This thread, which I didn't catch the first time around, made me think. In general, I cook to eat and feed my family. However, I do enjoy baking for special occasions. I think that if I didn't work outside the home I would cook more...and be more adventurous. But, I work and have a long commute so by the time I get home I have to make fast meals with little time for creativity or major prep work. So, we eat a lot of frozen veggies--as is out of the bag, pre-cooked meats warmed up, pasta, soup, occasionally waffles/pancakes/eggs, potatoes, etc. I.e., for the most part things that I can cook fast. One up side to this is that our meals haven't changed that much w/o a kitchen since we do have a MW, Toaster Oven, and hot plate to cook with! One very big downside to this, though, is that my children are not learning to cook like I did from my mom. Back on topic... After finding this site and reading about zones, I realized that one thing that I really wanted was a baking center. So when my kitchen was being designed I had it in the back of my head that whatever we ended up with had to have an area I could designate my "Baking Zone", preferably near the ovens--with room to roll out dough, spread out cookie sheets, and have cookie cutters spread out all at the same time! The other thing I got from this site was our window...having the window down to the counter (OK, not cooking-related, but a very important design element!) Our very first plan that our KD came up with had input from us...but a very naive/ignorant us! (Before GW...BGW!) Then....I found this site.....and the changes began. Actually, I posted that original plan and asked for help (and also asked my KD to start over w/no island) Many, many people here helped me come up with a plan over several weeks (months?). We finally came up with a plan that has changed little since then. Interestingly, when I took away the island "must have", my KD came up with a plan very similar to what we came up with here. The only 3 differences were (1) no mini peninsula, (2) a 36" pantry cabinet rather than a corner pantry, and (3) no separate Message Center cabinets. My KD wasn't completely happy w/our differences, but she, wisely I thought, told me to go home and mock up what I wanted to see how it would work (same advice I got here!) Well, the mock up was great! It proved that I did indeed want the mini peninsula (I liked it so much I left the mock up in place until demo and used it!) When I told her the results, she didn't argue, she accepted it telling me it's my kitchen, so ultimately it's up to me. So in the end, my design was/is based on what I wanted, not what the KD wanted. [If only someone else had measured my kitchen and she was given more authority, I think a lot of subsequent problems would have been avoided.] Our kitchen isn't done yet, but it's close...so I can't yet tell you how it is going to work for us...but we are so...

It depends on what it is and if I am going to have help from my husband to do the cutting and chopping. I try to plan things like that when he is around to do the chopping. I just can't do much of that anymore. For some things I can use my food processor or slicer chopper. Baking which I don't do a lot I do follow the directions and do exact measurements but regular cooking I rarely measure which is why it is hard for me to give someone one of my recipes I have to stop and think about how much of each thing I use. I cook by feel and experience, been doing something so long you just know it, I do it my way. I do at times buy the containers of fresh chopped veggies and onions etc at the grocery especially if I think I will need it and he won't be there to help. Today I have a huge roaster pot in the oven filled to the brim with fresh cut okra(they had it all cut and ready at the grocery) and onions and tomatoes, cooking it down to have some for dinner but mostly to divide up into portions just right for making gumbo then put them in the freezer. Time for gumbo grab one and toss it in the pot of gumbo voila perfect okra gumbo. Did I mention how much we love smothered okra onions and tomatoes? OMG and it is smelling really good. I picked up the containers of fresh chopped onions at the store since I knew I would be starting this while he was at work. I like those much better than the bags of the frozen ones. When you have those kinds of problems you have to do what it takes to deal with it. It cost more to buy them cut up, I'm willing to pay it when I have to.

Pattisue, did you read the .. study(?) that compared canned veggies with frozen and fresh? The canned came out no worse than frozen. Now, I can't remember if they were looking at no sodium ones, but I remember being pleased as I ate a can of corn with a spoon from the can. BFelton, shame on 'ya. Everyone has to have a guilty pleasure and some of ours is Velveeta. At least no one is eating space food sticks now. Rest assured, had someone hoarded them they'd still be fine. Total chemicals. No wonder American bodies didn't decompose in the Vietnamese heat like locals did. (Now that's a picture for the morning.) I wanted you all to know I'm on my 4th meal (breakfast, dinner, repeat) without any Reese's cups. That's 1600 delicious, empty calories of waist fat. No sugar withdrawal, which is surprising. And I'm noticing already the HABIT it is to grab one of these packs of heaven-in-orange-plastic. "Awareness is everything," said every yoga teacher I've ever had in 35 years. I also went to the grocery store after work. 10:30 at night. I bought stuff to make some freezable dishes. Soup, grain dishes, maybe some spaghetti. $149 later I had: Kamut, barley, amaranth, quinoa, cous cous (N. African kind, not Israeli), brown rice, millet, and a couple other kinds. Whole wheat pasta (not sure about this). Soy milk (can you cook with this like regular milk? Will it freeze?) Raisins, apples, pineapple, Savoy, Chinese, green cabbage and bok choi. Onions, carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, and lots of colored bell peppers. The latter I can cut up and freeze, too. Some 93% fat free ground chuck for a monstrous vat of soup I plan. Some hot Italian sausage. and Lentils. I've never eaten a bean in my life I didn't spit across the room. But. (Big But) I tried the Carraba's spicy sausage and lentil soup by accident and absolutely loved it. I've looked up some copy cat recipes and think I'm going to try it. If it bombs, I'll pour it in the garden. So wish me luck in cooking, better choices, and that they "stick."

