I had a bajillion kids and feeding them is hard!

[August]

Milk and leeks have some nutritional value, as does stock. Potatoes, salt, pepper, and water, not so much. And if that's the kind of soup you're feeding your family regularly, there's definitely a problem.

leeks are no better than onions.

[lilith]

leeks are no better than onions.

But potato and leek soup (which I love and cook often in winter) would be pretty bland with water instead of stock and started with boiled onions instead of leeks sautéed in butter.

[OkToBeTakei]

But potato and leek soup (which I love and cook often in winter) would be pretty bland with water instead of stock and started with boiled onions instead of leeks sautéed in butter.

Never mind how bloody awful it would look.

I love leek and pot soup. Yes, yes to the butter and even more yes to the lamb shanks I simmer for the stock, little flakes of lamb, buttery leeks over large chunks of potato with a ton of French bread. Trust the fundies to fuck up an amazing comfort food. :(

[longskirtlotsakids]

Its funny they are shooting babies out like a pellet gun for an army off gawd. Didn't they ever hear an army marches on its stomach?

[Arete]

Its funny they are shooting babies out like a pellet gun for an army off gawd. Didn't they ever hear an army marches on its stomach?

Ah, there is a thread that requires a clarification from your knowledge of animal husbandry- freejinger.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=17827&start=40. :shifty:

[lorem ipsum]

Never mind how bloody awful it would look.

I love leek and pot soup. Yes, yes to the butter and even more yes to the lamb shanks I simmer for the stock, little flakes of lamb, buttery leeks over large chunks of potato with a ton of French bread. Trust the fundies to fuck up an amazing comfort food. :(

Omg this sounds amazing. I usually make it with a hamhock, plus some milk added at the end, but am definitely going to have to try lamb shanks next time!

[Mela99]

Nah, they were gleaning the coupons. ;)

Kinda OT, but if anybody ever wants to learn to coupon on a mild basis - I've been doing it for three years. thehappyidiot.wordpress.com

Self promotion over. Down with fundies!

[Mama Mia]

I agree that the potato, onion, water soup would be very nutritionally inadequate to eat all the time -- but potatoes are actually pretty healthy - they have a good amount of Vitamin B-6, Vitamin C and Potassium as well as some protein ( not a lot, but some) and a good amount of fiber. There is a reason they are a staple.

[LadyBlue]

Djbouti- NFP is another word for no birth control. The fact that you already have four and have no clue how many more you will end up with is evidence of that.

From personal experience- vasectomies are AWESOME.

Depends how you do it, how diligent you are and how close to menopause you are. I used the pill until I got off to have ds1. I have 4 kids. 2 & 3 were not only planned, they were tried for repeatedly due to multiple miscarriages. Number 4 was due to a combination of factors, mostly thyroid issues/peri-menopause seriously throwing off my cycle and believing dh couldn't have more kids. I have nearly 4 years between 1 & 2, nearly 4 years between 2 & 3 and nearly 3 years between 3 & 4. One of my friends planned to have 4 kids and that's exactly how many she has, exactly when she planned them. The youngest is 7. She uses NFP, too.

As for the thread topic, I do sometimes tell my kids they can't eat, or they at least have to wait awhile. Examples include less than half an hour to supper, after already having a bunch to eat (today my 4 year old had an apple and a sandwich, then was bugging me for a granola bar, so I told him to wait awhile) & after brushing teeth for bed.

The fridge will be getting locked soon, but with a toddler lock, since the 1 yr likes to play in it and can nearly get it open. That's as locked as things get around here. This thread has inspired me to make a bunch of healthy, easy to grab snacks a priority, though. My nearly 12 year old has started complaining he's hungry a lot lately. I suspect a major puberty growth spurt is upon us.

[JesusFightClub]

I dunno. Fundies are all complete weirdos.

Small is like a tiny eating machine. She eats all of her tea, then when you're eating yours, you will notice a small hand creeping towards your plate...smack it or you're about to lose something you might fancy eating yourself. (Asparagus is a particular danger zone). She absorbs sweeties, I swear. She'll eat a packet of Jelly Tots and then five minutes later ask for another packet.

She's very active and plays a lot of sports at school. She's known to have a particular talent for football (soccer).

