Do they EVER cook from scratch? or garden?

[batuityma]

8 hours ago, Fundie Bunny said:

Alginate is also used to gellificate (does that word even exist?) food. Is an ingrediemt used commonly in high end cuisine

Interesting. But I'm still grossed out. All I can think about is way back in the day when I got fitted for braces. That slimy goo in my mouth - YUCK!

[MatthewDuggar]

55 minutes ago, ksgranola1 said:

Oh, I did learn to put up pickles after that. Did you ever notice when you buy store-bought pickles, that the end is cut off? I always thought that was so they'd fit in the jar. Turns out, if you don't cut off the end, if promotes decomposition.

I made garlic dills & you had to let them float around in a brine for 10 days, each day, scraping off the "foam" on top.*It was mold.*

had to be in a dark, cook place. That meant dining room. Whenever anybody came in, they could smell this garlic-y brine festering in the corner. I loved it. I put up skinned whole tomatoes for sauce for the winter, too.

God, I miss that. Don't get old.

Really?  My grandfather was a pickler and I miss his pickles with the ends.  (no idea why, I just noticed they are always cut off with store pickles)  We ate them up fairly quickly, so maybe it was a non-issue for us.

[DuggarsTheEndIsNear]

5 hours ago, sawasdee said:

I find it a very useful base for my own additions.........................

See, that's different. My friend thinks that the only way you can make good pasta is if you use Prego straight out of the can with no additions of any kind except salt. 

[nokidsmom]

23 hours ago, Hera said:

This is an interesting point.  There is a general paint-by-the-numbers theme running through very much of what they do.  It's easy. It's all the same. You don't have to think or try.  There's no risk of failure if you stay within the lines. 

All jokes about their food habits aside, watching the kids who have grown up like this flounder after reaching their Destinations in Life is a very sad commentary on how raising children in this environment just fails to make them happy, well rounded and satisfied adults.  I do think that at some point, they start to realize that they're missing something and they have no idea where to even begin to look for it.  Josh, despite obtaining some "success" in the approved role of far right politics, went looking for validation and something different in his life on Ashley Madison.  Jessa, despite achieving the Highest Goal of Wife and Mother, seeks validation, but also excitement and challenge, by offending everyone she can on social media.  Jill, also Exhalted Wife and Mother, seems lost and just trails her husband around, currently bumbling around the world playing missionary and not really sticking with anything or having any real passion for it.  

What all three seem to have in common is the fact that being forced into this lifestyle and held there by fire and brimstone and fear doesn't fulfill or really engage them. Not that politics, motherhood and marriage cannot be fulfilling, but when, due to limited options, these roles are forced on you, as opposed to something you actively chose for yourself, it isn't the same.  Hell, Michelle and JB seem pretty happy with their choice to be crazy cultists; too bad their kids didn't get the same choices. The saddest thing about the Duggars is the promise of what the 19 kids could have been.  Lawyers, executives, nurses, doctors, educators, firemen, policemen, anything, really.  And instead, they were born to be cogs in their parents' cult machine for Gothard.  Also, they don't get bacon.  Because all Gothard knew about keeping kosher was that Jewish people don't eat pork?  Seriously? 

@Hera, @EmCatlyn Good points about the whole "paint by numbers" approach to life.

To the bolded: All three married Duggar kids have shown problems in navigating life on their own.   JB and J'chelle have actively chosen their ATI lifestyle and as far as we know, no one, such as parents, siblings, or other family have attempted to interfere with their lives and choices.  But the J'parents have actively controlled their children's choices in life even before these kids were launched. They see their children as extensions of themselves who must follow the same path, not as individuals who are entitled to their own choices in life just as their parents were.  

[Valerie3kids]

1 hour ago, nokidsmom said:

@Hera, @EmCatlyn Good points about the whole "paint by numbers" approach to life.

To the bolded: All three married Duggar kids have shown problems in navigating life on their own.   JB and J'chelle have actively chosen their ATI lifestyle and as far as we know, no one, such as parents, siblings, or other family have attempted to interfere with their lives and choices.  But the J'parents have actively controlled their children's choices in life even before these kids were launched. They see their children as extensions of themselves who must follow the same path, not as individuals who are entitled to their own choices in life just as their parents were.  

I think what is the scariest part of this lifestyle for me is I didn't want my children to be like me! I didn't want them to make the same stupid mistakes or go off half cocked with stupid ideas. I wanted more for them. I wanted better for them. I wanted them to reach and dream and be the best they felt they could be. I didn't want an extension of myself. The world could only handle one warped person such as I.

