Quoted message said: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. The
reason is that I never have the right ingredients. 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. I dont have
any canned tomatoes.....
Glance at the back of the box before you put it in the cart. It will
take mere seconds and improve your cooking.
I live in a rural area, and the nearest
Quoted message said:grocery store is 6 miles away, so I am not driving all the way to town
just to get a can of tomatoes.
Six miles to the store is rural? Inconvienient I can see but
rural...nah. The lake house is a hour from a real grocery store and
many people don't think of that as rural.
Heck, by the time I burn up all that
Quoted message said:gas, if I get to town, I'll eat at a fast food restaurant and probably
save money, not to mention eating better tasting food.
If you start cooking that stuff will start to taste like the [censored] that
it is. Confession....I used to think that Dominoes made the best pizza
in the world. Then I learned to make pizza, and came to the conclussion
that Dominoes was only marginal and the other pizza joints were even
worse. Aside from one place that does brick oven pizzas I don't care
for the pizzas available. Thusly making my own these days, there is
work and time involved but not much more than the time from phone call
to delivery, not to mention that it costs maybe $4 to make an excellent
pie.
Quoted message said:
My question is this: How does anyone know how to have the right
ingredients at home, or do all the good cooks go to the store at least
3 times a day? I guess the other option would be to buy a few cans,
jars, and boxes of every product sold in a grocery store, but I cant
afford that, and half the stuff would spoil, not to mention where to
keep it all. I opened another box of something awhile back that said
"just add one cup of chicken". OK, I sat there thinking about how I
was going to load my rifle, and go find me a chicken, chop off one
cups worth and proceed to finally cook my meal a week later..... yeah,
right !!!!
I keep some boneless skinless chicken in the freezer for occassions like
that, kept company by some steaks, chops and shrimp. A microware with a
defrost feature, a few minutes and it can be cut up and used. Beef and
seafood don't get the micro defrost though.
Quoted message said:
So, what do you people really do? Do you actually read these entire
boxes while you are in the grocery store, and make lists and fill out
plans and menus for the week, etc etc??? This may be fine for a
housewife that has nothing more to do, but I am just not all that
serious, nor interested in cooking.
Yeah, I really read the boxes, it doesn't take long, hell you can look
at the pictures on many brands. Guilty of a menu plan for the week and
a grocery list as well. It takes up about fifteen minutes of my week,
leaving me 60 hours to work, 42 hours to sleep, and 65 hours 45 minutes
to do everything else.
When I buy a box of something
Quoted message said: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. (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.......???? 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, and times of bad weather where the roads are too bad to go
to town, 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.
Learn a few simple dishes...fresh ravioli, tortellini and other pastas
are available in the markets, pick one pair it with a jarred sauce that
strikes your fancy, pick up a salad in a bag, dressing and some bread
and butter and you have a decent quick easy meal. Frozen meatballs can
be added to a jarred sauce while it warms on the stove and served over
pasta. A chicken breast pan fried in a bit of oil with a bit of garlic
can be cut up and added to an alfredo sauce. Pork chops pan fried with
salt & pepper, nuke a potato top with butter, sour cream, bacon bits
whatever, serve with whatever canned or frozen vegetable you like.
For meats the freezer is your friend. If you aren't going to cook all
of the meat within 2-3 days ziplock and freeze.
Quoted message said:
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.
I'd pick nothing over a sub of tomato soup, but that's just me.
Quoted message said:
Rob