Cooking is Hard

COGypsy

I don't mean being a 5 star rated top chef master.... i don't mean fancy techniques. I just feel like some people use the "I dont know how" excuse too easily. It doesnt have to be fancy or complicated to be home cooked. If you do not know how to do it, look it up. If you passed grade school you should be able to read instructions, and follow them.

I think this is the trick right here. I've come to think that the foodie trend overall has caused as many people to give up on cooking as it has inspired others to cook more. It seems like having every kind of cuisine and ingredient more or less within reach along with your choice of 24/7 programming showing the fine food-styled results of professional chefs and restauranteurs makes it easier to say "oh well, I could never...." When everyone thinks they have to be Rachael Ray, or that every "quick and easy" meal consists of ingredients only found in NYC bodegas and delis, it makes the basics seem underwhelming at best.

The example that comes to mind is spaghetti. Growing up, I learned how to make a quick skillet spaghetti sauce with hamburger that took about half an hour or so to make. It was "fancy" if we added canned mushrooms and cheese from the green can! Nowadays, it seems like you have to have San Marciano tomatoes, fresh garden herbs and vegetables, handmade Italian sausage and organic, whole-grain, gluten-free pasta topped with fluffy mounds of freshly grated parm on top if you're going to have " quick spaghetti". That can be pretty daunting for beginning cooks, I'd imagine.

ATester

I wish there was a "like" button. There are so many comments that are so true!

bcattoes

Growing up, I learned how to make a quick skillet spaghetti sauce with hamburger that took about half an hour or so to make. It was "fancy" if we added canned mushrooms and cheese from the green can! Nowadays, it seems like you have to have San Marciano tomatoes, fresh garden herbs and vegetables, handmade Italian sausage and organic, whole-grain, gluten-free pasta topped with fluffy mounds of freshly grated parm on top if you're going to have " quick spaghetti". That can be pretty daunting for beginning cooks, I'd imagine.

I often use jarred spaghetti sauce from the store <gasp> as a starter. Add a little chopped garlic and peppers, and I usually spice it up a bit. I read on here all the time how horrible it is because of the sodium content, but since tomato sauce is super high in potassium the sodium isn't really a problem here. By the time I get home from work and workout, I don't have time to make a homemade gourmet sauce. But what I make still tastes delicious and is healthy.

And I am never without the green box of parm in the fridge.

Erin_goBrahScience

There are a lot of people bashing those that can't or don't cook. It is possible to eat heatlhy without doing much cooking, ya know.

My original post was never intended to bash those who don't cook. I even stated that if you don't like to cook, so be it.

The point I believe I made, was the argument that cooking is too hard that people resort to eating packaged, processed, artificial and often fast food, because they "believe" that cooking is too hard. And I think that many people agree that cooking at home does not have to be hard, or expensive.

When you cook for yourself you put the control of your dietary needs in your own hands.

cwolfman13

Learning to cook pretty much changed my life. I learned in my mid 20s mostly because I was broke but I still wanted to impress the ladies...so I learned a few basic recipes and got them down pat and those were my go to date night meals. Since then my competency in the kitchen has just gone up, up, and up. Unfortunately, so did my pounds over the years, so I've had to re-teach myself a few things like scaling down the butter, whole cream, etc.

At any rate, I think a lot of it has to do with just not knowing where to start for most people....and that intimidation factor. They have this image in their head that a good meal takes hours and hours to prep and cook...some do, but must of my week night meals come in under 30 minutes prep and cook. It's just too hard...takes too much time...don't know where to start...it's just easier to do this other thing that I' m familiar with (ie fast food/take out/frozen meals, etc). It kind of reminds me a lot of the excuses as to why people don't lift at the gym.

I've also found it to be not only healthy for the body, but healthy for the wallet as well. For roughly the cost of a can of soup, I can make the equivalent of two cans of soup. For the price of a fast food meal I can easily make two healthy and hardy meals. For the price of a night out at a fancy restaurant with a surf and turf entree, I can make that surf and turf at home with appetizers and pretty much unlimited wine.

VelociMama

I agree with you. I personally love to cook, but I have always thought that the saying "if you can read, you can cook" was a very true one. I get compliments on things that I make all the time, and people fequently ask me "where did you learn to cook?" I just tell them that I taught myself, that I am constantly teaching myself and trying different things, which suprises some people for some reason.

This.

Cooking doesn't require you to be an uber-foodie. It just takes a little patience and a willingness to try. I can cook up a delicious meal faster than my husband can go get fast food.

