"maxine in ri" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:Is it growing all your own organic ingredients, processing them, and
creating edible food?
Is it opening a few cans, mixing them together, putting the result in
the microwave for 20 minutes?
How about heating up a frozen commercial entree?
I'd like to hear how individuals here define it, and I'll start off
with my take:
Taking mostly foods that are minimally processed (fresh or frozen
produce, uncooked, unseasoned animal protein, basic elements of baking,
dairy products from the store, drynoodles and other grain products)
combining and processing them with heat or cold or time, to make the
food I serve to my family and friends.
I use Canned and jarred goods, but not too often, or as a minor element
in the cooking (canned tuna, or olives for example).
Lately,I've been baking bread and making yogurt, and would like to
learn enough to make my own cheeses,fresh ones first, then aged ones as
resources present themselves.
For me it involves cooking things starting from the most basic components
that are practical. Just about the only canned veggies I use are tomatoes,
when fresh aren't available in the same quality and after the ones in my
freezer are gone. I'll use canned tomato paste, too. And canned artichoke
hearts, olives, things like that.
I bake my own bread, but I don't grind the grains. Sometimes I make pasta.
It depends. I buy things like crackers and graham crackers. I've got panko
bread crumbs that I bought.
Some things don't seem to be practical or worthwhile to make at home --
ketchup, for example. I bought corned beef already "corned." I don't smoke
my own ham or sausages.
It also depends on how much of a highlight a particular ingredient is in the
overall meal plan. Sometimes I make my own tortillas, but I've got a good
local source, so quite often I buy them. Desserts aren't a big thing around
here. Sometimes I'll make a dessert, but right now I've got a couple boxes
of Girl Scout cookies around. don't remember the last time we had boxed
cookies, though -- probably last Girl Scout season. There's always some kind
of fresh fruit available for dessert, if we want it. My pie crusts are hit
and miss, so sometimes I'll buy the pre-made crusts if I'm making a pie.
Depends on what else is going on. I might bake cookies, but I'll buy the
chocolate chips.
It also depends on how readily available an ingredient is. I don't like the
local Italian sausages, and I've seldom seen fresh Polish sausage, so I make
my own. I can't find good pita bread, so I make that. I can't find gyros
meat, so I make that. I recently made batches of ravioli and pierogi and
froze them.
Depends also on how much of a thing I use and how practical it is to make in
small quantities. I buy jelly, but I use maybe one jar a year. There are
probably a lot of other things like that. I buy cheese, but it's "real"
cheese.
I've also got a couple of recipes that call for canned products, and when I
make them, I use the canned goods if I want them to come out the way I'm
used to. I might try another recipe now and then, but if I'm making
something that I've eaten since childhood, it's just not the same without
the canned cream of mushroom soup, or whatever. But I'm more likely to use
those canned goods as in ingredient in a recipe than served as-is. So I
might use a jarred salsa in a recipe, but make my own for dipping.
And there are times when I crave boxed mac 'n cheese. Mostly when I'm
feeling a little sick. If I'm sicker, I want Mrs. Grass's chicken noodle
soup.
Sometimes I'll buy Safeway's soups. The tomato basil is pretty good. There
are other things that I'll buy now and then. About once a year, we'll have
Marie Callendar's pot pies. If I'm making burgers on the grill, I might buy
potato chips, and now and then I buy Cheetos. I'm definitely not fanatic
about not using prepared foods, but I probably use less than most of my
neighbors.
Donna