It's insane to think you can feed a family on regular "potato boiled in water with a bit of salt added" or "2 chicken breasts minced up". We could feed Small on a boiled potato for approx. 2 seconds.

[already hungover]

I grew up in a food-insecure household and it makes me feel sick/anxious to think about people willfully depriving their children of food when there is food available. Nobody should go hungry in the wealthiest country on the planet. Ever. There is no shame in food stamps. There is no shame in visiting the food bank. There is no shame in WIC. It IS shameful, however, to allow your children to go hungry when they don't have to.

There are a lot of difficult things about a childhood spent in poverty, but for me, the worst was not having enough food. It's demoralizing beyond explanation.*

...even now, sometimes I go to my kitchen to look in my fridge just to make sure there's still stuff in there. I cried the first time I went to a grocery store and knew I could buy anything I wanted to eat. I feel fortunate that I haven't developed any food hoarding tendencies or disordered eating habits as an adult.

I am going to go look at my fridge now.

*I will say, however, that the best meal of my life is still the cheese and tortillas my mom bought after we hadn't eaten for days. I ate it on the floor in the dark because we didn't have electricity at the time, and I don't think I'll ever forget feeling that just for a little while, stuff was okay.

[August]

Omg this sounds amazing. I usually make it with a hamhock, plus some milk added at the end, but am definitely going to have to try lamb shanks next time!

Where did it say she was going to boil the onions? And vegetarian stock is pretty devoid of nutrients. The stuff I boil a chicken carcass in for so long it's solid is one thing. The few cups of water I throw some celery, onions, carrot, parsley and bay into and boil for 20 minutes to use for soup is flavored water. And not very strongly at that.

But that's only part of the issue I have with this snark. I'll bullet point them for fun.

- Suggesting a food as a cheap, tasty and filling dish is not telling someone to eat it day in day out for every meal. If I suggest moroccan carrot salad (grated carrot with a little spice) as a cheap dish would you be up in arms that it would turn everyone orange?

- people aren't that good at cooking, but you'd be surprised how tasty some things can be. Take the tater tot casserole snark. It's a disgusting pile of processed sludge, but it's pretty much a cottage pie. Cottage pie is delicious, and the sauce is butter and flour and stock.

- the use of the term nutrition in this thread is odd. There are three macro nutrients, protein, carb and fat, then many micronutrients. Potatoes are food. They're full of vitamin C. They're a hell of a lot better foryou than a bowl of washed white ruce, which is pretty much straight carb with nothing else added. I'm not sure about your family, but we always have a good dollop of a carb with each meal. They provide fiber, carbs and micronutrients.

[djibouti]

Djbouti- NFP is another word for no birth control. The fact that you already have four and have no clue how many more you will end up with is evidence of that.

From personal experience- vasectomies are AWESOME.

I am well aware, thanks. We are Catholic and so vasectomies are out of the question. NFP has worked well for us so far. We have 6 year old twins, born two years after we were married, a 2 year old and a 6 week old. The only pregnancy we didn't actively try to conceive so far has been the youngest. That being said, we are financially stable, own our home and I feel like we are well equipped to take care of all of our children, which does not seem to be the case with many of the families I see on FJ.

[Mudball]

I am well aware, thanks. We are Catholic and so vasectomies are out of the question. NFP has worked well for us so far. We have 6 year old twins, born two years after we were married, a 2 year old and a 6 week old. The only pregnancy we didn't actively try to conceive so far has been the youngest. That being said, we are financially stable, own our home and I feel like we are well equipped to take care of all of our children, which does not seem to be the case with many of the families I see on FJ.

NFP is not another word for no birth control, not at all. I've used it successfully for 25 years, both to avoid pregnancy and to get pregnant with our one planned child (not for religious reasons). I recommend the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" to learn more about it from a non-religious resource.

[Mela99]

I grew up in a food-insecure household and it makes me feel sick/anxious to think about people willfully depriving their children of food when there is food available. Nobody should go hungry in the wealthiest country on the planet. Ever. There is no shame in food stamps. There is no shame in visiting the food bank. There is no shame in WIC. It IS shameful, however, to allow your children to go hungry when they don't have to.

