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The Sad Bastard Cookbook

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Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#411

Post by alphager »

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.

The enjoyment is key for it to make sense. If it's a chore like laundry or vacuuming, it makes sense to outsource it.

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#412

Post by Daneel_ »

Smaug123 wrote: post #327
Knee_Pain wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have a diagnosed cognitive condition? This absolute rejection of even the most basic and easy form of food preparation is concerning. Drinking that slop without a decent complementary diet is not healthy for your gut.

"The most basic and easy form of food preparation" is still food preparation; declaring that something is the simplest thing in its category does not actually make anything in that category bearable. Look through the thread, there are many people like this who are perhaps capable of cooking but who loathe it or otherwise can't make themselves do it. I for one am perfectly capable of cooking complex meals for twelve p…

Precisely. I couldn’t have said it better myself.

I can cook, I just loathe it.

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#413

Post by linsomniac »

My wife and I are both good cooks, but have been pressed for time. However, 3-4 years ago we basically stopped eating out, largely because of just how expensive it is.

I changed my perspective around that time from "food is a chore" to "food is a luxury", and started trying to "go the extra inch" and try to make some nicer meals.

Tonight was extra special, being our 5 year anniversary, so I: Grilled a couple steaks, caramelized 3 onions and used the fond with some wine, tamarind, miso paste and beef stock to make a pan sauce, baked some potatoes and roasted some carrots. The left over onions and pan sauce I turned into a salad dressing for the week.

It takes some work, but once you dial in the basic chemistry of cooking, things start to become second nature.

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#415

Post by idle_processor »

ghaff wrote: post #328
idle_processor wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's where instacart comes in.

I'm not sure it's even available where I live (or at least from a limited selection of stores) and probably isn't very economical for a small order.

Ah, that's a bummer. I found it invaluable in conjunction ordering from a warehouse type store like Costco, followed by batch cooking and refrigerating or freezing things so I have low effort meals throughout the week.

Also, sheet pan meals are an incredibly low effort way to eat pretty healthy.

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#416

Post by memefrog »

asah wrote: post #290
memefrog wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No they aren't. Food is very widely and cheaply available.

My comment specifically said GOOD food :-) (I worked on grocery wholesale/distribution and marketing for many years, and can "go down the rabbit hole" on the difference ;-)

The same applies to good food.

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#417

Post by AmericanChopper »

Nextgrid wrote: post #387
bob1029 wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you will find an extreme range in mastery in the kitchen, just like you will find it in programming, blacksmithing, construction, plumbing, or literally anything else. In most cases, the master craftsman is orders of magnitude more efficient than the apprentice. Solving problems without any tools. Solving two or more problems at the same time (hint, hint). Etc. The best way to approach this discussion is to r…

Tooling and space makes a massive difference. While it's true that a master could build/cook something amazing with subpar tooling, efficiency goes down significantly.

I wouldn’t say it’s significant. Good tools can make your life easier, but you reach diminishing returns very quickly. I used rather crappy kitchen tools for probably my first 10 years of home cooking, and didn’t have any big increase in productivity when I started spending more money on them, and wasn’t held back by them at any point prior to that. I got a decent boost from buying a nice stand mixer, but I only use that for cakes and leavened bread, which I don’t cook that much of.

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#418

Post by kragen »

slothtrop wrote: post #408
kragen wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> Is there ever an instance of this happening?

your question betrays a level of callousness unworthy of a human being

> the issue veers into ptsd/trauma territory if one somehow finds themselves incapable of feeding themselves

yes, that is one of the numerous psychological disorders that can give rise to such serious levels of dysfunction due to anxiety

there are innumerable cases of people dying as a result, including many famous ones, like kurt goedel

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#419

Post by doix »

kragen wrote: post #355
doix wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm now staying in a condo in Bangkok that is like that. Even if I wanted to cook, it would be extremely inconvenient. There's just enough tabletop area for one of the following: coffee machine, rice cooker, portable stove, dish rack. I keep the coffee maker there permanently. There is also a huge disconnect between prices in supermarkets and takeaway food. It's cheaper to order food than to try and cook it, at least…

where do the takeaway food places buy their supplies i have a couple of 1000-watt immersion heaters that can boil water in a coffee mug or, more relevantly, a one-liter thermos. they cost about 30 cents. the thermos doesn't have to be on a tabletop, though it's dangerous to touch it while it's plugged in because the water is electrically connected i don't want to claim that boil-in-bag cooking isn't 'extremely inconv…

They buy them from street markets, which are _significantly_ cheaper than supermarkets for some reason.

> also the rice cooker you mention can provide most of your calories for zero hassle

Yes, but there aren't many micronutrients in rice. Sure, I'd probably not die, but it's not a great existence.

Back when I lived in the UK, I just ate Huel everyday, and it made me realize that I was probably malnourished in someway. I had so much more energy and less brain fog (which I wasn't even aware of, since it was just normal). I'm pretty sure if I just ate rice everyday, I'd feel like shit again in a month or two.

Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook

#420

Post by kragen »

doix wrote: post #419
kragen wrote: post #355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

where do the takeaway food places buy their supplies i have a couple of 1000-watt immersion heaters that can boil water in a coffee mug or, more relevantly, a one-liter thermos. they cost about 30 cents. the thermos doesn't have to be on a tabletop, though it's dangerous to touch it while it's plugged in because the water is electrically connected i don't want to claim that boil-in-bag cooking isn't 'extremely inconv…

They buy them from street markets, which are _significantly_ cheaper than supermarkets for some reason. > also the rice cooker you mention can provide most of your calories for zero hassle Yes, but there aren't many micronutrients in rice. Sure, I'd probably not die, but it's not a great existence. Back when I lived in the UK, I just ate Huel everyday, and it made me realize that I was probably malnourished in somewa…

getting all of your calories via a rice cooker is a bad idea but getting most of them that way is okay for most people

right now i'm doing a carnivory experiment myself, which is somewhat expensive and rules that out

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