When I am cooking, I almost never stick to a recipe. I add and subtract things as I wish and the outcome is always palatable. Cooking is not like baking where you have to measure ingredients and be careful about the recipes.
The other day, I made a stir-fry dish of some vegetables on hand and mom and I had it for dinner. The leftover portion became part of a frittata.
My soups are always loaded with things that may not be in the original recipe. If I have to use up something, I will.
Trying to stick to a recipe is tiring and frustrating since sometimes they call for ingredients you may not have on hand at all times. Besides, I do not like to buy something which will be used just once and most likely go bad before being used a second time.
The other day, I was watching a cooking show with some obnoxious contestants. They visit each other's homes for dinner and grade the cooking. They say things like, "such and such does not go into this soup or casserole or whatever". Who says? And Why?
The other day I put carrots and potatoes I had to use in lentil soup and mom said she had never seen someone putting those in lentil soup. I think she watches that show every day. Lol! I said, a soup is a soup and anything can go into it as long as it is tasty. The soup is gone already so, I must have been doing something right.
When I leave work, I will try to focus on cooking healthy and fresh foods. I generally like cooking but cleaning up aftrwards is a chore I hate.
I agree that a person can add or subtract any food in a recipe. Too many recipes have that expensive ingredient that will be partially used and left to go bad. I avoid those recipes, substitute or leave that ingredient out.
ReplyDeleteThat is why I dehydrate food. Before, I would freeze chopped celery to use it later. Now, I can dehydrate is and store it on a shelf. Of course, there is no using it in tuna or potato salad as the crispiness is gone.
That cooking show sounds sort of mean. I think your mother was not criticizing, just commenting. But, you were there.
Right now, even though I cooked many carrots and potatoes, the carrots will go off if I don't cook them, so I will and freeze them for use later this month.