There are a lot of difficult things about a childhood spent in poverty, but for me, the worst was not having enough food. It's demoralizing beyond explanation.*

...even now, sometimes I go to my kitchen to look in my fridge just to make sure there's still stuff in there. I cried the first time I went to a grocery store and knew I could buy anything I wanted to eat. I feel fortunate that I haven't developed any food hoarding tendencies or disordered eating habits as an adult.

I am going to go look at my fridge now.

*I will say, however, that the best meal of my life is still the cheese and tortillas my mom bought after we hadn't eaten for days. I ate it on the floor in the dark because we didn't have electricity at the time, and I don't think I'll ever forget feeling that just for a little while, stuff was okay.

This, this, this.

I grew up the same way. We never went to the grocery store regularly. Only those surplus stores and church giveaways where the food was damaged or sometimes expired.

I kind of hoard tho... buying stuff on sale, dry staples. Making sure there is extra stuff in the cabinet. I still struggle with not buying the cheapest brand possible for everythig.

[OkToBeTakei]

Where did it say she was going to boil the onions? And vegetarian stock is pretty devoid of nutrients. The stuff I boil a chicken carcass in for so long it's solid is one thing. The few cups of water I throw some celery, onions, carrot, parsley and bay into and boil for 20 minutes to use for soup is flavored water. And not very strongly at that.

But that's only part of the issue I have with this snark. I'll bullet point them for fun.

- Suggesting a food as a cheap, tasty and filling dish is not telling someone to eat it day in day out for every meal. If I suggest moroccan carrot salad (grated carrot with a little spice) as a cheap dish would you be up in arms that it would turn everyone orange?

- people aren't that good at cooking, but you'd be surprised how tasty some things can be. Take the tater tot casserole snark. It's a disgusting pile of processed sludge, but it's pretty much a cottage pie. Cottage pie is delicious, and the sauce is butter and flour and stock.

- the use of the term nutrition in this thread is odd. There are three macro nutrients, protein, carb and fat, then many micronutrients. Potatoes are food. They're full of vitamin C. They're a hell of a lot better foryou than a bowl of washed white ruce, which is pretty much straight carb with nothing else added. I'm not sure about your family, but we always have a good dollop of a carb with each meal. They provide fiber, carbs and micronutrients.

Honestly have no idea what you are getting at here. The point was the soup wether she boiled or sat on the onions for four days would have been fine for a lunch maybe even twice a week. But it was being touted as a lunch, then dinner filler. Something to eat a lot of. Hey folks can eat what they like but that's just a poverty diet. The snark is because if you have to feed your huge family cheap shite ALL the time and find it hard to afford. Get a job or stop having kids. If all I could afford to feed my kids was some onion and potato and don't forget from the comment 'free' water. I'd be having a good old look at myself. Nothing wrong with repeat menus. But lunch and dinner?

There is great cheap, fresh nutritious food out there. Fundies we seem to snark on appear to lack imagination.

Yup with you on the carb. Culturally meat and two veg :lol: I would love to know how many tatties I've peeled over the years or scrubbed or whatever. Irish family don't you know.

But oh man, white sauce in Cottage Pie? Why would you do that? It's a gorgeous beef mince pie with mash on top to me. Shepherds pie the same except lamb mince. Cumberland pie slightly different but similar. White sauce ew :cry:

[JesusFightClub]

Yeah, my mum and brother make shepherd's pie with marmite and soy sauce. White sauce would horrify them.

A boiled potato in soup over and over again isn't meals. It's tricking your child into believing they're being given nutrition when they aren't. They're being given water and salt.

When we were broke, when I was a kid, we got rabbit (catch your own!) quiche (cheese and tomatoes and egg). When I'm broke as an adult, I use cheese and cheap rolls, dumpster dive if I have to. It's still better than one potato per day per child.

[RosyDaisy]

Seriously, if you can't feed that many kids, then stop breeding. That is not honoring God in the least. It's one thing to fall on hard times and need help, it's another to deliberately keep breeding knowing full well that you can't feed them.

[VooDooChild]

FFS! These idiots. Others brought up gardens. That was my first thought too. Container gardens can be slightly less work. But you can grow just about anything in a container, even potaoes. A couple of berry bushes, herbs for flavor. A garden certainly will not feed the whole family in full, but it can add nutrients. Gads!! The lack of brain power in fundies is astonishing. Also, yeah, a job, cut the internet, cable....

