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The Sad Bastard Cookbook

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Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#401

Post by cmpalmer52 »

Campbell’s Cream of Chicken and Mushroom soup (that’s a type, although you can double the recipe with one can of Cream of Chicken and one of Cream of Mushroom) Can of water Add to saucepan Stir and bring to a boil Fill can with Minute Rice Stir instant into soup, remove from heat, cover Wait 8-10 minutes

This was a go-to college meal. It’s great on a cold day, very filling.

One day, I made mushroom risotto. I used the right kind of rice. I ladled the made-from-scratch stock over the rice one ladle at a time, stirring slowly. I added the mushrooms and kept stocking and stirring. Finished with some fresh Parmesan. Took about 40 minutes of near constant attention and it was absolutely delicious.

Pareto Analysis:

The Campbell’s soup and Minute Rice is about 80% the same with minimal effort.

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#402

Post by psd1 »

araes wrote: post #378
madmax108 wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Imagine spending one hour in the kitchen to only feed yourself one time. That would be peak insanity to me today." YMMV. For me, spending time cooking is a great way to take a break from my computer and spend time away from a screen. And like showering, the process of cooking is now mechanical enough that it allows me to focus on broader tangents in whatever I'm working on and set myself up for the next session of c…

I think the general issue on cooking is similar to shopping, exercise, or "work" for some folks. Some have an interpretation of exercise = fun or pleasure. Some, like me, have a body that treats all exercise as the most dreadful idea ever, and even walking up a hill after years of walking up hills is an excuse for waves of fatigue. Endless little voices scream in misery with every step. You end up in a state of "how…

You have my sympathies. I admire your phlegm. A friend of mine had a malevolent thyroid, which flattened her body but left her wit standing.

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#403

Post by unethical_ban »

wodenokoto wrote: post #21
ehPReth wrote: post #18

I wish I could just take one pill a day (or three) for nutrition (and satiating hunger) and not have to eat meals at all. That would be amazing, not to have to deal with food. Buying, preparing, ordering, over eating.

There are quite a few companies that deals with this, usually in the form of a shake rather than a pill. I think Soylent was the name of one of the early entrants.

Basicallyfood.com, but I got heartburn from it. I hear a liquid diet is t good if you have a sensitive esophagus.

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#404

Post by carabiner »

danjc wrote: post #393
tacone wrote: post #228

I used to cook with a trick invented by an italian woman, called "vasocottura" (then my microwave broke, possibly because of that). You basically put food in a sealed glass jar, and cook it in the microwave for 6 minutes. The air inside will slip out through the seals, resulting in a near vacuum effect. The food will keep cooking for circa 20 minutes while it cools down. Then you can either warm it up in the microwav…

How are you sealing the glass jars if not with a metal lid?

He said his microwave is broken.

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#405

Post by Chris2048 »

bob1029 wrote: post #191

The trick for me is to apply engineering to the kitchen. You can actually enjoy really elaborate meals if you simply make more each time and utilize pyrex+freezer. Why make only 6 servings of spaghetti when there's still 50% free space available in your instant pot? (that 'max fill' line is but a polite suggestion :D) Planning ahead, logistics, etc. can make all the difference in the world. Imagine spending one hour…

> pyrex + freezer

but a lot of foods taste terrible defrosted. Freezing can really dry up ingredients, or render them soggy.

that said, I buy pre chopped frozen ginger and garlic, I can't really tell the difference between that and cooked fresh. Jury's still out on frozen chopped onion.

> the humble pressure cooker

Pressure Cooking can easily turn the stuff you put into it into bland mush, where all the flavours meld together too much, so it's good for one aspect of your meal (maybe the base soup / mush) but not all.

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#406

Post by sowbug »

bob1029 wrote: post #191

The trick for me is to apply engineering to the kitchen. You can actually enjoy really elaborate meals if you simply make more each time and utilize pyrex+freezer. Why make only 6 servings of spaghetti when there's still 50% free space available in your instant pot? (that 'max fill' line is but a polite suggestion :D) Planning ahead, logistics, etc. can make all the difference in the world. Imagine spending one hour…

If you're an engineering-process junkie, then cooking can feel like the most interesting parts of engineering stripped down to their essence. We strive for an ideal of immortality in our reusable, flexible code components, never quite attaining it and always bemoaning the amount of duplication in effort.

