Comments on: 10 Tips for Learning to Cook from Scratch

By: 261 Freebies and Cheapskate Tips - The Cheapskate Blog - TIME.com

261 Freebies and Cheapskate Tips - The Cheapskate Blog - TIME.com — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:48:21 +0000

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By: Sara Clemence

Sara Clemence — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:06:02 +0000

I agree on liberation! Even though I’ve taken cooking classes I’m not very skilled, and have gotten stuck when I realized I didn’t have or couldn’t find some spice or minor ingredient for a recipe. Don’t let Perfect keep you from achieving Good Enough (to eat).

By: Johann

Johann — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:00:51 +0000

If you’re into making (or having) complete meals with an entree (meat) and a couple of vegetables, scrape the leftovers (NOT mashed potatoes) into a jar that you keep in the refrigerator.

When the jar gets full (never more than about five days) add some broth and make chunky soup.

It’s filling, delicious, different every time, and free

By: Margaret Savage

Margaret Savage — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:05:38 +0000

I realize that substituting ingredients is a controversial approach, and I definitely agree that you should respect the recipe. However, often you come across recipes that use one or two spices or flavorings that you don’t have access to for whatever reason, and it shouldn’t stop you from making that recipe.

I actually found this revelation very liberating and I was able to use a lot of recipes that I otherwise would not have. Obviously this needs to be done very carefully because the result is not guaranteed.

For special occasions you can always go back and do the recipe as it was meant to be.

By: Laura Rich

Laura Rich — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 23:07:15 +0000

I agree with Lawrence. I’m a novice and recipes save me from making what would otherwise be completely inedible food. But I understand there are passable substitutions for certain ingredients. Maybe gaining of grasp of what those may be — or simply searching the Web for them, in a pinch — would help the recessionista chef.

By: Lawrence

Lawrence — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:43:13 +0000

Overall very good advice–although I’m not a fan of the “You Don’t Need Every Ingredient” school of cooking. While it’s true that improvisation is an absolute necessity for accomplished cooks, I always find too many inexperienced ones being too willing to make things up as they go along before they really know what they’re doing. Have respect for ingredients and recipes and the cooks that made them. I think sticking to the recipes (when you’re just starting out at least) is a good way to experience new ingredients.

By: Jenny@DownloadGames

Jenny@DownloadGames — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 11:10:37 +0000

Thanks for sharing..this is very useful. Thanks for nice posting.

By: Ten Expert Tips for Beginner Cooks | Recessionwire | seasoningz.com

Ten Expert Tips for Beginner Cooks | Recessionwire | seasoningz.com — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:17:10 +0000

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By: Laura

Laura — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:31:47 +0000

Get a good spice collection! Experiment with it! You can use extremely simple cooking techniques and still get a wonderfully complex flavor if you know how to use your seasonings. Sure, you can sear some pork chops and season them with salt and pepper at the table, but if you rub them with garam masala before cooking them, you get something really special.

Try a few spice blends if you’re unfamiliar with using seasonings. Penzey’s makes some excellent ones. Spice blends might be seen by more experienced cooks as a waste (“I can just do that myself!”) but to the new cook, they take the guesswork out of seasoning.