[Petronella7]

Well, if you can't afford to buy groceries, you certainly can't afford to start a garden. The start-up costs are not small in my opinion and unless you are seriously good and lucky at it, it will not pay for itself for a least a year or two, if ever. Gardening is an awesome hobby and the produce is delicious, but it is not cheaper than buying food; especially in most places in the U.S. where groceries are cheaper than they've ever been in history. If people are seriously trading tips about boiled potatoes 3 times/day, they certainly don't have the cash available to make that investment right now.

I suspect that a lot of these fundy families actually do apply for and collect food stamps, WIC, etc, they just don't admit to it on the internet.

[August]

Honestly have no idea what you are getting at here. The point was the soup wether she boiled or sat on the onions for four days would have been fine for a lunch maybe even twice a week. But it was being touted as a lunch, then dinner filler. Something to eat a lot of. Hey folks can eat what they like but that's just a poverty diet. The snark is because if you have to feed your huge family cheap shite ALL the time and find it hard to afford. Get a job or stop having kids. If all I could afford to feed my kids was some onion and potato and don't forget from the comment 'free' water. I'd be having a good old look at myself. Nothing wrong with repeat menus. But lunch and dinner?

There is great cheap, fresh nutritious food out there. Fundies we seem to snark on appear to lack imagination.

Yup with you on the carb. Culturally meat and two veg :lol: I would love to know how many tatties I've peeled over the years or scrubbed or whatever. Irish family don't you know.

But oh man, white sauce in Cottage Pie? Why would you do that? It's a gorgeous beef mince pie with mash on top to me. Shepherds pie the same except lamb mince. Cumberland pie slightly different but similar. White sauce ew :cry:

Um, this is exactly the point I was making. Go to a recipe book or google or whatever, google how you make actual gravy rather than something out of a jar. It's flour, fat and water (stock). White sauce is flour, fat and milk. Sure, if you can't cook breaking something down to its ingredients sounds icky, but in reality it's the same as has been used for all the generations before the one that switched to canned and takeout food.

[OkToBeTakei]

Um, this is exactly the point I was making. Go to a recipe book or google or whatever, google how you make actual gravy rather than something out of a jar. It's flour, fat and water (stock). White sauce is flour, fat and milk. Sure, if you can't cook breaking something down to its ingredients sounds icky, but in reality it's the same as has been used for all the generations before the one that switched to canned and takeout food.

Ahhh right. Get you now. Yes they totally fail at basics.

I keep forgetting the gravy thing, as here that tends to be the meat based one rather than the roux. I was imagining a gloppy creamy Cottage pie :lol: yuck.

[lilith]

Ahhh right. Get you now. Yes they totally fail at basics.

I keep forgetting the gravy thing, as here that tends to be the meat based one rather than the roux. I was imagining a gloppy creamy Cottage pie :lol: yuck.

Don't you put flour in to thicken? Curious about how it would work without, especially as I'm trying to cut carbs.

[OkToBeTakei]

Mostly in meat based gravy yes, a bit in the pan with the roasting juices and yummy fat so not really a calorific concern with a teeny bit of carb :lol:

Sometimes though if a reduction it won't need it, then a good load of red wine instead . Afraid I know no healthy gravy recipes it's a competitive art form in my family.

The confusion for me is the US white gravy stuff which somebody explained to me on an other thread.

Cottage pie though would require no thickener, although the mass of buttery mash on top kind of screws you in the carbs :lol:

Have to add I honestly do make health food as well :lol: But I totally adore old fashioned comfort grub.

[August]

Eeeew, yes, country gravy/sausage gravy is the devil's semen.

When you put a tablespoon of flour into the pan with the juices you're making a roux. The pan has a mix of watery stuff and fat, like the butter and watery mix you use in a pan. It's just less lumpy if you do the whole fat, then flour, then liquid thing. If I have a roasting pan of crusty stuff I'll deglaze it with something watery (water, veg or chicken stock), then skim the fat, use a tablespoon or two to make the gravy in a saucepan with flour and the tasty deglazings.

Intrigued with the thought of a reduction only. Only thing I roast that has that much liquid is turkey. What gives you enough to make gravy without additional liquid?