Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Cook your own foods using the least processed ingredients possible. It's time consuming at first, but you get the hand of it. (Millet is actually a fabulous breakfast cereal.)

Scanning through the posts above, I see so many of you are turning toward sources of food which are highly questionable for your overall health. If you can't afford organic, and don't have land to grow your own, I urge you to fuss with your budget so your dairy and meats/poultry are organic (or "natural"). The foods from Wal-Mart and Sam's are closer to poison than you might want to know but it really matters that you pay attention this, for yourselves and (particularly) for your kids. Organic veggies, brown rice, and beans can be made to taste delicious. Honest.

Satisfying my budget and my tummy means more food with more fiber so I stay full longer which includes ingredients like lentils, quinoa, oatmeal, wheat berries, rice and roasted sweet potatoes. I keep how much I spend on groceries in my agenda so I can keep track of how much I actually spend on food. I am trying to buy organic and local meat right now and that is something I would slurge on despite that fact that it is a little bit expensive.

Being student has meant living cheaply anyway. But...it's amazing how expensive boxed and packaged stuff is, for the nutritional value. I buy steel-cut oats and wheat bran in bulk, and frozen vegetables. Beans, legumes, and yogurt are good protein sources, so I don't eat very much meat anymore. Tea by the pound (quality is actually better) and put it into a thermos on the morning so I can stop getting ripped off for coffee by the local (crappy) coffee joint. I won't give up mangos and good chocolate though....

Michael Chiarello solves the tomato paste problem neatly by cutting both ends of the little can, using one end to push the tomato paste out the other, open end. You cut off what you need and freeze the rest, still in the can. Next time, warm the can slightly, push and cut.

Doritos and wine.

Ouch, Gretchin!

My mom was a great cook (as all mom's are, I'm sure) and always tried different things which is where my love of food comes from.
What really stood out was her meat sauce with meatballs, braciole, pork & sausage -to die for--some restaurants wanted her recipe, it was that good!
2) her walnut cake with maple walnut frosting-all from scratch as most of her food..
3)a simple oven roasted chicken---which I was never able to duplicate---skin always crispy and meat always juicy and flavorful--
4) bread pudding--just wonderful and comforting
5) breast of veal with a chopped meat and mushroom stuffing
6) tripe in tomato sauce
7) pigs feet in tomato sauce
There's more but those 7 really stand out .......
Mom always encouraged me to try different varieties of foods & ethnic inspired foods because there are so many wonderful things out there.. Ahhh, she was so wise!

My dad never cooked anything edible (true story: when Mum was away, we'd have spaghetti the first night, with canned sauce, and whatever was leftover would be magically transformed into chili the next.

It was a rude awakening for me when I realised my mother is not the world's best cook. She's good, but I think our old house, with an ancient electric range that took about an hour to heat up, might have killed her game. Everything was cooked on high heat, everything.

And looking back on dishes like Chicken and Rice with Peaches (which was chicken and rice and canned peaches, and nothing else. I mean, not even salt or pepper) I can't believe I grew up to love food.

But there is one thing: bread pudding. The smell of the kitchen when bread pudding was being made (all sweet and cinnamony and lovely) is my mother's true legacy.

@bareneed ~ I remember watching Julia Child when someone (I forget who, but possibly Jacques Pepin) taught her the art of scrambling eggs very slowly to make them creamy. As I recall, she buttered the frying pan, whisked the eggs with a little cream, cooked them at least 15 minutes, then stirred in more butter at the end. They still looked very wet. I have cooked them like that, but it's too slow for me and honestly, too creamy. I compromised and cooked them lower and slower than I used to and take them off the heat just before they look cooked. And, a little extra pat of butter never hurts. LOL

Pasta e Fagoli and ravioli. I have made both according to her directions, but they don't taste as good. She said my dough was too thick, once. But that's not the problem.

Stuffed artichokes. I come close...but not quite :(

my dads pancakes are the best...

and my mothers polenta with chicken in tomato sauce... Her roast chicken, potato salad and her rice. Plain, white and sticky, but amazing. i love it cold with leftover salad.

that being said, i'm a much more organized cook than my mother, and like to try new things. She cooks because someone must. Not the same thing.