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Do they EVER cook from scratch? or garden?


samira_catlover

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1 hour ago, quiverofdoubt said:

Also, this is rural arkansas. Maybe it's different than my experience in rural alabama, but trying to grocery shop there was... a joke. the veggie dept was a banana and a thing of iceberg. that was it. The duggars may have to drive further to have access to a decent grocery store where they can find fresh foods and meat.

It's not that rural. They're 20 minutes from Fayetteville (where the U of Arkansas is located) and in Walmart's backyard. I'm certainly not holding out Walmart as a pristine example of a grocery store, but most Walmart Supercenters carry a decent selection of produce and there's one in Springdale, which is just a few minutes away.

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14 minutes ago, nokidsmom said:

I get that there's a lot of folks with money that don't eat well and won't touch anything fresh because they are convinced they won't like it.   My niece, who grew up in a fairly well to do household, will only touch creamed corn.   But there are people for whom money is an obstacle to obtaining fresh food.  Just saying that for the Duggars, money is not an issue for them.    

It's not an issue for them now, but that doesn't mean that they've expanded their palates since it WAS an issue for them. Josh was 16 when they got their first special and was 20(?) when they got the show. And, since they married so young, it's not like they went from having money to having no money to having money again. They had 2 decades (including the 4 years they were childless) of bad eating habits fueled by a lack of money. Sure, they've had a decade of having money, but that hardly means that they're going to change their eating habits any more than my friends with money have changed theirs. 

7 minutes ago, jacduggar said:

I wish they would foster his interest, but it's worth mentioning that feeding 21+ people even one complete garden grown meal is a lot of food. Also, their land (that everyone is speaking about) is in no condition for a bountiful garden. They might be able to put some beans and zucchini down and get a plant or two, but they would need to work that ground over, add some compost, some kind of fertilizer, mulch, and possibly even bring in a more nutrient dense topsoil. As previously mentioned, gardening to feed a standard family takes more than planting seeds and hoping for a harvest. I keep four gardens and a greenhouse, it's a lot of work and start up is costly and time consuming. 

It's worth pointing out that they DID foster the interest, if it existed and wasn't just a plot point, through allowing him to build and fill a greenhouse. That hardly means that he actually stuck with the interest. When I was 8, I wanted to garden because I had seen my parents garden in a previous house and wanted to replicate it. My parents built me a raised bed and got me the seeds/plants I wanted. I threw the plants plants in and pretty much walked away from it. I realized it was a lot of work and 8 year old me had a lot better things to do than spend all day tending to a garden. 

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Didn't Josh and JB have a personal trainer to work with them on diet and exercise? I doubt he recommended TTC.

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Just now, Bad Wolf said:

Didn't Josh and JB have a personal trainer to work with them on diet and exercise? I doubt he recommended TTC.

They treated that whole thing like such a joke. I would have felt bad for the trainer but he seemed to love the camera more than their health so I'd say he fit right in with them. 

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Just now, Bad Wolf said:

Didn't Josh and JB have a personal trainer to work with them on diet and exercise? I doubt he recommended TTC.

Just because a personal trainer says "eat veggies and fruit" doesn't mean that people are going to eat said foods, or like them. People eat healthy foods on diets and then give up the diet because said healthy foods were prepared in ways they found to be gross. Plus, the personal trainer was definitely a plot line, not something either of them was committed to. 

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I can see both sides on the gardening thing -- on the one hand, it's easy to venture into gardening on a small scale.  And it's fairly common to have some measure of success without much knowledge.  On the other hand I do recognize and agree that *serious* gardening, actually producing enough food to make a dent in their budget/diet, would take lots of knowledge, focus, etc.  And they just don't seem to be into that.

However.  I personally think it's sad that they're not even doing it on the mini-scale.  Forget about trying to feed themselves -- how about just introducing the kids to the concept of how things grow?  Discovering what things are like when they are fresh/raw?  If they are not used to cooking with fresh veggies (and obviously they are not) then they will not have a clue what to do with anything that isn't just pick-and-eat.  But how does one give their kids the comfort and familiarity of seeing things grow, learning about how/when stuff ripens and what are some ways you can eat it/cook it -- by starting small, that's how!  We've all seen the anecdotes about how a kid will be much more interested in eating something that they planted/helped grow/harvest.  So -- if they simply started buying carrots by the 25-lb bag, they would all rot because no one knows what to do with them, but if they had even one little row of carrots in the garden that the kids could pull up and rinse off and just eat, they would start to get familiar.  If hardly anyone likes carrots, then never mind, try something else next time.  But if it turns out most of them like carrots, why then, now they have a place to start -- looking up recipes for carrots done interesting ways (oh never mind, just remembered who we are talking about).

