5 ms·

I can't tell if this is satirical or not. Is knowing how to shop and prepare a basic meal really such a problem today?

randomgyatwork 10y ago
Quck google search: https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=millennials%20don%27t%20cook https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&es...
- karmajunkie 10y ago
  Thanks for the context. Half of me still wants to shake my head and go "kids these days" but I get the time-and-energy thing. My son just turned 8 and as part of his "annual review" (privilege/responsibility conversation we have around his birthday every year where he gets a slightly later bedtime and bigger chores)we added a chore to do the shopping, prepare and cook a meal once a week (with help, of course). I sincerely hope this isn't a problem he has when he gets older.
colept 10y ago
For singles yes. Everything is packaged so that you're either finding ways to use up ingredients or you end up throwing them away because they've expired. Some foodstuffs come in smaller servings which is a blessing but the costs add up.
- Symbiote 10y ago
  The key to not wasting food is to determine today's meal based on what's in your fridge, rather than a new recipe. Also, I'm aware that my plans change frequently, so I avoid buying much meat and fish -- enough for two meals, at most.
  - CmdrSprinkles 10y ago
    For meat and fish: Supermarkets tend to have a pound or two of chicken and other meats at reasonable prices which equates to 1-3 meals. A chicken breast (or a few thighs) easily holds up for a week or so in the fridge as long as you put it in a sealed container. And you can save a lot more money if you buy a larger pack, break it up into "meals", bag them, and freeze them. I am lazy and just do plastic-wrap -> freezer bag and give it the sniff test before cooking but smarter people use a more rigorous system.
vog 10y ago
Exactly that was my first reaction, too. Also, this makes a great analogy for software development and a very good point about Free Software (hands-on), proprietary software (you control at least the information flow into and out of that blackbox) and services (you have lost any control over where your personal and business data is routed through and sent to).
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  So to extend your analogy - if you're a normal, non-technical person, you don't care about the free/propertiary/SaaS distinction. You're not interested in reading or modifying the internals, nor you're interested in learning how to do it. You have your goals and want software that will best help you accomplish it. Just like some people aren't into coding, some people aren't that into cooking. One has to eat to survive, but this doesn't automatically make cooking interesting, especially on a daily basis. Many of us (myself included) simply want to get on to the eating part and save the time for something more interesting (be it reading books, playing games, building stuff, spending time with children...).
  - karmajunkie 10y ago
    I like the analogy, but I'd offer that those who like to eat without cooking are more akin to your average gamers, who get into the use of technology rather than its production. Personally, while I enjoy cooking sometimes, I generally don't like eating for its own sake—I have three or four simple meals that I could honestly stick with for 90% of my meals and I'd be happy enough. Not altogether healthy, mind you—they're mostly variations on carbs and cheese with not enough veggies nor protein—but thankfully my wife keeps me from regressing to my own devices there. :)
    - TeMPOraL 10y ago
      Haha, same here. Left to my own devices, I mostly rotate between three or four meals that all share the same characteristic: they're tasty and most of their preparation time doesn't require attention. Drop the stuff into boiling water, wait 5 minutes, take it out - this kind of style. And similarly, it's my SO who makes sure I consume a healthy variety of vegetables ;).
runn1ng 10y ago
Speaking for myself I don't hate cooking meals I hate all the fuzz around it - getting ingredients - do I buy "organic"? is that expensive? how cheap should I go?; finding the right recipes - how do I compare 20 different ones from the web? Which are more healthy? Dietary recommendations are all over the place - high carb / low carb / high fat / low fat / vegan / paleo / I don't know what all is there.; finding out what I forgot to buy, throwing out the old stuff that are starting to rot in my fridge, then spending another hour cleaning all the mess... The cooking part is - at least for me - always the easiest - just follow the recipe. I hate the worrying before and after.
- grzm 10y ago
  A lot of this fuzz would be tempered as you become more accustomed to cooking. In some ways what you're describing is similar to picking up a new computer language or learning a new system. Once you've been through the decision tree enough times, you've built yourself a well-worn path. If cooking is something you're interested in picking up, I'd recommend starting simply. Pick a couple of meals (maybe a breakfast and a dinner). Get used to them, then start cooking variations, then move on to other dishes. I'll admit, I can be satisfied eating the same meal on a regular basis. And this doesn't prevent you from going out, either. I've heard of people having good success with the Ti Ferriss' "The Four-Hour Chef". I'm sure there are other good references, either bound or online.
  - ebiester 10y ago
    I like The Four Hour Chef, but I don't feel like it's a great cookbook to learn from. It's more a book about learning a skill with food as a metaphor.
    - grzm 10y ago
      Considering that was the author's stated purpose, sounds like he achieved his goal :)
  - csydas 10y ago
    I would agree with this and expand with anecdotes. I am an average cook in the kitchen, usually leaving with all my fingers where they belong, a nice clean kitchen, and a meal that looks and tastes like I meant it to. I have a lot of dishes that are old-hand dishes; if my partner is coming home after a 12 hour day and needs food now, I have a menu of "ready when she's home" meals that are good and I know like the back of my hand. I dance around the kitchen, know how long the grain takes to cook, how long I need for prepping vegetables and spices, etc. this took a bit of practice get to this level of familiarity. Practicing and getting the core skills and ideas down gave me the leisure to experiment, to start tasting in my head what a finished product would be like, or aometimes just having a brute force list if you would of things that go well with ______. Meals I haven't done before are usually still easy because not every instruction and technique is new; usually it's a matter of "what do I need in what proportion compared to the other stuff?" This took a lot of cooking for myself to get comfortable with, and a lot of meals that ended up getting fried up with a pasta of some sort and eaten as a "messed that up" meal. The part where you start to just know how stuff works is when you know you're getting it, jus like any tech or code. You just make it and go and it's not something you have to think or plan about. A lot of the prep work you're fretting are decisions you will make eventually automatically. They're not that daunting and pretty soon instead of recipes dictating purchases, it will be the other way around; a kitchen full of the essentials you need and then sales or impulses deciding what you make, and the essentials just being tools you need to make it happen.

