Mr & Mrs Jill Duggar 59: Still Dull in Dillsville

[nausicaa]

22 minutes ago, Palimpsest said:

Agreed.  But part of it is because a lot of people can't afford to shop the perimeters of the supermarket, lack the time or knowledge to cook from scratch, and live in food deserts.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert  Also spices are helluva expensive and a luxury item for many.

And if you have to shop the inner aisles of the supermarket there is a whole lot of unhealthy crap  stuff in US processed foods.  The manufacturers are to blame.

Oh, I agree. But in the case of Jill and Derick specifically I have no issue with snark, because they have both the time and (grifted) money. 

Also, and I'm probably being too optimistic here, I kinda hope that by calling out the dangers of the standard American diet, some new people may become educated and/or learn some new healthy but cheap recipes. My mother raised us on a middle class income, but she had zero understanding of nutrition and she genuinely believed that a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread, Sunny D, and some pretzel sticks was a healthy, well-balanced meal. I think there are a lot of financially stable and otherwise educated people who really don't understand the first thing about nutrition. How food manufacturers push carbs, corn, and sugar obviously isn't helping. 

[SapphireSlytherin]

It's not just the USA where people are eating more and more crap instead of food... 

May I present the newest offering from Morrisons (a grocery store chain in the UK, which has restaurants inside):  The "Big Daddy" Full English - for only £6.

 

https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink/morrisons-launch-uk-supermarkets-biggest-1622519

 

(yes, I know some of this plate is actually "food" but... a day's worth of calories??) further aside:  my BIL bitched because this isn't enough food for him; he's obese; he pokes fun at "fat Americans" yet his brother (my hubby) and I are well within the healthy BMI range; etc.

 

[catlady]

i didn't see it when i read the recipe, but how many people is the broccoli-cheese soup supposed to serve?  nine pounds of veggie and cheese is going to be a massive amount of soup (so i kind of get the full cup of corn starch), so is this supposed to feed all of her siblings and their spouses, too?  why on earth isn't she bothering to pare it down to something that might serve her own family of four?  or even 6-8?  i would think her average reader wouldn't need more than that for one meal.

i also glanced at her crock-pot chicken, and that one calls for four pounds (12 pieces) of chicken.  that sounds like more than double what her family would eat for one dinner.

or is this part of her blog dedicated to large gatherings?

[BernRul]

30 minutes ago, nausicaa said:

Oh, I agree. But in the case of Jill and Derick specifically I have no issue with snark, because they have both the time and (grifted) money. 

Also, and I'm probably being too optimistic here, I kinda hope that by calling out the dangers of the standard American diet, some new people may become educated and/or learn some new healthy but cheap recipes. My mother raised us on a middle class income, but she had zero understanding of nutrition and she genuinely believed that a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread, Sunny D, and some pretzel sticks was a healthy, well-balanced meal. I think there are a lot of financially stable and otherwise educated people who really don't understand the first thing about nutrition. How food manufacturers push carbs, corn, and sugar obviously isn't helping. 

I agree with this. I think I was a part of the last generation before healthy eating/nutrition got a big push for children. My parents were great, but they fed us crap. I try to eat balanced, with more healthy food than unhealthy, and want to teach my future kids that.

My big pet peeves is soda and juice. I'm a huge sweet tooth and loved soda as a kid, but now I drink it once in a blue moon. I cut out juice too. That stuff is so full of sugar with no health benefits, and because it's a drink people don't realize how bad it can be. Especially juice. A lot of parents think it's helathy (like I did once) and let their kids have it all of the time. That's a big misconception.

I'm not saying no one should ever have juice. If you love juice, drink it. I'm addicted to french fries and I'm not going to give them up any time soon. But we need to stop pretending it's healthy, especially in America, where it's a big factor in childhood  diabetes/obesity.