The Duggars have severely stunted all their children and most likely grandchildren. The "paint by numbers" was a very good theory. There is no coloring outside of the lines. Probably no coloring at all.

[Cats B4 Quivers]

I started a garden in our backyard last spring. My best friend and I built a simple raised bed and I planted kale seeds, a couple of green pepper plants and a couple of zucchini plants. I am probably the only person unable to grow zucchini. Yup, they grew inch long zucchini  and then died. I didn't fair much better with the green pepper. The kale grew very well. As well, in separate boxes I grew a few tomato plants and they did really well. This coming spring, I am filling the raised bed with kale. I'm also building some more boxes to grow many more tomato plants and I'm also trying a potato box. Herbs are easy to grow and I have a box in front of the house for them. Duggars are lazy. 

[SassyPants]

1 hour ago, Valerie3kids said:

I think what is the scariest part of this lifestyle for me is I didn't want my children to be like me! I didn't want them to make the same stupid mistakes or go off half cocked with stupid ideas. I wanted more for them. I wanted better for them. I wanted them to reach and dream and be the best they felt they could be. I didn't want an extension of myself. The world could only handle one warped person such as I.

The Duggars have severely stunted all their children and most likely grandchildren. The "paint by numbers" was a very good theory. There is no coloring outside of the lines. Probably no coloring at all.

And here's where JB and M lose me, big time. Josh's first molestations were brought to light in 2002, when Michelle was PG with Justin. So, why didn't they stop having kids and start focusing on the already born children, get adequate housing shored up and seek family counseling, real counseling?

How did JB and M change their behaviors and how did THEY take responsibility for what happened within in their own 4 (literal) walls? How come they did not stop and change course? How come the red flags weren't swirling though either of their minds?

Are they BOTH THAT obtuse? Really?

[DuggarsTheEndIsNear]

34 minutes ago, Cats B4 Quivers said:

I started a garden in our backyard last spring. My best friend and I built a simple raised bed and I planted kale seeds, a couple of green pepper plants and a couple of zucchini plants. I am probably the only person unable to grow zucchini. Yup, they grew inch long zucchini  and then died. I didn't fair much better with the green pepper. The kale grew very well. As well, in separate boxes I grew a few tomato plants and they did really well. This coming spring, I am filling the raised bed with kale. I'm also building some more boxes to grow many more tomato plants and I'm also trying a potato box. Herbs are easy to grow and I have a box in front of the house for them. Duggars are lazy. 

I've been gardening for years and still have issues with things that seem ridiculously easy. But, your zucchini sounds more like it didn't pollinate. I usually have to hand pollinate my squash because the male flowers are stupidly open at different times than the female flowers.

[Hera]

1 hour ago, SassyPants said:

And here's where JB and M lose me, big time. Josh's first molestations were brought to light in 2002, when Michelle was PG with Justin. So, why didn't they stop having kids and start focusing on the already born children, get adequate housing shored up and seek family counseling, real counseling?

How did JB and M change their behaviors and how did THEY take responsibility for what happened within in their own 4 (literal) walls? How come they did not stop and change course? How come the red flags weren't swirling though either of their minds?

Are they BOTH THAT obtuse? Really?

They just don't care.  They get their self-validation and life satisfaction out of being the best cultists in town.  It's not about raising a family. It's not about taking care of their kids. It's not about anything other than them achieving the goal the set for themselves and promoting themselves. Shitting out kids until it became impossible is how they did that.  That the kids they brought into this world have (had?) the same hopes, dreams, desires and a need for autonomy that they did when they were young just doesn't factor in because it isn't important.  Beyond being a warm body to do some chores and smile and perform on command, most of those kids are little more than props to JB and M.  Narcissism at its finest, right down to their recreation of god in their own image.

[PennySycamore]

To add to what @batuityma said so well, if you have questions about your home garden, your Cooperative Extension Agent is a good resource for information.  They can even arrange for your soil to be tested. 

[samira_catlover]

3 hours ago, Cats B4 Quivers said:

(snip) . I am probably the only person unable to grow zucchini. (snip) 

What the cat's sake did you do?--water them with bleach or lye?  From where we are, you plant one zucchini seed in cement paving, mulch with concrete blocks, grease down the area with motor oil so the leaves don't break down in growth, and then stand back----it'll sprout. 

As I said before, SOMEONE is gonna figure out a way to crossbreed zucchini with kudzu and the world food problem is going to be solved in a hundred acres or so.

