Started cooking at home again and so far I suck at it

in ASEAN HIVE COMMUNITY8 months ago

I have been trying to watch what I eat a bit more carefully after I found out that I have high blood pressure. These are simply things that come with age. I am relatively active, I don't really drink excessively (all that often) and I almost never have any sort of processed sugars. I am slightly overweight but figured that I could get this under control if I just started to eat out less.

I used to think that it was just an American or Western problem about how it is so much more expensive to cook for yourself than it is to just hit a fast-food restaurant but that is also the case over here. I can for a few dollars, order burgers, pizza, even tacos for every meal and never have to clean anything up or be involved in the cooking process at any point. I also never have to do any washing of dishes and that is a big plus in my book even though (and I am not trying to sound posh here) I do have cleaners that come by my condo up to 2 times a week. I suppose that is beside the point because I would never beckon them to my place just to wash my dishes anyway.


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not my house but you get the point

I was at a butcher the other day and figured I would just try my hand at it and see what happens. I do this not because I know I can make something amazing, quite the opposite actually - I have very little skills when it comes to cooking anything and the only exception to this rule seems to be chili con carne, which I can do oh so wonderfully. But this time I was just trying to get a lot of vegetables cooked up and add about 200 grams (sorry Americans, I've been converted) of some sort of protein.

This is what I started with and it probably looks pretty terrible.


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Looks pretty fancy doesn't it? haha, I know that it doesn't. I just chopped up some peppers and threw some mushrooms in a pan and pushed them around for a bit. I don't even know when they are done but I do know from some level of experience that meat (at least the way that I like to eat it) doesn't take hardly any time at all to cook. So I let it sit there for a while and of course I had an observer watching my every move.


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I also had the assistance of a spice packet that cost about 10 cents to add to it all. I have no idea what it is but there was a picture of some sort of meat on it and we'll just run with that. In the end I suppose it added some flavor to my meal.

In the end all I can really say about my exploration into cooking for myself was that it didn't make me throw up and it made me full. That is really all I can say about it. I would never order this in a restaurant but I suppose if any meal in my day was to be considered irrelevant it would be lunch. I don't really care what I eat I just need something in my belly to get me through to dinner.

In the end, this meal cost about 30% more than it would cost me to order some fast-food and that is just a damn shame. On the flip side of things though, I know exactly what went into the cooking process and hopefully that is doing something good for my health. I will eventually have to figure out how to cook better using local ingredients because I'm not just going to eat tasteless crap for every single lunch.

I think my next experiment will be to dig further into these seasoning packets that are available for next to nothing. Maybe one of them will be the magic bullet that I am seeking to make my food palatable.

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Just watch out, a lot of those seasoning packets have a lot of sodium in them. Not great if you are dealing with high blood pressure. We try to find blends that are low on sodium or we just make our own. I know that's probably easy to do over here because we can get the base spices in bulk at Sam's Club or Costco. Your meal looks pretty delicious!

dammit... you are right. Sodium is bad news for high blood pressure and I am finding out that I can't out exercise this problem either. I have no idea what is in these packets but since they are so cheap I presume it is mostly MSG

I've heard MSG actually gets a bad rap. Something about it being a hit job back in the day that just kind of stuck. I don't know if that is true, but definitely keep an eye on sodium content. I've been on meds (hydrochlorothorazide) for several years now and they do a good job of managing it. The only drawback is I have to pee constantly after I take the pill.

hydrochlorothorazide

I think that is what I am taking as well, I can't say for sure.... but i don't take them with regularity because according to a family member who works in medicine, those pills are only a band-aid... the real fix for high blood pressure is lifestyle changes such as change of diet and more exercise. I'm doing those right now but honestly, I would probably do myself a lot of good if I just kept taking the pills as well

I started changing my diet and exercising more several years ago. I still take the pill though and it seems to be doing the trick while I wait for my metabolism to kick in (assuming it ever does).

(assuming it ever does).

I laughed a bit at this. That's the real mystery isn't it? Will it ever?

I kind of doubt it. It's an uphill battle the older you get I think.

yeah, i'm not looking forward to it because it is already so difficult to simply maintain my weight... losing weight and gaining muscle after 40 just seems like something that cannot be done unless you have Dwayne Johnson's resources and access to PED's.

Maybe you will improve with time or maybe try and go to a basic cooking class to broaden your cooking knowledge. I have been cooking multiple times a week for about 5 years now and still nothing beats the steak rolls I do over the weekends.

I have always said that I would really like to take a basic cooking class but well, I don't speak the local language so I can't do that. The only cooking classes they have in English is overpriced tourist traps where they teach you how to make vietnamese food and I don't want to know how to make that.

I forgot about that part lol. So you are basically screwed unless you watch cooking programs on youtube.

Yes, @gooddream is good to check the seasoning packets and know which of it is going to serve more better, considering the fact that it will have been less cost if you order it, and also to give you that palatable taste, above all, just happy that you can cook again, have a good time 🥰🙏

i will get more of those packets the next time I am there. I can normally tell by dipping my finger into it and smelling it if I am going to like it or not but I never really know what I am ordering because I can't read Vietnamese.

A big part of the problem with cooking that I have experienced is that almost all condos have those horrible induction cooking surfaces. Restaurants have gas, that is a big part of the reason why theirs is always going to be better.

yes, I only have induction as well. I hate it. When I lived in Thailand every house had gas. Now I don't know anyone that has a gas cooker. There must be a fire-hazard law against it in condos.

according to my vietnamese friends this is exactly why it isn't allowed in high rises. If you have a house on the ground you can get gas but not otherwise. You are allowed those tiny grills that have the gas canisters that are the size of a spray paint can, but no more.

Thanks for posting in the ASEAN Hive Community.

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