Mr & Mrs Jill Duggar 59: Still Dull in Dillsville

[Botkinetti]

Personally I get really tired of the term “ cream of crap soup “ . It smacks of elitist BEC thinking. There are recipes I make with cans of cream of mushroom soup that are family favourites. I have never claimed to be an inspired cook and admit to feeling irritated that I am expected to be ashamed of the fact that I don’t mind taking shortcuts and don’t spend hours making dinner. 

[singsingsing]

I don't really see the big deal about Jill's recipes either. They're definitely not my taste, but the stuff I eat isn't everyone's taste either. I could fault her for making meals that are pretty unhealthy, but I'm sitting here eating chocolate digestives for breakfast and planning on pizza for dinner, so maybe I'll just not. 

I generally use fresh meat and fresh or frozen vegetables to cook with, and I can't imagine it takes me much more time than it would take to go the canned route. I suppose maybe the cooking time is longer, but that's just a matter of leaving the oven on and waiting. I don't think anyone should be ashamed of what they cook or eat, unless they're actively harming someone else (i.e. their child is morbidly obese and they continue to feed them four big macs for lunch, or they know someone has a food allergy and prepare their food along with the allergens).

I will criticize the Duggars in general for their constant use of paper and plastic dishes and cutlery, and for their seeming SEVERE lack of vegetables, fresh, frozen, canned or whatever. I think they may have gotten better in recent years. The Seewalds and the Vuolos for sure have, but funnily enough they have the husbands to thank in large part for that.

[SassyPants]

When have the Duggars not taken shortcuts??????? Derick and Jill are 2, young, healthy SAHPs, why do they always need to take shortcuts?

Do they know that other ways exist?

And if you're always taking shortcuts, should you actually be bragging about it, especially when your only goal and worth is measured in your homemaking skills (and fertility)? 

Face it, Jill most likely doesn't know that Velveeta isn't extra sharp Cheddar and cream of whatever can be made by using veggies, milk/cream/stock and a thickener. 

If they're going to scream how their way is so much better, they  need to actually show how their way IS better.

[JillyO]

10 hours ago, MarblesMom said:

Cream of anything can be homemade to be a better whatever it is.... but learning a basic white sauce might fix some of their recipe ills.

Agreed. I think the Duggars (Jill in particular, since she is the one  who posts about food the most) use it so much because a.) they don't know how to make a creamy sauce and b.) they don't know how to season stuff. Adding a can of cream of mushroom soup takes care of both issues.

Now Jill, here are the ingredients for my super-easy brokkoli soup:

• Vegetable stock
• Fresh broccoli (though frozen is also fine)
• A couple of potatoes for a creamy consistency
• A dash of whipping cream
• Salt, pepper and nutmeg

I personally don't like cheese in soup, but if I did, I am sure adding some grated cheddar would be very good.

Super easy, much healthier, doesn't take any longer than Jill's recipe, and the ingredients are actually cheaper than hers. What gets me about Jill's recipes is the fact that she actually seems to think she has something to teach others with them. I know plenty of people were raised on cheap, unhealthy stuff. But to think "all the heathens need to learn how to make amazing food like we do" just reeks of their usual superiority complex.

[Pecansforeveryone]

I think there is nothing wrong with occasional use of cream of soups in cooking. The ubiquitious green bean casserole at Thanksgiving  is the best example I can think of. I also despise elitism in the culinary world. The venision cooked by the hillbilly chef or in the fancy French restaurant is the same dam thing at the end of the day. I have fundie cousins, home-schooled and SAHD, who are wonderful gardeners and cooks. However, Jill is trying to market herself at something she isn't very good at. There are 6-ingrediant or less cookbooks out there. Some are better than others. Blogs about making quick, nutritious meals. Some are better than others. Honestly, I wish Jill could become a mid-wife at a birthing center under competent medical supervision. It would channel her passions, reduce the need to grift, and hey a Duggar doing honest, hard work is something new and different that I could get behind. 

[Bad Wolf]

I made green bean casserole for a family thanksgiving dinner. One was the standard cream soup, and the other was a gourmet recipe I found. Everyone preferred the original. 

[Frumper]

It's just all on a spectrum of what convenience foods you find acceptable.  I use canned chicken broth but wouldn't touch jarred pasta sauce.  I make brownies only from scratch, yet I will use a cake mix and canned frosting for certain kinds of cake without a second thought.  I will use frozen vegetables but not canned, and I have a good friend who will use canned but not frozen.  It's just a matter of taste and where you're willing to cut corners to save time and effort.

