Chicken Tonight

[Hellhound]

You know, I really think this one of those 'until you walk in the shoes' things.

I have 'walked in the shoes'
In the mid-80s I was unemployed and 'of no fixed abode' for around 3 years.I know first hand how hard it can be.
I don't,however,get the impression that many of us on here are in that predicament now?Feel free to correct me if that is not the case.I

My comments were not aimed at those unfortunates who are struggling on a daily basis.

[Vorpal]

You know, I really think this one of those 'until you walk in the shoes' things.

I have 'walked in the shoes'
In the mid-80s I was unemployed and 'of no fixed abode' for around 3 years.I know first hand how hard it can be.
I don't,however,get the impression that many of us on here are in that predicament now?Feel free to correct me if that is not the case.I

My comments were not aimed at those unfortunates who are struggling on a daily basis.

Well, you didn't qualify it. Also, it was just an example. I was speaking from personal experience, but just because I'm not poor now, doesn't mean I want to prepare every meal from scratch.

How far do you take it? Do you prepare your pasta fresh from imported flour? grow the wheat & mill it yourself? Kill & butcher the chicken for your made-from-scratch sauce. Use only fresh herbs and spices from your garden?

Not all prepared foods are bad for people and not all people can take the time to avoid cooking with prepared foods. For all sort of reasons, not just poverty.

'you can make time if you just try hard enough'?

Maybe that's true for *you*, but what about the millions of people with long terms medical conditions or mental illness that leave them without the energy? What about the child minder who has other people's kids in their house from 7:00 am until 5:30 pm? Or the GP whose surgery is oversubscribed and puts in extra hours to visit vulnerable people? Or the 20-something in the co-op who works two jobs to support their disabled family member, or the elderly lady who doesn't really have enough support from her family & community, but isn't ready for a care home? Or the folks who live in a rental unit where the cooker never works properly, no matter how often they complain to the landlord, and they can really only use two burners?

Your post sounded like everyone should be able to make the time to cook stuff from fresh, when that simply isn't possible for many. There is a limit to people's ability to prioritise cooking stuff from fresh, a limit to personal resources to manage it, and not everyone is going to see it the same way.

I have a hard time understanding how someone who has 'walked in the shoes' of someone forced into those sorts of decisions can assume that folks can just try harder and be able to somehow have the time.

[Paulatic]

middle aged men arguing about cooking sauces what ever next. . Most men of your age think its woman's work and opening a jar of sauce is too complicated for them.

Are you serious? A great sweeping generalisation which is untrue in many homes except perhaps yours?
I took over cooking 40 years ago as I preferred it to changing nappies and wiping dirty bums. After nappies it became very much a shared task as to who was home first. Now in retirement the choice is to eat a meal prepared by my wife or one prepared by me. Mrs P agrees with me which is why 6 out of 7 days I do the main meal along with chief bread and yoghurt maker. It does get me out of a lot of dishwashing mind you.

[Hellhound]

You know, I really think this one of those 'until you walk in the shoes' things.

I have 'walked in the shoes'
In the mid-80s I was unemployed and 'of no fixed abode' for around 3 years.I know first hand how hard it can be.
I don't,however,get the impression that many of us on here are in that predicament now?Feel free to correct me if that is not the case.I

My comments were not aimed at those unfortunates who are struggling on a daily basis.

Well, you didn't qualify it. Also, it was just an example. I was speaking from personal experience, but just because I'm not poor now, doesn't mean I want to prepare every meal from scratch.

How far do you take it? Do you prepare your pasta fresh from imported flour? grow the wheat & mill it yourself? Kill & butcher the chicken for your made-from-scratch sauce. Use only fresh herbs and spices from your garden?

Not all prepared foods are bad for people and not all people can take the time to avoid cooking with prepared foods. For all sort of reasons, not just poverty.

'you can make time if you just try hard enough'?

Maybe that's true for *you*, but what about the millions of people with long terms medical conditions or mental illness that leave them without the energy? What about the child minder who has other people's kids in their house from 7:00 am until 5:30 pm? Or the GP whose surgery is oversubscribed and puts in extra hours to visit vulnerable people? Or the 20-something in the co-op who works two jobs to support their disabled family member, or the elderly lady who doesn't really have enough support from her family & community, but isn't ready for a care home? Or the folks who live in a rental unit where the cooker never works properly, no matter how often they complain to the landlord, and they can really only use two burners?