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I can see both sides on the gardening thing -- on the one hand, it's easy to venture into gardening on a small scale.  And it's fairly common to have some measure of success without much knowledge.  On the other hand I do recognize and agree that *serious* gardening, actually producing enough food to make a dent in their budget/diet, would take lots of knowledge, focus, etc.  And they just don't seem to be into that.

However.  I personally think it's sad that they're not even doing it on the mini-scale.  Forget about trying to feed themselves -- how about just introducing the kids to the concept of how things grow?  Discovering what things are like when they are fresh/raw?  If they are not used to cooking with fresh veggies (and obviously they are not) then they will not have a clue what to do with anything that isn't just pick-and-eat.  But how does one give their kids the comfort and familiarity of seeing things grow, learning about how/when stuff ripens and what are some ways you can eat it/cook it -- by starting small, that's how!  We've all seen the anecdotes about how a kid will be much more interested in eating something that they planted/helped grow/harvest.  So -- if they simply started buying carrots by the 25-lb bag, they would all rot because no one knows what to do with them, but if they had even one little row of carrots in the garden that the kids could pull up and rinse off and just eat, they would start to get familiar.  If hardly anyone likes carrots, then never mind, try something else next time.  But if it turns out most of them like carrots, why then, now they have a place to start -- looking up recipes for carrots done interesting ways (oh never mind, just remembered who we are talking about).

Carrots lead to desires than cannot righteously be fulfilled.

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In theory, I guess I understand why the Duggars don't garden and don't appear to eat actual vegetables that aren't creamed into a soup and dumped out of a can.  When they first started out and Michelle had however many kids to care for and no money, I suppose tater tot casserole and the like are (a) what they could afford to feed a family of 7 or 8 at the time and (b) all she had time to make.  As time went on, TLC got involved and Michelle started handing her kids off to the J'slaves, so in theory she could have made time to cook healthier meals now that they could afford them, but she'd have had to bother to actually do it or at least teach the J'Slaves how to do it.  That didn't happen.  The J'Slaves wouldn't have had the ability, time or knowledge to learn to cook better meals or even access to the internet to learn how, even if they were so inclined.   And I can't really blame them.  If I were 14 or 15 and tasked with taking care of an entire household of chores and 3 or 4 small children, dumping whatever I found in the cabinet into a bowl and then nuking it for dinner was probably all they had the time or energy to do.  And so the cycle continued(s).  

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1 minute ago, Hera said:

In theory, I guess I understand why the Duggars don't garden and don't appear to eat actual vegetables that aren't creamed into a soup and dumped out of a can.  When they first started out and Michelle had however many kids to care for and no money, I suppose tater tot casserole and the like are (a) what they could afford to feed a family of 7 or 8 at the time and (b) all she had time to make.  As time went on, TLC got involved and Michelle started handing her kids off to the J'slaves, so in theory she could have made time to cook healthier meals now that they could afford them, but she'd have had to bother to actually do it or at least teach the J'Slaves how to do it.  That didn't happen.  The J'Slaves wouldn't have had the ability, time or knowledge to learn to cook better meals or even access to the internet to learn how, even if they were so inclined.   And I can't really blame them.  If I were 14 or 15 and tasked with taking care of an entire household of chores and 3 or 4 small children, dumping whatever I found in the cabinet into a bowl and then nuking it was probably all they had the time or energy to do.  And so the cycle continued(s).  

Also, when you have 21+ people to feed, it's not really economical to experiment with different food options if you're not really sure how to prepare it. And, with so many people comes a huge risk of a lot of food going to waste because of pickiness unless you're operating as a short order cook. It's a lot easier to develop new menu options when you're cooking for 7 or fewer people than 21+ people. With that many mouths to feed, it does make sense to stick with what you know they'll eat.

And, that's also assuming that what we see them eat on TV is how they eat every day. It could just be that they make the easy meals or eat out more when they're filming because so much time is lost to stupid plots and talking heads. 

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13 minutes ago, DuggarsTheEndIsNear said:

Also, when you have 21+ people to feed, it's not really economical to experiment with different food options if you're not really sure how to prepare it. And, with so many people comes a huge risk of a lot of food going to waste because of pickiness unless you're operating as a short order cook. It's a lot easier to develop new menu options when you're cooking for 7 or fewer people than 21+ people. With that many mouths to feed, it does make sense to stick with what you know they'll eat.

