Home Cooking

[Bunnahabhain]

This topic comes up in threads on a regular basis. It seems to be the feeling that the average person living in the US does not do much home cooking and I thought it would be interesting to get some feedback. As this topic often gets tied to SES I'll toss that in also by using only two categories (< 100k family annual income, > 100k family annual income).

So, do you on average cook your own dinner five or more nights a week? Is your annual household income less than 100k or more than 100k?

[frazzled]

1. Yes and No

Yes, I cook dinner five or more nights a week (from scratch); and No, there's no way I'm letting you use this thread as a gauge of people's incomes here.

[Bunnahabhain]

2. You have that power?

To control what goes on in this thread? Colour me impressed!

[fredamae]

3. We don't use processed

foods-don't eat out (too high a risk-sick workers, poor food quality and Disease/Toxins/Pesticides from inadequate inspections) we cook from scratch-7 days a week.
No more seafood due to ocean contamination/Fukushima and again, Lack of minimal monitoring/inspections...(we're kinda "on our own as per the head of the State Dept of Food Safety)
Income: Less

[lonestarnot]

4. Maybe and maybe.

[pinboy3niner]

7. Ditto

[lonestarnot]

8. Snort.

[pinboy3niner]

10. Back atcha

I'm with you and frazzled on this.

[cali]

5. OK. I'm on food stamps

I cook meals 5-7 nights a week. What do I cook?

have a few recipes:

Chipotle black beans over rice

soak beans by other the long method or short one. Cook 2 cups of beans in 8 cups of water with a coarsely chopped carrot, and an onion cut in half until very tender. filch out the onion and carrot and discard. whir half the beans and liquid in food processor.. Saute 2 carrots and a large onion finely chopped in a bit of olive oil. Add beans, salt and 2 tbs finely chopped chipotle pepper with a tbs or so of adobe sauce. Serve over cooked rice with a dollop of sour cream, chopped onion and grated sharp cheddar. Serve with a green salad with lime cumin dressing.

Healthy and delicious.

Other meals I rely on that are cheap, healthy and delicious:

Omelets filled with- whatever strikes your fancy. I'm fond of mushroom duxelles flavored with tarragon. Add garlic bread and a green salad

Curried cauliflower, peas and tomatoes over rice

A meatless bolognese pasta sauce. Sure it's not really bolognese but it's delicious- winey and creamy with a bit of nutmeg

Dessert: It's apple time: Apple crisp, apple turnovers, apple tart, baked apple

[IdaBriggs]

14. Bookmarking thread for this recipe!

As for the thread, I have six-year old twins, and play chauffeur for activities while working a full-time job + volunteer work. The crock pot is my life saver, but yes, we have been known to hit drive-thru places as needed when hungry children/my poor planning require. This usually screws up our budget.

[cali]

17. I love, love, love my crockpot.

it's great for child friendly recipes as well- like chicken or turkey tetrazzini, spaghetti sauces, meatballs, etc.

[xfundy]

70. Here's a great site with recipes for the crockpot:

http://www.crockpot365.blogspot.com/

[Bunnahabhain]

15. I do the blended bean thing too

Really makes the broth hearty. Here's a favorite of mine:

Several sprigs bunch of rosemary chopped
One bunch parsley chopped
Several cloves garlic chopped

Quickly saute in an excess of olive oil. Once the garlic starts to brown add one can cheap tomato sauce. Continue cooking for a few minutes to start the Maillard reaction. Add a few cups of water or homemade chicken broth (made from carcasses of chicken you freeze until time to make broth). Have two cups of dried garbanzo beans precooked. Food process 1/2 cup of beans and add to soup, add other beans to soup, simmer for 30 minutes.

Can serve with or without pasta in it.

The garlic and rosemary in the saute will make the kitchen smell wonderful.

[KittyWampus]

76. more details on the curried cauliflower/peas/tomatoes please. please. please.

pretty please.

[cali]

84. you bet.

(kitty, I'm a cheater. I use a good quality hot curry paste)

1 medium head cauliflower, separated into florets
1 large potato, in large dice
1 large onion, diced
1 cup frozen peas
2 tomatoes, chopped
vegetable broth
2 tbs vegetable oil
2 tbs (or to taste) fresh ginger, chopped finely


heat the vegetable oil in a large deep frying pan or a wok on medium heat. Throw in the cauliflower and potato and cook stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. Toss in onion and cook for another 3 minutes or so. Add chopped tomatoes, ginger and 1-2 tbsp curry paste along with 1/2- to 3/4 cup vegetable broth. Cook for another 10 minutes. Add peas, salt to taste and cook another 3 minutes. I like to top it with greek yogurt and toasted unsweetened coconut.