But cooking is all process, with the best possible outcome being not durability but an immediate destruction of the results -- I made a dish, and my family ate it all!

And then the real challenge reveals itself: they loved the dish, but can I make it again the exact same way next week?

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#407

Post by extragood »

MikeTheRocker wrote: post #374
vibrolax wrote: post #371

My wife and I agree that eating well is one of the most affordable luxuries. Eating in ordinary restaurants and ordering takeout becomes less attractive once you hit a threshold of kitchen competence. Our experience is home prepared meals costs 1/3 as much as purchased meals, and rarely results in a disappointing experience.

That's interesting because I find home cooking to be very expensive, if you value your time. Cooking for one, the marginal difference between the price of groceries vs eating out is easily outweighed by the time cost of shopping, food preparation and cleanup. Of course if you enjoy cooking it's a different story.

When I was saving for the down payment of my condo, one of the biggest changes I made was making my own lunch, rather than eating out every day.

There are going to be regional differences of course, but here in SF, a modest lunch costs at least $20. My average was around $25, or about $6500/year.

I adopted "meal prep Sundays" where I make all of my lunches for the week ahead, and the average cost is consistently around $5, making my annual weekday lunch cost about $1300. +$5200/year post tax to be used on other things.

Applying the same general idea to dinner unlocks further savings.

The funny thing is - I don't know that I'm even sacrificing time with this approach either. It takes me maybe 1.5 hours on Sunday for the lunch prep thing, but I'm saving a bunch of time by not physically going to restaurants, ordering, taking deliveries, etc. The variety is lacking with this approach, but the tradeoff is well worth it in my book.

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#408

Post by slothtrop »

kragen wrote: post #358
Melatonic wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. I know someone who refuses to cook at all under the guise of "anxiety" and I do not understand how some people are fine with not being able to provide for themselves on a very basic level. Automate your cooking and meal prep as much as possible and the process becomes quick and easy and you always have tons of food on hand.

anxiety can be very disabling, and can indeed leave people unable to provide for themselves at a very basic level; they will, as you seem to have correctly inferred, die without support fortunately most of us live in a society, so we don't have to be robinson crusoe or the man of the hole to survive

> they will, as you seem to have correctly inferred, die without support

Is there ever an instance of this happening?

Seems to me the issue veers into ptsd/trauma territory if one somehow finds themselves incapable of feeding themselves. Anxiety is an almost banal way to describe it, and I've had an anxiety attack.

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#409

Post by slothtrop »

Chris2048 wrote: post #405
bob1029 wrote: post #191

The trick for me is to apply engineering to the kitchen. You can actually enjoy really elaborate meals if you simply make more each time and utilize pyrex+freezer. Why make only 6 servings of spaghetti when there's still 50% free space available in your instant pot? (that 'max fill' line is but a polite suggestion :D) Planning ahead, logistics, etc. can make all the difference in the world. Imagine spending one hour…

> pyrex + freezer but a lot of foods taste terrible defrosted. Freezing can really dry up ingredients, or render them soggy. that said, I buy pre chopped frozen ginger and garlic, I can't really tell the difference between that and cooked fresh. Jury's still out on frozen chopped onion. > the humble pressure cooker Pressure Cooking can easily turn the stuff you put into it into bland mush, where all the flavours meld…

We vacuum seal chicken to avoid frost and freezer burn. The thawed meat turns out ok, still not quite as good as fresh but not bad.

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#410

Post by alphager »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #119
Eisenstein wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With an Instant Pot, an induction burner, and a toaster oven you can make anything that would require a normal kitchen, just in smaller portions (as in, you aren't cooking a whole turkey or a giant casserole).

On that note, I've been wondering about the recent hype about "air fryers", which - best I can tell, after looking into it repeatedly - are basically countertop, underpowered version of fan ovens that have been, in my life, a standard appliance in every kitchen I've ever seen. But maybe it's a sign of worsening economical prospects of the generation - people no longer own, only rent, increasingly worse quality apartm…

I own a full modern kitchen (your mid-range appliances; full induction stove and a modern convection oven that even steams). My no-name air fryer makes crunchier fries than my convection oven.
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