What really sucks about cooking from scratch...

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Francl27
Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Food timing. Oh gosh I suck at this. I always end up with cold roasted veggies or meat while I wait for the potatoes to finish boiling or something :'(
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Replies

  • samthepanda
    samthepanda Posts: 569 Member
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    Slow cookers are the best - all done at same time lol
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,134 Member
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    It's the math and leftovers for me. I don't bake anymore because I really don't want to deal with math and creating a recipe on here that may or may not be saved and I may or may not be able to find again. I don't make big batches of things that my husband won't also eat. I wouldn't have a problem eating the same meals daily, but I can't always fit it in.
  • lissa686
    lissa686 Posts: 6
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    I always start with the food that's going to take most time to cook and when it's about half done start meat and veggies last cause the only need a couple minutes
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    samthepanda wrote: »
    Slow cookers are the best - all done at same time lol

    So true! I love that.

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Me too. I figure in my mind what the longest component is, start that the second I get home, and then do the others as appropriate. Practice has made me really good at this except for huge multi part meals like thanksgiving where I make lists of what to do when starting days in advance.
  • Azexas
    Azexas Posts: 4,334 Member
    edited February 2015
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    samthepanda wrote: »
    Slow cookers are the best - all done at same time lol

    I LOVE my crock pot!

  • JPW1990
    JPW1990 Posts: 2,424 Member
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    Stick to meat cuts that need to rest. Once they come out of the oven, they should sit for 20-30 minutes, covered in foil, before you cut into them. Use that time to prep all the sides. We have a tiny oven, so this is the only way I can make meals with more than one thing that go in it, aside from really flat things that can fit on cookie sheets on two shelves.
  • 2snakeswoman
    2snakeswoman Posts: 655 Member
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    What I think sucks is having to enter the whole recipe, then determine how many servings there are, then measure out one serving. Bah!
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    What sucks about cooking is mountains of dirty dishes.
    The rest of it is fine with me.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    2snakeswoman wrote: »
    What I think sucks is having to enter the whole recipe, then determine how many servings there are, then measure out one serving. Bah!

    I just enter every ingredient raw, weigh the pan empty then weigh it again with the stuff inside after it's been cooked and enter the amount of grams as serving (obviously if it's something I can transfer to another dish, I just weigh it that way).

    It's actually more annoying when I reuse an old recipe, because I can't modify the servings on my computer for some unknown reason and I have to use my phone.
  • mk2fit
    mk2fit Posts: 730 Member
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    2snakeswoman wrote: »
    What I think sucks is having to enter the whole recipe, then determine how many servings there are, then measure out one serving. Bah!
    Yep. Other than this, scratch cooking is the best.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Well at least with recipes everything is typically cooked together at some point! It's when you do meals with 3 different things that it gets annoying (I don't know why 3 is the magic number for me... I just like having a protein with two different things I guess).
  • yorkyboy72
    yorkyboy72 Posts: 13 Member
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    Write a list of what you're cooking, how long it takes (including resting for meat). Work out a plan of when to start cooking stuff. Works great for meals with a lot going on. Use a non permanent pen on the fridge door to write it all down.
  • JordisTSM
    JordisTSM Posts: 359 Member
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    Crushing garlic. I LOVE garlic - would add it to every single meal if I could. But garlic crushers are messy and annoying, and I haven't mastered the chef's way of using the flat side of the knife blade. It's a good thing I don't mind getting bigger chunks of the stuff every few mouthfuls!

    Oh, and cleaning up afterwards. Love planning, preparing, and cooking food. But loathe any form of housework, so the clean up is my most hated part of cooking. I do it. I just hate doing it.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    Laziness to just get it done, for me. I follow online recipes from allrecipes.com a lot, so timing is already worked out for me. And boredom to some extent. Like, "not this meal again!!" I'd want something different and exciting, but sometimes it just seems like tweaks to the same ingredients...
  • DebzNuDa
    DebzNuDa Posts: 252 Member
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    I always set up my recipes with MFP and it all figures it out for me (as long as I can select the item with grams. I so hate it when an item is setup as "medium", "cup", etc. Can't trust any item that way). Then, I put everything with my name in the beginning of the recipe (i.e.: (DebzNuDA) Chicken Curry with Sweet Potatoes and Pineapple). It's so easy to find and log. If I find that I need to change a recipe then all I need to do is "Edit" the recipe.
  • JordisTSM
    JordisTSM Posts: 359 Member
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    DebzNuDa wrote: »
    I always set up my recipes with MFP and it all figures it out for me (as long as I can select the item with grams. I so hate it when an item is setup as "medium", "cup", etc. Can't trust any item that way). Then, I put everything with my name in the beginning of the recipe (i.e.: (DebzNuDA) Chicken Curry with Sweet Potatoes and Pineapple). It's so easy to find and log. If I find that I need to change a recipe then all I need to do is "Edit" the recipe.

    Yes! This! I get sick of trawling through all the entries with 'cups'. Just put in the freaking grams, people! (I'm calm, I really, really, am.....)
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    DebzNuDa wrote: »
    I always set up my recipes with MFP and it all figures it out for me (as long as I can select the item with grams. I so hate it when an item is setup as "medium", "cup", etc. Can't trust any item that way). Then, I put everything with my name in the beginning of the recipe (i.e.: (DebzNuDA) Chicken Curry with Sweet Potatoes and Pineapple). It's so easy to find and log. If I find that I need to change a recipe then all I need to do is "Edit" the recipe.

    But it's not your recipe, and it's someone's recipe you're editing... I don't get this.
  • mkakids
    mkakids Posts: 1,913 Member
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    quote="Francl27;31413160"]

    I just enter every ingredient raw, weigh the pan empty then weigh it again with the stuff inside after it's been cooked and enter the amount of grams as serving (obviously if it's something I can transfer to another dish, I just weigh it.[/quote]

    I do this too, but MFP runs so slow it takes me 8-10 minutes to add each recipe. And I don't cook anything elaborate.
  • mkakids
    mkakids Posts: 1,913 Member
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    jordistsm wrote: »
    Crushing garlic. I LOVE garlic - would add it to every single meal if I could. But garlic crushers are messy and annoying, and I haven't mastered the chef's way of using the flat side of the knife blade. It's a good thing I don't mind getting bigger chunks of the stuff every few mouthfuls!

    Oh, and cleaning up afterwards. Love planning, preparing, and cooking food. But loathe any form of housework, so the clean up is my most hated part of cooking. I do it. I just hate doing it.

    I just buy jars of crushed and minced garlic.

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