Your post sounded like everyone should be able to make the time to cook stuff from fresh, when that simply isn't possible for many. There is a limit to people's ability to prioritise cooking stuff from fresh, a limit to personal resources to manage it, and not everyone is going to see it the same way.

I have a hard time understanding how someone who has 'walked in the shoes' of someone forced into those sorts of decisions can assume that folks can just try harder and be able to somehow have the time.

Again I feel you are giving examples just for the sake of it.Are there any examples of your points on this thread or indeed this Forum.I don't believe so!I am not commenting on Worldwide or even Countrywide poverty/mental illness etc so I fail to see why you are bringing it into this thread!?It reads like you are lecturing me for a throwaway comment?I don't think any of your points are relevant to this particular topic.

As for your last sentence I don't know where to start.I've been there,done it and got many T-shirts.It was a long time ago but that's not to say it couldn't happen again.Different people react differently to different situations.It happened.I got through it and got over it.My belief is you can just try harder and things will and do get better.

[Vorpal]

A throwaway comment? Maybe you should be more careful about throwing away comments that sound like blanket criticism for anyone who doesn't 'try hard enough'. You didn't say things get better if you try hard enough. You said

Tried most jars over the years before we went our own way.I'm not for a minute saying they were all bad infact some of the curry sauces were very good I just prefer my sauces
It irks me when folk say 'I don't have time'.You can make time for anything if you try hard enough.

I gave you a specific example of why 'try hard enough' might be difficult or impossible, and you said your comments weren't aimed at people like that, so I gave more examples. My examples were not just for the sake of it, but to refute your statement "You can make time for anything if you try hard enough." as it relates to the topic under discussion.

I will just leave it at that. I have to go stick some pre-made half-baked rolls in the oven for lunch

[661-Pete]

Photo of the ingredients.
Note the G word is there.
Can't stand the stuff.

Willing to have a go at this, though and it's not as though we use this "muck" very often .............. in fact not at all.
First go at it.



IMG_0717.jpg

Looking carefully at that picture, I noticed the words "suitable for vegetarians" half visible to the left. Seems a bit out-of-place on a sauce meant to go with chicken, eh? But no matter - I suppose if we had a jar of the stuff we could easily find a substitute (our son came back from his China trip with a recipe called Kung Pao Chicken: we make it with quorn and very tasty it is!).

The ingredients list doesn't look too bad to us. And the sugar and salt content are far lower than some prepared foods. It's a pity you have a garlic aversion - that limits your choices quite a lot - but I can sympathise, although I love garlic!

[Mick F]

Garlic .................

Mrs Mick F at this very moment is pickling them.
Three little jars.

[al_yrpal]

Garlic .................

Mrs Mick F at this very moment is pickling them.
Three little jars.

Its like anti allergic treatment Mick. Feed you enough and you will become garlic tolerant! Zut alors.....

Al

[Mick F]

Don't ask me what's in the other jars behind.
They are either Grape and Pear Jam, or Runner Bean Pickle. I lose track, as she does so much of things. Cupboards and shelves full and sells them for Keen for Gambia.
https://keen4gambia.uk
She's been out there a couple of times and knows Jayne Keen very well indeed.
You can see Mrs Mick F on this page bottom left photo.
https://keen4gambia.uk/fundraising

[Bonefishblues]

The lower row of pictures isn't visible when you click-through, so for a moment I wondered which costume she was in

[al_yrpal]

We used to host curry nights. People came with a curry dish and a bottle and everything was put on tables and you helped yourself. Some folk did their own currys and some folk used preprepared sauces from jars. At the end of the evening people would informally vote for their favourites. Over the years the result was pretty evenly split between the home prepared stuff and the jars.

Al

[Mick F]

The lower row of pictures isn't visible when you click-through, so for a moment I wondered which costume she was in

She's on the right.

This is her when she was there last.
Not been back for a couple of years due to Covid, but Jayne is there now (again) as she has a residency permit having spent months over there. Mrs Mick F is hoping to go back in January.
We have enough stuff to pack into (yet another) 40ft container and it'll be loaded and shipped out in a month or two.

[[XAP]Bob]

... doesn't mean I want to prepare every meal from scratch.

How far do you take it? Do you prepare your pasta fresh from imported flour? grow the wheat & mill it yourself? Kill & butcher the chicken for your made-from-scratch sauce. Use only fresh herbs and spices from your garden?

To make an apple pie from scratch first create the universe.