Calling All Cooks

[WarpGirl]

I know they say too many cooks spoil the broth but I noticed a few people here have sort of a cooking club. Now I know the odds of my ever being able to meet anyone in that club here in person is slim, but I thought wouldn't it be fun to have a place to talk about food and cooking. So anyone who wants to talk about food, cooking, recipies, food allergies, and gripe about cleaning... Let's do it!

This past week I made two dishes from scratch for the first time by myself. Mac 'N Cheese, and a rosa Clam Sauce with pasta. The Clam Sauce was amazingly perfect I WAS SHOCKED! I'll certainly never pay for it from our local Italian place again. (Not that it's really good anyway) Mac 'N Cheese I need to work on, I didn't make enough cheese sauce for the amount of pasta I cooked. Also I want to try to add some spices, and bacon. It wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, but I need to tweak some more. Tomorrow I'm going to attempt Chilie for the first time. No onions, I'm DEATHLY allergic.

[JadziaKathryn]

Oh! Let's see... this became my signature dish in Australia, where it was seen as very American.

Cheeseburger Soup

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
salt and pepper to taste
finely chopped onion and garlic, if desired
1 lb. block Velveeta cheese
1 qt. (4 cups) half & half

I like to make it with a few cubed, cooked potatoes and also a head or two of cooked broccoli crowns.

Place beef, onion, and garlic in large kettle (not frying pan). Add salt and pepper. Cook until done; drain excess fat if there is a great deal. Cut Velveeta into at least 5 slices and add to kettle. Cook over medium-low heat. When cheese begins to melt, add 1 cup half & half and stir. When cheese is almost completely melted add remaining half & half slowly. Stir and cook until all the cheese is melted and there are no lumps. Add potato and broccoli if desired.

Refrigerate leftovers.

[WarpGirl]

Cool I'd have to omit the onion because I don't want to die, but that sounds like something my sister and her husband would gobble up! Even if the boy has a pathological obsession with hating all soup any soup. Don't ask me he's wierd.

[TPoptarts]

Yikes I hate cooking. And I suck at it anyway.

I don't understand what the deal is with mac n' cheese. Not that I ever had any because I'm lactose intolerant. But blech it looks nasty, and it kinda smells like barf I think pasta stuff goes best with tomatoes... but then again I really, really tomatoes

Well like I said I'm a really bad cook and I can't afford ingredients anyway so I just use whatever I can get for free. And since I have no idea what I'm doing I name most of my dishes "freebie stew" cuz I don't really know what they are. I just make them up

--------------------------------

Recipes... muahahaha eat at your own risk

Freebie stew #1

Ingredients:
A few small potatoes like 3 or so
1 pack of asparagus
Olive oil
Chopped garlic or garlic powder
Salt
Pepper
Italian seasoning/oregano

Cut potatoes and aparagus into small pieces. Or whatever size pieces you like. Cook in water until they're almost done. Drain water. Heat up a frying pan with some olive oil and dump the potatoes and asparagus in it and add the garlic and seasoning to taste. Stir fry until done (and then some if you like your food a little burned ). Makes 1 serving, but then again I eat for 3


Chicken tender salad
(Well I made this one up because I've had it with trying to thaw my chicken our microwave doesn't spin, and I don't wanna put it in the fridge cuz I only get expired foods, and I sure as hell ain't gonna wait for it to thaw on its own and separate to make actual chicken tenders so this is the "lazy" version I guess )

Ingredients:
Chicken
Bread crumbs (optional: add sesame seeds)
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Any other seasoning you like to put in chicken tenders I guess

If the chicken's frozen and you're lazy like me wash it in warm water, then shave some slices off of it. Anyway. Chop desired amount of chicken into tiny pieces. Put in frying pan with olive oil. Add bread crumbs and seasonings to taste. Stir well to coat all the chicken and stir fry until done. It goes with whatever... pasta, rice, veggies, even freebie stew #1 above. Then it's like chicken tender and potato and asparagus salad. Yum.

Whoa I'm kinda surprised I actually made up something edible.

