Duggar Snacking Secrets

[C birdie]

i wish i were able to cook "real" food, until then canned foods are more than a convenience for me.

[guidedbybobafett]

i wish i were able to cook "real" food, until then canned foods are more than a convenience for me.

This was me for awhile. I think sometimes the tendency is to go too far with the "everyone should only eat fresh veggies and beans! shop at your local butcher always!" rhetoric, when I think that can be damaging for some people who just don't have the time, money, or ability. Im fortunate that I have the funds and spare time to try and avoid processed foods, but even I have never used dried beans :oops:

The Duggars have a tendency to take this too far, I'll admit. I don't think that in a house with that many unemployed people and money it would be difficult to incorporate fresh foods into their diet and buy juice instead of pop. But just because I would never think to make those ~turnovers~ or whatever we're calling them doesn't mean I wouldn't eat one!

[Spider Burps]

My grandma used to make dough and puff pastry herself but then decided that the frozen stuff was easier and just as good. But, she uses the sheets of puff pastry dough or phyllo dough. She also makes kreplach using wonton wrappers instead of making her own pasta dough now too. Anyhoo, her puff pastry concoctions are still amazing. The difference between the puff pastry sheets, or frozen pie crusts are that they aren't very different from being made from scratch except that you don't have all the rolling and rising to deal with.

On the other hand the canned biscuit and crescent roll are obnoxious. They have a greasy consistency and just taste like they are machine made. I would think that if you're going to make apple dumplings/turnovers that it wouldn't take a great deal of extra effort to use puff pastry sheets. Then again could the Duggar women be so unskilled that they don't know about them? Or is it too much work to defrost and slowly unroll the sheets? (the sheets are convenient but they still take some skill to use).

Well, the biscuits are cheapcheapcheap, for one. Puff pastry has been fairly costly every time I've bought it. Plus, if you've never had the "good" version of something, you don't realize just how crappy your "just as good" version really is. My husband thought his mom was a freaking AWESOME cook until we moved in together. Her food is pretty bland and simple (she's Italian but doesn't use garlic or onion) and because of that Mr. Burps didn't like/couldn't handle tomatoes, lemons, olives, spicy food, etc. Since I've killed his taste buds or whatever, he's become more adventurous than I am, is officially in love with Sriracha, doesn't like his mom's baked goods--and he has snacks before we see eat at his mother's. :oops:

[CallmeChaCha]

Sorry - I didn't mean that we should all stop buying canned food and make everything from scratch. I buy canned and processed food too and I also hate cooking so making anything is a chore to me. I just don't understand why the Duggars don't seem to make any food from scratch if they have all those people at home, and I'm counting everyone over 12 in that house so that's quite a few people. But if Michelle does hate to cook I can understand her kids also not liking it.

[C birdie]

This was me for awhile.

Glad to know i'm not alone, i'm waiting for the rabid OCD-monsters that are currently running my mind to calm down so i can cook and shop the way i used to.

but, i do agree that the duggars take this not cooking waaaay too far. i just don't understand how a healthy person who's "trained" :( to be a housewife can't figure out how to make basic food.

[MaroonMandy]

Well, the biscuits are cheapcheapcheap, for one. Puff pastry has been fairly costly every time I've bought it. Plus, if you've never had the "good" version of something, you don't realize just how crappy your "just as good" version really is. My husband thought his mom was a freaking AWESOME cook until we moved in together. Her food is pretty bland and simple (she's Italian but doesn't use garlic or onion) and because of that Mr. Burps didn't like/couldn't handle tomatoes, lemons, olives, spicy food, etc. Since I've killed his taste buds or whatever, he's become more adventurous than I am, is officially in love with Sriracha, doesn't like his mom's baked goods--and he has snacks before we see eat at his mother's. :oops:

I love sriracha too! We put it on everything. I made some peanut butter sriracha cookies (and used them to make ice cream sandwiches!) this summer; they were pretty awesome.

[guidedbybobafett]

peanut butter sriracha cookies

You want to give us a recipe, you say? Why yes, I would love one!

[gilora]

I wonder if they can actually use that industrial kitchen that Boob was so proud of. Real restaurant appliances are not up to code for homr installation; they need the electrical up to industrial code and yiou will have to upgrade your fire insurance because true restaurant ranges are not covered in homeowner's policies. It may be true, too, that they can only use the industrial kitchen for the home church. Restaurant-style ranges like Wolf and Viking are manufactured to meet residential code and insurance regulations.i

Given that birds live in the industrial stove vent, I doubt they use it. That's probably just as well, as I seriously doubt much of anything in the TTH is up to code.

[MaroonMandy]

You want to give us a recipe, you say? Why yes, I would love one!

I used this recipe:

http://www.thesugarpixie.net/2010/11/28 ... a-cookies/

but with creamy pb instead of crunchy. I've also Peanut Butter and Co.'s white chocolate and dark chocolate peanut butters. For the sandwich part, we just use a vanilla ice cream (we like either homemade or Blue Bell but YMMV).

