1. < Post-COVID Recovery & COVID-19

Cooking during pandemic

Posted by ihatediabetes @ihatediabetes, Oct 6, 2020

Hi everyone, I thought I would start a discussion on pandemic cooking. I have been cooking better since the pandemic made me have to cook at home. I make salad with homemade dressing. Plus I add a main dish. Yesterday I made spaghetti with meat sauce. I put in frozen riced cauliflower and succotash into my sauce. The frozen vegetables add depth and nutrients. I try to follow the healthy cooking principles the Mayo Clinic wellness classes that I have taken.. Have other people been working on the pandemic cooking skills?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Post-COVID Recovery & COVID-19 Support Group.

katiejo59 | @katiejo59 | Oct 14, 2020
In reply to @astaingegerdm "I don’t enjoy cooking. Years ago I was enthusiastic, but lost interest because my family has..." + (show)
@astaingegerdm

I don’t enjoy cooking. Years ago I was enthusiastic, but lost interest because my family has very narrow menu interests. Pretty much meat and starch. Not much interest in vegetables. I surprise myself now by making an effort to cook nice meals. Life is boring now and we don’t eat out. We are four- two adult children live with us. We keep an eye out for sales on good beef and pork. I love fish- they won’t touch it. I try to vary the starchy side dishes too. Mashed, baked, scalloped, au gratin potatoes. Rice, pasta etc. At times my daughter and I try to avoid carbs and use the riced cauliflower or zucchini noodles. Works well with meat sauce.
We have succeeded staying away from cakes- but there is also ice cream always! And dark chocolate. Saturday’s my daughter and I celebrate with a glass of Prosecco.
This was a lengthy post from someone who does not like cooking.

Jump to this post

How does the cauliflower and those zzucchini noodles taste? Have been wanting to try them for awhile. How's the cauliflower pizza..I've seen one from Oprah's Kitchen & almost tried it a few times but chickened away. Without being able to go out like once a week or so(to spice things up) cooking and eating takes on a boring quality many days. Any other suggestions? It's just me..no kids to cook for, they're out of the house & on their own. Kathy

REPLY
1 reply
Ingegerd Enscoe, Alumni Mentor | @astaingegerdm | Oct 15, 2020

@katiejo59 - I really like the zucchini noodles. I have used it instead of spaghetti with meat sauce. My daughter used the riced cauliflower for that. She also loves the cauliflower pizzas.
I also have frozen salmon filets in freezer. Very easy to cook. Add some dill & lemon

REPLY
Mentor
Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | Oct 15, 2020
In reply to @katiejo59 "How does the cauliflower and those zzucchini noodles taste? Have been wanting to try them for..." + (show)
@katiejo59

How does the cauliflower and those zzucchini noodles taste? Have been wanting to try them for awhile. How's the cauliflower pizza..I've seen one from Oprah's Kitchen & almost tried it a few times but chickened away. Without being able to go out like once a week or so(to spice things up) cooking and eating takes on a boring quality many days. Any other suggestions? It's just me..no kids to cook for, they're out of the house & on their own. Kathy

Jump to this post

Hi Kathy - We eat riced cauliflower in place of rice occasionally, but it does have a relatively strong flavor, so the dish topping it needs to be robust - like spicy red beans & rice. I enjoy cauliflower pizza, it is much more mild because the cauliflower is generally tempered with rice or tapioca flour. We eat zucchini noodles when rarely and prefer red lentil pasta, which holds up very well to reheating compared to other no-wheat pastas and provides a bit of protein...
As for easy meals, we often do loaded omelets or loaded baked potatoes, cooking up finely diced veggies in quantity - combinations like onion, broccoli, carrot, sweet potato - freezing in one-use portions, and thawing before use. We add to the omelet or top the potato, then add fresh tomato or avocado on top, sour cream or cheese and maybe some left over chicken or pork.
Sue

REPLY
View MoreView Less
Please sign in or register to post a reply.