[WarpGirl]

Aw I'm sure it can't be as bad as some of my daddy's inspiration. I just love Mac 'N Cheese always have, mainly because my grammy makes the best there is. My cooking experience comes from five sources: My maternal grandmother, my paternal grandmother, my mother, my imagination, and Food Network. My maternal grandmother (grammy) is an amazing cook, but she absolutely LOATHS cooking. She taught me a lot, which was odd because she didn't teach my mother a thing. My paternal grandmother (ma) loves cooking but is absolutely AWFUL at it. God I have to be so careful what I eat when she cooks because I could literally die, all of her favorite foods I'm allergic too. Daddy inherited her cooking gene when he tries to make up new recipies. He should only stick to stuff he knows. My imagination well... Usually I can come up with good flavor combos, but I have a hard time with accurate measurments. And Food Network is practically my second religion, but I don't really follow recipies I learn techniques.

Here's a CHEAP yummy recipy that can be a side dish or dinner.

1 can Chick Peas or Garbonzo beans, (same thing)

1 stick of unsalted butter

2-3 tablespoons sweet paprika

salt if you want

Heat butter in skillet add beans and paprika, cook until piping hot. Then eat! If you want to make it a meal serve with eggs fried in the same skillet, cous cous, and bacon. If a side dish just eat plain. IT IS SO GOOD! And really really fast and cheap. What more could anyone want?

[Distracted]

Well, since it's literally impossible to make anything Cajun without onions and I don't want to be responsible for WarpGirl's demise, I guess I'll just give ya'll the recipe for quite possibly the most delicious cookies in the UNIVERSE. (My mom sent this email to me last Christmas. I think it's funny so I'm gonna post it as is. Here ya go. Gran's cookies.)

Here goes. I don't know how to list anything on the computer so this is the best I can do. Oatmeal Cookies: 2 c. dark brown sugar, 2 c. margarine (melted), 2 c. white sugar, 4 eggs (beaten), 2 tsp. vanilla, 2 c. oatmeal, 1 lb. barely chopped pecans, 2 c. cornflakes, mashed (measure before you mash) , 4 c. flour, 2 tsp.baking soda, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 1/2 c. raisins, 1 c. coconut. Cream margarine and sugar, add vanilla, in separate bowl beat eggs, add oatmeal and cornflakes to egg mixture. Add this to margarine and sugars. Sift dry ingredients then stir in small amounts at a time to sugar-egg mixture and blend. Stir in raisins, pecans, coconut. Dip by tablespoon on ungreased cookie sheet. 10-12 minutes at 350. I use old-fashion oatmeal. Good luck. Love, Mom

Warning: Make these when you're really hungry or for a party because this recipe makes like 5 dozen cookies. They're crispy and chewy and light as a feather, and if you think it's impossible for one cookie to be all 3 of those things at once, then all I can say is get cookin' and you'll get your proof.

[WarpGirl]

The only thing better than an oatmeal cookie is something chocolate! My Grammy also makes the MOST AMAZING oatmeal cookies it the universe, but I' might have to give these a try. I am admittedly not a fabulous baker that title goes to my irriating sister, the one who lives in Canada. You have no idea how irritating it is to love Cajun and Creole (sorry for the spelling) food, because I could eat onions as a child and then NO MORE! I had a lady in my childhood who made awsome food like that, so sad no more for me.

[Distracted]

If I couldn't eat Cajun food I'd go to the allergist and get desensitized. Risking fatal anaphylaxis would be worth it as long as I didn't have to give up gumbo and etouffee.

[WarpGirl]

Well, the thing is it's genetic, my grammy, my mommy, and my maternal aunt all allergic. And here's the wierd part all of us developed it in our late teens. Wierd huh? Only I get food poisioning not anaphylatic shock. That's mommy with all shelfish.

[Distracted]

There's no such thing as a genetic allergy. True allergies are all acquired after birth. Food intolerances, on the other hand, can be due to a shared inability to digest certain things...like lactose intolerance, for example, which is a genetically driven gradual decrease in the intestinal enzyme necessary to digest milk. Food intolerances are generally not dangerous, but they can be unpleasant. They're not the same as "food poisoning", though, which is a term used to describe an illness caused by toxins produced by bacteria such as toxigenic E. coli or S. aureus. Food poisoning gives a person 24 hours or so of vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea following the ingestion of foods contaminated with these toxin producing bacteria.

Of course, it's possible to be allergic to onions or other seasonings and have your family members acquire the allergy too, although to me that would seem a big coincidence. It's also possible that it's just a food intolerance. Unless you have hives and difficulty breathing when you eat onions (In that case I'd avoid them completely. All joking aside, it's really not worth risking your life), you might want to see an allergist and see if testing can be done to confirm an actual allergy before you decide you can't eat onions at all ever again.

