seems like nobody cooks anymore

all the health-conscious people at this site, and yet most everyone seems to be seeking information on prepared and restaurant foods.  the recipes forum is absolutely dead.  what's going on?

and don't tell me that no one has time.  cooking saves time, because you cook several meals at a time, not one.  it saves money, too, because you buy whole foods, and you can pick and choose what's a good deal on any particular day.  it's the only way that you can truly know what you're eating, and yet even those who are OCD about food won't do it.

what gives?

Hey, pgeorgian!

I started using this site Dec. 1st of ' 07, and only just recently put my first recipe online. For whatever reason that part of the site didn't want to work for me very well, but I finally got it to happen.

The recipe I entered was a knock off version of a recipe by Chef Giada de Laurentiis. It's called Tomato- Cannelini Soup with Pastini (i.e., little pasta) and because of the wholesome ingredients, rates an A-. I tweaked it from her original version to make it more healthy, including using whole wheat whole grain pasta from Hodgson Mill. It only takes about 1/2 hour to make from start to finish and it's delicious. We like to eat it with whole wheat saltines from Keebler/Zesta, and dried thyme that's been crushed between our fingers. Sometimes we sprinkle grated parmesan on top; even though it rates an "F" we've still got to have it sometimes!

Oh! I should add that the recipe calls for canned spaghetti sauce (instead of Giada's homemade marinara- another change I made), and I used that  this last time around when I made it, but then I ALSO added a large (26 or 28 oz.?) can of crushed tomatoes (and some more herbs- oregano, crushed black pepper & the like) which made it thicker and my family liked it more than usual that way. I hope you'll give it a try! It's high in fiber, protein and nutrients but low in fat, and sugar. Look it up! And if you do decide to try it...Bon Appetit!

 

My wife and I cook dinner 6 nights a week, and we make our own lunches too.  We eat out once a week and probably only use a pre-prepared meal item like frozen potstickers or whatever once a week or so.

 But we have a standard battery of a dozen or so recipes that we do all the time, and my wife pulls a new one out of the cookbook every now and then, but I guess in our case, the ones in the Joy of Cooking book are more than enough.

 

We have kids and work, so we really don't want to spend a lot of time cooking, so we try to keep it simple -  a lot of simple stir-fry, soups, grilled meat plus blanched veggies, etc.  A lot of it just just thrown together. 

I'm not into complicated recipes, but I don't care for processed prepackaged food either - that stuff just seems nutritionally EMPTY.

I like cooking, we go out maybe once a week.  Cooking, as you say, gives me control over exactly what goes into my food, I know exactly how fresh it is (very), how much there is, how healthy it is.  Plus I'm a darn good cook if I do say so myself.  For example, tonight I am making a sweet potato chili that's real tasty.  I guess I just don't use the forums here to talk about it much. 

I've also got a couple dozen recipes that I go to most often, although I do like to try new stuff from time to time. 

bubbasgirl, i LOVE the recipe analyzer - it's how i found this site.  i use it all the time, and tag every recipe.  i've run into a couple of gliches: 1. i find it really hard to estimate the number of servings when i make something like chilli, soup, or sauce; and 2. i can't figure out how to enter one recipe as a component of another.  for instance, i can't enter my homemade turkey stock as an ingredient in my turkey tortellini soup, so the soup comes up as off the charts in sodium when it really isn't.

i think we all tend to recycle the same dozen or so recipes.  it simplifies shopping, you don't have to get the book out every time, etc.  that said, i share recipes with one particularly health-conscious friend regularly, and i find that once i've made something new a couple of times, it becomes my own.

pgeorg... perhaps the recipe analyser is enough for some people, which results in it not being saved. 

I, myself, am a very creative cook, and I also never measure anything, so it would  be very difficult for me to write down what went into something and how much of it.  I do a lot of stir fries for veggies because it gives me a lot of variety without much bulk.  Also, b/c I am  living alone, it allows me to eat my required number of veggies without them going bad in the fridge.  Most of the veggies are within 2 or 3 calories of each other, so I have two stir fry recipes in my tagged and use them no matter if that is the same veggies or not. ie 2/3 cup snap peas is 35 calories and 2/3 cup green beans is 34.  I use them interchangeably, depending on freshness, availability, cost.