 

 

[PainfullyAware]

The bottom line to me is that you do the best you can to eat veggies, fruit, whole grains, lean protein but recognize for way too many people that's simply not possible. In food deserts, with few non-processed options, that's really, really hard. Urban community gardens or mobile farmers' markets need to be policies we encourage in underprivileged neighbourhoods, along with healthy school breakfasts and lunches. Way too many people don't have the means to eat healthily. I wrote my dissertation on how the discourse of personal responsibility has meant people in poverty have the onus of "bad choices" placed on them by health policy makers rather than on the causal social determinants of health (class, environment, education Etc). 

Personally I find  eating  vegetarian  the least expensive way to go . Where I live, frozen bags of peas, corn and carrots, canned diced tomatoes, potatoes, rice, oatmeal, eggs, tofu, lettuce, bread, peanut butter, beans and tuna are my go-tos when I'm on a tight budget, mixed with frozen pizza. I can do that for about $1.50 per meal. I'm not sure how that compares to food expenses for different income levels. 

I do find it really strange that Jill and her family seem to eat in a fairly expensive way for people who claim to be all about self-sufficiency and being thrifty. A mommy blog about tasty and frugal meals like casseroles, soups, chili and so on that you can freeze and eat as leftovers wood be on brand and make a lot of sense. But that would require some common sense and social media savvy so she's not going to do that...

[VelociRapture]

23 minutes ago, BernRul said:

I agree with this. I think I was a part of the last generation before healthy eating/nutrition got a big push for children. My parents were great, but they fed us crap. I try to eat balanced, with more healthy food than unhealthy, and want to teach my future kids that.

My big pet peeves is soda and juice. I'm a huge sweet tooth and loved soda as a kid, but now I drink it once in a blue moon. I cut out juice too. That stuff is so full of sugar with no health benefits, and because it's a drink people don't realize how bad it can be. Especially juice. A lot of parents think it's helathy (like I did once) and let their kids have it all of the time. That's a big misconception.

I'm not saying no one should ever have juice. If you love juice, drink it. I'm addicted to french fries and I'm not going to give them up any time soon. But we need to stop pretending it's healthy, especially in America, where it's a big factor in childhood  diabetes/obesity.

 

 

Pediatricians are actually pushing back against juice and chocolate milk. We had already decided to avoid giving either to our daughter (and haven’t thus far) prior to being advised to avoid them by her Pediatrician at one of our first appointments (in very late 2016.) The only things she’s had to drink so far are whole milk, formula, water, and breast milk.

ETA: And by not giving it to her, I mean we don’t intend to until she shows interest. She’s likely going to try them at some point and we figure they can be an occasional treat if she ends up liking either or both of them.

[BernRul]

21 minutes ago, VelociRapture said:

Pediatricians are actually pushing back against juice and chocolate milk. We had already decided to avoid giving either to our daughter (and haven’t thus far) prior to being advised to avoid them by her Pediatrician at one of our first appointments (in very late 2016.) The only things she’s had to drink so far are whole milk, formula, water, and breast milk.

ETA: And by not giving it to her, I mean we don’t intend to until she shows interest. She’s likely going to try them at some point and we figure they can be an occasional treat if she ends up liking either or both of them.

Yeah, schools are also starting to teach that it's a "sometimes drink."

[Palimpsest]

1 hour ago, nausicaa said:

Oh, I agree. But in the case of Jill and Derick specifically I have no issue with snark, because they have both the time and (grifted) money. 

Also, and I'm probably being too optimistic here, I kinda hope that by calling out the dangers of the standard American diet, some new people may become educated and/or learn some new healthy but cheap recipes. My mother raised us on a middle class income, but she had zero understanding of nutrition and she genuinely believed that a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread, Sunny D, and some pretzel sticks was a healthy, well-balanced meal. I think there are a lot of financially stable and otherwise educated people who really don't understand the first thing about nutrition. How food manufacturers push carbs, corn, and sugar obviously isn't helping. 

Yes, but we can do that without shaming.  And actually I don't think anyone is intentionally trying to do that but I have not read the whole thread.  It is more that we have a lot of Foodies and healthy eaters here.  And quite a few people who grew up on "unhealthy" cream of soup food and see it as comfort food.  Comfort food isn't going to kill you if you don't eat it every single day.

To the bolded:  but to do that we have to post some healthy and cheap recipes.  And ones that are not labor intensive.

