Being picky about the food we eat... (Kitchen Nightmare Related)

[DudeistBelieve]

So I've made several posts about how much I love BBC America since discovering it on my Cable package, really you Brits my love for you is rivaled only by Canada.

So one of the shows I really never expected to like was Chef Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmare, but I have. And it's ironic, really, because I hate reality TV and I hate the way the show is shown on Fox but I've seen enough of the british version that even the bastardized American version is enjoyable to watch... Plus it helps I saw a candid Youtube vid of Anthony Bourdain saying that the British version of Kitchen Nightmare is more or less accurate to how Ramsey is in real life.

Anyway, watching the show has really changed the way I've thought about the food that I eat as of late. Now, I'm lazy and I've always been a big proponent of the microwave and frozen food until I watched this show. It says DO NOT MICROWAVE? Well I microwave it because I'm hungry and I don't want to wait. Many a ellios pizza has been cooked this way. But now I'm actually stopping to think if I should change my dietary habits and actually start cooking meal instead of just eating processed.

So, Escapist, are any of you picky about the food you eat? Do any of you cook your own meals? And on a side note, how much of Kitchen Nightmare USA do you think is bullshit? Because I can't, or rather I don't want to believe, tbat these people that ask Ramsey for his help are this dense.

EVERY EPISODE OF KITCHEN NIGHTMARE EVER-
Restaurant Owner: I'm going broke, please Chef Ramsey, tell me WTF I am doing wrong!
Ramsey: Your selling frozen/shit food, your cooking area isn't clean, and you got a bad attitude.
Restaurant Owner: FUCK YOU! THATS NOT TRUE!
Ramsey: THEN FUCK AM I HERE FOR?!

 

[Launcelot111]

I never felt that microwaved food was the issue, it was that customers were paying for the chef's effort and knowledge in making a freshly prepared meal and receiving an overpriced tv dinner instead.

As for Kitchen Nightmares, there's definitely a lot of creative editing, and the bit at the start of every episode where Gordon tastes the food and then spits it out after one bite is absurd. The UK version is so low-key, while the US version is just there to make me anxious.

I cook probably 70% of the time for myself, and I really enjoy learning to make new things, even though my technical cooking skills are very mediocre at the moment. A disconcerting amount of my food turns out an unhappy shade of brown, but it still tastes surprisingly good all things considered.

If you're looking to start cooking for yourself more, invest in a crock pot (they're pretty cheap). For most crock pot recipes, the prep work is limited to just chopping some stuff up and putting it in the pot, and you usually end up with enough food to last a week. Just turn it on before you leave for work or something and dinner is ready when you get home.

 

[Colour Scientist]

A lot of Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares is so staged but I still love it.
I can't explain why but I have a bit of a crush on Gordon Ramsey.

As for the other part, I always cook my own meals and I try to avoid processed food as much as possible.
I never use the microwave.
My mom never had one in the house when I was growing up so when I moved out on my own, I just never thought to use it.

I might use it to heat up porridge in the mornings but that's about it.
The thought of cooking an actual meal in it seems gross to me.
Not trying to judge you or anything, it's just how I was brought up I guess.

 

[skywolfblue]

I'm not really picky.

Hmmmm, I "oven-cook" about 3/4 of my meals, but only about 1/3 is actually self-made, the rest is frozen pizza, store bought stir-fry, something in a can, or some other form of meal that only needs to be heated, no ingredient assembly required. I have trouble with ingredients, they take a long time and I always end up already putting 8/10 ingredients into the bowl and mixed them together when I suddenly discover I'm completely out of ingredient #9, which is completely essential to the whole recipe.

I do microwave stuff like Burritos, Hot Pockets, and reheating stuff. It does give stuff a funny taste sometimes, but I can live with that.

I try to avoid McDonalds, I really don't like how their stuff tastes, and did a rather extensive paper in college on the horrors that go on in their making the food. It's rather hard to do though, since most of the rest of my family loves that place, so I have to eat there anyways from time to time so as to not be rude.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I'm not picky 99% of the time (the only food I refuse to eat is chicken feet) and I pretty much cooked my food most of the time well it technically it's my dad fod (he does favouring the meat) granted I haven't learn to make and cook a meal from scratch.

 

[Fdzzaigl]

I tend to go for local and seasonal products more and more instead of stuff that was transported from halfway across the world. Usually it's a bit more expensive, but we can actually buy some things like vegetables and potatoes from local farmers. That way they don't lose most of their money by going through the transport and processing chain and you get to buy it cheaper.

There are also a whole bunch of vegetables that are quite tasty and fit for cooking that have been forgotten over the years, due to the influx of exotic stuff.

Its not that I'm under the impression that I'll solve the problem with emissions doing this, but there's a growing number of people who go for local flavors here, which is good for the regional economy and the environment.

Gotta admit that I'll make due with the cheapest of the cheapest now and then though!

