Jill Duggar Dillard Part 8: They Call Him Choo Choo?

[OnceUponATime]

Why did you mention Brussel Sprouts? My very favourite vegetable - roasted, fried, steamed, mixed with tatties for bubble and squeak! There are only 2 stores here that ever carry them - the horrendously expensive import store, which charges about $4 for 8 sprouts, or the big catering store outside town. I went there today to get some - they usually start to stock them in mid November - and they DIDN'T HAVE ANY! I really, really, really did not need you to start posting about Brussel Sprouts!

Grow your own! They aren't that hard to grow and they really don't take up much space.
Ours never do too well (clubfoot) but we usually get 4 - 6 meals out of them in a winter (always with lots of bacon because i don't actually like them).
 

but that chicken recipe looks gross.

[SassyPants]

I can't snark on food because my eating is very special. That is a really sensitive spot and it annoys me when people comment on it. Comments judging from my weight to my eating and things like that. Not being overweight, it is the opposite. Comments are equally horrible, believe me. Funny thing is: I am so damn picky, but that is a recipe I would eat. :-D 

Tonight I'm having noodles with gravy. My favourite food. That is all. No spices, because I like it plain. If it tastes like nothing, it is perfect. 

Vegetables? Haha, nope. Potatoes, that is all. Salad and everything related to that is also not my thing. I do like potato salad, but with few spices and no onions. 

How about fruit?

If I ate like that, I'd weigh 500 lbs. 

Most of what I eat is vegetable based- and sometimes meat, chicken, fish. Carbs are my enemy-

[sawasdee]

Grow your own! They aren't that hard to grow and they really don't take up much space.Ours never do too well (clubfoot) but we usually get 4 - 6 meals out of them in a winter (always with lots of bacon because i don't actually like them).
 

but that chicken recipe looks gross.

They need a frost - and I live in Thailand! Cold to me is 60 degrees overnight!

[princessmahina]

Mm, brussels sprouts. I got a bomb recipe from Jennifer McCann at the Vegan Lunchbox. It's my go-to. I can eat an entire recipe myself! This thanksgiving I'm trying out Chloe Coscarelli's maple roasted brussels sprouts with toasted hazelnuts. Yum!

[Gobbles]

How about fruit?

If I ate like that, I'd weigh 500 lbs. 

Most of what I eat is vegetable based- and sometimes meat, chicken, fish. Carbs are my enemy.

Five apples per year maybe? And watermelon in summer. So, not really! My Dad eats almost everything, my Mum also likes vegetables and other things. It is just me being special. Here in Germany it is common to visit your friends directly after school and that was always a horrible experience because I never liked the food. And my "friends" were teasing me about it and the parents told me that I must eat healthy things and whatnot. Turns out I was the healthiest of my friends. 

I was misdiagnosed with a eating disorder once (it is easy to be classified as anorexic if you are in a bad hospital and you don't like the food + being underweight). Was a horrible experience and the other good hospital removed the diagnosis asap. Telling them that you are not anorexic is what they hear all the time I guess. So it was a loose/loose-situation.

I eat not much meat and if I do, it is chicken breast or other fat-free stuff. Sausages are also fine. No fish. Carbs are my life.

[August]

Most people don't count labor from their first braxton hicks contraction or irregular contraction. By that count I was in labor for months. 

70 hours wouldn't include braxton hicks. And irregular contractions can really really hurt.

[Catey]

But, wait I thought they were in Guatemala???

 

That is not a very Guatemalan dish now is it?

If I had donated to them I would be pissed, how close are you really getting to the locals if that is what you are cooking? Where are the Tamales? The beans the rich colorful flavorful dishes that they must be surrounded by.

I can just see the local people eyerolling at that hot mess of a meal..

Not everything I put on my table is awesome, or even all that healthy but if I was putting it all out there for the world to see AND I was in another country I would definitely pay homage to their tastes and traditions.

 

 

[ClaraOswin]

I can't really snark on their food choices. I hate cooking. We do make a lot of things that 'require' a can of soup in it. We make a cheesy hashbrown casserole thing that is sooo unhealthy but I love it (it's a side dish.) It has hash browns, a can of cream of celery soup, cheddar cheese, sour cream, butter, milk, cornflake crumbs. Thankfully, we don't eat it that often. We also have a lot of quick recipes that use one of those ranch seasoning packets. I don't care if it's not the best choice. It's easy and it tastes good.

[KSmom]

Grow your own! They aren't that hard to grow and they really don't take up much space.Ours never do too well (clubfoot) but we usually get 4 - 6 meals out of them in a winter (always with lots of bacon because i don't actually like them).
 

but that chicken recipe looks gross.

Where do you live? I tried to grow brussel sprouts in our community garden this year, and it was a bust. The sprouts never filled out. I think it is too hot here.

I so wanted them to grow, we also love brussel sprouts, and when I roast them I put a little parmensan cheese in, too.