I'm something of a genius at cheap and nutritious soups and quite good at vegetarian recipes.  I don't eat lentils though.  It is a personal thing. 

And @Botkinetti.  I promise I will never refer to it as Cream of Crap soup again.  It is just that my mother's "Chicken a la King" tasted like crap and looked like puke.  

But then we ate a lot of her war-time recipes growing up.  I will never voluntarily eat Spam again but it didn't kill us.

[feministxtian]

Once I have a real kitchen again, I'll turn back into the cooking fool. Living in apartments with shitty kitchens, small fridges and serious lack of counter space leads to shortcuts that I normally wouldn't take. I love to cook, invent recipes, get crazy with the spices and stuff. 

Right now we're going for cheap, tasty and relatively healthy. I PREFER homemade tortillas and homemade bread to store bought but those are some serious productions I don't have the space for (and trying to use an electric stove for tortillas SUCKS ASS). Not to mention, my Big Stoopid will cut a bitch for homemade bread and tortillas. The asshole has tried to drag them right out of my hand. 

Tonight's dinner will be egg quesadillas. Burrito tortillas with a hand full of shredded cheese and 2 fried eggs (break the yolks please) inside. Normally I'd make those with homemade tortillas and shredded block cheese instead of the pre-shredded bags, but no space, no food processor, so store-bought it is. 

When I DID have a large fridge, chest freezer and 53 square feet of granite countertop, I was a cooking/baking from scratch fool. Tomato sauce from fresh tomatos, chicken, beef and veggie stock home made (huge ass stock pot and 1 gallon freezer bags), homemade chicken nuggets (fry 'em up, set them to freeze on cookie sheets then dump them into freezer bags), homemade meatballs (bake 'em, set to freeze on cookie sheets, dump into freezer bags) homemade pizza crusts (need another pizza stone, mine broke), all that shit. 

And...if I can brag on myself a minute, I did all that shit while working a full time job. 2 weekends a month I went apeshit after grocery shopping and spent the weekend pretty much in the kitchen.

[MargaretElliott]

What I don't understand is making that quantity of soup for a family of four... with a cup of cornstarch and letting the leftovers sit in the fridge overnight, I get the feeling it would wobble out of the tupperware and stand up on a plate all by itself, like a 1950s jello salad. Which, to be honest, sounds kind of hilarious.

And yeah, I get the canned food thing. Though I did not grow up poor, my mother did, and her diet growing up was a lot of canned and boxed things- bland 1950s American food, with little to no seasoning and a heavy reliance on cheap ingredients. Even today, my aunts generally make really simple food- one of my aunt's "secret recipe" for pasta sauce is just jar sauce with a bit of sugar in it. Definitely not the height of sophistication, but it's a hell of a lot fancier than she grew up with.

Jill's comfort food recipes may make some people cringe (including me, that soup doesn't sound like something I'd like) but it's clear that she does cook healthy things. That salmon looked like it had some sort of rub on it, why not share that recipe? Or that egg scramble with avocados, it looked like it had a few tasty things in it. Or sauteed asparagus, or a Nepalese dish. My point is, we know Jill can make food that has more health benefits and curb appeal, and chooses to post ultra-processed unhealthy dishes. So I don't want to shame her for making cheap comfort food- but I do wonder why she chooses to only post cheap comfort food, when she clearly makes things that won't give you a heart murmur.

[justoneoftwo]

I think its great how people here have pointed out the problems of time and equipment when it comes to food.  Too often you hear about food deserts, but having stores won't fix the problem if you don't have an oven, or time.  If you have a good kitchen and some time sure, you can eat healthy with little money, but those are really luxuries for a lot of people.  We are trying to spend less and so we are making whole wheat bread and egg based dishes or things like that.  We can do that, many people can't.  When we try to solve problems its important to look at the whole problem.  I love how often FJ does that, when most of the world doesn't.  

Someone had said that avocados are not actually healthy, and I had questions... I thought the type of fat was very important, and that in fact we need some "good" fat in our diet.  So substituting avocado for other fats is a good thing.  Am I wrong?  Does someone have a source?  

