Get the Support You Need

Learn from thousands of users who have made their way through our courses. Need help getting started? Watch this short video.

today's top discussions:

logo

Challenging Worry

Ashley -> Health Educator

2024-04-20 11:42 PM

Depression Community

logo

Hello

Linda Q

2024-04-11 5:06 AM

Anxiety Community

logo

Addiction

Ashley -> Health Educator

2024-04-08 3:54 PM

Managing Drinking Community

This Month’s Leaders:

Most Supportive

Browse through 411.749 posts in 47.054 threads.

160,520 Members

Please welcome our newest members: FrannyLou, AABBYGAIL RUTH, ALAICA, JD7, Ww12

Therapeutic Effects of Cooking


10 years ago 0 4027 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
I prepared a banana cake mix, seeing some old banana getting ripe, but forgot the sugar.  I sprinkled some baking sugar over the top, and was warned it might not rise.
 
I also noticed a red egg yolk, and discarded it quickly, thinking there might be a problem.
 
I was also asked about my "mis en place", or organizing before hand.  I was trying to keep quiet, since mom didn't sleep well, and forgot some stuff, I guess.
 
 
10 years ago 0 6252 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
I'm rather glad I looked at this thread.

It rained off and on today and is raining now. So I managed to finish picking the red potatoes and till the patch between rains. This left a lot of time while it was raining. It is still raining even though the sun is shining. 
I cooked a leg of lamb with potatoes carrots and onions. I love roast onions. I also made two pumpkin pies and opened a bottle of sour cherry wine. It has been a long time since I have had the time to do this. Mostly in my spare time it has been make things that I can freeze for busy times which there have been lots of. 

But the reason I am glad I looked at this is since I have a day or two now I think I will try to make perogies since I have a lot of little potatoes I can use. It should be interesting.

I still have white potatoes to dig but they are still growing so there is no rush. Broccoli can wait too. 
Should be fun even if it doesn't turn out. I'm going to use my pasta machine to get the cases all the same thickness.

Davit
10 years ago 0 6252 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Well here I go again. This time I'm trying to make a casserole. And keep it simple. :-) It seems easy enough. Again I'm trying to do it from memory of what I've seen. It looks right. 

I made a raspberry pie too. I like this one cause it is so easy. Fill a pre cooked pie shell with fresh or frozen and thawed loose raspberries. Not canned. Squeeze a cup of berries through a strainer with enough water to make a cup of juice. put in a pot with 1/3 cup of sugar and a heaping tbs of corn starch. Cook till thick and shiny. Pour over berries. Jiggle so it settles into the berries. Serve with whipped cream and get fat. (don't use too much sugar)

Okay into my memory goes, use a big enough container. Going to look into how to make perogies now. 

Davit
10 years ago 0 4027 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
My parsley is ready for picking for a batch to freeze. 
 
I wonder what happens when you go to bed with a jingle?  I have one kicking around my brain, from the popular music stations, and I'm not sure it helps me focus
10 years ago 0 6252 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hey this is good and will be better next time. The apples cut the acid taste from the tomatoes without removing the tomato taste.  Swiss chard is milder than spinach. The one mistake I want to change is overcompensating for oven ready noodles. The sauce was just a bit too thin. Or I could have spread it thinner and put in more noodles. Noodles are done perfect. It may firm up over night in the fridge. This is comfort food at its best. I'm tempted to have more but this is just the sort of meal late at night to trigger anxiety. Which I can handle but why push it. I want to remember it as good not as causing anxiety. Always positive thoughts. Always end with positive thoughts and I would have found one if it hadn't turned out.
Never go to bed with a negative thought. That just feeds the triggers.

Davit
10 years ago 0 6252 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Today I am making Lasagne. I don't know how but have an idea. Why am I telling you this. Because the process is Very much like CBT. 
I have an idea but will have to go to memory to fill it out. Sunny made very good lasagne. I watched her. I got a few recipes off the internet. (second corner) I want to do this but don't know how (first corner) Fear could make me panic.
So I built my Lasagne with the information I had. (third corner) and recorded it for future reference.
Now if it is not as good as I wanted I will change it (between the second and third corners) so that it will be in memory the way I want it. The wrong way will still be there in memory but I know I don't need to use that memory. We all do this with cooking and other things. Do you see how similar this is to the CBT process and how the thought triangle works.
Use this same process that you are unconsciously using with so many other things you do to bury negative with positive and it will cure panic just as well as you do anything else. My lasagne looks good there may be very little I need to change in my memory since I do almost every thing from memory.

Read the post with the thought triangle in it to see the similarity.

Time to check the Lasagne. I still don't completely know what I'm doing but I'm doing it.

Davit.
10 years ago 0 6252 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
My life is rather hectic so a lot of it is heat it and eat it. I'll take a day when I don't need to be outside and freeze meals. Soup, chilli, something with rice. What ever will freeze in two cup containers. Pesto and spaghetti sauce. 

Davit
10 years ago 0 4027 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
I'm a bit stuck cooking for mom, since I bought some tasteless plum tomatoes.  Fortunately, some of our garden ones may be ripe enough to convince mom to eat them.
 
On thinking about the fact that I used to prepare one salad at a time, I realized how much I've progressed!  I now prepare two salads at a time, and it reminds of that quote that ".The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions." by Emerson.
 
In this case, I can see how it will be hard tomorrow to accept making only one salad, since I realize how much more potential if I only had another tomato.
 
There are so many more opportunities I wish I had too, since I just found out how successful a relative is, even publishing, as I seem to stagnate.  But then my favourite book advises that at a certain stage in life, we need "downward mobility".
10 years ago 0 4027 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
I tried cooking shrimp with pasta today, but didn't properly clean the shrimp.  There were so much more casing than others.  And I put the shorter-time pasta before the longer time pasta, and heard about it later.
 
So much to learn.
10 years ago 0 6252 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
With the need to achieve or prove something being connected to core beliefs cooking like gardening fills this need.
Making your own meals from scratch is far more positive than opening a can. Even if you can't cook, learning to is a positive experience and fills a lot of needs. Not that you should be a slave to the kitchen chained to the stove. Going out is a positive experience. When you are just too tired frozen pizza is fine but if you aren't tired making your own is a much nicer experience. If you find though that it is cutting into your computer or TV time then I think you have a problem. I think this because neither of those is constructive. In fact for me the annoyance is very negative and destructive. Even if my computer can read to me so I can cook at the same time. I just don't do it. Everything in it's place and moderation in everything. Memorizing recipes improves memory accessing and can help with finding the positive during panic. And with panic every little bit helps. 
I was going to go outside but the sky has opened and it is pouring again. Sounds like a good time to make some pies. Did you know the flakiness is in direct proportion to the size of the fat pieces. The egg and vinegar are for elasticity. Also overworking the dough is a falsehood. There is a French process where the dough is stretched to lengthen the pieces of fat and increase flakiness. I've done it and it works but is a lot of work. Only worth it if you want to impress someone. Another positive gotten from cooking yes.

Davit

Reading this thread: