Poll: The lost art of cooking?

[aja8888]

I've been on a low carb plan since last April to lose a few pounds. DW has joined me since she does the cooking.

Dinner has typically been steamed broccoli or cauliflower, salads, grilled chicken, fish, etc. All somewhat cooked from scratch or prepackaged (salad mix). Pretty boring too!

No white stuff (starch) or sugar. No processed wheat products.

Breakfast is easy (eggs and bacon). Lunch a salad or just a plate of veggies. The real problem is eating out, especially this holiday season. Nothing on the restaurant menus works or fits in.

I would guess we will continue the restricted carb plan (our design) as it fits with scratch type cooking. I am near my desired weight (again) and DW, who is naturally thin, has lost a few inches here and there.

 

[ArkTinkerer]

We cook at home almost all the time. Most common "processed" foods for us are tortillas and tortilla chips! During summer lots of stuff from the garden. Less during winter but some home canned items. Venison is common. Not a lot of fish. Some small game. Do much of our own bread. Occasionally grinding the flour. It is very hard to see that eating out, even at fast food places, could ever be cheaper. And very very seldom as good. We may buy a precooked chicken sometimes. Bought a bunch when we found them on sale and stripped the meat, made soup from the bones, and crisped the chicken skins. We got about 6-10 servings out of each chicken depending on what we did with the meat and, of course, how much other food was added to the meal.

 

[EastWest Gal]

You're correct the label says 0% trans fat. As I understand the label if there is less than .5 grams it's rounded down to zero. Read the list of ingredients as I recall bisquick has partially hydrogenated soybean oil. That is trans fat as I understand the bizarre labelling system we have.

Yeah, I checked the website again. You're right. However, the only one of their products I've ever used is the Heart Smart mix. Definitely no trans fat. I think I've purchased about 5 boxes over the past 16 years.

I now make my waffle batter from scratch, using a recipe I altered from the Internet. I substitute Greek yogurt for buttermilk and thin it with milk. Also substitute some cornstarch for the flour, which makes them crispier. I make them no more than 3 times a year. DH and I only eat half a Belgian waffle each, so I only make them when DS is home.


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[splitwdw]

I now make my waffle batter from scratch, using a recipe I altered from the Internet. I substitute Greek yogurt for buttermilk and thin it with milk. Also substitute some cornstarch for the flour, which makes them crispier. I make them no more than 3 times a year. DH and I only eat half a Belgian waffle each, so I only make them when DS is home.

Since you eat the half waffle so infrequently does it really make a difference making the recipe substitutions or are you on a strict diet? I have a friend that watches what he eats 90% of the time so he can feels he can have full "fat" foods occasionally. We have a common friend that makes donuts once a year and we all eat them. OMG, wish I hadn't mentioned the donuts. There is nothing like fresh made donuts.

 

[24601NoMore]

50*4*12*10=24K. Just saying.

Yep..obviously too much pre-Christmas eggnog!

Thanks for catching that..I realized I was doing 'new math' late last night but didn't get around to editing yet..

 

[harley]

Yep..obviously too much pre-Christmas eggnog!

Thanks for catching that..I realized I was doing 'new math' late last night but didn't get around to editing yet..

I tried helping DGD with her Common Core math a while back. I'd never make it out of 4th grade these days.

 

[ArkTinkerer]

Since you eat the half waffle so infrequently does it really make a difference making the recipe substitutions or are you on a strict diet? I have a friend that watches what he eats 90% of the time so he can feels he can have full "fat" foods occasionally. We have a common friend that makes donuts once a year and we all eat them. OMG, wish I hadn't mentioned the donuts. There is nothing like fresh made donuts.

I'll take fritters over donuts! You can even convince yourself they are better for you due to the fruit content.

Of course to do them right, you have to do them in a dutch oven over a morning campfire when the weather is a just a bit chilly. Looking out over a field or lake while you plan the days (in)activities.

 

[Chuckanut]

I have a friend that watches what he eats 90% of the time so he can feels he can have full "fat" foods occasionally. We have a common friend that makes donuts once a year and we all eat them. OMG, wish I hadn't mentioned the donuts. There is nothing like fresh made donuts.

I follow the 80% rule myself. Basically, it allows one meal every other day that is not 'healthy'. (I leave it up to each individual to define what 'healthy' is.)

I find this a very practical approach.

 

[Rustic23]

Assuming that 'From Scratch' means taking for raw foods, maybe adding some processed food to create a dish, then 2. However, few of us really cooks from 'scratch'! Processed flower, sugar, meats, canned products, i.e. broth's, bottled spices, etc. Cavemen cooked from scratch

 

[NW-Bound]

Speaking of broth, we very often make our own broth from soup bones, or chicken carcasses. The flavor is superior to canned broth.

 

[braumeister]

Bone broth is great, and so good for you.

When I'm shopping at one of our wonderful old-fashioned butcher shops, I usually end with a request for some beef bones, and most of the time they're thrown in for free.

 

[NW-Bound]

Once upon a time, soup bones, or dog bones as they were called back then, were free for the asking. Now, they are for sale at as high as $2/lb. So, I often buy cheap cuts to make the broth, then use the meat in the soup too.