Enjoy.

[nenagh]

101. Thank you for the recipes..am bookmarking.

i love Irish Soda bread..particularly the brown soda bread.

The ingredients are simple: brown flour & self raising flour (if you have it)Buttermilk or milk soured c lemon juice or something else. Baking soda, little salt. That's it.

The dough was formed into a circle and partially cut into quarters on top or made into scones.

Partway through cooking take the bread out, listen to the bottom of the bread and if it crackles, put it back in the oven upside down.

Magic! Inexpensive. Because it dries out quite quickly, freeze portions for future use.

[leftstreet]

6. Don't you care if the upper classes cook at home?

Working class people are not insects to be studied

[Bunnahabhain]

9. Should I have created more demarcs?

I can revise the OP with your suggested demarcs if you want. I thought here on DU 100k was a good demarc. I stand open to input from you.

[leftstreet]

11. Who even cares?

You are wrong that the subject of 'home cooking' comes up often at DU

[Bunnahabhain]

16. Really?

I saw it twice today.

So here's my solution for you: leave this thread.

Have a great day!

[leftstreet]

18. Links?

I don't see any, but I've probably overlooked them

[Bunnahabhain]

19. I am not an insect to be ordered around by you.

But I'll do your homework for you at the 50% level. Go check out the thread on Zanger's. You'll have to put some skin in the game to find the other one yourself.

[leftstreet]

22. LOL

??

It was a request, not an 'order'

But seriously, why aren't you concerned about whether or not the upper classes are cooking at home? And, for that matter, what about the food habits of people who don't have homes? This just seems so exclusionary

[Bunnahabhain]

23. One last time...

I offered to revise the OP to include YOUR demarcs. You instead decided to thread jack and play games.

*yawn*

[leftstreet]

26. I certainly don't want to 'threadjack'

I will leave you to the task (unwittingly I'm sure) of putting working class people on the defensive

I look forward to a DU compilation of exciting recipes based on dried beans and grayed chicken carcasses flavored with $500 worth of interesting herbs purchased at Costco

[Bunnahabhain]

31. Okay, now I know where to put you.

Does not cook at home five or more nights a week, under 100k.

Thanks for participating!

[leftstreet]

36. I pay my cook over 100k

You reveal yourself

Interesting

[Bunnahabhain]

39. Does that come with benefits and vacation?

Is it in a nice part of the country? If so I would like to apply.

[snooper2]

63. You don't know cooking, this thread is crap

Real cooking involves meat, lots of it...and lots of fucking bacon!

Income doesn't matter, steal the shit if you have to.

It's Epic Meal Time MO FO! You can't handle it!


Shepherd's Thai

[SammyWinstonJack]

12. unrec.

[yuiyoshida]

13. Yes and No...

I get paid once a month. For the first couple of DAYS...I like to have food delivered. Stuff like Sashimi, Peking Duck, dungeness crab dinner, Korean BBQ Chicken Wings, Falafals, Turkey Sub Sandwiches, and after that... I go shopping at Safeway, and bring home stuff I can make for the rest of the month, like ground Turkey..potatoes, rice, onions, Brussels sprouts, Tortilla shells, beans, and a bunch of other stuff. (Note, this includes Cat Litter, Cat food Dry and Wet, and Cat Cookies, which he loves.)

Been doing okay with this so far.. the first week I eat well, and the rest of the month, I eat what I make. Sometimes there are left overs so I will make a Crab Bisque, or freeze the remainder of the BBQ Wings to eat them later.

[Aerows]

59. Crab is my weakness

I LOVE it in all forms - Dungeness, King, Snow and Blue. It's all good to me!

