"People don't know how to live this way anymore. Many of my young adult peers have no idea how to cook, what grocery stores are cheapest, how to find a produce co-op, how to make healthy meals on a budget, or what things are never worth it to buy new."

Mewster1818 · 2020-10-29T22:39:09+00:00

My mom was such a horrendous cook that I took over all the cooking at age 12. Here's some basic advice:

There is nothing wrong with making easy, simply recipes. I've been the primary cook in my house for 16 years now and I still rely on basic, easy classics. They take no brain power, they're popular for a reason(cuz they're delicious)... honestly you can't go wrong. Fancy recipes are fun to try out, and if you really end up liking cooking, but in my experience no man is ever gonna snub the easy classics either.
When you are browsing recipes online try to stick to recipes that have a lot of good ratings, that way you know that they really work.
If you can I strongly recommend to invest in a slow cooker(for just one or two people the little ones are perfectly sized). It will be a lifesaver on busy days, and there's nothing like spending 5 minutes just dumping everything in to come back to a delicious meal in the evening.
Frozen vegetables are perfectly fine, and are often better quality than fresh vegetables. They're cheaper, you don't have to worry about making them right away, and they're easier to store imo. Don't get me wrong, fresh veg definitely has its place and there are some times that you will want it over frozen, but it's not always better than frozen veg.
Canned and dried options are also extremely economical and just as good. While I generally don't get much canned veg, we use a lot of beans. I will get cans for the beans I don't use as much of, and dried for the ones that I use more commonly. Canned tomatoes are other way easier than fresh tomatoes as well.
For budgeting I like to bulk buy my proteins when possible, then portion them out, and freeze them myself. I'll buy like 10lb of ground beef, weigh it out per pound, bag it up and freeze it for later. I'll also buy similar amounts of chicken breasts and do the same thing. Then I'll pick recipes that use ground beef or chicken that I want to make throughout the week, and just pick up the odds and ends I don't have. Bulk rice is also great for students, a 10lb bag of rice will work for SO MANY meals and will go a LONG way.
Buy spices slowly. Don't feel like you need to buy a spice set and drop a lot of money up front, buy them as you need them and you'll end up with everything you could possibly need pretty quickly. There's also nothing wrong with buying seasoning packets, they're relatively cheap and they taste good.
Don't worry if something doesn't come out right, or if you don't like a recipe. Cooking is a lot of trial and error sometimes, and something that might look great on paper and with gorgeous pictures might really not be that great in reality.

sabsz16 · 2020-10-29T22:41:42+00:00

It's actually really staggering how rampant a lack of cooking skills is, so don't feel bad. I can't tell you how many people just seem shocked some of the simplest dishes. As a child, my mom would bring me in the kitchen with her and naturally I became curious and wanted to play with the carrots. Eventually I was prepping food for her!

I think that in the past 30-40 years there has been an overwhelming pattern of behavior where parents don't have kids in the kitchen with them, and I think that's how this starts. Maybe some moms can shed light on it because I'm not one myself and this is just anecdotal speculation.

One of the best things you can ever learn is how to make a healthy dinner quickly. As in fridge/freezer to table in under an hour. You could fill a Pinterest board with every glory meal in the book, but on a busy weeknight with kids, quick is going to be king.

"Dump meals," instantpot meals, one pan/skillet and sheet pan meals, as well as make ahead dishes that produce a ton of leftovers are a great place to start looking. Experiment with flavors and sauces and figure out what works for you.

Luckily the internet is crawling with lots of amazing recipes and food blogs. I've found gold mines everywhere from vegan cooks to youtube carnivores, to various food blogs, cookbooks, and editorial sites. I even have a couple users from food reddits who I stalk for their recipes! Explore. Have fun. Find your flavors. Food is therapeutic and artistic at the same time. Most of all, don't get too hard on yourself. It's just food. :)

sabsz16 · 2020-10-29T22:16:38+00:00

[deleted]

ezer_kenegdo · 2020-10-30T00:04:16+00:00

I put the cooking channel on a lot for background noise and its amazing the tidbits you pickup from the shows and competitions. Plus all kinds of new ideas.

Bulk prepping is the easiest to start out with if you won't get bored of the same foodstuffs quick. But repurposing food is good too. Tomato soup, ground beef and rice can be Spanish rice, stuffed pepper filling or stuffed pepper soup.leftover meats can make a good stir fry, and you can change it up.just by using different vegetables

rft24 · 2020-10-30T00:31:43+00:00

i’m 20 so a year younger than you, but i started cooking in my teens. watching my mom & aunts cook was a huge help, as well as watching youtube videos! i’m someone who needs to see how something is done before i do it myself, so the demonstrations helped a ton. it also helped me learn to cook foods that were new to me or that i’d never have learned to cook if it weren’t for my quirky interest in mukbangs 😅

i also love watching the women in my family cook because i learn all their recipes & ways (cultural & passed down through generations) of cooking. my mother never really taught me either, as she’s always worked a lot & rarely had time. she started involving me when she’d cook once i started expressing interest in learning.

i tend to decide what to cook based on what’s already in the house, so as to save money & make sure what we have isn’t wasted. if my family asks me to cook something & we don’t have some key ingredients for it, then i’ll go to the grocery store with a list (& make sure i stay away from the snack & bakery isle, if not i’ll just pick up a bunch of stuff i’m “in the mood” to eat but will never finish).

i also have learned to stop grocery shopping when i’m hungry, because then i buy more food than i need. it’s a great tip i learned from an older woman i greatly admire.

thrift shopping is also a great way to find decent quality secondhand designer items at affordable prices, if you’re into that sorta thing 😉

nahasanahasa · 2020-10-30T02:58:53+00:00

A fact and convenience the previous generation did not have. Ready food availability and a buffet at that. Also their spending power is more than us. May be as they grow older, they'll realise they need to learn all this. It's a necessity not defined in their brains.

cyntral · 2020-10-30T05:00:30+00:00

The best thing I ever did was get a list of tried and true easy meals. If I have time to prep a lot of different ingredients, and enjoy cooking then that’s awesome! But on nights when the baby is cranky and I have a hungry man to feed.. my sheet pan meals save my life. I’d recommend finding some easy one pot/sheet pan meals that you can toss together, trying them out, and adding them to them to your rotation for when you’re in a pinch. No thought required and you know that you’ll have a delicious meal ready in a short time. I also buy meat in bulk, and separate it out to store in the freezer. Super easy to thaw out tomorrow’s meat at night so I have a game plan the next day. Also pay attention to what you use most and the basics of what most of your recipes call for. You’ll get into a groove and learn to have those on hand! If you have any older women in your life ask them what their favorite quick and easy meal is. Most of them will be happy to help you out with suggestions.

Title	"People don't know how to live this way anymore. Many of my young adult peers have no idea how to cook, what grocery stores are cheapest, how to find a produce co-op, how to make healthy meals on a budget, or what things are never worth it to buy new."
Author	sabsz16
Upvotes	110
Comments	23
Date	October 29, 2020 9:47 PM UTC (3 years ago)
Subreddit	/r/RedPillWomen
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/RedPillWomen/people-dont-know-how-to-live-this-way-anymore-many.325428 https://theredarchive.com/post/325428
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/RedPillWomen/comments/jkjkh9/people_dont_know_how_to_live_this_way_anymore/