By the way, we have a thermal cooker, which is a highly insulated pot, for simmering bones. One brings the pot to a boil, then puts it in the encapsulating double-wall outer container to simmer for the next several hours. No watching over the pot, no boiling, no skimmering the scum on the surface. Two gallons of broth for not much work.

 

[Nemo2]

Speaking of broth, we very often make our own broth from soup bones, or chicken carcasses. The flavor is superior to canned broth.

We do this pretty much all the time...make soups/stews...going to DW's daughter's tomorrow..if they don't want the turkey carcass we'll grab it....if they do, then we have a frozen turkey in the fridge for later.

 

[aja8888]

There is nothing like fresh made donuts.

You are killing my will power! I haven't had a donut since last April. Looks like I slide off my low carb diet over the next few days.

 

[W2R]

You are killing my will power! I haven't had a donut since last April. Looks like I slide off my low carb diet over the next few days.

I'm throwing Weight Watchers under the bus for 24 hours, starting two hours from now.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Since you eat the half waffle so infrequently does it really make a difference making the recipe substitutions or are you on a strict diet? I have a friend that watches what he eats 90% of the time so he can feels he can have full "fat" foods occasionally. We have a common friend that makes donuts once a year and we all eat them. OMG, wish I hadn't mentioned the donuts. There is nothing like fresh made donuts.

I like tinkering with recipes to get them to taste better. It's fun. And Belgian waffles are big!


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[audreyh1]

Donuts have no appeal to me. Fresh French croissants on the other hand.......

 

[Meadbh]

Donuts have no appeal to me. Fresh French croissants on the other hand.......

Here is a new recipe for croissants that looks a lot easier than the traditional method. I may try this one.

Homemade Chocolate Croissants - Gemma’s Bigger Bolder Baking

She describes them as a labor of love. I think cooking is not just about meeting nutritional needs while saving money; enjoying the process is often as important as the outcome.

 

[audreyh1]

Here is a new recipe for croissants that looks a lot easier than the traditional method. I may try this one.

Homemade Chocolate Croissants - Gemma’s Bigger Bolder Baking

She describes them as a labor of love. I think cooking is not just about meeting nutritional needs while saving money; enjoying the process is often as important as the outcome.

Thanks much!

I don't bake anymore and I avoid wheat. So my exception is when I travel to France. And I don't cook there - just eat.

 

[NW-Bound]

Here is a new recipe for croissants that looks a lot easier than the traditional method. I may try this one.

Homemade Chocolate Croissants - Gemma’s Bigger Bolder Baking

She describes them as a labor of love. I think cooking is not just about meeting nutritional needs while saving money; enjoying the process is often as important as the outcome.

Looks tempting. My wife bakes occasionally, but I never have.

It is true that the joy of cooking is the same as that of any other craft; it is the creation of something higher or more refined out of simpler ingredients or materials.

I have to put this croissant recipe on the back burner for now. My blood glucose was at 102 in the recent blood test.

 

[FUEGO]

Once upon a time, soup bones, or dog bones as they were called back then, were free for the asking. Now, they are for sale at as high as $2/lb. So, I often buy cheap cuts to make the broth, then use the meat in the soup too.

I've noticed this too when I asked our grocery store butcher for some bones (for free). He showed me the $2/lb "soup bones". Or I can just buy the $3-5/lb decent cuts of bone in beef. And get nearly free beef surrounding those bones.

We also keep a couple bags of bones in the freezer. Comes in handy since we make pho broth and various soups around 1-2x/month.

 

[tmm99]

We also keep a couple bags of bones in the freezer. Comes in handy since we make pho broth and various soups around 1-2x/month.

I have recently read that you can reuse the same bones to make the bone broth (You don't have to throw it away after one cooking.) I am not sure about chicken, but for sure beef bones. You probably knew this, but put a little vinegar when cooking - it is supposed to leach out more minerals from the bones.

 

[Lsbcal]

Breakfast is usually some organic raisin bran poured straight from the box. Then I add some seasonal fruit and dried cranberries. Then a few mixed nuts with several being almonds.

Then I go out and get milk from the our cow:

 

[NW-Bound]

I have recently read that you can reuse the same bones to make the bone broth (You don't have to throw it away after one cooking.) I am not sure about chicken, but for sure beef bones. You probably knew this, but put a little vinegar when cooking - it is supposed to leach out more minerals from the bones.

This is true if you want to get mineral and calcium from the bones. However, that taste of umami or je ne sais quoi fades out. Hence, I use the bones only once. And that taste comes from the porous bone ends more than the bone itself. Hence, the soup bone packages that they sell for $2/lb have more of the ends, and they are often sawed into slices to make it easier to leach out all that goodness.

 

[NW-Bound]

Strictly speaking, there's a difference between broth, which is made with meat, and stock, which is made from bones.

I found the following video that shows how stock would be made in a 5-star restaurant. It takes 2-1/2 days! Evidently, nothing I have made comes anywhere to this level of particularity. I wonder if my peasant's palate can appreciate it. Perhaps I will try one day to see for myself.