[yuiyoshida]

80. I wish I could get King or Snow Crab here in the City..

I have seen frozen Snow Crab legs on the shelf, but it does not interest me. You know, there was a time in this city you could even
have a whole lobster. Not any more. Lobster tails only. I also love steamed clams. The local Japanese restaurant used to make those, but they have stopped. They said they refuse to order them now... and have never given me a reason. I guess if I want that, I have to go down to Fisherman's Wharf and find a place, but of course...its a tourists trap, which means very high prices. The Dungeness crab I have delivered to me locally, by a Chinese place is at least 5 to 9 dollars cheaper than priced at Fisherman's Wharf.

Something is happening to our Seafood, its becoming non available all year round.

[Aerows]

87. Well

between the disaster we had here, with the oil spill that decimated our oyster beds and messed up our crab industry due to Horizon, then you have Fukushima and radioactive fish, I do not know how we will continue on eating seafood.

[Jenoch]

122. Unless you are in Alaska, the only way you are going to

get snow crab or king crab is either frozen or previously frozen.

[yuiyoshida]

123. I had it fresh while visiting

Vancouver British Columbia. I guess we are too far south, to get it at all.

[Denninmi]

20. I try. Especially because I am on a very special diet for health reasons.

However, we do also do some carry out, and some frozen meals (Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice). I try not to, because both are hard to get that meet all of my requirements. But time factors and lifestyle factors dictate that there are times it's that or nothing unless I just want to have a meal of cottage cheese or yogurt.

Significantly over 100k, alas, I am by far the smallest contributor to that figure.

[Bluenorthwest]

21. What does 'seems to be the feeling' mean? Do you have any support for your

assertion other than saying it 'seems to be the feeling'? Gallup polling on the subject finds that large majorities of Americans eat at home, last poll was 2012 but the stats are similar to those from the past.
"Large majorities of men and women and Americans of all ages and income levels report that they ate dinner at home. But young adults and those with middle and higher incomes are slightly more likely to say they ate out than are older adults and those who have lower incomes."

http://www.gallup.com/poll/156416/americans-spend-151-week-food-high-income-180.aspx

[Bunnahabhain]

24. Every time I talk about people cooking at home

I get told how people lack the time/knowledge/etc. Thought I would reality test this. Your data would support my position so thank you for providing it.

[Bluenorthwest]

25. Gallup's data, not mine, and what it says is that most Americans cook at home

and that the differences among income groups are slight. This does not support your assertions at all, in fact quite the opposite.

[Bunnahabhain]

27. My assertion is people can cook at home.

Let me repeat as apparently I was less than clear.

I am a big advocate of home cooking.

I have advocated that on more than one occasion here to be told at length why people cannot home cook.

You have provided a link to data that I will use next time I am told on DU people do not/cannot cook at home.

To be crystal clear: you have provided data to show the majority of people cook at home. I am a huge proponent of home cooking.

[Bluenorthwest]

30. Your OP is not clear. No biggie.

I see and hear people criticize the assumed habits of others here but I don't see people claiming that they personally don't cook or don't know how. It's just a variation on the 'Americans are idiots,except for me and thee' theme.

[Bunnahabhain]

32. My OP expresses what I have surmised is the opinion of folks here

based on my interactions with them. I think your point of lowered expectations for others is well put.

[klyon]

28. Yes, I cook almost every day and no on the income level.

Can not afford to dine out much. I like to cook and control what I eat.

[TBF]

29. Good luck with your data collection efforts ...

[nolabels]

41. I cook whenever the stove is hot!

[LaydeeBug]

33. I love home cooking. I love to cook. :)

I absolutely FORCE myself to go out to eat at least every other week to try and keep up with what's going on...

[FarCenter]

34. On average five+ nights, takeout one night, eat out mostly when traveling or special occasions.

You omitted the important takeout category -- what do you have against pizza and Chinese food?

There's also the grocery deli + starch and veg made at home category.

[mainer]

35. home cooking nothing to do with income

I can afford to eat out 7 days a week, but I like my own cooking best so we tend to eat at home. I don't understand people who refuse to cook. It's a joy and you get the best meals!

(Except for fish. I always fail with cooking fish.)

[Bunnahabhain]

40. I agree with all of this

But get into arguments here when I propose income does not stand in the way of home cooking. Thanks for the support!

[cali]

58. then you would be wrong. Look, I should fucking know

I've been well off to where I didn't have to think about what anything cost in the grocery store or specialty food shops and now I'm on food stamps. I am keenly aware of food prices. and man, have they been going up. I'm an excellent cook. I've cooked professionally. I grew up with a mother who is the best home cook I've ever met.

