buy a home is beyond my comprehension.
>
A couple who were friends of my middle brother lived somewhere in SoCal
(San Diego, maybe) for a few years before moving back to the Memphis
area. (This was in the mid-1980's.) For a short time they lived with
his father while looking for their own place. When they told us how
much they had to pay in rent for a 1 bedroom apartment our jaws dropped.
IIRC it was $1500 a month thirty years ago. *Their* jaws dropped when
they saw what they could get for that kind of money in the Memphis area!

Jill

On 7/25/2014 8:26 AM, jmcquown wrote:
> On 7/24/2014 9:43 AM, sf wrote:
>> On Thu, 24 Jul 2014 01:22:32 -0700, "Julie Bove"
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> Holy cow! You couldn't even rent a room here for that kind of money.
>>
>> I know. One bedroom apartments up the street are going for $3,000 a
>> month. How anyone can save to buy a home is beyond my comprehension.
>>
> A couple who were friends of my middle brother lived somewhere in SoCal
> (San Diego, maybe) for a few years before moving back to the Memphis
> area. (This was in the mid-1980's.) For a short time they lived with
> his father while looking for their own place. When they told us how
> much they had to pay in rent for a 1 bedroom apartment our jaws dropped.
> IIRC it was $1500 a month thirty years ago. *Their* jaws dropped when
> they saw what they could get for that kind of money in the Memphis area!
>
> Jill
This is why I won't move back to New Jersey to be near the kids. It
would cost me more for a studio apartment than I pay on my mortgage. I
have a 2100 sq. ft. house on 3/4 of an acre and no snow.

--
From somewhere very deep in the heart of Texas

On Fri, 25 Jul 2014 09:26:43 -0400, jmcquown >
wrote:

> On 7/24/2014 9:43 AM, sf wrote:
> > On Thu, 24 Jul 2014 01:22:32 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> > > wrote:
> >
> >> Holy cow! You couldn't even rent a room here for that kind of money.
> >
> > I know. One bedroom apartments up the street are going for $3,000 a
> > month. How anyone can save to buy a home is beyond my comprehension.
> >
> A couple who were friends of my middle brother lived somewhere in SoCal
> (San Diego, maybe) for a few years before moving back to the Memphis
> area. (This was in the mid-1980's.) For a short time they lived with
> his father while looking for their own place. When they told us how
> much they had to pay in rent for a 1 bedroom apartment our jaws dropped.
> IIRC it was $1500 a month thirty years ago. *Their* jaws dropped when
> they saw what they could get for that kind of money in the Memphis area!
>
Yes, it's amazing how cheap land is in some areas. We were watching
some show and a huge (3,000+ sf), practically brand new home, sitting
on 5 acres of land (basically on the outskirts of whatever metro area)
was something like $350,000. Something like that would be
multi-millions here.

--
All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.

On 7/25/2014 8:26 AM, jmcquown wrote:
> On 7/24/2014 9:43 AM, sf wrote:
>> On Thu, 24 Jul 2014 01:22:32 -0700, "Julie Bove"
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> Holy cow! You couldn't even rent a room here for that kind of money.
>>
>> I know. One bedroom apartments up the street are going for $3,000 a
>> month. How anyone can save to buy a home is beyond my comprehension.
>>
> A couple who were friends of my middle brother lived somewhere in SoCal
> (San Diego, maybe) for a few years before moving back to the Memphis
> area. (This was in the mid-1980's.) For a short time they lived with
> his father while looking for their own place. When they told us how
> much they had to pay in rent for a 1 bedroom apartment our jaws dropped.
> IIRC it was $1500 a month thirty years ago. *Their* jaws dropped when
> they saw what they could get for that kind of money in the Memphis area!
>
> Jill

Memphis is just beautiful, and being in the middle of the country, the
cost of living is favorable. I will not move to the East coast or the
West coast, almost everything is over priced. Real estate is expensive,
so are utilities, groceries, movie theaters and gas. It is cheap to live
in the middle.

Becca

Julie Bove wrote:

> Holy cow! You couldn't even rent a room here for that kind of money.


If I had $500 a week coming in I could live like a king in any state. I never aspired to much. I dreamed of it but never put any work into getting anywhere. I have talents, but was never gutsy or willing enough to hone them.. So I drove a cab for 33 years with other minimum wage type jobs here and there in between.

There is a point where no matter how resourceful one is a roof over the head can cost to much. It's like a guy I knew back at the Hollwyood poolroom, Blackie Gallo, used to say in a thick Boston accent: "You can beat the knife and the fork, but you can't beat the rent."

It's true. You can eat cheap. You can adjust. The only way to adjust the rent is to take in a room-mate. That could result in homicide down the road.

Anyway, I never made more than $300 a week, the latter years half that amount. I'm glad I'm getting the checks. But really, think about it, $2,000 a month - even as much as a thousand to rent, you've still got a thousand left over to spend. That's $250 a week. And if you live without air conditioning, which I have done all my life, even now in the humid swelt of NC, the electric bill is way lower. I am not opposed to air conditioners and did not reject them on the basis of monthly billing - I just happen to like open windows. Anyway, if one is able to live and eat and has a roof over their head in a non war zone with no giant bugs and no one coming through your walls, I'd say if you have that and you don't have to work you are rich. I have always believed that no matter how much money a person makes, if they have to work they are not rich. Ever.
If they say they like the work, then it's not work (unless they're lying to themselves, which of course many do). I'd love to have more money and a car. But I'm not going to fight the world for it. No way.