[HarryPotterFan]

11 hours ago, fluffernutter said:

That recipe is revolting. That cup of cornstarch has to be mistake, right? And velveeta, no. Also, when i was growing up, we were so poor. My mom would make chicken and waffles, it was a can of cream of chicken soup poured over eggos. And for some crazy-ass reason, my mom would butter and sprinkle sugar on the waffles pre-soup. To this day cream-of-anything soup turns me off. 

I originally read it as “corn syrup” so corn startch wasn’t as bad to me. Though I guess syrup is more soup like....

2 hours ago, Frumper said:

I remember when my nephew was little he was taught in preschool "don't yuck someone else's yum."  In other words, he was taught not to call other peoples' food gross just because you don't happen to like it or have never tried it.  I personally have always really liked that rule.

That's a Chick Fil A promotion - CFA has a cow that tries to convince people to eat chicken instead of beef.  I don't think it means they don't know where food comes from (any more so than any other non-vegan).

I have fond memories of seeing PETA set up a table outside my college’s student union so I went and grabbed some Chick Fil A and ate it in front of them. Because I’m an asshole. Plus PETA makes me crave fried chicken so badly.

[Pecansforeveryone]

5 minutes ago, HarryPotterFan said:

I originally read it as “corn syrup” so corn startch wasn’t as bad to me. Though I guess syrup is more soup like....

I have fond memories of seeing PETA set up a table outside my college’s student union so I went and grabbed some Chick Fil A and ate it in front of them. Because I’m an asshole. Plus PETA makes me crave fried chicken so badly.

There are some things about PETA that rub me wrong. In shades of Benessa, they had an old campaign that compared eating meat to the Holocaust. 

[SapphireSlytherin]

I don't know what Hatch is.

Halp?

[HarryPotterFan]

17 minutes ago, Pecansforeveryone said:

There are some things about PETA that rub me wrong. In shades of Benessa, they had an old campaign that compared eating meat to the Holocaust. 

A saw part of a documentary where one of their main spokespeople said she used insulin despite it being made from a cow because the animals needed her. Such crap. 

[Pecansforeveryone]

15 minutes ago, HarryPotterFan said:

A saw part of a documentary where one of their main spokespeople said she used insulin despite it being made from a cow because the animals needed her. Such crap. 

Yep, Penn and Teller's bullshit episode mentioned that, too. I have also heard that PETA has put down cats and dogs because they don't want people owning pets or some other twist of logic. I'm not sure they have done any of that recently, to be fair. 

[VelociRapture]

34 minutes ago, Frumper said:

It's just all on a spectrum of what convenience foods you find acceptable.  I use canned chicken broth but wouldn't touch jarred pasta sauce.  I make brownies only from scratch, yet I will use a cake mix and canned frosting for certain kinds of cake without a second thought.  I will use frozen vegetables but not canned, and I have a good friend who will use canned but not frozen.  It's just a matter of taste and where you're willing to cut corners to save time and effort.

I grew up in a family who used jarred sauce, but married an Italian from Brooklyn. So I haven’t used jarred sauce in close to five years. It was a lot more convenient and easier, but we like that our daughter is getting a taste of her heritage through home cooked sauces (and our family recipes taste really good too, so we feel it’s worth the effort.)

I agree with you though. There’s nothing wrong with cutting corners when it comes to cooking. I also think people are kind of selective about criticizing Jill. She’s shared other recipes where she uses fresh ingredients and has posted photos showing them eating healthier foods, but people don’t seem to remember that. Here’s some examples:

1. Carne Asada Street Tacos: https://www.dillardfamily.com/2016/09/recipe-carne-asada-street-tacos/

2. 3 Bean Chili: https://www.dillardfamily.com/2018/04/3-bean-chili-slow-cooker-recipe/

3. Sautéed Carrots & Onions (side dishes count): https://www.dillardfamily.com/2018/04/sauteed-carrots-and-onions/

4. Nepali Dal Bhat: https://www.dillardfamily.com/2016/06/recipe-nepali-dal-bhat/

5. Slow Cooker Chicken Mole: https://www.dillardfamily.com/2016/11/recipe-slow-cooker-chicken-mole/

I’d share photos, but the baby is down for a nap right now and I need to shower and eat lunch. The Dills have definitely been shown eating healthier foods though.

[SapphireSlytherin]

I'm going to go against the grain and ASSUME Jill does feed her family decent foods (as the recipes @VelociRapture posted might indicate). 