It is ever so much harder to cook well without access to quality ingredients. It takes far more planning and far more creativity.'

You clearly haven't a clue.

furthermore the whole foodie thing is a luxury and poor people generally don't have the time or the education to engage in it.

[Bunnahabhain]

66. Please educate me.

And be precise. What have I said to indicate I "clearly" do not have a clue? Please, quote me where this would seem to be something remotely applicable.

[cali]

71. I just explained precisely why.

[Bunnahabhain]

72. But your explanation

was full of all kinds of shit I did not say. The only thing I said was that income does not get in the way of home cooking. Hell, you went on at length on how you do a ton of home cooking on food stamps. I think that's great but at this point you are arguing against yourself.

[cali]

77. bzzzt. another fail from you. let me explain this very simply just for you

Yes, I do a ton of cooking on food stamps but I explained to you how labor intensive it is and how it takes education and experience. I have the time. I'm retired/disabled. I have the nutritional and cooking background. I don't have kids to cook for. Do you actually think that most people who are poor or working class have the time and the background that I do? They do not. duh. And that's hardly their fault.

[Bunnahabhain]

81. Ah, so you're one of them

Those that attack someone for saying most everyone can home cook a majority of their meals. Well, someone else has linked us data showing you're wrong and I'm right.

Btw, slow =! labour intensive. Brown chuck roast and then stick it in the crock pot with onions and toss in some potatoes when you first get home from work. One example of your incorrectness. Kids will eat that like it's going out of style so wrong yet again. And I think you are expressing the height of liberal elite thinking talking about "education" needed. Here's a clue for someone raised with a silver spoon in her mouth: normal people learn to fucking cook from their parents when they are kids.

[cali]

85. oh for pity's sake. of course most people in this country don't know how to cook

that's hardly news.

oh and if you think I can afford chuck roast, think again.

your ignorance is sad and staggering.

[Bunnahabhain]

90. I never said you can afford chuck roast

Your desire to paint me as something I am not is very hateful. I can understand you are probably not a happy person but it really is clouding your ability to be cogent here. FYI, home cooking =! Escoffier. That silver spoon is going to choke you yet.

[cali]

104. your arrogance, lack of empathy, and obdurate

refusal to try and grasp the reality for poor people is sick and sickening.

[Bunnahabhain]

114. Your obvious 1% upbringing has forever slanted your world view

and your condescending attitude towards people that grew up with less modest means is demeaning to all of us that grew up that way.

[Scout]

91. bzzzzzzzzt! aaaah, so you're one of THEM

who is clueless but seems full of arrogance and bluster.

you assume everyone has a crockpot, a kitchen, a stove, a refrigerator, pans, utensils. what if all i can afford is a one room efficiency with a shared bathroom down the hall, and there's NO COOKING ALLOWED in my building? i guess i'll just move!

and talk about needing a clue, no EVERYONE normal does not "learn to fucking cook from their parents when they are kids."

[Bunnahabhain]

92. LOL, lame. Very lame.

Yes, every statement I make is designed to exhaustively describe 100% of all people. Inserting "EVERYONE" in front of every statement on most any topic will yield nothing but nonsense and an inability to discuss anything. But that's your goal, isn't it? Anything you disagree with must be derailed, mocked, and the poster attacked. I got your number.

Seriously, give me a fucking break.

[Scout]

95. see post #84

have you even heard of Barbara Ehrenreich? bet you haven't, much less read the book.

LOL, boy, you've got my number all right :snort: 3 posts in this thread, and you knooooooow so well. "Anything you disagree with must be derailed, mocked, and the poster attacked. I got your number."

self important much?

[Bunnahabhain]

98. LOL

If you take her as definitive more power to ya.

I got your number.

[cali]

103. the cluelessness exhibiteed by the OP is impressive

and so fucking entitled, arrogant and lacking in empathy that it's breathtaking.

[Bunnahabhain]

115. Love you too!

And I think equally as highly of you.

[cali]

49. yes it does. I love to cook. I'm a really good cook, but

it's tough when you're on food stamps.

[mainer]

64. so low income doesn't cook and eats out?

It sounds like that's what you're saying. That low income people don't have the means to cook.

Even when I was poor, I'd still use scraps with ramen. Or I'd cook omelets or spaghetti. I don't see that you have to be rich to want to prepare your own food.