[SoybeanQueen]

Quote

You're not going to get scurvy because you ate canned foods. Scurvy is caused by a severe lack of vitamin C. Sailors got it because they went for months eating only things like hardtack, which is filling but completely devoid of nutritional value, because everyrhing else would rot if kept too long. Scurvy was cured by eating fresh fruits and vegetables because that's what they had access to when they finally got off the ship, but any diet high in vitamin C will treat scurvy. Both the chilies and the dairy products have vitamin C, you weren't at risk of developing scurvy. 

@duggarstheendisnear  I will refrain from making any nutritional deficiency jokes in the future. Terribly sorry.

[SoybeanQueen]

12 hours ago, batuityma said:

While I’m very concerned about the large scale use of agricultural pesticides, what is almost scarier to me is the small scale, yet wide spread, home use of all kinds of toxic chemicals by people who don’t necessarily know what they’re doing. It freaks me out.

Also a degreed horticulture professional, and my research suggests that the latter is infinitely scarier. I see farmers using various chemicals, and they're all quite carefully measured, both for safety, land preservation and cost purposes. People in the suburbs do exactly what you said. They guess, except they often add a little more, just to be sure. The runoff from people's lawns and gardens is a big problem.

Quote

I love my Crock Pot because it takes 5 minutes to prepare anything and you leave it for hours.

@alye I love to cook from scratch, and I can usually come up with a meal or two by just scrounging in the fridge, but I agree on the beauty of the crockpot. The chicken sounds yummy. My favorite crockpot meal starter is pulled pork. I made a huge batch this week. Some of it went to make pulled pork tacos, and the rest made BBQ sandwiches. Yum, yum, yum.

4 hours ago, PennySycamore said:

To add to what @batuityma said so well, if you have questions about your home garden, your Cooperative Extension Agent is a good resource for information.  They can even arrange for your soil to be tested. 

Good advice. And a random story - my parents met as extension agents. My mom was what was known then as a home ec agent (now family & consumer science). One day her boss came into her office with a guy who was interviewing to be the county horticulture agent. Later, my mom went and told her boss he should definitely hire that guy. He did, and I am the eventual result of that day.

[3KidsAndStopped]

6 hours ago, SassyPants said:

And here's where JB and M lose me, big time. Josh's first molestations were brought to light in 2002, when Michelle was PG with Justin. So, why didn't they stop having kids and start focusing on the already born children, get adequate housing shored up and seek family counseling, real counseling?

How did JB and M change their behaviors and how did THEY take responsibility for what happened within in their own 4 (literal) walls? How come they did not stop and change course? How come the red flags weren't swirling though either of their minds?

Are they BOTH THAT obtuse? Really?

I've wondered if they justify Josh's behaviour as some kind of punishment for not raising him"full Gothard" from the start of his life...wasn't it after Michelle lost a baby  (whilst on contraception) that they decided to "let god decide" on the number of children they had? I know they were already practising Christians, but im not so sure they were fundy bat crazy at that point. I see the loss of that baby and the genuine trauma of it (can't snark on that, it's an awful thing to go through) being the pivotal point. Since Josh was already born then, their warped fundy logic could easily attribute his sins to in their eyes being "bad christians" at the start of his life

[quiverofdoubt]

This was my garden and my zucchini. In July.  Not only do I have the brown thumb of death (as opposed to a green one) but then I have to deal with this stuff from mother nature

[PennySycamore]

1 hour ago, quiverofdoubt said:

This was my garden and my zucchini. In July.  Not only do I have the brown thumb of death (as opposed to a green one) but then I have to deal with this stuff from mother nature

@quiverofdoubt,  Is that snow? In July?  I've only read about snow in July in Farmer Boy.  The Wilders had snow one  Fourth of July at their farm near the Canadian border.

[quiverofdoubt]

Just now, PennySycamore said:

@quiverofdoubt,  Is that snow? In July?  I've only read about snow in July in Farmer Boy.  The Wilders had snow one  Fourth of July at their farm near the Canadian border.

Looked like snow, it was hail.  About 18" worth, deeper in some places

[PennySycamore]

12 minutes ago, quiverofdoubt said:

Looked like snow, it was hail.  About 18" worth, deeper in some places

Wow!

[church_of_dog]

18 minutes ago, PennySycamore said:

@quiverofdoubt,  Is that snow? In July?  I've only read about snow in July in Farmer Boy.  The Wilders had snow one  Fourth of July at their farm near the Canadian border.

Where I am it's almost a tradition for it to snow on the 4th of July.  It's warmed up in general by then, but there's usually still occasional cold snaps, and snow on the parade is not uncommon at all...  Wouldn't normally stick for more than a few hours though.

