If you live out in the country or in a small town and have a decent sized yard, you can grow a ton of fresh veggies quite cheaply - at least during the warm season.

I've never tried it myself, just read about it. I believe Matt is right, don't reuse oil used for fish fries. It's not exactly non-trivial and I don't think I'd want to do it myself. Just google reusing cooking oil. You'll find both directions as well as all sorts of warnings.


I so rarely deep fry food myself because, not only is dealing with the oil annoying, but it's overall not very healthy.

On the topic of the cost of healthy foods - it's expensive in my area. The cost of produce has gone through the roof. I often buy day-old when it's available or frozen. I also belong to a CSA in the summer which is surprisingly affordable.

The main problem with reusing oils comes down to oxygen exposure. The longer an oil is exposed to the air the quicker it will become rancid (oxidation). Different oils become rancid at different times, nut oils go off particularly quickly. Most cooking oils are packaged in protective atmospheres - usually nitrogen or carbon dioxide to prevent oxygen exposure and extend shelf life. Once an oil comes into contact with the air it starts to go.
It's also important to cook the same type of thing in the same oil, keeping in mind that the oil will retain whatever flavour has been cooked in it. Never cook something sweet in an oil that has had something savoury in it - better to do it the other way around. Savoury covers sweet better than sweet covers savoury.

Healthy-wise I'm very lucky.. I run a wholefood store so get to eat at cost price rather than retail. We get a fresh organic veg delivery every day except Sunday so I don't even need to stock up!

Thanks bella! If I ever get the desire to deep-fry, I'll use your info.

(I don't much care for fried food, but I have a weakness for calamari and rangoons, so it may actually happen, lol.)

One of the issues with buying fresh food is availability. In some poorer communities it's hard to find a store that actually sells reasonably priced fruits and veggies, if you can even find one at all. Fast food is also a lot .. faster. People working 13-hour jobs just to put bread on the table don't really have the time and energy to do a bunch more shit when they get home. It's a sad truth that sometimes people just have to settle for what they can get.

Yesterday I filled the oven with roasting vegetables. I roasted beets, green beans with onion slivers and olive oil, and parsnips with apple slices, olive oil, and freshly grated nutmeg. The joy of this is that the flavors of roasted vegetables are phenomenal and now I have a refrigerator full of healthy foods whenever hunger strikes! Win-win for me! Roasted vegetables not only make nice sides, they are great for snacks. Sometimes I add the green beans to other dishes, too.

Yeah - roasting is a great way to cook.

I hate fast food.

Same here. I paid $7 for TWO red onions at the grocery store the other day. $9 on a pound of spinach, though in their defense it was "organic" (the only kind they sell, gee I wonder why).
I also paid $1 for a bag of chips. This is a problem. It should not be cheaper to buy greasy potato chips made in a factory, than to buy fresh produce that you can literally grow in your own backyard.

Though if you shop at the little farmer's market about 45 minutes away, it saves a lot. They have deals like .99 red bell peppers (which are now $3 each in the grocery store), $1/lb broccoli ($2-3 in stores), .25 for a lemon (about $1 in stores)...
I grow my own jalapenos, bell peppers, tomatoes, basil and parsley and save a lot of money by literally taking just 2 minutes out of my day to water them.



But back on the topic of what I've got cookin:
Microwave burritos and frozen waffles have been my lifeline for the past 4 days.
Just saying that to other people makes me feel like such a fatty lol. But that's all I've been craving lately and everything else sounds disgusting. I can't wait until these food cravings go away, I almost miss morning sickness.

If you're having food cravings and you are pregnant, you or the baby might just need what you're craving! Go with it - it doesn't last forever. To me, it sounds like you want fat and protein. Those are sooo important.

That's pretty likely actually, since I'm a vegetarian, and I don't normally eat a lot of fatty foods. I've been craving refried beans for a week, and I actually had a dream about Taco Bell last night. XD


Well anyways tonight the husband wanted pizza - ew. So I made him pizza and managed to choke down half a slice with cheese and random veggies, before giving in and just heating up refried beans in the microwave. >_>'

I use this recipe for yeast free pizza dough. It tastes kind of like a biscuit when plain but it's pretty good I think. And it's convenient, especially for someone like me that always forgets to buy yeast.

2 1/2 c. flour
2 3/4 tsp. baking powder (if using baking soda use half and omit salt)
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. oil
3/4 to 1 c. water

I usually mix in some spices. Pepper, basil, parsley, garlic, maybe a pinch of red pepper flakes (or a handful since I love red pepper). It smells SO good when you're kneading it (which you should do for about 5 minutes).
I pre-cook it for about 10 minutes on 400F, then take it out and add toppings, then cook it again for 5-10 minutes until the toppings are cooked.

If you're not a pizza person (crazy...) you can also fill the dough with stuff and then bake it shut. Just don't pre-cook it first, and turn the oven down to 350. You may need to increase the cooking time though obviously. But if you cook it at 400 the outside might cook too fast.

I like making it with broccoli and cheese (usually American, I hate cheddar) stuffing.
But something like rice, veggies and beans/beef might be good. Or just sauce and cheese, and pepperoni.
One time I made a "white pizza" stuffed pizza-pocket-thingie. With mozzarella, fresh garlic, parsley, and olive oil. <3 Chicken would go well with that, if you eat meat.

Last edited by StardustX : 2nd May 2013 at 11:11 AM.

Most of my life, I've hated asparagus. Perhaps it was the texture, but it always found it's way back up my throat as a child. I've tried it a few times in the past couple of years and realized I needed to retrain my brain and overcome this. I bought a bunch and roasted it in the oven with olive oil. It's wonderful! I just wonder if there's a way to get it to be more tender. It seemed like the bottom of third of many of the stalks were very tough, like sticks. The bunch I bought had thin stems, too. Does anyone have any tips? I'd like to try it again.

When preparing asparagus hold each end about one inch in and bend until they snap (usually somewhere nearish the base). Discard (or make soup with) the bottom bit that snapped off and use the top bits. Simple The thinner (usually Spanish) variety is less tough generally, but doesn't have as good a flavour as the thicker stemmed ones. English purple asparagus is the best, but the season is so short (May-June) that it can be hard to get your hands on any. White asparagus (usually Italian) is the most tender, and is usually served wrapped in Parma Ham with lots of black pepper.

Other ways to cook:

Steam or boil until part cooked (7 mins stream/4 mins boil) and then chargrill either on a barbeque or cast iron chargrill pan until nicely seared and use them as soldiers to dunk in soft boiled eggs.

Boil until fully cooked (5-7 mins) and serve on toast with hollandaise sauce over the top

Last edited by Bellasaurus : 17th May 2013 at 11:49 AM.