[cali]

88. no, it's not what I'm saying. I'm saying a lot of people

buy convenience foods, junk food and don't really do much cooking. that's hardly news.

[msanthrope]

93. What kind of fish are you trying to cook? Why/how are you 'failing?' I'd be happy

to help with tips, or come on over to Cooking and Baking and post a thread!

[mainer]

102. it's never as good as a restaurant's

Sometimes too dry. Sometimes falls apart and disintegrates. My only success is with steaming chinese style. My fave in restaurants is pan-roasted but I can't get it crisped at home.

I think I have a fish phobia!

[msanthrope]

111. Have you tried pancrisping on one side and then baking? With fish at home, you

never really get more than one 'pretty' side, so I usually sauté one side, flip it onto a bed of stir-fried greens and mushrooms (underdone), and let it bake in a hot oven for 10 minutes (per inch thickness) to get it cooked through. It gives me a well-browned side, and it doesn't dry out because it steams over the greens and shrooms. I've used that method for tilapia, hake, swordfish and salmon. Heck--one night I had only fish, onion, and a jar of salsa, so I baked the fish over the browned onion and salsa---worked like a charm.

[mainer]

119. Thanks!

Will try the stir-fried greens trick!

[Puzzledtraveller]

37. I cook all my meals.

I cannot afford to eat out anyway. I gross about 28k a year as a Medicaid and SNAP caseworker.

[LiberalLoner]

38. I cook at home and occasionally go out. Refraining from stating my income level. I love

Cooking. My husband loves my cooking. I love baking my own bread, making my own desserts (nothing fancy, mostly cookies, I'm not so good at baking.)

I'm glad cooking is cool again. A decade or two ago, women laughed at me when I said I liked to cook because it was a badge of pride among middle and upper class white women at that time to never cook, not even know how to cook, etc.

[Aerows]

62. I suck at baking, too

but I am really good at putting some good dinner and lunch together. I couldn't bake my way out of a paper sack, though, and believe me, I've tried. I made cookies that even a dog wouldn't eat. LOL.

Elaborate main course dishes and salads? I'm all over it.

I'm not a big fan of sweets, so that could probably explain my inability to cook them.

[SharkLasers]

42. I cook at home most nights

I find drinking and cooking to be very relaxing. I'm 100k+.

[Bunnahabhain]

46. What are you drinking?

At that income level I'm guessing fancy wine?

[SharkLasers]

47. Mostly cheap beer

and moonshine I make in the still out back. That's how I made my money to start with, bootleg alcohol.

[gopiscrap]

48. Welcome to DU

[Avalux]

43. I cook most nights - fresh quick meatless meals.

I also grow my own herbs and veggies, so that helps. One of my favorites is pasta mixed with fresh pesto (basil from my garden), sauteed tomatoes, spinach and red onion. Occassionally I'll throw some kale in there too.

My annual income would enable me to eat out every night if I wanted to, but I don't.

[Bunnahabhain]

44. Fresh pesto

almost makes me believe there is a god. Almost.

[eissa]

67. I LOVE making fresh pesto!

But damn those pine nuts are expensive. I know people use walnuts or almonds as substitutes (not much cheaper, really) but pine nuts really make it. The kids would eat this every day, but I limit it to maybe once a month.

[loli phabay]

45. yes every meal, and more

[The Straight Story]

50. I am against home cooking - kids don't get enough social interaction

Only fundies cook at home, all sitting around praying before dinner, etc. Very controlling.

If more people ate out we would be more of a community, more jobs, and less usage of utilities (fewer leftovers, more centralized cooking means less use of natural resources, less house fires, etc).

[RB TexLa]

51. Yes, I cook my own dinner. My income has nothing to do with it. Restaurants do not deserve to

have my money.

It takes less of my money to buy the food from grocery stores. If I made or had more money that would be even more reason restaurants would not deserve my money.

[Bunnahabhain]

52. 100% agree!

It takes less money to cook at home and income has nothing to do with it! Last time I said that I was drowned in attack posts.

[closeupready]

61. I believe you. This place is strangely medieval at times,

for a forum founded for Democrats and other liberals to discuss current events. You got flamed on an 'up is down' day, I guess, lol.

