Posted on 08/19/2019 6:00:04 PM PDT by GuavaCheesePuff
For some Americans, going out to dinner is a treat, planned and budgeted for. For others, it’s just another Tuesday night. And Wednesday. And Thursday.
And that second group of people is becoming the majority. The number of Americans who enjoy cooking is declining, while the prevalence of food delivery startups, and culinary-centric television shows grows.
In the Harvard Business Review, researcher Eddie Yoon shares data he’s gathered over two decades working as a consultant for consumer packaged goods companies. Early in Yoon’s career, he conducted a survey that determined that Americans fell into one of three groups:
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
Labs are the best! Make sure to keep Vet appointments and use the Flea and Tick Guard to ward off the ticks carrying Lymes’s Disease if that’s a problem in your area.
It’s just too prevalent where I live and Lyme’s Disease effects the kidneys in Labs. It happens FAST and there’s no saving them. No symptoms until it was too late. :(
My Lucy was six years old and just a perfect dog in all respects when I lost her. The other two (Cinder & Murphy) lived to 15 and 13, but cancer got them in the end.
My hardest loss was my 15 year old Basset Hound, Rufus, though he outlived all the Labs and had a lot of funny mannerisms that he picked up from them - he’d always greet you with something in his mouth, like a Lab does, and he loved the water, which is unusual for Bassets as they usually SINK, LOL!
My wife uses the smoke alarm as a cooking timer. Eating out is self defense, pure and simple.
I do serious leftovers. Sometimes they are better than the original meal. I cook a lot because I enjoy it and can watch tv while prepping. There are meals I go out for like prime rib and scallops but there are also meals I can make as good at home such as shrimp scampi.
Pirahna. What an apt description! :)
...sometimes you’re tired after work...
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Which is why it’s smart to cook double batches and freeze meal-sized portions for those days. Takes no energy to set out the frozen, prepared meals and warm them up.
Not a lot of temptation where I live and I like to cook. I still don’t do it every day. The take out or sit down meals available in the country are pitiful. We cook better ourselves.
Don’t like to make those double batches? Buy frozen pizza and add toppings. Form ground beef into patties, cook what you’ll eat and freeze the extras. Keep tortillas on hand and make wraps or burritos with whatever you like or have on hand. When all else palls, sometimes a quick-baked microwaved potato topped with butter and cheese (more if you’re ambitious), hits the spot.
I feel guilty if I spend $10 a serving at a restaurant. I can feed the two of us dinner for a week on that.
My aunt had 4 teen boys. Thanksgiving at their house was a spectator sport. Empty bowls, turkey carcasses, ham bones that had been picked clean.
hummingbird cake
https://www.thespruceeats.com/classic-hummingbird-cake-recipe-3051129
Looks good. I wonder if you can cut time with a good quality prepared mix and add the spices/pineapple/pecans/extra vanilla?
I’m a good cook and a lousy baker.
I like to cook and I get sick of it.
My biggest food losses are with fresh fruits and vegetables - salad greens most of all. My consumption rate never seems to match what is needed for the quantity bought before part of the purchase spoils - most of the time something spoils before I use it.
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There are just 2 of us. I had the same problem.
I started using the Green Bags. I have some that are a few years old (rinse and dry after each use). I never wash produce until we are going to eat it. Everything either gets wrapped in a paper towel or I place a crumpled towel into the bag of carrots/grapes, whatever. Peppers and cukes get wrapped individually. I no longer ever buy bagged slaw or salad greens. They rot too quickly. I can keep most produce for 5 weeks or more.
I cut or break off what I’m using (lettuce leaves, a portion of sweet pepper, individual mini-cukes, a bunch of grapes, part of an apple. I wash what I’m using. I re-wrap the remainder to go back in the bag (replace towel if it is soaked. Air dry towels and use for cleanup). Next time, if there is a layer of oxidation, I trim that (apples/cabbage)before wash & use. All wrapped and bagged dry produce is stored in the crisper, set for moderate air flow. The quantity of Green Bags in each drawer increases longevity.
I have rarely tossed out produce except for those I have somehow forgotten to use in a timely manner. We have side salad almost daily, but some things, like celery and grapes seem to be used less frequently. Still, I don’t have rotten messes and things last a reasonable amount of time.
I have kept individual lettuce leaves successfully by wrapping in a towel and placing in a ziplock. Keeping the moisture down is the key, but the Green Bags add longevity. If something is limp, but not rotted, it just goes in the boiling bag in the freezer to eventually become soup.
...about as lazy as you can get, IMO.
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And those delivery meal packs where someone else picked out the ingredients and portioned it for you, although you still have to cook it. Not as lazy, but expensive and you have no idea where it came from.
...when cooking for 2 or 3, youlose much of the economy of scale, that’s a simple fact.
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Not. Something like stroganoff keeps in the fridge a few days and freezes ok if you add more sour cream the 2nd time. We hardly ever eat the same thing 2 nights in a row. I can alternate with other meals 1-2 nights, then the casserole or whatever is not boring.
I have one pasta salad that makes 4 meals for two people and cannot be frozen. It keeps well for a week, so I just alternate.
I have this great fried rice recipe, Thai style (saute the raw rice 1st) that uses up leftover protien, can be instantly adjusted to various cuisines and even freezes well. But I never freeze it. 2 days later, I serve it w/hot & sour soup and some frozen/steamed bao and it’s great. A little leftover makes a lunch.
I leverage economy of scale all the time for 2 adults. It works.
...a Foodsaver vacuum sealer. ...
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2nd that! Also the hand-held vacuum sealers and vented bags are great for refrigerated stuff like hard cheeses.
I had my JRT put to sleep in February, due to so many health issues. But when she got sick and weak, she loved it when I made her a scrambled egg, sometimes with dry toast...chicken, baby foods warmed up that were dog-safe (no onion in them). Sometimes I would grind up dry dog food into a powder and mix it with either wet dog food or baby food and make it into “meatballs” for her. She liked that too.
FYI...
August cooking thread --- http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3768493/posts
Enjoy your quick healthy meals, Moonmad27.
I buy yummy sauces at Trader Joe to make things more interesting. They also have wonderful cage-free organic eggs. Lucky for me, they have a store within walking distance. :)
One favorite is an old family recipe requiring ramen noodles and hot water and a seasoning packet.
Another time honored recipe requires only 2 ingredients: a microwave and a package of frozen burritos.
Here in Colorado it's 4 tacos for $2 every day after the Rockies score at least 7 runs. And that happens all the time. 4 times in the past week alone.
I’ve made one before, my husband prefers pie so he only eats one piece and I wind up eating the rest, even if I put it in the freezer it beckons to me. :) That’s why I like the idea of buying one piece at a time at Whole Foods.
I’m with you. We bought half a hog this fall and the freezer is full. I’ve got a crock pot, pressure cooker and big ol’ Nasco roaster, and I know how to use them.
Point is, home cooking is SO much healthier and cheaper. If you raise your own livestock (probably if you hunt or fish, too) you know how it was fed and cared for. Bonus.
I like eating out, but it bothers me when we spend as much on one meal as we would have on half the grocery bill.
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