Erin_goBrahScience

Learning to cook pretty much changed my life. I learned in my mid 20s mostly because I was broke but I still wanted to impress the ladies...so I learned a few basic recipes and got them down pat and those were my go to date night meals. Since then my competency in the kitchen has just gone up, up, and up. Unfortunately, so did my pounds over the years, so I've had to re-teach myself a few things like scaling down the butter, whole cream, etc.

At any rate, I think a lot of it has to do with just not knowing where to start for most people....and that intimidation factor. They have this image in their head that a good meal takes hours and hours to prep and cook...some do, but must of my week night meals come in under 30 minutes prep and cook. It's just too hard...takes too much time...don't know where to start...it's just easier to do this other thing that I' m familiar with (ie fast food/take out/frozen meals, etc). It kind of reminds me a lot of the excuses as to why people don't lift at the gym.

I've also found it to be not only healthy for the body, but healthy for the wallet as well. For roughly the cost of a can of soup, I can make the equivalent of two cans of soup. For the price of a fast food meal I can easily make two healthy and hardy meals. For the price of a night out at a fancy restaurant with a surf and turf entree, I can make that surf and turf at home with appetizers and pretty much unlimited wine.

^^ THIS

Acg67

I agree with you. I personally love to cook, but I have always thought that the saying "if you can read, you can cook" was a very true one. I get compliments on things that I make all the time, and people fequently ask me "where did you learn to cook?" I just tell them that I taught myself, that I am constantly teaching myself and trying different things, which suprises some people for some reason.

This.

Cooking doesn't require you to be an uber-foodie. It just takes a little patience and a willingness to try. I can cook up a delicious meal faster than my husband can go get fast food.

The majority of my meals take under 30 min to prep and make

VelociMama

I agree with you. I personally love to cook, but I have always thought that the saying "if you can read, you can cook" was a very true one. I get compliments on things that I make all the time, and people fequently ask me "where did you learn to cook?" I just tell them that I taught myself, that I am constantly teaching myself and trying different things, which suprises some people for some reason.

This.

Cooking doesn't require you to be an uber-foodie. It just takes a little patience and a willingness to try. I can cook up a delicious meal faster than my husband can go get fast food.

The majority of my meals take under 30 min to prep and make

That's because you're awesome

Acg67

Growing up, I learned how to make a quick skillet spaghetti sauce with hamburger that took about half an hour or so to make. It was "fancy" if we added canned mushrooms and cheese from the green can! Nowadays, it seems like you have to have San Marciano tomatoes, fresh garden herbs and vegetables, handmade Italian sausage and organic, whole-grain, gluten-free pasta topped with fluffy mounds of freshly grated parm on top if you're going to have " quick spaghetti". That can be pretty daunting for beginning cooks, I'd imagine.

I often use jarred spaghetti sauce from the store <gasp> as a starter. Add a little chopped garlic and peppers, and I usually spice it up a bit. I read on here all the time how horrible it is because of the sodium content, but since tomato sauce is super high in potassium the sodium isn't really a problem here. By the time I get home from work and workout, I don't have time to make a homemade gourmet sauce. But what I make still tastes delicious and is healthy.

And I am never without the green box of parm in the fridge.

heat oil, add garlic and onion, soften, add whole unpeeled san marzanos and crush by hand. easy rustic sauce

WendyTerry420

Cooking *is* hard. I've been doing it for nearly 20 years. There are some things that I have perfected in that time, but there are still some things (like meatloaf or Alfredo sauce) that I can't get to taste as good as it should.

Some things can be hard to get right, this is true. Cooking in general is not 'hard' though. People think it is hard to toss a chicken breast in the oven with some spices. In this age of fast and convenient we seem to have lost the desire to even try and cook. It is no wonder at all that obesity is a problem (yes, in me too. I am not pointing fingers). We have been trained to not cook for ourselves. Then the food companies do everything they can to make their foods addictive so we keep buying and eating more. Corporations do NOT have your best interest at heart, they only care that you buy more of their products.

If we have more people cooking their own food we would see a change in the direction of obesity.

Throwing a chicken breast in the oven is hardly good cooking, imo.

EricCowperthwaite

Ahh...charcuterie you and my husband would get along just fine. And that is skill beyond "cooking" and you know it.

Not technically charcuterie .... but I smoke, brine and cure my own meats quite often and love doing it. Some day I might be "good" at it, too. Yes, it's beyond just cooking and I was trying to make that point. I think, generally, most any adult of normal intelligence and education can figure out how to roast a chicken so it tastes good, or make sauteed green beans, or what have you.