[xmas74]

96. I believe the past fights were over reasons why the poor often don't cook from scratch.

One of the biggest reasons is lack of time. If you have someone who is working poor running between two and three jobs they just don't have the time, no matter how much they wish. Another reason is food deserts. Yet another is they don't have the facilities. (If you've ever read Nickled and Dimed she really goes into that part. The author thought that she would be able to make filling meals out of beans, rice, veggies and cheap cuts of meat, until she discovered that the places she could afford to rent didn't offer any type of cooking facilities, not even a hot plate.) Yet another reason is that some were never taught how to cook.

I believe that's what the arguments were about with cooking.

[Scout]

97. you are correct ....

that is an excellent book ... perhaps our OP should read it.

[xmas74]

100. I replied to you downthread about the same thing.

I read it years ago and then reread it three years ago with a women's group at church. That book really opened some eyes at church! Shortly after the book I saw an "appliance drive" where the group asked for old working crockpots, electric fryers, etc. They realized that having something to cook the food in was just as important having the food.

[Shrike47]

53. We hardly ever eat out, never have even before we retired.

In fact, both husband and I came home for lunch for years.

[Jenoch]

54. I cook for my family almost every night.

We go out only occasionally, usually when traveling. I do know of a lot of families who rely on a lot of convenience foods, such as frozen meals, frozen pizza, grilled burgers and brats all summer and other foods that don't need all that much time to prepare. That's a lot of salt and food additives. I don't think income level is as much a factor in home cooking as is lifestyle and the desire, or the lack of desire, to cook at home.

[ScreamingMeemie]

55. Costco "Simply Delicious" series is an excellent companion for home cooks.

And that's all you're getting from me.

[malaise]

56. Yep we cook at least three nights a week

We make it easier by cutting up and seasoning both seafood, bird and vegetables when we buy them. We freeze the meat and remove it from the freezer into the fridge before we leave for work.

Truthfully we love our own cooking more than most restaurants.

[Aerows]

57. I make cabbage all the time

It's simple, it is fulfilling and it is full of vitamins.

I also make tender chuck steak meals. Cheap, but delicious. Ham is your friend, as is turkey. Dried beans are easy, and rice and boxed potatoes can finish out a meal better than you ever dreamed. Stuffing is quick and easy too.

Breakfast? Look no further than a Southern favorite - grits. Cheaper than dog food, and so delicious you might eat the leftovers for lunch.

[closeupready]

60. I cook almost every meal myself. I enjoy it, and

I know what's going in to my meals. It's also economical.

I cook a few basic things all the time - oatmeal, omelettes, soups, curried eggplant, chili, chicken, lentils/rice - or I'll simply make a tuna sandwich, grilled cheese, PB&J, apples, bananas, etc.

[srican69]

65. yes and Yes

My wife & I make most dinners .. and we also take lunch from home and our HHI is over 100K ( but honestly, in NY metro area - you are practically poor at that income level)

[eissa]

68. I love cooking and do it almost every night

I'm not the best cook, but I do alright. Always on the lookout for creative dishes to mix things up a bit. I definitely prefer it over eating out as I try to use fresher ingredients, budget allowing (I'm under 100k.) Plus our dining options where I live are pretty limited; mainly chains which I try to avoid. We do have some great locally-owned restaurants that are really top-notch, but they can be on the pricey side, so we only go there occasionally. I'm already planning my Thanksgiving menu -- can't wait!

[La Lioness Priyanka]

69. annual income less than 100,000 and yes, i cook most of our dinners and make our breakfasts

breakfast =homemade yogurt

lunches=we eat out at work

Dinner= homecooked at least 5 days/week

[Zorra]

73. This afternoon I am making new batches of homemade pasta sauce and Hatch green chile sauce

made with chiles that I hand roast.

After the pasta sauce is done, I will use some of it for making vegetarian lasagna for dinner.

I love to cook, and would cook even if my income was over a mil.

[Bunnahabhain]

74. Nice!

I feel the same way. If I had Bill Gates type of money I would still cook because I enjoy it. I love trying to recipes and new methods. I love to make my own sausage and smoked meats in particular.

[Quantess]

75. Cooking and Baking forum?

[lillypaddle]

78. I do cook, all the time

eat it at least 5 times a week. My income is absolutely less than $100,000 by a LOT.