 

[TheIceQueen]

I have a crush on Gordon Ramsay, I'll admit that much, and it doesn't hurt my perception of the show too much to know that it's edited. Of course, I'm speaking of the UK version. The USA version is pretty trash. Of the two versions, the latter definitely feels more staged.

As for the food I eat, I'm not picky. I'm happy to get anything that's better than ramen. The days that I get McDonald's are pretty much my golden days, I love them so much. I gorge myself on those delicious burgers because they taste so much better than all of the ramen, spaghettios and ravioli that I eat every day because my college is an ass and won't let me have a skillet or a hot burner in my room.

At this point, I've become a master of microwaving food. I instinctively know when and how to cook things, even things that don't seem as though they should be microwaved, like frozen chicken breasts and canned sliced potatoes. I perfected it!

I AM THE MASTER OF THE MICROWAVE! BOW DOWN BEFORE ME, MORTALS, AND DESPAIR.

 

[OneCatch]

I probably have 'ready meals' (this [http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=258034392] kind [http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=253174037] of thing) one or two nights a week, takeaway a few times a month - though both are subject to increase during times of stress or catastrophic laziness!.
The rest of the time we cook for ourselves, usually pretty much from scratch. Microwave mostly gets used to reheat leftovers.
So I think I do reasonably well on the general cooking front.

I actually get sick of processed food after a few days in a row and start properly craving freshly-made food, so I'd find it really difficult to live exclusively on ready meals or something.

 

[Winji]

I mostly make my own food, but I do still eat some frozen stuff if I'm super lazy.
The thing is that you can make proper food pretty much as easily as you can stick stuff into the oven too.
My spaghetti sauce is literally just a couple deciliters of cream and tomatosauce that I pour onto the frying pan with meat already on it and it's really delicious.

In the end it's cheaper to make your own food than to eat frozen stuff and that's usually what drives me to make my own.
You can make a lot of good food from potatoes with just a few extra ingredients and spices.

 

[Ubiquitous Duck]

We have a lot of reality TV in England. Seriously, absolutely tons of the rubbish. It is mostly, if not entirely, contrived - obviously the shows differ from each other - but even the ones that claim to be without a script are obviously manufactured and edited to create a certain picture and the 'definitely not actors' are fed lines and things to do.

I would say I used to be very picky about my food. Then I went to University and I was introduced to a whole range of new food and I have never looked back since.

Whether it was Arjun cooking for us for an Indian Festival or Ruslana inviting us to Bulgarian parties, I had lots of opportunities to try new things and, as a uni student, I never was able to turn down a meal.

I am in no way a cook though and my skills are very limited. I do cook, I don't delve into microwaving ready meals or anything, but the quality in them has gone up significantly in recent years, so I don't necessarily see this as an issue for home meals - obviously restaurants need to do better.

I have no opinion on the USA Kitchen Nightmare, as I've never seen it, but Ramsay is definitely putting on an act to at least some extent - they all do on these shows. He'd be dead from monumentally high blood pressure if he'd been like that everyday of his working life.

 

[default]

I honestly don't care much about the food I eat and make for myself. As long as it's fresh and healthy I don't mind. I often just throw a bunch of lettuce, meat and bread or rice into a bowl for my meals, some sauce or spice if I want a bit more flavour. It makes me shake my head when I see shows like that. Obviously it's a massive bonus if food is tasty and it can make your day all that brighter eating a nice meal, but all this shit about presentation and being picture perfect when it's a piece of fuel you're shoving into your mouth to be burned inside your stomach is silly in my opinion, as well as the often insane price tags that go along with it.

 

[Teoes]

Really not a picky eater here - for the most part if it can fit in my mouth I'll eat it and if it doesn't fit, I'll take a bite.

We only really use our microwave to reheat things; we cook our all own meals and generally the most processed food we buy would be something like cheese or some guilty pleasure potato waffles. Takeaway is a rare treat indeed, I can go a month or two without so much as a sniff! Really the only exception would be lunches where I'm buying sandwiches once or twice a week, when we've not had enough leftovers or made a loaf of bread for me to take my own scran to work.

I've only seen a couple of episodes of anything with Ramsay in it.. and eh I don't find him entertaining enough to actively want to watch more.

 

[Illesdan]

I used to eat out all the time, because we had a kick-ass truck stop a mile from where I live, and the food and service was great. But now that I'm older and my husband doesn't drive cross-country anymore (and, the awesome truck stop is now a generic Pilot truck stop) I've started cooking A LOT more. You may be surprised by how influenced I have been by Ramsey and a few other food shows (I don't care what anyone says about them; I love them just because I get ideas from them) to change how I approach things in the kitchen...

1) Your microwave is not your friend.

I never really bought into this mindset until I did some research, and realized that the microwave is a terrible contraption. You want vegetables quick but none of those annoying nutrients, well the microwave is for you! I found you lose 98 per cent of your food's nutrient value just by a wave of the microwave's hand (by the way, duration of time in the microwave doesn't matter). Hell, I'll heat up my oven to heat up leftover pizza before I'll use the microwave.