As far as estimating how much soup there is, I use a scale and a 4 liter pan which fortunately has the measurements marked right in the pan. I don't fill it more than 3 liters, and that makes 6 servings. So after simmering and evaporating it is down to about 375 grams. I tested this a few times, and it comes out right.  When I log the food, I put it down as 375 grams.

I NEVER go out to eat, but I also rarely put a recipe in here, and never look one up.

i cook.

when i cook for myself, it's fairly simple - usually just a stir fry.  i've been doing a tofu, spinach, onion, garlic, pepper stir fry lately with some feta cheese thrown into the pan at the very end.

i cook often for my friends too.  it's great having 3 or 4 people over, and they usually bring wine and dessert.  we eat, we watch a movie...one time, someone busted out a box of crayons and everyone drew a picture.  one of the most requested dinners is a paneer dish with sweet potatoes, curry, garlic, onions, peppers, peas, and roasted almonds on top, with rice pilaf on the side and a spinach salad.

when i ate chicken, i made an awesome chicken penne dish...although i can't remember the recipe right now.

all that said, i love eating out.  it's one of my favorite things to do...and i don't even eat that much.  i blame my love for it on going to boarding school and having regular sit down dinners.  right now, i just can't afford to, and neither can most of my friends.

I love to cook!  I think the reason that people ask for help on prepared foods and restaurant foods so often is because they are more confusing than entering food you make yourself (at least for me).  I am always sad about how quiet it is in the recipe section too, but personally I never feel like I can post recipes because I am one of those people who prepares food by randomly throwing together different things.  I don't think I have ever made exactly the same meal twice!

Original Post by kory23:

I love to cook!  I think the reason that people ask for help on prepared foods and restaurant foods so often is because they are more confusing than entering food you make yourself (at least for me).  I am always sad about how quiet it is in the recipe section too, but personally I never feel like I can post recipes because I am one of those people who prepares food by randomly throwing together different things.  I don't think I have ever made exactly the same meal twice!

Ahh... Kory, after my own heart.  But you are right... Who knows what is in restaurant foods, and that is likely why people post about them.  They find it impossible to guess and want to compare your guess with their guess..

I cook everyday and almost all my meals are homemade - the real way!  Not heated from a package, but actual meats and fresh veggies and whole foods cooked by moi!. 

I cook/make my own meals every day. Granted, they aren't the most fancy gourmet meals. They are very simple. I eat a frozen meal like once in a blue moon. I only go out to eat if it is for a special family occasion. I don't care how hungry I am if I am out, I will wait until I get home to eat because I am that neurotic about fixing my own meals. But I do agree that it is a little sad how empty the recipe forum is.

I cook loads more since I started educating myself about healthy eating and foods, and most of my recipes have come from the recipes on here, I really should message people back telling them that i tried their recipes!!

So whoever you are  - broccoli bake (broccoli and stuff baked in a cream of mushroom soup) - excellent.  Also Chicken breast cooked in salsa sauce - had that one last night, added some mushrooms - great. And lots of other random ideas from here.  :o)

We cook most of our meals here.  Occassionally Alex and I will go out to have a treat, but for the most part, everything we eat, we make.

Picky eaters, penny pinchers, you know how it goes.

I cook pretty simply for myself.  Today's lunch, for example: whole wheat penne, white beans, kale, hot pepper oil, a bit of onion. I tag recipes to be able to add them quickly. But I wouldn't think to add something into the collective recipe database unless it was something that was complicated enough not to be obvious.

Personally I think 'food' and 'recipes' should be combined into the same forum because it's redundant to have them both! Most people seem to go straight to 'food' to post.

But yes, I cook... the other day I made chicken and white bean soup that was yummy, if a bit high in sodium for me, and yesterday I made delicious salads for lunch. Tonight's quick-and-easy dinner was chicken tenders panfried with some lemonjuice for tang, and a BIG bowl of carrot/broccoli/corn. It was so much I could only eat half of it...  