Quck google search: https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=millennials%20don%27t%20cook https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&es...

karmajunkie 10y ago
Thanks for the context. Half of me still wants to shake my head and go "kids these days" but I get the time-and-energy thing. My son just turned 8 and as part of his "annual review" (privilege/responsibility conversation we have around his birthday every year where he gets a slightly later bedtime and bigger chores)we added a chore to do the shopping, prepare and cook a meal once a week (with help, of course). I sincerely hope this isn't a problem he has when he gets older.

colept 10y ago

For singles yes. Everything is packaged so that you're either finding ways to use up ingredients or you end up throwing them away because they've expired. Some foodstuffs come in smaller servings which is a blessing but the costs add up.

Symbiote 10y ago
The key to not wasting food is to determine today's meal based on what's in your fridge, rather than a new recipe. Also, I'm aware that my plans change frequently, so I avoid buying much meat and fish -- enough for two meals, at most.
- CmdrSprinkles 10y ago
  For meat and fish: Supermarkets tend to have a pound or two of chicken and other meats at reasonable prices which equates to 1-3 meals. A chicken breast (or a few thighs) easily holds up for a week or so in the fridge as long as you put it in a sealed container. And you can save a lot more money if you buy a larger pack, break it up into "meals", bag them, and freeze them. I am lazy and just do plastic-wrap -> freezer bag and give it the sniff test before cooking but smarter people use a more rigorous system.

vog 10y ago

Exactly that was my first reaction, too. Also, this makes a great analogy for software development and a very good point about Free Software (hands-on), proprietary software (you control at least the information flow into and out of that blackbox) and services (you have lost any control over where your personal and business data is routed through and sent to).