And, that's also assuming that what we see them eat on TV is how they eat every day. It could just be that they make the easy meals or eat out more when they're filming because so much time is lost to stupid plots and talking heads. 

This is a good point, too.  Something tells me that a family with kids that have been fed mostly processed, high sugar/high sodium, fatty comfort food-type things their entire lives aren't going to be terribly adventurous when it comes to trying new, non-cream of soup and Velveeta, based foods.  

 

As I recall, pre-Izzy, Jill was into more "granola" type things.  Maybe that exposure, plus being in Central America where she may pick up some different meal options, will lead to a break from the processed tradition.  

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19 minutes ago, Hera said:

In theory, I guess I understand why the Duggars don't garden and don't appear to eat actual vegetables that aren't creamed into a soup and dumped out of a can.  When they first started out and Michelle had however many kids to care for and no money, I suppose tater tot casserole and the like are (a) what they could afford to feed a family of 7 or 8 at the time and (b) all she had time to make.  As time went on, TLC got involved and Michelle started handing her kids off to the J'slaves, so in theory she could have made time to cook healthier meals now that they could afford them, but she'd have had to bother to actually do it or at least teach the J'Slaves how to do it.  That didn't happen.  The J'Slaves wouldn't have had the ability, time or knowledge to learn to cook better meals or even access to the internet to learn how, even if they were so inclined.   And I can't really blame them.  If I were 14 or 15 and tasked with taking care of an entire household of chores and 3 or 4 small children, dumping whatever I found in the cabinet into a bowl and then nuking it for dinner was probably all they had the time or energy to do.  And so the cycle continued(s).  

Good points all.  If it was me in charge of that household, I would have 3 or 4 people each of whom is tasked with making ONE dish for 20 -- probably an entree, a veggie, and a salad.  Maybe a starch.  Yes it would be crowded and hectic but 1) they have two kitchens, and 2) this is more or less what they signed up for by having such a large family!

And 3) before long this wouldn't be so stressful as people would discover various favorites, or shortcuts (ie cooking in advance or for a few days at a time, for the foods that are conducive to that).  Or find some "one-pot meals" that have the veggie and the starch included.

But, y'know, that's just how I would do it.  They obviously have other priorities.  It just makes me sad because there are so many good opportunities to show a large family "figuring things out" and they just don't do any of the things I would find admirable.

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If you have 4-6 people who can help with food prep it's easily done in shifts.   

Shift one can prepare the salad veggies early in the day.   Stick the cut up veggies in ziplock bags (rinse them out to reuse if you are on a tight budget and turn them inside out to dry)   Out of the kitchen. 

Group 2, scrub some baking potatoes and either pile them up and set aside until it's time to cook or even stick them in the oven.  When it's time to cook all you have to do is turn on the oven.   Out of the kitchen. 

Group 3, prepare the protein course.   Burgers: Make patties, stack in a pan until it's time to cook.   Lay chicken pieces parts in a pan, sprinkle seasonings and either stick in the fridge until it's time to cook or directly in the oven 

Cripes, even if you buy 4 or   5 cooked chickens at Costco (really cheap in my opinion) and serve those with baked or mashed and a veggie, it's got to be less work than TTC.    

Even Josie is old enough to peel carrots and then have a bigger kid cut them up.    

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1 minute ago, MoonFace said:

If you have 4-6 people who can help with food prep it's easily done in shifts.   

Shift one can prepare the salad veggies early in the day.   Stick the cut up veggies in ziplock bags (rinse them out to reuse if you are on a tight budget and turn them inside out to dry)   Out of the kitchen. 

Group 2, scrub some baking potatoes and either pile them up and set aside until it's time to cook or even stick them in the oven.  When it's time to cook all you have to do is turn on the oven.   Out of the kitchen. 

Group 3, prepare the protein course.   Burgers: Make patties, stack in a pan until it's time to cook.   Lay chicken pieces parts in a pan, sprinkle seasonings and either stick in the fridge until it's time to cook or directly in the oven 

Cripes, even if you buy 4 or   5 cooked chickens at Costco (really cheap in my opinion) and serve those with baked or mashed and a veggie, it's got to be less work than TTC.    

Even Josie is old enough to peel carrots and then have a bigger kid cut them up.    