Her social media accounts showing various meals are only a fraction of a week's worth of food. Just because she's eating velveeta soup from a styrofoam bowl in a car (extra points if she's using a fork instead of a spoon...?) doesn't mean she ONLY eats that.

Same for the carefully curated Jessa posts, where she shows HER kids eating healthy food. Betcha she also lets them eat crap, but just doesn't share it.

People (in general) make assumptions based on a photograph of a specific event posted on social media, and run with that. If you looked at my Instagram, you'd assume I live on an airplane, fly internationally on a weekly basis, eat only froofy food, and take fabulous road trips EVERY DAMN DAY. Oh, and cats. None of that is true. But it's what's out there so there you go. But the cats are true.

[TheOneAndOnly]

I recently put leftover canned cake frosting on crackers as a snack because I really wanted Nutella and crackers but didn't feel like going to the store to buy Nutella. The chocolate frosting was just as tasty and unhealthy. I did not take pictures and blog about my recipe. 

[Shadoewolf]

I use cream of mushroom  in (frozen) green bean casserole and when I make stroganoff BUT I also add fresh baby portabello mushrooms, sauteed green peppers and onions.  I also love using Ragu's alfredo sauce as a base then adding my own tweaks. Darned if I'm not making baked chicken breast with  Buffalo Wild Wings' Garlic Parm sauce on top for dinner tonight. I do it too. 

I think the problem with Jill is that a shortcut here and there is fine, but all of what she posts is crazy high in sodium and fat, and served only because it's filling and can be easily stretched to accommodate 20 people. It's not a new recipe, it's just her parroting Michelle ala the dangerous stroller "hack". She doesn't cook like Jessa and Jinger do and explore a bit, the stuff she posts is just yuck. And on that don't yuck someone else's yum...I would agree but my adopted kiddo is the perfect example of someone who didn't know any better that even cheaply made food could taste good until he came to live with us. Now he's a total foodie. Big difference when the mentality changes from eating to survive and eating to enjoy. I was the same way, raised on everything Stouffers but holy shit did my palate get a shock when I met Hubby! While we see pants, tank tops and a nose ring as progress, Jill is still so indoctrinated that I doubt she makes anything that's not rooted in the TTH kitchen. She may not know any better and being what we know of Jill, may not be comfortable coming out of that zone to try anything new. And those types of processed foods really do have an affect on your palate because they are based on sodium and preservatives. 

Hopefully I made sense? In bed sick today and hating it because I have a gazillion things that need to get done.

Edit: And Velocirapture just proved me wrong as I was typing! Ugh I need sleep!

[EmmieJ]

13 hours ago, HarleyQuinn said:

1 C cornstarch with cold water to thicken after other ingredients are hot.

One whole cup of cornstarch???  I've used corn starch to thicken gravy and soups before, but usually just a tablespoon or maybe two - but a whole cup?  Isn't that going to turn whatever you are making into a brick?

[SassyPants]

Again- I think people are missing the point here.

We know that the Duggars thrive (ed) on cutting corners, and the most offensive part of this conversation is the fact that Jill CHOSE to share that recipe at all. Like many have said, we all eat crap at times {*cough, me, yesterday, cough}, but those aren't the days  we choose to share, on the internet, the delicious meal that we prepared. 

More than anything, Jill Dillard lacks self awareness.

[nickelodeon]

We see that they eat Indian food and stuff too, so it's clear that the Dills do not live on a cup of cornstarch, two pounds of Velveeta and seven pounds of broccoli alone.

[albanuadh_1]

Did any of you eat brown sugar sandwiches as a child? Small wonder I have a mouthful of fillings. lol

[VelociRapture]

Ok! I’m settling in with a homemade veggie burrito - made with canned and drained black beans and whole corn, diced cubanelle peppers, white jasmine rice, and a store bought shredded cheese mix - and I’m ready to hunt for photos:

1. Link to a blog post about the Dills planting a garden on May 24th of this year. They got tips from Jana: https://www.dillardfamily.com/2018/05/garden-planting-pics-and-videos/

2. Everyone’s favorite Instagram post, which not only showcases OfJill’s junk but also shows homecooked steak, veggies, and strawberries: 

(The second photo is a better shot of the food.)

3. Another post from Jill: 

Spoiler

 

4. Another Jill post, this time of one of her favorite snacks - green beans with salt and vinegar:

Spoiler

 

5. Israel eating a banana:

Spoiler

 

6. Jill post about forgetting a salad bowl:

Spoiler

 

Note to Jill - this would be a cute and safe “parenting” hack. Skip the car seat shit and stick with this stuff instead.