[ShesCrafty]

3 minutes ago, MargaretElliott said:

What I don't understand is making that quantity of soup for a family of four... with a cup of cornstarch and letting the leftovers sit in the fridge overnight, I get the feeling it would wobble out of the tupperware and stand up on a plate all by itself, like a 1950s jello salad. Which, to be honest, sounds kind of hilarious.

I live alone but enjoy cooking. When I make soup and such just for me, I tend to make huge pots and then freeze it in single servings for quicks meals. Maybe that’s what Jill is going for.

As for the corn starch...that seems like a lot of freaking corn starch. 

[SassyPants]

For those who believe that Jill DOES have a passing knowledge of nutrition, where do you think she obtained that information?

She's been married coming on 4 years, spent a good bit of time offshore and has had 2 babies. Prior to this time, she lived in an environment where schooling, books and specific education beyond Jesus was basically nil. I'm not so sure that she does have even a basic knowledge of what a nutritionally healthy diet looks like. She would not be in the minority, many people in the US do not have this knowledge. I was recently talking to an older man who is some form of vegetarian. He told be he gets most of his protein from carrots. The guy has been a vegetarian for 40+ years. He is also a type 2 diabetic. Just makes one shake their head.

[Palimpsest]

12 minutes ago, feministxtian said:

And...if I can brag on myself a minute, I did all that shit while working a full time job. 2 weekends a month I went apeshit after grocery shopping and spent the weekend pretty much in the kitchen.

It is called once (or twice) a month cooking.  I don't think it is a brag so much as a learned skill.  I did it when I worked full time.  And I still do it because I'm not that keen on cooking, and I'd rather spend a whole day cooking 3 or 4 different recipes and split stuff up into meal sized portions for the freezer.  Then I can just defrost and reheat not have to cook every single damn day.  It is also economical if not frugal.

But to do this you have to have the financial leeway to buy in bulk.  You have to have a big enough freezer.  And you have to have a work-free, family obligation-free, and not-a-vacation weekend day to get it all done and packaged up.

[feministxtian]

1 minute ago, Palimpsest said:

But to do this you have to have the financial leeway to buy in bulk.  You have to have a big enough freezer.  And you have to have a work-free, family obligation-free, and not-a-vacation weekend day to get it all done and packaged up.

That's why I'd do it like every 2 weeks. I got paid every two weeks so the grocery run was geared to whatever I needed to stock up on. God it was so easy...

[mollysmom]

8 hours ago, onekidanddone said:

Sad but true. Some of my must have staples are

• Thai and Indian curry 
• Hatch..always Hatch
• Habanero,
• Hatch
• Chipotle
• Hatch
• Jerk 
• Hatch

You should try Hatch! It's amazing!! 

Oh wait.....looks like you may have already tried it!!!  haha I do have to google it though because I've never even heard of it!!

[MargaretElliott]

I mean, even in the Duggar compound, the girls were shown eating salads and such when they went out (gotta stay slim to attract a husband... ugh) so they were obviously taught that green things were better for you that tater tot casserole. I'm sure there are also plenty of Christian mommy bloggers posting healthy recipes, which is what Jill might be trying to emulate, what with posting recipes to her blog. As a married woman and therefore adult, it's safe to assume she has more internet access than she did growing up, so I think it's pretty safe to assume that's where she's getting her nutritional information.

[PennySycamore]

@justoneoftwo, someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's more that people tend to overdo avocados and also tend to think they're some kind of magical food that you can't overeat.  In moderation avocados are good for you and yes, they do have the good fats.

[justoneoftwo]

1 minute ago, PennySycamore said:

@justoneoftwo, someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's more that people tend to overdo avocados and also tend to think they're some kind of magical food that you can't overeat.  In moderation avocados are good for you and yes, they do have the good fats.

Hm, so they over do them and just have a tun?  Then the fat is bad?  or just the calories?  Or is it that when they overdo something they don't eat other things? (I do that all the time, its terrible)

[mollysmom]

2 hours ago, Beermeet said:

Like what? A banana?  Lmao

 

I was thinking more like a baby carrot! 