KrazyAsianNic

Wow. I think people just need to know how to be crafty. I personally love to cook but don't always have a lot of time. So I keep a lot of chicken or pork onhand that I can just put on a baking sheet with some veggies and roast it while I do other things.

they also invented the crockpot, which not only can slow cook your food and have it hot and ready when you're home from work, but you can buy one that can be washed in the dishwasher. Freeze the rest for later.

(sorry, just ideas for those who read this who want more advice)

KenosFeoh

Cooking well can be hard. I've probably had as many misses as hits when I try something new.

WendyTerry420

I agree with you. I personally love to cook, but I have always thought that the saying "if you can read, you can cook" was a very true one. I get compliments on things that I make all the time, and people fequently ask me "where did you learn to cook?" I just tell them that I taught myself, that I am constantly teaching myself and trying different things, which suprises some people for some reason.

I *hate* that expression. It's not true at all. Cooking requires more than the ability to read.

EDIT: Cooking YUMMY food requires more than the ability to read.

I don't mean being a 5 star rated top chef master.... i don't mean fancy techniques. I just feel like some people use the "I dont know how" excuse too easily. It doesnt have to be fancy or complicated to be home cooked. If you do not know how to do it, look it up. If you passed grade school you should be able to read instructions, and follow them.

Well I have over 100 hours of college credit and have read many things, like ancient literature, that most people could never comprehend. But I am "just ok" at cooking. That is, once in a while, the family will say, "That was really good." But more often than not, the things I make do not taste the way they should. Cooking is a skill. Some people are naturally good at it. For others it will always be a chore. After 20 years of doing it just about *every* day (I can't afford to eat out or buy pre-made frozen stuff), I am still not *good* at it. I never will be. Just as I will never be good at fixing a broken machine (though my husband can do it without reading the manual and he never even went to college).

kbmaddox1122

I'm the queen of quick lazy cooking. I learned a lot from my mother. I will make a huge supply of spaghetti sauce and freeze most of it so I don't have to make it again for a long time. Same thing with soups. My parents farm too so I have tons of frozen broccoli and squash and various other veggies in the freezer. you can unfreeze the broccoli and steam it in the microwave in less than 2 minutes.

Personally though, I love trying new recipes. What seems hard at first becomes routine with time.

WendyTerry420

I think when people say cooking is too hard they are just lazy or making excuses for eating healthy IMO.

Anyone can make some chicken and veggies, they just choose not to. I mean, you can just buy microwave steam veggies, just vent the bag and nuke it. Can't get any easier than that to make some fresh veggies.

I cook every night. Nope. Not lazy at all.

kbmaddox1122

I think when people say cooking is too hard they are just lazy or making excuses for eating healthy IMO.

Anyone can make some chicken and veggies, they just choose not to. I mean, you can just buy microwave steam veggies, just vent the bag and nuke it. Can't get any easier than that to make some fresh veggies.

I cook every night. Nope. Not lazy at all.

Some people are good at cooking different things. My boyfriend can grill a steak and it be absolutely delicious, but he can not cook anything that requires the use of a stove.

Cooking requires attention and knowledge of different spices and seasonings.

EricCowperthwaite

heat oil, add garlic and onion, soften, add whole unpeeled san marzanos and crush by hand. easy rustic sauce

If you want to get "fancy", toss in 1/2 cup of white wine, simmer for 5 minutes, then toss the tomatoes in. If you don't have the fancy ones, Romas will work just fine. Takes about 15 min, start to finish.

chelseybennett1

Thank you for this post. I wish someone had told me this years ago. I used to think cooking was too hard or too expensive. I could follow a recipe but if I read a recipe that I didn't know what an ingredient was then I labeled it too hard. Also I'd buy all these frozen dinners then would think to myself I need some healthy food so I'd pick up some produce. At check out (now I feel stupid for thinking this) the bill would be pretty big and I'd think man healthy food is expensive! Boy was I ever wrong. It was the expensive packaged frozen dinners that were expensive! I've learned a lot since I've been cooking for myself instead of relying on frozen meals. I feel pride in my cooking and very much enjoy doing it now. I've stocked up my spice cabinet with a huge variety which is extremely helpful. I still don't feel skilled enough to veer off from a recipe and make my own creation, but I'm sure sometime soon in the future I will gain the confidence to do so. For me cooking with a recipe is very easy and that's working so far .