Another fun topic. Well, until recently we did meatless main dishes a couple nights a week and the rest of the nights could be most anything like pasta, stir-fry, roasts, casseroles, tacos, pizza, typical meat/potatoes dishes, yada yada. We had been working on having more meatless meals and adding more fresh veggies but weren't fanatical about it. A recent health scare in the family has made me a fanatic so we are in flux on our meals and I feel like I'm learning to cook again from scratch as we move more fully into meatless, plant-based, whole-foods, low-fat cooking. I'm not claiming or striving to be 100% vegan. We still eat seafood. Our freezer is too full of the yumminess of salmon, halibut, clams, cod, crab, shrimp and tuna. So we're limiting seafood to 2-3 meals per week, and eliminating dairy (except a half butter/half grapeseed oil spread that we use sparingly). I feel like I'm learning to cook again. I have always made a lot of soups so now I'm just doing them without meat and using beans/lentils/dried peas instead. This means I'm playing with different seasoning blends and flavor profiles. I'm also experimenting with different bean-based fillings for things like tacos/burritos/wraps and faux-burgers/loafs. I've never been much for buying processed foods so I'm avoiding the store-bought faux-meat items and learning to make healthier versions of things like that myself. And I'm not trying to get them to taste like meat. Just as a well flavored, non-meat protein. I really don't miss meat. Wasn't that much of a fan of it anway. DH is having more of a problem with the adjustment but he's the one that needs it most so I just keep trying to find things that satisfy him. I was making a lot of our own bread before so now just bake more to eliminate store-bought and have been experimenting with how much I can add in the way of things like ground up nuts, seeds, steel-cut oats, bulgur, etc., to increase the nutritional value of the bread while still getting a nice bread for sandwiches or toasting. So my baking center isn't getting as much use as it was before for sweets but it's sure handy for getting the bread done! Breakfast is always a green smoothie, packed with greens and superfoods. DH usually also has some steel-cut oats, bulgur, muesli with nut milk, or similar to fill him up but the smoothie satisfies me until lunch. Lunch and dinner are kinda interchangeable and can be salad, soup, stir-fry, sandwich/wrap, taco/burrito, "meat" loaf, seafood dish, veggie pastas with veggie sauces (thank goodness for my spiralizer), veggie chips, hummus, etc., always with some kind of veggies whether the salad and/or a side as well. Desserts tend to be sorbets made with 100% fruit/berries but I'm ready to branch out. I made my first black-bean brownies a week ago. Pretty good but I think Laughable's suggestion for the non-baked ones sounds even better. Will try that next. I'm trying out a lot of different types of vegetables that I've never bought before. I've had to laugh at myself when I've gotten home with something I can't identify. Seriously. I need to take photos of the sign at the store to help me remember. Menus vary depending on what veggies I have on hand, what looks like it's starting to turn and needs eaten NOW, and such. I read recipes online like crazy for ideas but I rarely have all the exact same ingredients so I do a lot of substituting and experimenting to see what works and what doesn't. I don't think I've ever made anything the same way twice but I'm having fun with it Fearless in the kitchen, that's me, lol. Side benefits. I just plain feel better eating this way. I used to have a lot of heartburn and other gastro-intestinal problems. Gone. Nada! No odd headaches out of the blue either. I've always been one that has to practically starve myself to lose weight. Yup, even when I'm training for long bike rides and alpine scrambling. And now all my clothes are getting loose without me starving myself or even being hungry at all. I'm quite satiated. And I don't have any cravings for sweets which is crazy because I have always had the ultimate sweet tooth. Go figure. Love the side benefit of losing weight without even trying. First time in my life that has happened. LOVE!