[VelociRapture]

43 minutes ago, MargaretElliott said:

What I don't understand is making that quantity of soup for a family of four... with a cup of cornstarch and letting the leftovers sit in the fridge overnight, I get the feeling it would wobble out of the tupperware and stand up on a plate all by itself, like a 1950s jello salad. Which, to be honest, sounds kind of hilarious.

And yeah, I get the canned food thing. Though I did not grow up poor, my mother did, and her diet growing up was a lot of canned and boxed things- bland 1950s American food, with little to no seasoning and a heavy reliance on cheap ingredients. Even today, my aunts generally make really simple food- one of my aunt's "secret recipe" for pasta sauce is just jar sauce with a bit of sugar in it. Definitely not the height of sophistication, but it's a hell of a lot fancier than she grew up with.

Jill's comfort food recipes may make some people cringe (including me, that soup doesn't sound like something I'd like) but it's clear that she does cook healthy things. That salmon looked like it had some sort of rub on it, why not share that recipe? Or that egg scramble with avocados, it looked like it had a few tasty things in it. Or sauteed asparagus, or a Nepalese dish. My point is, we know Jill can make food that has more health benefits and curb appeal, and chooses to post ultra-processed unhealthy dishes. So I don't want to shame her for making cheap comfort food- but I do wonder why she chooses to only post cheap comfort food, when she clearly makes things that won't give you a heart murmur.

To the bolded: I posted examples earlier in this thread, but she has shared multiple healthier recipes that use fresh ingredients in addition to the less healthy recipes. So she definitely doesn’t just post the cheap comfort food recipes.

As for the heart murmur bit, I had to google what you meant because I’d only ever heard of them happening in infants (my daughter and brother for instance) prior to this. It should have been obvious that they can develop later in life, but I’d never really thought about it before. Some of the stuff she shares could contribute to health issues down the road, but we know that’s not the only stuff they eat and that they do eat healthier stuff as well.

[Sky with diamonds]

5 hours ago, catlady said:

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.

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.

I don't know even what was in the potted meat I used to eat, because it sure didn't taste like any meat I knew about. I haven't ate it in over a decade, and I don't know if the recipe has changed or what in recent years. It's popular back in Newfoundland. It's maybe the one east coast food I don't miss or crave.

Speaking of cravings, if I had nacho crunchits in front of me, I'd be pigging out on those. 

Pic of the potted meat I used to eat. What was I thinking. Bread, butter and potted meat sandwich...

[apandaaries]

1 hour ago, justoneoftwo said:

Hm, so they over do them and just have a tun?  Then the fat is bad?  or just the calories?  Or is it that when they overdo something they don't eat other things? (I do that all the time, its terrible)

I think it's just that some people will overindulge in certain fats when told they're healthy, knocking the whole fat-protein-carbs ratio off. Honestly, though, unless someone lived on an avocado orchard, I'm not sure how it'd be affordable to consume the necessary quantity to make them a "bad" food. I adore avocados and they improve everything, but they're not the cheapest food on my grocery list by a long shot.

[Lisafer]

1 hour ago, VelociRapture said:

Pediatricians are actually pushing back against juice and chocolate milk. We had already decided to avoid giving either to our daughter (and haven’t thus far) prior to being advised to avoid them by her Pediatrician at one of our first appointments (in very late 2016.) The only things she’s had to drink so far are whole milk, formula, water, and breast milk.

ETA: And by not giving it to her, I mean we don’t intend to until she shows interest. She’s likely going to try them at some point and we figure they can be an occasional treat if she ends up liking either or both of them.

My kids don't drink a lot of juice, but I keep it on hand for when they're constipated (both of them have had constipation issues starting from about six months). But I let my older one have lemonade or chocolate milk as an occasional treat.

[PennySycamore]

5 minutes ago, justoneoftwo said:

Hm, so they over do them and just have a tun?  Then the fat is bad?  or just the calories?  Or is it that when they overdo something they don't eat other things? (I do that all the time, its terrible)

It's a combination  -too many calories and too many calories from fat.  Like @apandaaries said, avocados are expensive and it's hard to see how someone could overindulge to that extent.