TeMPOraL 10y ago
So to extend your analogy - if you're a normal, non-technical person, you don't care about the free/propertiary/SaaS distinction. You're not interested in reading or modifying the internals, nor you're interested in learning how to do it. You have your goals and want software that will best help you accomplish it. Just like some people aren't into coding, some people aren't that into cooking. One has to eat to survive, but this doesn't automatically make cooking interesting, especially on a daily basis. Many of us (myself included) simply want to get on to the eating part and save the time for something more interesting (be it reading books, playing games, building stuff, spending time with children...).
- karmajunkie 10y ago
  I like the analogy, but I'd offer that those who like to eat without cooking are more akin to your average gamers, who get into the use of technology rather than its production. Personally, while I enjoy cooking sometimes, I generally don't like eating for its own sake—I have three or four simple meals that I could honestly stick with for 90% of my meals and I'd be happy enough. Not altogether healthy, mind you—they're mostly variations on carbs and cheese with not enough veggies nor protein—but thankfully my wife keeps me from regressing to my own devices there. :)
  - TeMPOraL 10y ago
    Haha, same here. Left to my own devices, I mostly rotate between three or four meals that all share the same characteristic: they're tasty and most of their preparation time doesn't require attention. Drop the stuff into boiling water, wait 5 minutes, take it out - this kind of style. And similarly, it's my SO who makes sure I consume a healthy variety of vegetables ;).

runn1ng 10y ago

Speaking for myself I don't hate cooking meals I hate all the fuzz around it - getting ingredients - do I buy "organic"? is that expensive? how cheap should I go?; finding the right recipes - how do I compare 20 different ones from the web? Which are more healthy? Dietary recommendations are all over the place - high carb / low carb / high fat / low fat / vegan / paleo / I don't know what all is there.; finding out what I forgot to buy, throwing out the old stuff that are starting to rot in my fridge, then spending another hour cleaning all the mess... The cooking part is - at least for me - always the easiest - just follow the recipe. I hate the worrying before and after.

grzm 10y ago
A lot of this fuzz would be tempered as you become more accustomed to cooking. In some ways what you're describing is similar to picking up a new computer language or learning a new system. Once you've been through the decision tree enough times, you've built yourself a well-worn path. If cooking is something you're interested in picking up, I'd recommend starting simply. Pick a couple of meals (maybe a breakfast and a dinner). Get used to them, then start cooking variations, then move on to other dishes. I'll admit, I can be satisfied eating the same meal on a regular basis. And this doesn't prevent you from going out, either. I've heard of people having good success with the Ti Ferriss' "The Four-Hour Chef". I'm sure there are other good references, either bound or online.
- ebiester 10y ago
  I like The Four Hour Chef, but I don't feel like it's a great cookbook to learn from. It's more a book about learning a skill with food as a metaphor.
  - grzm 10y ago
    Considering that was the author's stated purpose, sounds like he achieved his goal :)
- csydas 10y ago
  I would agree with this and expand with anecdotes. I am an average cook in the kitchen, usually leaving with all my fingers where they belong, a nice clean kitchen, and a meal that looks and tastes like I meant it to. I have a lot of dishes that are old-hand dishes; if my partner is coming home after a 12 hour day and needs food now, I have a menu of "ready when she's home" meals that are good and I know like the back of my hand. I dance around the kitchen, know how long the grain takes to cook, how long I need for prepping vegetables and spices, etc. this took a bit of practice get to this level of familiarity. Practicing and getting the core skills and ideas down gave me the leisure to experiment, to start tasting in my head what a finished product would be like, or aometimes just having a brute force list if you would of things that go well with ______. Meals I haven't done before are usually still easy because not every instruction and technique is new; usually it's a matter of "what do I need in what proportion compared to the other stuff?" This took a lot of cooking for myself to get comfortable with, and a lot of meals that ended up getting fried up with a pasta of some sort and eaten as a "messed that up" meal. The part where you start to just know how stuff works is when you know you're getting it, jus like any tech or code. You just make it and go and it's not something you have to think or plan about. A lot of the prep work you're fretting are decisions you will make eventually automatically. They're not that daunting and pretty soon instead of recipes dictating purchases, it will be the other way around; a kitchen full of the essentials you need and then sales or impulses deciding what you make, and the essentials just being tools you need to make it happen.