[Asso]

...All joking aside, it's really not worth risking your life), you might want to see an allergist and see if testing can be done to confirm an actual allergy before you decide you can't eat onions at all ever again.

Wise suggestion.

[Aquarius]

There's no such thing as a genetic allergy. True allergies are all acquired after birth. Food intolerances, on the other hand, can be due to a shared inability to digest certain things...like lactose intolerance, for example, which is a genetically driven gradual decrease in the intestinal enzyme necessary to digest milk. Food intolerances are generally not dangerous, but they can be unpleasant. They're not the same as "food poisoning", though, which is a term used to describe an illness caused by toxins produced by bacteria such as toxigenic E. coli or S. aureus. Food poisoning gives a person 24 hours or so of vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea following the ingestion of foods contaminated with these toxin producing bacteria.

Of course, it's possible to be allergic to onions or other seasonings and have your family members acquire the allergy too, although to me that would seem a big coincidence. It's also possible that it's just a food intolerance. Unless you have hives and difficulty breathing when you eat onions (In that case I'd avoid them completely. All joking aside, it's really not worth risking your life), you might want to see an allergist and see if testing can be done to confirm an actual allergy before you decide you can't eat onions at all ever again.

Question for ya, Dis (or Asso, too, whichever one of you comes back first, lol), before we re-rail this puppy back on topic:

If the allergies are mild enough, is it possible to develop an "immunity" to them through gradual exposure? I ask this because though not a food allergy, my ex is allergic to cats among other things. The first couple of years we lived together, his sinuses were in constant misery because of my three cats. Eventually, though, that seemed to dissipate, and he was even able to sleep with them after a while...but if he went to someone else's house with cats, he'd have problems again.

I'm allergic to sulfa, and my mom has cautioned me that I could develop an allergy to shellfish...and if that happens, go ahead and put a bullet in my head! It's one of my favorite things in the world, and I love nothing more than taking some shrimp and smoking them outdoors over a wood fire.

[TPoptarts]

Just my luck, getting a genetic food intolerance no one else in my family has I don't have any allergies that I know of I used to be allergic to milk when I was a baby but then it went away.

My little sister is allergic to red cabbage... if she eats it her whole body turns red. Or so I've heard anyway because she developed it like after I left and I never actually saw it happen. But I kinda wish I did cuz it's probably really funny. She doesn't get like anaphylaxis or any of the really bad stuff though.

Hmm I read somewhere that people with allergies can develop immunity with exposure

[WarpGirl]

I know they say too many cooks spoil the broth but I noticed a few people here have sort of a cooking club. Now I know the odds of my ever being able to meet anyone in that club here in person is slim, but I thought wouldn't it be fun to have a place to talk about food and cooking. So anyone who wants to talk about food, cooking, recipies food allergies, and gripe about cleaning... Let's do it!

Hey Distracted not that I doubt your medical knowledge (I'm not THAT stupid) but isn't it odd for an allergy to manifest itself like that in three generations? Especially when we all react the same way? Violent neausea and the runs, sometimes rashes. Also I share three other allergies with my grammy, oranges, cantalope, and bannanas. That is one heck of conicedence. I had to have a feeding tube for a while and when I started eating again the dieticians asked me about allergies and when I told them they said it was hereditary.

[Distracted]

As I said, true anaphylactic type allergic reactions are not hereditary, but what you're describing, especially the diarrhea, doesn't sound allergic. It sounds like a food intolerance. What the mechanism could be I have no idea. I know of no inherited diseases which might give a person diarrhea from eating onions. Milk products, sure. There's even a disease that gives you diarrhea if you eat wheat products because of the gluten. There are hereditary malabsorption syndromes where people can't digest fat and it goes right through them. But I have no clue why the onions are your Achilles heel.

Now, fruit like cantaloupe causes food allergies all the time. And the tendency to GET allergies does run in families. Exactly what you end up allergic to, though, depends on exposure. Melon allergy is so common that I can see several members of the same family all becoming allergic to cantaloupe.

I'm no allergist, though...and probably neither was the dietician, so I'd talk to a specialist before blaming diarrhea on a food allergy.

Aquarius, the whole principle of allergy shots is that gradually increasing doses of allergens cause tolerance. I have also seen tolerance develop to one particular allergen over time with continued exposure even without shots, even though a doctor probably wouldn't treat respiratory allergies that way because it's likely to take months and nobody wants to be miserable that long. You don't want to do that with food allergies, though. Too dangerous, since minute amounts of the offending food can cause a fatal reaction in someone who's highly allergic.