TJ

"Tommy Joe" > wrote in message
...
Julie Bove wrote:

> Holy cow! You couldn't even rent a room here for that kind of money.


If I had $500 a week coming in I could live like a king in any state. I
never aspired to much. I dreamed of it but never put any work into getting
anywhere. I have talents, but was never gutsy or willing enough to hone
them. So I drove a cab for 33 years with other minimum wage type jobs here
and there in between.

---

Not here you couldn't! You are lucky to get a one bedroom apartment here
for $1,000. Perhaps if you go into a rather bad area in Everett, you could
get something for less. I've not seen any rooms for rent in this area. You
can get them in Seattle but they are few and far between and you might have
to share a bath. Then by the time you pay utilities, you won't have much
left for food. Food is not cheap here.

---

There is a point where no matter how resourceful one is a roof over the head
can cost to much. It's like a guy I knew back at the Hollwyood poolroom,
Blackie Gallo, used to say in a thick Boston accent: "You can beat the
knife and the fork, but you can't beat the rent."

---

Okay.

---

It's true. You can eat cheap. You can adjust. The only way to adjust the
rent is to take in a room-mate. That could result in homicide down the
road.

---

Or as I was just telling my daughter, the roommate could move out. That's
the big problem with roommates. They decide to move in with a boyfriend or
girlfriend or get married or take a job elsewhere or go to school elsewhere.
They're just not reliable. I even had one briefly who was dealing drugs out
of our apartment. That didn't go over too well.

I thought I might have better luck if I moved from my place in with a
friend. Well she got pregnant not long after I moved in and married the
guy. She found me another roommate but... There were issues. Several
times she invited friends or relatives to stay with us and then she took off
to stay with her boyfriend leaving me to feed them and such. Then one time
she and a friend invited some purported rock band from Alaska that they met
at the airport to stay with us.

Every day I'd get up to go to work and a guy recovering from a hangover and
sleeping on our couch asked me how to get to the airport. Same thing every
morning. She and the friend wound up sleeping at her boyfriend's house to
accomodate the band. The other two guys were sleeping in her room on the
King sized bed. I never actually saw them. Just the guy on the couch.

Nothing bad happened then really except that it was rather an inconvenience
to me and I felt very uncomfortable the entire time they were there because
they were total strangers. They all left after about a week and I never saw
them again.

After we got kicked out of that house...landlord got married and moved in...
I vowed never to have another roommate. So I made sure to rent a place that
I could afford on my own.

---

Anyway, I never made more than $300 a week, the latter years half that
amount. I'm glad I'm getting the checks. But really, think about it,
$2,000 a month - even as much as a thousand to rent, you've still got a
thousand left over to spend. That's $250 a week. And if you live without
air conditioning, which I have done all my life, even now in the humid swelt
of NC, the electric bill is way lower. I am not opposed to air conditioners
and did not reject them on the basis of monthly billing - I just happen to
like open windows. Anyway, if one is able to live and eat and has a roof
over their head in a non war zone with no giant bugs and no one coming
through your walls, I'd say if you have that and you don't have to work you
are rich. I have always believed that no matter how much money a person
makes, if they have to work they are not rich. Ever.
If they say they like the work, then it's not work (unless they're lying to
themselves, which of course many do). I'd love to have more money and a
car. But I'm not going to fight the world for it. No way.

---

You're assuming that you would pay no utilities. Here if you rent an
apartment you have to at least pay for electricity and almost always you'll
have electric heat which you may need to run most of the year. I did have
one townhouse that was between another apartment and the laundry room. For
whatever reason, that place stayed fairly warm and I don't think I ever
needed to turn on the heat. I also don't think we had any snow for the
couple of years that I lived there.


As for people working... Not everyone does it because they have to. After
I got married, I certainly didn't have to. My husband made enough money for
the two of us. He is retired now and technically doesn't have to work
either but... In order to live in this house, he does have to work.

If we moved to perhaps some depressed part of the county and found a place
with cheap enough rent or a cheap enough house, we'd do okay but... We
choose to live here.

TJ

On 7/25/2014 3:25 AM, Julie Bove wrote:
> Or as I was just telling my daughter, the roommate could move out.
> That's the big problem with roommates. They decide to move in with a
> boyfriend or girlfriend or get married or take a job elsewhere or go to
> school elsewhere. They're just not reliable.

I rented a three bedroom house with my brother. That worked out well
for a number of years. He had two bedrooms and a full bath at one end
of the house, I had the master bedroom and bath at the other end. We
really only ever met in the middle, in the kitchen or the "great room"
(as they were called then). It was fine because we weren't stepping on
each others toes. He did his thing, I did mine. Then he met a woman,
built a house and got married. There were still about 8 months left on
the lease.

A good friend of mine *really* liked the house and wanted to move in.
And she did, for a few months. I warned her in advance what it would
cost. (The utility bills in that house were outrageous.) Her mother
convinced her I must be exaggerating, even though I'd shown G*** the
bills. Of course it turned out she couldn't afford it. She came home
one night and announced she had rented an apartment and was moving at
the end of the week. That left me stuck between a rock and a hard
place. Nope, I'll never have another roommate again.

Jill

On 2014-02-07 11:36 AM, wrote:

>
> Your turn will come remember, there are no days off once retired!
>


Yep. It always disturbs me a little when people tell me to have a nice
weekend. Every day is a weekend. I don't look forward as much to
holidays because there isn't anything special about having a day off.