[samira_catlover]

8 hours ago, SoybeanQueen said:

(snip) @alye I love to cook from scratch, and I can usually come up with a meal or two by just scrounging in the fridge, but I agree on the beauty of the crockpot. The chicken sounds yummy. My favorite crockpot meal starter is pulled pork. I made a huge batch this week. Some of it went to make pulled pork tacos, and the rest made BBQ sandwiches. Yum, yum, yum.(snip)

You know, of course, that Boston Butt (huge lump of pork shoulder, with or without bone) makes incredible CP-cooked pulled pork, especially if you throw in a can of tomatoes, a couple of sliced onions, and a BIG spoonful of Very Hot Salsa or homemade/farmer's-market-made pepper sauce....

We fed a lot of an interfaith conference off 2 CPs full of that. Lost the vegans, Jews, and Muslims--but everybody else just gorged and nommmmmed.

[quiverofdoubt]

19 minutes ago, church_of_dog said:

Where I am it's almost a tradition for it to snow on the 4th of July.  It's warmed up in general by then, but there's usually still occasional cold snaps, and snow on the parade is not uncommon at all...  Wouldn't normally stick for more than a few hours though.

I've never seen snow here past late May. But I'd take snow over hail in terms of gardens. If the hail stones are big enough to break sky lights and damage cars, the poor little plants are in a world of hurt. We get daily monsoon storms from july 4th through august sometimes into september.  Half a dozen or more of those storms will have hail.  Some people around here garden, but usually invest thousands in green houses. I'm just not that dedicated. I plant most years as a homeschool project for my child, but I don't hold my breath for a yield.  Our local farmers market consists of honey and goats milk soap products. Fresh fruits and veges, not so much...

[Bad Wolf]

14 hours ago, DuggarsTheEndIsNear said:

I've been gardening for years and still have issues with things that seem ridiculously easy. But, your zucchini sounds more like it didn't pollinate. I usually have to hand pollinate my squash because the male flowers are stupidly open at different times than the female flowers.

Ha ha. Too bad JB and M didn't have that problem. 

[catlady]

On ‎2‎/‎3‎/‎2016 at 11:54 AM, PreciousPantsofDoom said:

My husband makes (assembles?) This sometimes. And, yeah, EW!  Thankfully he eats and cooks normal healthy things made from real fresh ingredients most of the time.  And he doesn't expect me to eat the pasta /tomato soup glop!

oh my stars, PPoD and LittleSpouseOnThePrairie, I thought Mr. CatLady was the only one who ate that crap!  He'll be relieved to know he's not alone, but I just wonder if they're all somehow related to have developed a taste for macaroni and tomato soup.

he also grew up eating a *lovely* delicacy called Potted Meat; he'd put it on bread with lettuce.  it looks like the inside of a hot-dog in a can.  he bought it once, and I promptly decided cat food is more appetizing.  the cats then proved me right when they refused to eat any of it.  Duggar cuisine always makes me think of potted meat.   Ew, ew, ew!  I think Spam might actually be better.....

[OnceUponATime]

@quiverofdoubt I had the opposite problem. My yellow zucchini plant which I grew from seed (i grew two the slugs ate one. Thank God!) did the opposite. Instead of growing like they usually do with one main stem it branched out and, before I started cutting off branches I didn't want, had 6 fully functioning zucchini growing stems. When I was harvesting 4+ zucchinis a day I decided enough was enough and massacred it. I may have cut off more than half the plant in hopes of not dreaming of zucchinis. In response to the 'trimming' it started shooting out like crazy *yet again*. It ended up taking in about 7ftx7ft in my garden (I gave up fighting it). I was not impressed and was so happy when most of the zucchini started getting rotten ends  (I call that fertilizer for next year aka compost material). My neighbors were well supplied and we had our annual mega zucchini (somehow we always let one of them grow way too big, I leave them on hoping to suck energy out of the plant).
Hail is an ass in the garden. I'm excited, I can start my indoor sowing now (well once it stops raining). I am going to reorganise all my indoor plants though. Something is eating my lemon tree and a bit of my avocado tree and I don't want them eating my seedlings. Last year I used some outside ground and accidentally had slugs inside eating all my seedlings. I'm never doing that again! I was so sad to wake up and find ALL my watermelon plants had vanished overnight.

[justoneoftwo]

Okay, people here seem super knowledgeable, so some advice please.  We are trying to grow brussle sprouts, but they never seem to get big enough to produce anything.  They grow and are strong looking, but no sprouts.  What are we doing wrong?