2) Steer clear of certain canned/frozen/processed foods in the grocery store.

Have you ever bought a ready to eat frozen meal? Have you ever read the side of the package and looked at the sodium content? Go ahead, look. I'll wait. Done? Its freaking scary, isn't it? Some of the sodium content on these meager meals is anywhere from a third to over half of your allotted sodium intake FOR THE DAY. Canned soup is no better, and sometimes has higher sodium levels than the frozen foods. You like cereal? Stay away from the big named brand stuff; most of them contain some really nasty chemicals.

But, all is not doom and gloom; you just have to pay attention to the labels and ask yourself if you really want to consume that much sodium/calories/fats/sugars in one setting, or substitute it for something more healthy and filling. Frozen vegetables and certain canned fruits are awesome buys; especially if your favorite fruit is out of season. A trick to buying frozen vegetables: make sure you can move the veggies freely inside the bag. If the veggies feel like a brick, and don't move, don't buy it. It means the veggies have already thawed out once, and won't be good for much longer. Canned tunas and pink salmon are also good buys.

This next one is my own rule, but I stand by it firmly.

3) Never, ever, buy margarine for anything.

Go to your store, and look at the ingredients for butter. If its like the butter I buy, it should just list pasteurized cream and salt. That's it. Now, go read the ingredient list for margarine. Have eye strain yet? I love the taste of butter (best yet, you can buy unsalted butter) and rarely use oils to cook anything where I can substitute butter.

Thanks to the internet and other sources, we can do a much better job about controlling what we eat compared to twenty years ago.

 

[Flutterguy]

I actually stopped using a microwave months ago, I was bored and looked up how they work... I seem to quit alot of things this way.

As for reality TV Doug Stanhope said it better then I ever could..

 

[Yopaz]

I try not to eat microwave food, but apart form that I am not very picky about what I eat. Microwave food is mostly bland and I tend to avoid it. The microwave works for reheating food or to thaw food that has been frozen, but mostly I tend to stay away from it. I cook myself, it doesn't take me a long time, I even make cheap healthy meals without much effort on my side.

Now if I went to a restaurant and I found out they were reheating frozen food or even worse, microwaving food I would feel ripped off. I pay them quite a lot to cook a meal. If they're going to give me a thawed TV dinner then I could have done that cheaper myself and I wouldn't have to put on pants before eating.

 

[TehCookie]

I'm picky about food, not so much on how it's prepared. I don't cook so I pretty much live off microwavable foods and frozen foods. I also tend to ignore expiration dates, my diet could kill a weaker person.

However no one is paying for me to cook for them. When I go out to eat it's because I want real food but can't make it myself.

 

[Rolaoi]

I taught myself to cook when I joined the military. I was disgusted by the food offered at the dining facilities, so I started to buy and prepare my own food. I started with rice and worked my way up. It was very satisfying and I learned to enjoy a lot of foods I used to hate. I don't use the microwave except for reheating food now. Packaged ramen noodles and frozen dinners are mostly all disgusting. I found it easy to learn, but a little intimidating because some nights I had to cook whatever disgusting foul up I prepared for myself. Although, it's a nice feeling to buy and cook fresh food.

As for being picky, I try to avoid fatty cuts of red meat and deep frying food. Most of the meat in my diet is grilled fish or chicken. I try to include a lot of soy as well.

 

[9thRequiem]

1) Your microwave is not your friend.

I never really bought into this mindset until I did some research, and realized that the microwave is a terrible contraption. You want vegetables quick but none of those annoying nutrients, well the microwave is for you! I found you lose 98 per cent of your food's nutrient value just by a wave of the microwave's hand (by the way, duration of time in the microwave doesn't matter). Hell, I'll heat up my oven to heat up leftover pizza before I'll use the microwave.

Do you have a citation for this? Everything I've seen suggests that this is a myth; cooking vegetables in the microwave loses less than boiling, in that what the microwave essentially does is closer to steaming them, whereas when boiled, nutrients will seep out into the water. Naturally, overcooking is going to ruin both nutrients and taste no matter how they're cooked.

I'll use an oven for pizza reheating, but only because the microwave makes it soggy...

 

[SoranMBane]

I'm very picky. Besides being a vegetarian (the only animal product I'm particularly comfortable eating is honey), I also try to avoid anything overly processed or with any sort of artificial additives. I do eat frozen foods fairly often, but they're all from special natural/vegetarian brands, and I cook them in my toaster oven instead of the microwave (it takes a lot longer, but I find the end result is tastier and less dried out).

 

[loa]

When faced with the choice of eating frozen food and mc donalds for the rest of my life or learning how to cook, I learned to cook from not even knowing how to boil an egg to ratatouille and curry.
My mother has cooked way too tasty meals for me to never ever eat them again.

It's an useful skill to have, you should try it. It doesn't have to be slow or complicated.
Saves me lots of money too and I don't even have a microwave.