Exactly!  I'm also big on crockpots, which don't need the stove or oven, just a countertop with an electric outlet.  Make the entree in them, or bake potatoes in them, or steam veggies, so many ways to use them.  Plus, as you point out, slow-cooked things get started early and then you're "out of the kitchen" and not in the way of the others.

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To be fair, I think many people are just too lazy to cook.    That includes many working people I've known.  I live in a retirement community and many people here tend to go out or order in.    One woman I know says she makes sandwiches for supper and that is it.  It's get your own breakfast and they go out for the noon meal - and order extra to bring home for another day's meal.    

When I was working full time and had a hectic day at work my husband would offer to take me out for dinner (the man can make breakfast but we don't like him to ruin perfectly good dinner food by cooking it)  It was too much work to go out!   Drive someplace, wait to be seated, order the food, wait for it, drive home.    I can get dinner on the table in 1/2 hour.    It just would involve having a plan in place - and taking something out of the freezer the day before. 

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The Amish have their kids out maintaining a "kitchen garden" at a very young age. The Duggars could put in some raised beds w/good soil and eat all summer. The green beans alone will keep them going. They have the equipment to made large batches of red sauce that they can put up in mason jars. TLC might not realize it, but that is what we watch the Duggars for; to see how they manage such a big family. 50% of that should be food preparation. If they are not doing that, WTH are they doing all day?? Half the kids are adults & still live at home, they could be doing that! When they baked bread, it was  those mini loafs. One standard bread recipe =2 regular loaves. That should hold a big family for a couple days. My Grandmother-in-law. Had a big garden she managed herself w/the help of her 10 children. She got up early and started bread 3 times a week. And she cooked on a wood-burning stove. I'll bet you anything the Duggars use Kraft Mac & cheese. If she made it from scratch, she could greatly reduce the cost of that, but we all know it's not about the $$$. Macaroni+cheese+milk= mac/cheese done at home. 3 girls to make food, 3 boys to clean up. It's not that hard.

 We had an Indian doctor once who told me if you boil vegetables, all the vitamins go into the water. So I steam them now.

And Velveeta is the Devil.

Yes, church_of_dog, that's how it should be done but JB has sucked the brains right out of Michelle & her critical thnking skills went in the dumper after she woke up one morning & found herself the mother of 5 kids under 5.

 

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I think we could all give the Duggars lessons on how to eat more cheaply, efficiently, and healthier. Of course, we might not do it with Jebus.

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12 hours ago, AreteJo said:

You do not need a college education and classes in soil microbes to keep a garden.  Poor and uneducated people all over the world keep gardens, but somehow fundies are suppose to get a pass because it's "hard".  No it isn't.  They are lazy.  If you are going to have kids in the double digits, you better have a plan on how to feed them well.  No excuses about not having time or not liking cooking.  NONE!  Don't bring children into the world and feed them crap, and don't go on and on about women being homemakers unless you are actually turning out excellent homemakers.

If you think your daughter's only purpose is to grow up and keep a home, you better teach your daughters how to cook, garden, can, sew, and budget correctly.  And while we are at it, teach your sons how to make a living so that you can at least BUY fresh and frozen produce.

Best comment I've ever read on this forum!!!! I agree 1000%

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9 minutes ago, Hera said:

This is a good point, too.  Something tells me that a family with kids that have been fed mostly processed, high sugar/high sodium, fatty comfort food-type things their entire lives aren't going to be terribly adventurous when it comes to trying new, non-cream of soup and Velveeta, based foods.  

 

As I recall, pre-Izzy, Jill was into more "granola" type things.  Maybe that exposure, plus being in Central America where she may pick up some different meal options, will lead to a break from the processed tradition.  

I hope so! :)

I'm 5th in a family of 6 kids raised in the 60s and 70s.  Until I was old enough to take over the grocery shopping & cooking we ate mostly canned and frozen food.  Believe me, I understand the logistics of preparing dinner for a crowd every night with 2 working parents... but by the time I was a young  teenager I got really tired of that kind of food.  I taught myself to cook with a copy of The Joy of Cooking that somehow ended up in our house.  I still remember the confused look on my mother's's face the first time I put a head of garlic in our shopping cart... ;)

I think people may be born with really simple tastes in food just like there are people who aren't interested in exploring different kinds of art or music, anything they're not accustomed to.  In my family, the non-foodies have passionate interests and talents in other areas,  I'm not sure the Duggars do. :P

 

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27 minutes ago, church_of_dog said:

Good points all.  If it was me in charge of that household, I would have 3 or 4 people each of whom is tasked with making ONE dish for 20 -- probably an entree, a veggie, and a salad.  Maybe a starch.  Yes it would be crowded and hectic but 1) they have two kitchens, and 2) this is more or less what they signed up for by having such a large family!

