What happened to the REAL food in recipes?

[chiffonade]

Originally posted by CompassRose
I do sometimes use those mixtures of frozen vegetables...Broccoli hit $5 a head...I'll change or alter or adapt any recipe freely -- even baking...I've had the CHECKOUT CLERKS at the supermarket ask me occasionally what some slightly obscure vegetable I'm buying (parsnips, once!) actually is, and what you do with it.

Convenience products, like frozen veggies, are there for our convenience! If not buying frozen means our family does not get veggies as part of their daily diet, I say buy frozen! I especially like Green Giant whole frozen veggies. I've gotten the string beans and broccoli many times. They're unadulterated (no "flavoring" crap added) and ready to use.

I don't tweak baking much due to the chemical reactions necessary for baking to work. However, I'll toss a handful of chocolate chips or raisins or craisins into something if I think they'll improve it.

As for buying veggies and having a cashier give you the hairy eyeball...nearly every time I shopped for our restaurant, checkout time wound up being a produce lesson. (Try buying lemongrass, most have no clue what it is or how it's used )

[CompassRose]

Chiffonade, the produce lesson? I hear you! I've given many a "how I use this" lecture over the conveyer belt at my local Zehrs.

On a related note -- do supermarkets other places use those verdammt CODE STICKERS on their produce? Loathe those things! Why do I have to strip half the skin off my pear because no one can be bothered to teach their clerks the difference between a Bosc and a Bartlett???

[phatch]

The checkers who can't tell the difference between parsley, cilantro and italian parsley....

But for me to get lemongrass, I have to go the Chinese grocer. And there is a first time for buying everything and I didn't know exactly what it looked like. And all the labels are in Chinese. But the grocer there is very helpful. I mention what I'm cooking and she hauls me around the store pointing out the best brands of fish sauce, the lemon grass, the kafir lime leaves, the best coconut milk and all. Love that store.

Phil

[alexia]

While I agree with Shawtycat's original point about using real food, the question is WHAT we are to consider "real" food, today. To my thinking there is a difference between a bag of flash frozen broccali or peas that you use as an element (or ingredient) in a home made meal and those veggies used in some pre-fab stew in a box or can. And there is even some debate as to whether the flash frozen fruits and veggies have or have not retained their nutrition better than most supermarket fresh foods that have been carted in from all over the world, warehoused for who knows how long before getting onto our plates. Which is why I use a food coop and farmer's markets as much as possible and sympathize with those who are in parts of the country without such resources.

Even those of us who pride ourselves on being "scratch" cooks use all sorts of processed foods: bread (or at least flour), catsup, mayo, mustard, canned tomatoes, tuna, pasta, pickled herring, smoked bacon, chocolate, etc... You get the point. We are no longer self sufficient do-it-yourselfers of the prairie farm, growing our own. And even they had to can, smoke, etc. to preserve foods for the winter.

But I think most of us agree (even if we resort to them occasionally) that fast food take-out & canned, boxed, and frozen preparations of food that has been treated with artifical flavorings and preservatives is at the least questionable.

I think I'll start another thread about what we do make from scratch, thinking of such things as cheese, coffee roasting, liqueurs & wine, condiments such as catsup, pickles, etc.

[Jock]

I agree with Alexia that in our society it is virtually inevetable that we will consume some processed food. But I think ShawtyCat's point was that for many people that junk makes up the bulk of their diet. One simply needs the desire to prepare good food from scratch. People often ask me in wonder, Isn't that hard? I say, No, if it was hard I wouldn't do it! This cultural "convenience" habit is a hard one to break

Jock

[ShawtyCat]

Right Jock!

I was sitting talking to a customer a few months ago and he was lamenting that it was so hard to cook at home. I rattled off a few things he could cook fresh with about 5 ingredients that would take him about 10 to 15 minutes to make. Do you know what he said? "Wow, I never thought about that stuff."

Now he is having so much fun cooking at home, he comes in about once a week now instead of almost every day. Keeps thanking me and leaving fat tips. Have I created a monster? I don't mind cause he has since lost some poundage and looks a whole lot better. (he used to order his fries burnt..you know cooked so much they were just framework and oil) ~shudder~

So the point of all my rambling is that......no one thinks about food anymore. Its just there to them, so why should they think about it. You go to the supermarket, pick up some stuff and zap it. Done. Quick and easy. Nothing to think about there. Of course there are people who take it the other way and think it to death with calorie counting etc.

[chiffonade]

Originally posted by phatch
But for me to get lemongrass, I have to go the Chinese grocer. And there is a first time for buying everything and I didn't know exactly what it looked like. And all the labels are in Chinese. But the grocer there is very helpful. I mention what I'm cooking and she hauls me around the store pointing out the best brands of fish sauce, the lemon grass, the kafir lime leaves, the best coconut milk and all. Love that store.Phil

The first time I made Thai food, I found a sympathetic store clerk (who spoke pretty decent English..woo hoo!). First time I did Chinese food, I had a great book which listed ingredients 3 ways: traditional Chinese character, "English" version of the Chinese word, and in English (if there was a translation for it). That book helped me out immensely and contains a collection of the most authentic Chinese foods I have ever seen. One of the buyers at an old job went to China and brought it back for me.

When I had my gourmet group, I did a full formal Chinese dinner including things like deep fried quail, and yard long beans, etc. Even my dessert was high stress, candied bananas and apples. When I shopped for that dinner, I went to a huge Chinese market in Brooklyn. Again, I was lucky enough to find a clerk who spoke beautiful English and was liberal with the advice... "You buy! Next week they will be out of season...be expensive!!"

