The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon.
Today’s question:
QUESTION: Are you doing more home-cooking or are you eating more prepared or take-out meals during the shelter-at-home?
Talk about it….
30 comments
We didn’t eat out very much anyway, so our eating habits are practically the same as before.
Can second that, one indulgence is constant, Chinese Kitchen in El Monte.
Sounds like I need to try Chinese Kitchen in El Monte.
I wonder if anyone else has noticed that their grocery bills have gone up substantially since this all started or is it just me…
I cook a lot, so no real change, but do miss going out to breakfast once in a while.
Yes, I especially miss the breakfasts at Min’s Kitchen in El Monte Center.
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cooking alot more, most def
Cooking at home.
Nothing has changed for me, I usually cook my own food and I don’t buy prepared meals. My mother is Sicilian, so I prepare most of my meals with a flavor of Sicily and southern Italy. Olive oil, mushrooms, tomatoes, and garlic.
That is a very healthy diet.
@ Dawg~
95% home cooking here!,….Plus you made me hungry! LOL
All but one (St. Louis) of my Grandparent’s was born in Sicily.
I carry on with the foods I grew up with. Plus my one Grandfather came to the U.S. in 1913 (19 years old) with a pocket full of Fava Beans. I’m still growing the beans from those heritage seeds, and about to harvest some in 5 days,… 🙂
I love to cook and bake, but we’re supporting local businesses almost every day. We trying our best hoping they won’t have to close.
Went from eating takeout 5 days a week to zero – No more commute = more time to cook.
I’ve been living like this since Obama took office and you think it won’t make you crazy?
A few times after running errands I stopped for fast food on the way home, but it was a disappointment. Even McDonald’s “Biscuit, egg, and cheese” was inedible. Fast food has gotten even worse since the SIP and the forced takeout. Things I cook at home taste so much better than anything I’ve had at a restaurant in years, so that’s what I do. I can use the best ingredients, I know who’s “handled” it, me, and I know it is safe to eat, won’t make me sick. I like to bake and desserts are my favorite. I’m making Lemon Squares this week.
We have not eaten out since early March. Miss the Hot and Sour soup which comes with the Lunch special at The Chinese Kitchen. Hope they are able to reopen!
We definitely are saving a ton of money by now eating out as much. We do try to support local businesses through and order out food every now and then and go all out on the order and provide cash tip as well, maybe once or twice a week.
We do a lot more cooking ourselves instead of eating out all the time, and so even through groceries are now a bit more expensive to get through instacart etc, the overall cash flow for food has shrunk.
We got a sour dough starter and have been making bread, English muffins, Sweet muffins, our own pizza, pancakes etc. We also had just bought a noodle maker and experimented with making our own pasta for a while.
We not set foot into stores where not absolutely necessary, i.e. we do pick up the big flour bags at cash and carry which as a restaurant supplier does not have a surge in demand like the supermarkets did, and so didn’t run out.
We most always cook at home. Where did you get the sour dough starter?
Eating in more. Since I worked retail, and usually worked to 9 p.m. or later, mostly I cooked dinner only on my days off, unless I got off at 7 pm or before. Most days I would bring a big salad and eat it at break and lunch time.
If I bought lunch it would usually be a salad or Subway sandwich.
Since I been furloughed March 16, I have once done take out, Taco salad from Taco Bell. I have not been meeting a girl friend for lunch since I was furloughed. So eat in and cook my own dinner pretty much everyday. I like to cook so not a problem.
Hanne, with the future looking not too bright for Macy’s, you might want to look into the possibility of their filing for bankruptcy, and what it will mean for your retirement plan. Some BK’s protect employees, others have wiped out plans entirely. Forewarned is forearmed.
I enjoy cooking, so no worries on that one. So many different recipes to try making.
I don’t mind eating at home. Once in a while order will order to go from Melo’s pizza in Pleasant Hill.
I miss the breakfast with my friends after mass on Sunday. Yes, actually savng money by not going out and cooking at home.
We recently discovered Diggers Diner in Concord, we eat there almost everyday. Twice on the weekends. Big menu and we hate to cook so it really helps.
Yes on both counts. Switching back and forth, Luckily I’m still working so no changes for my work schedule. Rotating 12 hour shifts so nights and days. If we ate out, going to the small restaurants and not any chains. Supporting our local businesses. Bambinos, Hot Dog Palace, Himalayan Cuisine, good Indian food, Mona’s, Taqueria Los Arcos, Barneys, and of course King’s donuts off and on.
We used to eat out once or twice a week. Now I bbq every night. It is getting old fast. So am I though.
Eating out slightly less (never ate out a lot, down to picking up a weekly takeout pizza) and cooking more elaborate things from scratch. Now that I’m mostly working from home it is possible (and fun) to be able to cook more meals that take a little more time. Dusting off some old favorites plus trying some new recipes. (E.g., last night was amazing beef bourguinon!) We are eating the best we have in years.
Eating at home almost exclusively now– 5-7 nights a week. We used to eat out 4-6 nights a week. Getting restaurant food takes almost as much work as making something simple. Plus, the food is soggy and lukewarm when you get it home unlike what comes off the stove. I never thought I’d see the day when I’d make a better palak paneer than Naan ‘n’ Curry, but these are the days that try human souls…
What made restaurants so great was getting *out*. My plates are my favorite color, but I’m sick of them and these same walls. Takeout is more of the same, but tastes worse.
Before all this virus started, I had been given several gift cards from Lucille’s BBQ and Back Forty BBQ, which I’m now working through, just in case the economy collapses and these businesses file bankruptcy, leaving my gift cards without value. Use ’em or lose ’em is a worst case scenario, but we’re on the verge of a steep economic recession, if not a depression. Look at the numbers of unemployed if you doubt this, and how many businesses won’t reopen.
Wouldn’t you know it, Lucille’s BBQ in Concord is “closed temporarily”, so where to use those gift cards?
Nothing much changed for me as I rarely eat out now. I can make better food, cheaper, serve it when I want and no one looks at me funny if I whip out a book or eat in my drawers. And I keep my kitchen cleaner than any restaurant ever could so I figure I save myself 1-2 bouts of severe digestive stress a year at least. But damn, every once in a while I have to go get a big ol Philly Cheese Steak or some good Mexican food. Or even a greasy 🍕
Lots of salads, homemade bread, fish, artichokes, kale 🥬 you name it I cook it. I bought a pizza stone to make my pizza. My restaurant is my favorite. I am not a fan of eating out anyway. Takes too long and costs way too much. I love scallops, a salad and seasoned butter brown rice. I have to be careful to control the calories too. Tonight I had an Amy’s vegetarian lasagna (added more mozzarella cheese) sourdough garlic bread and a green salad with a balsamic dressing. I will pay for that tomorrow. Might gain a couple pounds. Darn it all.
I stopped eating out years ago for one reason and only one reason – KIDS!!!!! When I was a kid and out with my parents I sat down, did not move, did not say a word. But not today’s kids and parents with their “modern” ideas of how to bring up children. Kids must express themselves. I recall clearly one of the last times I ate out kids in a booth near me were jumping up and down on the seats and yelling their heads off while the parents sat by as if nothing was happening. When I complained, I was told they were just being kids! Really? Shortly after I gave up eating out completely.
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