Crossing the line....

[Seabag]

There's a self imposed rule of thumb here at our house

If you can make it, then eat it. That is fresh (and often simple) food. However, cooking has gone from food preparation to food assembly. And last night I crossed the line, yeah I did and then again today in Sainsbury's

My transgression?

Ready chopped onions, in a pot. Just pull the lid off and whack them in a pan, like fuck what was I thinking before, with all that peeling, chopping and general time heavy prep

And further, with courgette and butternut squash 'pasta' to make me wonder. Where have you been all my life!

I feel liberated and wonder how I'm going to spend all this saved time

*punches air*

[uncleglen]

I was the same because the vegetarians in my house eat all that processed veggie food- even pink stuff that looks like bacon...how is that vegetarian? I use a pressure cooker for beans cheap meat etc I used to cook all these things from scratch but then about 5 years ago I discovered frozen chopped onions, peppers and mushrooms...instant stir fry, egg fried rice (after I discovered microwaveable brown rice)...takes 5 minutes instead of half an hour.....an extra 25 minutes for marking and prep....

[Robert Poste's Child]

OK if they're frozen but anything else will be losing nutritional value very quickly and will have stuff added to stop it degrading, so I avoid those. I tried the butternut squash noodles and there's definitely something added that smells unnatural.

Pink bacon? Processed veggie food is still processed food... I know several veggie people who think they're healthy but you only have to look at their skin or their shape to see they're eating cr@p.

[Rosetta]

What about chopping in a food processor? Did not know you could buy frozen chopped onions.

[Cat in a Hot Tin Bus]

Oh Jezs seabag

You really have crossed that line, I had you pegged down as a foodie and well into the latest food trends but your confession has just trashed and tarnished your foodie credentials!!!

FFS shopping in Sainsburys, OMG I would never ever have thought it was possible!

[numbers]

When I was younger I tried frozen mashed potatoes. It was truly horrible - tasteless beige pellets. Never again.

I'd rather have Smash potatoes (showing my age here!!)

The only ready-chopped convenience thing I'd LOVE to see more widely are coconut pieces for making south indian dishes.

[Robert Poste's Child]

In my late teens, Smash was the perfect food to mop up an evening's drink before falling into bed. Bacon and onion flavours were particularly good, topped with butter and a dollop of ketchup.

That was before my conversion to puritanism, obviously.

[numbers]

hang on?you could get flavoured smash?

even better in all its artificial glory.

[Robert Poste's Child]

I just looked online and it seems they've been overtaken by a cheese and onion flavour. Perfect for when you're too overcome to chew properly.

[rendelharris]

numbers Wrote:

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> The only ready-chopped convenience thing I'd LOVE

> to see more widely are coconut pieces for making

> south indian dishes.

Sainsbury's do 'em, a quid for a small punnet - you need at least a couple for a decent sized dish.

[malumbu]

I was in Sri Lanka donkeys years ago. Some of the locals could cut up a mango so you could have a proper feast rather than just slithers.

Can't think of anything else you'd want to have ready prepared.

[Seabag]

Hold up now, I totes draw the line at frozen stir fry

I mean at least the things I buy are fresh and chopped or sliced into strips, but blasted in a freezer or dehydrated is just too far

Bloody hell, get a grip please people

We're some way off advocating a Rustlers Burger and microchips for dinner

And honestly who cooks rice from scratch any more?

[KidKruger]

I get the convenience of stuff being sliced already and understand that prep can be a hassle.

Maybe it's what I cook (mainly curries, Indian subcontinent fare) which makes it fairly quick but I never need to spend more than 15mins total in prep, even when making 4x curries at same time like I did last Friday. It's IMO time well spent. It can be relaxing to block other stuff out and concentrate on your food (incl. prep) for a short while - heaven knows there's enough other shite distracting us all the time.

To be able to do something as straightforward and useful as slice some veg and grind a few hard spices down is a welcome intermission.

Like I say, I get the convenience argument, but I feel robbed if I don't have time for fundamentals - perhaps I enjoy cooking too much so it's not such a bind.

You can also help your prep by doing stuff in front when you have spare time, such as shredding bulk amounts of ginger / garlic etc. to freeze, blending tomatoes/ginger/chillis (or whatever combo you'll need) for curry purees. Whatever you cook there may be ways to lighten the prep way in advance. This may sound terribly organised, but I'm actually very dissorganised which is why I do the above.

Horses for courses tho innits.

[peckham_ryu]

Yes, ready chopped onion is a bit far. Just chop a load next time, and freeze them yourself. Much more sustainable than the carbon footprint and wastage from the supermarket's mechanically chopped batches.

Ready chopped garlic and chilli on the other hand: gone are the days of accidentally rubbing your eye and regretting it for the rest of the day!

[Jules-and-Boo]

I've got a rice steamer , which is really easy - although the microwave packets of rice are even easier (and I buy those so my daughter can make rice for herself after school)..

What's wrong with frozen veg? I thought it was fine - we've always frozen it.....

[Jeremy]

malumbu Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I was in Sri Lanka donkeys years ago. Some of the

> locals could cut up a mango so you could have a

> proper feast rather than just slithers.

I'm no whizz in the kitchen, but... isn't cubing a mango quite a simple operation?

[TheArtfulDogger]

peckham_ryu Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Ready chopped garlic and chilli on the other hand:

> gone are the days of accidentally rubbing your eye

> and regretting it for the rest of the day!

Worse still working with chilli then removing contact lenses (ouch) only to rediscover the pain the next day when putting the lenses back in (double ouch)

[KidKruger]

you can stick a 1/2 lb of fresh chillis in a food processor for s few secs then bag 'em and stick in freezer. Then you just have to spoon them out when frozen - no hand/eye contact.

[Otta]

Ready grated mozzarella is a wonderful thing.

[Jeremy]

I rarely get home from work much before 7:45pm, anything which makes cooking a bit quicker has to be a good thing! But to be honest I usually bypass the whole "ready chopped onion" or "minced garlic/chilli/ginger" dilemma and go straight to "M&S curry" or "takeaway".

I actually had a couple of days off work recently, and decided I wanted to make a proper curry from scratch one afternoon. Only to remember that my wife recently threw out my big bag of spices, because it hadn't been touched in over two years. So I had to settle for a ready-made paste... it was less than satisfactory.

[Seabag]

Frozen ready mixed stir fry is naff, we all know that

Whereas ready chopped onion *fresh is fine

Minced garlic & ginger doesn't taste good out of a jar

Much as Dolmio doesn't taste good

But ready made pesto is fine

Please keep up, next thread "Steak W4nk" where we can discuss the merits of dry aged beef vs Findus Steakhouse thingy's