When I shopped at the Arab markets in Brooklyn, the same sort of thing happened. Nothing intrigues people more than having "a foreigner" (in this case, me) use the ingredients of their native land.

[Shimmer]

ShawtyCat-

I'd be interested to hear what those fast simple dishes were that you suggested to that guy. I still think in complex terms sometimes in my cooking at home, not that I mind putting in time, but if I knew quick things, it might cut back on the pizza delivery....

~~Shimmer~~

[ShawtyCat]

It was mainly little things he could do. Like making pizzas with pita bread, throwing in some chopped steamed/sauteed veggies with drained pasta, lots of stuff that goes great with rice. Cooking chicken or fish in a bag with all the veggies and some chicken broth. Stuff like that. We graze alot at my house! Weird since we are a slim bunch even though we are always eating.

Ive got 2 kids, one on the way and a real hungry guy. They have no patience and I don't feel like getting up early in the morning to start prepping for dinner! So Ill make food packets in foil to go over rice/pasta for dinner, chips out of tortillas with a easy dip or mini pizzas with either tortillas or pita bread. Sandwiches. Lots of stuff. I gave him basic examples and told him that when he looks in his fridge to use his imagination.

Im a fan of tossing a bunch of stuff together. I actually cooked rice once and put my little steamer of veggies over it while my chicken packet was in the oven. Everything finished at basically the same time. Works for me!

Jodi

PS

You know....we sent out for pizza once and my hubby the Pizza Fanatic actually HATED it! He looked sad and said that he would have preferred my food! This is the same man who got excited at the word McDonalds and now can't step into the place without feeling queasy. Go figure.

[chiffonade]

Originally posted by ShawtyCat
...and said (very impolitely I might add) "What the He11 is THAT! We don't eat that stuff. Ewww. Dad can we get McDonald's?" ...He has no idea what to do.Jodi

I'd begin with a smack upside the head...but that's me. Not to mention, they'd never be invited back.

His children are destined for heart disease and obesity. What's more, when they reach adulthood, they'll look for every shortcut and fad diet to lose what will inevitably be a gross amount of weight. Children's palates are conditioned by what they eat beginning with their first solid foods. This is the responsibility of their parents. If a parent insists on having such a hectic schedule where all or most of their attention is NOT on their children, they should at the very least inform the staff in whose charge they have placed the lives of their children that the children are not allowed to eat crap. It's up to the parents to then follow through and make sure these mandates are carried out. Unfortunately, too many parents over schedule themselves to the degree that McD's gets shoved down the kids' throats instead of taking the time to prepare a nutritious meal.

My daughter's first visit to McD's happened when she was about 5 years old...my brother took her. She understands that McD's and other junk foods are a treat and not a way of life. She knows what a good meal looks like and, at 13 does not suffer a weight problem. She's also aware that some kind of exercise has to happen in her life every single day. There are kids in her class that are so obese, their parents can't buy them "junior" size clothes anymore! What is that about?? Their solution is to spend the extra money on adult sized clothing instead of seeing the size of their children as a red flag...as something to correct.

Look at it this way...You wouldn't build your dream house with rotted wood. You'd look for the sturdiest, most beautiful lumber available. Yet, we feed kids garbage and expect them to grow into healthy adults. Rant over.

[ShawtyCat]

Well my mom can't NOT invite them back. When they come over the fridge has to be stocked with corn dogs and the like though. My step dad did try to get them eating right (he IS a cook) but lets just say that his ex wife is not a nice person and leave it at that. She is also overweight and thinks all that stuff actually IS food.

I took my little girl to Chuck E Cheese for her birthday. NO NOT FOR THE FOOD! For the games and rides. We ate before we went and she played out 90 tokens by herself. I wonder what's up with the parents who don't disciple their kids. One kid was on the floor rolling around and screaming at the top of her lungs wearing half of a pizza and her dress over her head. Another kid was screaming and smacking his dad yelling "Gimme! Gimme!" for his dad to hand over the tokens. These kids are my daughter's age and Im wondering what planet they are from.

Im not into the "Im your friend" kind of parenting. My baby tried the tantrum thing when she was two and I calmly told her that there was only one mommy in the house and it definately was NOT HER! I don't have any problems with my kids. Everyone says they are sweet and well mannered. That's cause I dont take any "Stuff" from them.

OH, did you hear about the new medical breakthrough on this mornings news? Pizza is ....gasp....fattening! Wonder who thought up THAT brilliant idea.

Jodi

[Jill Reichow]

My boys, pardon me, I should say young men, are in their own apts. at college. Both of them cook, and are becoming adventuresome in the kitchen. They will use canned soups as a base for things, and canned beans (kidney etc). Rather than tell them that soaking a lb. of beans overnight is better, I applaud them for trying new dishes and for experimenting in the kitchen. Both are proving to be self sufficient enough to catch all the food groups on one plate at the same sitting. LOL. Something I once despaired of! They are even finding that the grease at the fast food outlets now upsets their tummies.

When they were in High School, the drill was that they occasionally had to go with me to the commissary shopping. Hey, they like to eat the food, they can help shop! I turned each trip into a class. How do you pick good lettuce? What's wrong with this item? The best time was when I asked the youngest how you picked a good zuchinni? He stopped, looked at me, then stated very confidently "There is no such thing!" I just stood with my mouth hanging open. However, the lady next to me almost fell over laughing!

They have always seen the kitchen as a creative outlet and place of great smells. If frozen veggies is the choice of the week, we'll take it. I am proud that they are willing to try. Better a frozen veggie, steamed with spices, than none at all. One roommate exists on boxed mac and cheese <<shudder>>. We'll worry about the cans later!

And I have to confess.... I like corn dogs!