[JesSky03]

You all are making me want to try brussel spouts again. I haven't had them since I was a teenager and hated them. But as an adult I'm finding a lot of the stuff I didn't like as a kid was more because of the way my parents prepared it. My dad used to work for a warehouse so 80% of the vegetables we ate were canned. I grew up thinking I hated green beans because all I ever was offered was canned. Now as an adult I buy fresh or frozen and saute in some olive oil and garlic- yum!

[Eatingintheprayercloset]

Most americans eat foods similar to the Duggars' recipes. It's just odd that Michelle trains all her daughters to become "domestic goddesses", yet they can't legitimately cook. I'm blaming it on Michelle's laziness. Someone isn't going to know how to cook appetizing dishes if no one taught them how to cook with fresh ingredients. I wonder if they season their food? Reading the recipes on their website it sounds like a lot of mush......seasoning can make a big difference. 

[Valerie3kids]

Michelle has done her children so many disservices under the guise of mothering. None of those children know what a fresh vegetable is or a fresh fruit. I remember the pictures of their pantry and it was all processed junk. Not even fresh potatoes There are ways to cook for large families that do not include tater tot casserole as a main dish. Or chicken sketi. . All the time she has spent with her children they could have left the household being decent cooks who are willing to try new things and to be decent housekeepers. But, she has taught them nothing. They have no real education and no skills whatsoever. Most people working outside the home due a far better job of getting decent meals on the table than she ever has and on real plates with real cups. What family needs a coke dispenser in their home? No one at all even with 19 children that is absurd. I have come to the conclusion she is an extremely lazy person who has the sole purpose of getting pregnant as her goal in life.

If I were Jill that is not a recipe I would share with the world.

[Handmaiden of Dog]

Wow!  Flash back to the 50's.  This was Midwestern-style eating in the days before good grocery stores and cooking shows and my mom did a far amount of it as a young housewife.  I have no doubt this recipe came from a box of Velveeta or a can of soup.  I haven't used a can of cream soup in anything for probably 40 years, it is far too artificial.  Real cream, real cheese, fresh vegetables make all the difference.  Also, I would ditch the spaghetti.  Why not use a penne or rigatoni?   Just shows you what a lazy, crappy cook Meechelle was that her daughters think this is not only worth doing but worth sharing.  Hopefully Guinn or someone else will take Jill under their wing and show them how easy and tasty home made food can be.

[OnceUponATime]

Where do you live? I tried to grow brussel sprouts in our community garden this year, and it was a bust. The sprouts never filled out. I think it is too hot here.

I so wanted them to grow, we also love brussel sprouts, and when I roast them I put a little parmensan cheese in, too.

In the BeNeLux. I haven't even looked at ours yet this year to see if they need harvesting. Last year we had a whole heap grow with open heads (they looked like tiny leaf lettuces). The only reason I keep growing them is because I get given free plants and it would be more hassle to not plant them. Parmesan would proabaly work enough to make them edible for me - yay another recipe!

[xlurker]

Regarding brussel sprouts, just had some yesterday.  I throw a couple of slices of bacon in my trusty cast iron pan, fry 'em up to get all that good bacony-ness all over the pan.  Then crumble them.  This is when I put in the sprouts along with a sliced up apple. Take that pan and put it in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes and even my kids like that deliousness

[Mercer]

The lack of homemaking skills in this family leaves me shaking my head time after time.

Me too. Most of the Duggar women seem to have literally nothing to do with their time besides keep house. You would think that as a result they'd be highly skilled homemakers. Yet all we seem to see from them are recipes for highly processed convenience food with little nutritional value, disposable products rather than reusing creating a huge amount of waste, and childcare passed off to someone other than the parents whenever possible. While they may "buy used and save the difference," they also seem to have an odd avoidance of anything that would save them from having to buy at all, like growing their own produce in a garden, keeping chickens for eggs, or producing homemade goods to swap with other families. 

I truly wonder what they do all day. I don't wonder that with most homemakers because there's plenty of work to be done in the home... but with the Duggars I do because they seem to cut corners as much as possible, and given a choice seem to prefer throwing money rather than effort at household tasks. What exactly are they busy with?

[nastyhobbitses]

Michelle has done her children so many disservices under the guise of mothering. None of those children know what a fresh vegetable is or a fresh fruit. I remember the pictures of their pantry and it was all processed junk. Not even fresh potatoes There are ways to cook for large families that do not include tater tot casserole as a main dish. Or chicken sketi. . All the time she has spent with her children they could have left the household being decent cooks who are willing to try new things and to be decent housekeepers. But, she has taught them nothing. They have no real education and no skills whatsoever. Most people working outside the home due a far better job of getting decent meals on the table than she ever has and on real plates with real cups. What family needs a coke dispenser in their home? No one at all even with 19 children that is absurd. I have come to the conclusion she is an extremely lazy person who has the sole purpose of getting pregnant as her goal in life.

If I were Jill that is not a recipe I would share with the world.

A-freakin'-men. My mom was pretty much a nearly full-time volunteer (involved in local government) when I was a kid and my dad worked full-time, but they both made damn sure that I knew how to make things other than a call to Pizza Hut. I don't understand how you can have literally all the time in the world with your kids and teach them zilch about keeping house properly. Though then again, I met a lot of kids in college whose idea of cooking was "remove from freezer, place in microwave, set off dorm fire alarm at four in the morning because of microwave explosion" or "bring back Five Guys, leave meal detritus strewn about common area until the stench is so overwhelming that someone else cleans it up and leaves a passive-aggressive note".