I cook my own food. I don't make anything fancy, but my roommates think I'm like a pro or something.

The recipe I entered was a knock off version of a recipe by Chef Giada de Laurentiis. It's called Tomato- Cannelini Soup with Pastini (i.e., little pasta)

bubbasgirl, sounds like a knockoff of my mom's pasta fagioli (fazool) that she got from my gram, Italy born, although she made it with ditalini.  She did cook us pastina with just butter and parmesean - serious comfort food.  Her pastas arent as easily found now. 

She did shoo us all from the kitchen to keep us kids from sample meatballs, sauted peppers or whatever as she prepared meals in steps.  I left the house not knowing a thing of the kitchen and havent learned much since (can make pasta fazool though).  She also had just a few menus written down and their lack of measurment will drive you crazy. Guess I was spoiled in a way but no real interest in it now.  Dont even use the oven - micro, stovetop and occasional plug in foreman grill.

So I dont frequent recipe forum much but have enjoyed it.  I am a better match for this forum.  I agree with you though - recipe forum is great for cooks to get ideas.  There can be so many recipes for one item, I think its great to get opinions of member's versions. 

Dont eat out almost ever.  I think its natural though with the different members that restaurant questions will be comman but I think we could members recipe forum is a great opportunity for those with cooking flair. 

As moderator of the Recipes Forum, thanks for your boost!  I wouldn't say it's "dead", just slower than other kinds of boards.   We don't expect the number of posts you see on other fora.  This is typical of a forum with a narrow range of interest. 

We'd love it if people would come and share their best recipes, and ask questions about cooking in general.  We especially love it when you all enter your recipes in the recipe analyzer and share a link with us!  You've all enriched the lives of others.

Clairelaine
Volunteer Moderator, Recipes Forum

i cook ALOT, i just don't really make anything worth raving about. nothing too special. usually just a simple grilled meat with some veggies and a side (rice most of the time, but sometimes sweet potato fries depending on what we're having).

sometimes i'll make something a little different, like turkey meatloaf (the last time i made it was the summer, and it was to die for! i found the recipe online somewhere), or spaghetti squash with turkey meatballs. and once i just threw together this type of casserole-ish thing randomly, i think i remember it being different layers of chicken, organic tomato sauce, and tomato paste, with chopped tomatoes and fatfree cheese on top. (and i might've even entered that recipe on here somewhere i think).

but yeah, i rarely ever make anything straying from the usual, so i don't have much to enter or talk about on here.

Original Post by clairelaine:

As moderator of the Recipes Forum, thanks for your boost!  I wouldn't say it's "dead", just slower than other kinds of boards.   We don't expect the number of posts you see on other fora.  This is typical of a forum with a narrow range of interest. 

We'd love it if people would come and share their best recipes, and ask questions about cooking in general.  We especially love it when you all enter your recipes in the recipe analyzer and share a link with us!  You've all enriched the lives of others.

Clairelaine
Volunteer Moderator, Recipes Forum

Claire, One of the things I dislike about the recipes section is that if I discover I left out something or make a tpyo (deliberate) I can't go back and fix it.  Also, I have made recipes and then modified them slightly.  Like today... I have a recipe for "Tomato Black Bean Soup" and when I discovered I was getting tired of the leftovers, took a serving, and pureed it, and then added a couple of tablespoons of parmesan cheese after it was warmed.  It was yummy, but now there is no way for me to go in and add the suggestion. I also thought tomorrow I would add a half cup of spinach for variety, but if that turns out to be a Queen's Dainty, I can't tell anyone about it without entering the whole thing again, and then of course, it becomes quite redundant.

  I don't want to modify anyone elses recipes, just my own.

I can't Imagine not cooking or not being cooked for.  Im Israeli.  I don't think im used to this American way of not cooking.  It's weird for me.  But ya cook tomatoes and you'll get a mediteanean salad  =)