[CBGLuthier]

79. we cook every meal except Friday dinner and the occasional Saturday lunch

we currently earn far less than 100k but even when we did once make more than 100k we still tended to cook our own meals.

[NRaleighLiberal]

82. Yes, typically all 7 nights/week - much less than 100K

We have control over our ingredients (the quality) and quantity.

We've evolved to finding nearly all restaurant meals not worth the cost, and not particularly good....using salt and fat to cover up substandard ingredients.

[Scout]

83. define "cooking"

do you mean making some ramen soup on the hotplate in your efficiency/studio/single room lodging? warming up spaghetti-o's?

do i have to have a refrigerator and stove top burners and an oven? pans/utensils and a sink for washing everything?

read Barbara Ehrenreich "Nickel and Dimed" to get a look at how/why the less than $100,000 per year may not do a lot of "home cooking."

===========

personally, we are well under the $100,000, and with me working full time and him going to school full time, we have all the utensils, pan, full kitchen, but not the time and the desire to cook at home more than 3 or 4 nights a week. however, we don't have a lot of money, so "dining out" is generally along the lines of Big Boy, or local inexpensive restaurants, or pizza delivery, or fast food.

[xmas74]

99. I referred to that book somewhere upthread

for the same reason you did.

Me-I cook at home most nights. I don't make much money but I do have access to a stove, fridge and oven in my home. I also bought a used crockpot at the thrift store, which works wonders. I try to cook from scratch and I freeze my leftovers for use in other meals. But I also understand how lucky I am to have what I do and how lucky I am to be able to cook from scratch. If I made just a bit less and had to live in a room there would be no way I could cook as often as I do, since many place of that type have rules against hot plates and other appliances.

[Polly Hennessey]

86. Home Cooking

We have a homecooked meal each night. Last night it was Cod on a bed of tomatoes, white beans, onions and green beans after marinating the cod in an olive oil, tomato paste and lemon juice concoction for no more than 30 minutes. I sprinkled chopped kalamata olives over the top. Tonight we are having a chicken, cashew and red pepper stir-fry. I have learned to make some fairly good meals in less than 30 minutes. It can be done.

Polly

[Polly Hennessey]

89. Oops!

We make more than 100k a year.

Polly

[ecstatic]

94. I cheat-cooked the past 3 days in a row

Not sure I can consider it true cooking (precooked frozen jumbo shrimp and Uncle Ben's Boil 'in Bag Brown Rice). Usually I eat junk food and don't cook often.

The part that usually stops me is I don't like cleaning up a bunch of pots and pans.

I feel guilt and a little shame about how rarely I cook these days.

[Glassunion]

105. I'm average, or below agerage, or perhaps above average, but that would all depend

on the perspective of the observer.

I do most of the cooking, my wife does some, sometimes I cook for the both of us, rarely I don't, yet on occasion she will cook for me, but mostly she wont, some times we cook for ourselves when the other is not around, and other times we won't, however on occasion we will eat out, but not all the time, and sometimes when when I don't cook we get delivery, but that depends on whether I will or won't cook.

As far as income goes we are in one of those two categories. So I hope this helps your study.

[taught_me_patience]

106. I cook 2-3x per week and eat leftovers most other days.

My wife and I might go out for dinner 1-2x per week. I find restaurant food quite salty and it takes too much hassle to get there with two young kids. Income 2$50k+

[distantearlywarning]

107. Yes, we cook at least 5 nights a week

We cook from scratch, using fresh ingredients (including from a small backyard garden), and after years of practice we are good at it. In fact, we don't go out to restaurants as much as we used to, because they don't make things in restaurants as good as we can now make them at home.

Currently < 100K income, although that may change soon as I am looking for a position. Also, we are in a very low COL area of the country, so even a modest salary goes a long way here.

[dana_b]

108. less than 100,000 and

we cook 28 -29 days of the month. We have recently gone vegan and eating out is a little more challenging but not too bad as we live in a vegetarian/vegan friendly area (San Francisco - East Bay Area). It's the cost that keeps us at home as well as we like to cook!

[Link Speed]

109. More and more

We go out for lunch almost daily, but rarely at night. I don't enjoy $200+ bar bills and would rather drink at home.

[Bunnahabhain]

110. Agreed

Not only cheaper but I can make the drinks properly and not have to drive.