7. Derick brought Jill breakfast in bed, featuring plain toast and fresh fruit with yogurt:

Spoiler

 

And from Derick’s account we have:

1. The pre-race dinner Jill made with pasta, salad, and asparagus:

Spoiler

 

2. Breakfast Jill made featuring eggs, fresh fruit, and (I believe) avocado:

Spoiler

 

(There’s also a good amount of bacon. Delicious, delicious bacon...)

3. Salmon dinner with a salad:

Spoiler

 

@Shadoewolf I got all the way through your post thinking you hadn’t seen the one I had posted earlier. Then I saw your edit and started laughing. 

[singsingsing]

14 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

Again- I think people are missing the point here.

We know that the Duggars thrive (ed) on cutting corners, and the most offensive part of this conversation is the fact that Jill CHOSE to share that recipe at all. Like many have said, we all eat crap at times {*cough, me, yesterday, cough}, but those aren't the days  we choose to share, on the internet, the delicious meal that we prepared. 

More than anything, Jill Dillard lacks self awareness.

I tend to agree with this. There are all sorts of things that I'm not great at. I feel no shame about them whatsoever, but I also wouldn't share my efforts with strangers online as though they're great tips & tricks, you know? Sharing to ask for help or to show improvement is one thing, but Jill shares these things as though they're fantastically clever insights that everyone would benefit from. Probably has something to do with growing up in a family where they were constantly told that they were special and chosen by God and the constant fawning of the leghumpers. Now she thinks everyone is dying to know her velveeta-and-corn-starch soup recipe.

Look at her infamous 'car seat hack'. She just doesn't get it. I think she sees other people sharing recipes/ideas/hacks and such on social media and just sort of blindly tries to copy that. It's like she desperately wants to have this polished and well-oiled social media game, but she can't quite figure out how and she's floundering.

[catlady]

13 hours ago, InTheNameofRufus said:

I’ll admit I’ve never tried canned chicken, but wing dip I’ll eat all day long. Although, because I was born and raised a Buffalo native, i’m a bit of a chicken wing snob. The best recipes (for me) contain small amounts of ranch dressing (sacrilege!!!) and more Frank’s hot sauce!

On a non-related note, Chik-fil-A is breaking ground about two miles away from me in Cheektowaga. They will be very close to a Sonic (my neighborhood is behind it) and supposedly according to the latest rumors Popeyes is coming a few doors down from the Sonic. Dear Rufus, please let the fast food madness stop! 

Oh my Rufus, we're practically neighbors!  i'm on the other side of the Galleria!  and Mr. CL will put Frank's hot sauce on anything.

13 hours ago, Sky with diamonds said:

Reminds me slightly of potted meat. I ate plenty of potted meat in my younger years, but it grossed me out years before I tried to go vegan. I rarely ate canned meat for years now. 

I say tried to go vegan because I'm not all the way there yet.

Mr. CL used to eat potted meat sandwiches as a kid, but i had never heard of it until about 1993.  so i bought some; it's basically the inside of a hot dog.  the cats refused to eat any.

[VelociRapture]

24 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

Again- I think people are missing the point here.

We know that the Duggars thrive (ed) on cutting corners, and the most offensive part of this conversation is the fact that Jill CHOSE to share that recipe at all. Like many have said, we all eat crap at times {*cough, me, yesterday, cough}, but those aren't the days  we choose to share, on the internet, the delicious meal that we prepared. 

More than anything, Jill Dillard lacks self awareness.

I agree to an extent, but some people genuinely seemed to think that the Dillards never eat anything healthy and that’s just not true. I’m a big believer in snark, but I think it’s important for it to be based off facts.

I honestly don’t get why it’s “offensive” that she chose to share the recipes at all though. I get (and agree) with criticizing the way she approaches sharing these recipes, but I don’t see what’s so wrong or weird about Jill sharing the recipes in general. 

(And maybe I’m weird, but I’ve definitely shared the good and the bad meals at times. I tend to take a humorous approach to it rather than thinking it’s a great life tip though. Humor tends to work well with those types of posts.)

[Nikedagain?]

1 hour ago, Pecansforeveryone said:

There are some things about PETA that rub me wrong. In shades of Benessa, they had an old campaign that compared eating meat to the Holocaust. 

Same. And I should love them.  I generally like that they raise awareness for animal cruelty, but I cannot get behind their failure to get behind TNR.