Also, Jesus H. Christ, a Coke machine in the house? I wasn't even allowed to drink carbonated beverages of any kind until I was in my teens! To this day I can really only stand seltzer, and Coke if rum is involved.

[KSmom]

I really don't think that Michelle has any mothering instincts in her at all, she just craves being the center of attention she gets by having so many children. But, actually raising them and teaching them- I think she did just enough to get by until she could pass it off to one of the girls.

I think that is why we see the boys learning some useful skills from JB ( mechanical skills, working on houses) but the girls haven't learned cooking skills.

and now Michelle has found a way to pass off homeschooling too. But maybe the kids will end up getting a better education this way, one can always hope.

[zenbaby]

Mom raised us three kids on her own and she too made damn sure we could prepare meals.  We were expected to.  My brothers and I were expected to have the potatoes & veg and/or salad ready for when she got home from work.  By the age of 10 we could assemble the lasagna (sauce was already prepared) and get it in the oven.  Dessert too!

To this day I feel guilty when I buy prepared food...

[Mercer]

The boys may have learned more practical skills than the girls, but I'm not sure how much difference that will make given that most of the grown Duggar children have reached adulthood with no apparent work ethic at all. They just seem to have completely missed internalizing the basic fact that effort brings reward. 

I'm not quite sure how the parents managed to fail at that. You would think with that many people in the household - and with the buddy system, even though I strongly disagree with their choice to use it - that learning the value of hard work would be almost unavoidable. Somehow, though, it seems like none of the Duggar children quite picked up on the idea that you really should be doing something besides existing and feeling good about yourself.

I wonder if Jim Bob ever worries about the fact that if things keep going as they have been so far, he's going to have to figure out how to either support twenty households or else start cutting them off financially, with all the drama that will likely entail.

[nastyhobbitses]

I really don't think that Michelle has any mothering instincts in her at all, she just craves being the center of attention she gets by having so many children. But, actually raising them and teaching them- I think she did just enough to get by until she could pass it off to one of the girls.

I think that is why we see the boys learning some useful skills from JB ( mechanical skills, working on houses) but the girls haven't learned cooking skills.

and now Michelle has found a way to pass off homeschooling too. But maybe the kids will end up getting a better education this way, one can always hope.

I really wouldn't be surprised if Michelle had Narcissistic or Histrionic Personality Disorder. Obviously it's impossible to diagnose her, but there's something pathological about her behavior. She sees pregnancy as a way to get attention and affection from JB (whom she fears will abandon her) and newborn babies as dolls that will unconditionally love her and never leave her and never expect anything in return. Older children are props that make her look good, but are only to be loved and cared about if they are useful to her. Teenage and adult daughters are a threat. Sons are ignored. She never really cared for being a mother, but sunk-cost fallacy and JB's sexual appetites led her to have 19 children, none of whom have ever really filled that void in her heart. She fell out of love with Jim Bob a long time ago, but she fears that he'll leave her and she'll have no one else. So she continues to joyfully submit because maybe she can pretend that the hulking, grunting, bad-breath man-child on top of her fills the void. And if she pretends that her marriage is the godliest, best marriage around, more people will love her and listen to her.

Maybe I'm totally off-base, but that's the vibe I get from her.

[EmCatlyn]

Haven't we confirmed that Jill and Derick are using a "Christian" (by which they mean "evangelical") language school anyway? It would be hilarious to me if they spent all this time trying to convert their Spanish teacher and weren't proficient enough to understand that the teacher was one of the few evangelical Christians all along.

That would be a good joke!

It is also possible that though the school is run by evangelicals, not all the teachers are.  Or maybe they are the wrong kid of evangelicals.  I mean, maybe the teacher belongs to a denomination that allows dancing!  What awonderful opportunity for Jill and Derrick to bring a sinner to Jesus! 

[RabbitKM]

Where did Jill post this recipe?

[Cassielfsw]

I sure hope to God none of those Duggar kids are/will be lactose intolerant, because it seems like this family really can't survive without mayo, whipping cream, and all that stuff!

Isn't Josie lactose intolerant? What the heck does she eat? 

[FleeJanaFree]

I gotta say for as much as I love snarking on this ridiculous family (oh, hi, by the way, I've been lurking for literally YEARS!) there are a lot of food snobs on this forum. Yes, it's silly that the girls have been supposably trained up to be homemakers and they should know how to make better meals because of it.

 

However...what a minor thing to be upset about! I for one LOVE cream of meals. And canned veggies! ( In retrospect I know my parents must have bought canned veggies when we were kids to save money, and now I honestly prefer them to the fresh ones. ) Comfort foods are the best kind of foods to me. Jill shouldn't have to alter her meals to please the I-only-eat-organic/farm to table only/respect the nation you're ins custom foods people. Eat whatever the fuck you want, Jill!