I haven’t always known how to cook – some might even say I still don’t know how to cook, which is fine. I like my cooking – so does Boyfriend, so that’s all that matters. I learned how to cook by watching food television shows, which also include food competitions. Normally when they cook on them, they explain what they are doing, what they are expecting, what it should look like – you end up learning a lot.
For example, I have been watching “Guys Grocery Games” on Max a lot lately. I learned that the reason mushrooms get slimy is because you don’t remove the ribs in the back of the mushroom. That has stuck with me since Guy mentioned it. I didn’t realize that – don’t get me wrong, I’ve always removed the ribs, so my mushrooms aren’t slimy, but it was something I learned on a cooking competition show.
So, basically, I have taught myself to cook. Normally people say my mother or grandmother, or aunt taught me how to cook. I didn’t get that luxury. I taught myself. Honestly, it’s fine, just means it took me a little longer to learn things, so I used cookbooks (yes, I honestly have read cookbooks), and television shows. Rachael Ray was a huge one I would use, through the years, though, it has changed. I don’t miss any show of Gordon Ramsay.
Back to Guy’s Grocery Games: for anyone who doesn’t watch it – he picks three to four people and put them in his grocery store, give them games, and they cook – the winner will win 10,000 dollars if they can get all the ingredients at the end. If you don’t watch it, but like fun and goofy game shows, you would enjoy it.
He has one game, my favorite to watch, called “Frozen Can-Can”. The rules are simple, you can only shop in the frozen section and anything in a can. && every time they end up playing this game everyone starts freaking out. I’m not talking like a little freak out then calm down, through the whole episode they do nothing but complain about not having fresh foods, how canned foods are gross, how frozen foods are nasty.
Here’s my thing.
All kinds of different people watch these shows. People who can afford to go out and buy fresh foods, people who have to use frozen foods, people who have to buy canned foods. Some people don’t have the luxury of being able to purchase fresh foods all the time. Then there are people who don’t know how to cook with fresh foods – which seems strange to anyone who knows how to cook fresh foods, but I didn’t at the beginning of my journey. I have had to google, read cookbooks, watch television programs, ask a lot of questions. I still have a few fresh items I have never cooked with && wouldn’t know where to begin.
I think what bothers me the most watching them freak out is the people that are watching the show that have no choice but to stop in canned or frozen food. Families on food stamps, for example, have to buy canned or frozen so it lasts longer. My household is just Boyfriend and me and I tend to stay away fresh (I’m not talking about meat just fruits and vegetables) because fresh food goes bad very quickly. I can buy $100 worth of cans and fresh food that last me months. Fresh vegetables would last me about three days, just long enough for them to go bad.
Basically, stop food shaming people. You’re making the people who have no choice but to purchase cans and frozen items feel bad when they shouldn’t be. Because frozen items are just as good as fresh items if prepared correctly.
Stop. Food. Shaming. People.
That includes talking about what people eat. Just because you don’t like canned tuna, doesn’t mean the woman next to you needs to hear about your hatred. && I’ll never understand people who don’t like vegetables.
♥The Barbosphere♥ 