[WCIL]

112. We eat at home more often than not

but I absolutely detest cooking. I live for the weekends when my husband (an excellent cook) fixes meals. He likes it, I don't - but I am home earlier than he is so I do the cooking. I would much rather read a book.

My mother did not teach us to cook - she did not have the patience and would not tolerate the mess, so we had to learn for ourselves when we left home. I can read a recipe and 9 times out of 10 turn out something tasty, but I get no joy from it. Cooking is also absolutely the last chore I want to think about when I come home at 5 pm, so I can understand turning to frozen pizza or Campbells.

[alarimer]

113. If by "cook", you mean "apply heat," I do "cook."

I follow the directions on the back of the package or jar to the letter.

Dinner is served.

[Cadfael]

116. Yes and less than

6 nights a week (saturday night is take-out night)

[Ruby the Liberal]

117. Yes, I cook every day and income <$100k

I have a wheat allergy and can get very sick if i injest it, so went from eating out 2 meals every day to cooking every night for supper and my lunch the next day. Have learned a lot of new things and I am loving it!

Tonight, I made GF panko fried brie in olive and coconut oil and paired it with a tangy raspberry vinegar pepper deal. Made from scratch. Cooking is a hoot.

[Bunnahabhain]

118. Sounds tasty!

Panko fired anything rocks.

[nolabear]

120. Yes, and I decline to answer.

I like to eat healthy and to know what I'm eating to the best of my ability. As to income, that's not something I discuss online.

[haele]

121. Home cooking goes in cycles, has to do with work and time rather than economy.

Your question is actually rather back-wards. It also doesn't really cover the range that "Home Cooking" really consists of - what is a "home cooked meal"?

Prior to the "30 minute meal" concept and the introduction of meal kits (where the time-intensive portion was already taken care of), home cooking was pretty much for families where there was one person who could dedicate a block of time - anywhere from one to five hours a day (I've got a few "Weekend" recipes that take up to 14 hours for a Sunday meal) - to prepare and cook. Typical "Grandma's cooking" required a lot of time and effort - especially with prep, no matter how big or small the kitchen was.

So, you'll have a lot of poor families making filling meals that can stretch out over several days, using beans, rice, cheap cuts of meat or frozen veggies, and wealthy families might have a wider range of different specific entrees as meals that they can plan for over the week.
The amount of "turn on the stove" activity depends on how much prep time they have dedicated to cooking and what quantity and types of produce they have to prepare the meal with.

Back in the day, single people tended to eat out or pool together and have one person do the cooking for everyone else when they wanted a meal; otherwise, they'd eat food "on the go" - cooking at home for singles was usually left overs from one major weekly cooking effort (like a casserole or crock-pot meal), the stereotypical "beans from a can and beer", a sandwich or some other simple open a can or a package meal.
Only recently has the concept of regular home cooking for singles started taking off - and yes, I know some people will claim they made their meals regularly when they were single, but really - me and most people I know would maybe make a casserole, roast, or other main food item on Saturday or Sunday if they knew how to cook, and eat off that with maybe a side salad for the rest of the week.
As a single, there were many times it was just cereal for breakfast, a bit of fruit and sandwich for lunch, and soup, salad, and a cheesy tomato melt piece of sourdough bread for dinner - and that didn't matter if that was a year I made $15K or $85K.

I've got an old Home Ec. cookbook from the 1920's - "How to Please a Family" - that has a "year in the life" storyline about a housewife, her kids, her husband, her husband's young co-worker, and the new schoolmarm from the big city who never learned to cook, and it goes into shopping, storing, meal (and event) planning and preperation as well as the recipes.
It's interesting to read some of the side stories about how the two singles were presumed to have made due with meals and kept their households, and from what I have read from other sources, it was not too different an experience from others who lived alone household pre-appliances.

A family budget only really answers your question if there's not enough money to eat out if one feels like it or if they can fill their pantry and freezer with whatever they want.
Not if one does a lot of home cooking or not.

The amount of available time to cook actually answers your question about how much home cooking goes on in a household.

Haele

[uppityperson]

124. Do sandwiches count as "cooking"? How about raw food? Is the question eat out or not or what?

What if I do not eat dinner, but a big lunch then a snack later? Sit down meals or just eating? Do you differentiate between getting all raw ingredients or can we use some processed foods?

Is this about cooking? Is this about eating out or not? What is this about?