[thekate]

I used this recipe:

http://www.thesugarpixie.net/2010/11/28 ... a-cookies/

but with creamy pb instead of crunchy. I've also Peanut Butter and Co.'s white chocolate and dark chocolate peanut butters. For the sandwich part, we just use a vanilla ice cream (we like either homemade or Blue Bell but YMMV).

Now I know what I'm bringing to Thanksgiving this year.

[luckystone]

Their recipes are so unhealthy I'm starting to think they're trolling.

[Sola]

Sorry - I didn't mean that we should all stop buying canned food and make everything from scratch. I buy canned and processed food too and I also hate cooking so making anything is a chore to me. I just don't understand why the Duggars don't seem to make any food from scratch if they have all those people at home, and I'm counting everyone over 12 in that house so that's quite a few people. But if Michelle does hate to cook I can understand her kids also not liking it.

The difference between you and J'Chelle is that you openly admit that you hate cooking. J'Chelle makes it her business to promote her 'Mother of the Year' tripe and gives advise on how to prepare 'good homecooked food'. She doesn't, she never has and what she does promote is so far from good, homecooked food that it might as well be a Mcdonalds.

[itsnikki05]

Haha... that recipe is nothing new. I swear there's about 10 different (yet the same) "apple dumpling" recipes in my old church cookbook. LOL! I like the one that the poster above posted. I might try that one. But we don't keep soda in the house, so I don't particularly care to buy a mountain dew just to make some "apple dumplings". I'm cheap. I prefer to make desserts w/ things we already have. :P

[wendy-sparkles]

Their recipes are so unhealthy I'm starting to think they're trolling.

In the same vein, when the Mother of the Year can barely remember who her kids are, let alone parent them, I wish someone was trolling too...

[itsnikki05]

Their recipes are so unhealthy I'm starting to think they're trolling.

No, sadly that is the way a LOT of southern people eat. I should know. ;) I grew up on stuff like that, and am now trying to cook decent dishes that are still "southern" but not "crap". LOL! But, I think stuff like that "apple dumpling" is fine once in a rare while. I wouldn't cook it often though. (We're odd! We'd rather just eat fruit plain for everyday dessert/snack. I don't make pies and such often because of all the darn sugar!)

[itsnikki05]

My grandma used to make dough and puff pastry herself but then decided that the frozen stuff was easier and just as good. But, she uses the sheets of puff pastry dough or phyllo dough. She also makes kreplach using wonton wrappers instead of making her own pasta dough now too. Anyhoo, her puff pastry concoctions are still amazing. The difference between the puff pastry sheets, or frozen pie crusts are that they aren't very different from being made from scratch except that you don't have all the rolling and rising to deal with.

On the other hand the canned biscuit and crescent roll are obnoxious. They have a greasy consistency and just taste like they are machine made. I would think that if you're going to make apple dumplings/turnovers that it wouldn't take a great deal of extra effort to use puff pastry sheets. Then again could the Duggar women be so unskilled that they don't know about them? Or is it too much work to defrost and slowly unroll the sheets? (the sheets are convenient but they still take some skill to use).

Its so easy to cook from scratch (or nearly so). I've been doing it while working crazy hours and going to school (6 classes). AND I don't have a kitchen at the moment because we're renovating. So I've been working with a toaster oven, single burner, and microwave. Despite that I could still make a lovely baked pesto salmon, or frittata or pot of tuscan white bean soup. I cannot imagine the luxury of TWO well appointed kitchen, no job, and grown daughters who were dedicated to cleaning and taming the children.

When I was first married, we once ran out of gas (gas stove/oven) and had to do SOMETHING to eat... I cooked on an electric griddle and in the microwave. Came up with some pretty interesting foods too! We did eat a lot of eggs. ROFL! Lemme tell you... I was proud when that next paycheck came and we could get the gas filled back up!!

[itsnikki05]

Sorry - I didn't mean that we should all stop buying canned food and make everything from scratch. I buy canned and processed food too and I also hate cooking so making anything is a chore to me. I just don't understand why the Duggars don't seem to make any food from scratch if they have all those people at home, and I'm counting everyone over 12 in that house so that's quite a few people. But if Michelle does hate to cook I can understand her kids also not liking it.

Agreed. I try to stay away from a lot of processed food but still buy canned and frozen vegetables. But honestly... with that many people, they can cook some things from scratch. I wouldn't even say it's hard, it's just... to me, it's one of those things you have to do a while to get a "feel" for it. KWIM? But no, I don't do EVERYTHING from scratch. LOL! I like baking so much more than cooking regular food. Not sure why. LOL!

[Spider Burps]

I love sriracha too! We put it on everything. I made some peanut butter sriracha cookies (and used them to make ice cream sandwiches!) this summer; they were pretty awesome.

I take it you've seen the [link=http://shop.theoatmeal.com/collections/frontpage/products/i-heart-sriracha-shirt]I heart Sriracha shirt[/link]? ;)