And 3) before long this wouldn't be so stressful as people would discover various favorites, or shortcuts (ie cooking in advance or for a few days at a time, for the foods that are conducive to that).  Or find some "one-pot meals" that have the veggie and the starch included.

But, y'know, that's just how I would do it.  They obviously have other priorities.  It just makes me sad because there are so many good opportunities to show a large family "figuring things out" and they just don't do any of the things I would find admirable.

Most Saturdays I a couple of hours prepping meals for the rest of the week - there is so much you can make ahead of time and not have to fuss as much after getting home from work.  and so many things that go into various dishes - all they have to do is get organized, make a list, prepare like dishes (or components) for the freezer and then every day isn't a battle.

For instance this weekend I cooked a boatload of chicken.  Some went into my chicken tetrazzini base, some cooked in taco seasoning, some left plain in chunks for salads.

Now tonight my husband just has to pull out the tortillas and taco fixings and reheat the chicken.  Thursday he'll boil the pasta and just add it to the tetrazzini stuff and toss in oven.  Garlic bread, salad, and done.  Two real meals - less headache during the week and much less cleanup which I LOVE since none of them do it properly.

Whenever I cook I do triple batches so we always have homemade spaghetti sauce, chili, soups, some one pot comfort meals I'd never post here because you guys would mock the hell out of me, etc in the freezer.  

Obviously I'm not feeding the same amount of people - but I don't have a bunch of unemployed adults (or any) at home with their kind of time.  

If they got organized they could eat much better both in taste and health wise in a lot less time.  

 

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Poptart in the toaster n the package!:my_biggrin: The instructions on the package DO include "remove wrapper." Guess she missed that! A lot of microwave food is cooked in the package, maybe that's what she was used to.

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Their last season I saw the fridge door open and did a stealthy pause on my remote because I wanted to see what the hell was in that bad boy. I was super shocked. It had some organic juices and stuff, not to mention some greens. I think Bin has had a pretty big effect on some of the older girls/ladies diets but for the masses I think they just put out cheap, easy crap. I couldn't imagine turning that table overnight and forcing the entire group to eat healthy. Think of the groaning times 19x (Boob leading the teeth gnashing). 

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I cook from scratch about 99% of our meals. Lots of variety involved. 

What many seem to gloss over here is that the Duggars have the time and homemaking is one (if only) Gothard and JB approved vocations for females.

So what the hell are they doing that they cannot get fresh, nutritious, homecooked meals on the table at least twice a day, and how are these females ever going to live Gothard approved, fundie lives IF they have zero homemaking skills?
 

What the EFF are they doing with their time?

They've also had the funds for years...and when did a lack of money ever stop a Duggar from getting exactly what they want?
 

They like their crappy, devoid of nutrition diet and lazy life style.

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Someone in that house must be capable of gardening, there's enough of them for one of them to be able to grow the odd tomato.

Seeing as they're probably destined to be dirt poor, barefoot and living in trailers, the ability to grow your own cheap food would be a decent life lesson (along with contraception and evolution, but I digress :my_biggrin:).

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4 minutes ago, CoveredInBees said:

Someone in that house must be capable of gardening, there's enough of them for one of them to be able to grow the odd tomato.

Seeing as they're probably destined to be dirt poor, barefoot and living in trailers, the ability to grow your own cheap food would be a decent life lesson (along with contraception and evolution, but I digress :my_biggrin:).

And to agree with the comments upthread as well - would be a great home school project for the kids.  Learning about photosynthesis...or how roots work...heck, clearly they would quickly know more than me since I don't even know the stuff you learn from growing stuff.

Although I did have to grow a lima bean in a styrofoam cup as a kid - but apparently learned nothing.

Seriously though - my mom did the garden thing and she loved it ..even helping as a kid was a nightmare for me so I have no interest but my husband grows tomatoes in a couple of buckets of soil on the patio and he gets some every year.  

It's very Green Acres around our place come tomato planting season and I do my best Eva Gabor but it never stops him.

 

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@nokidsmom, Mark Watney of The Martian might disagree with you about growing vegetables not being rocket science.  He was the first botanist on Mars, after all!   He did have to make his own water and fertile soil and he succeeded in growing some potatoes.

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