A better cook since going primal page

[Annieh]

Does anyone feel that you have become a better cook since going primal?

I always thought of myself as an ordinary cook, I mean I can do it but doesn't everybody? Now I start to wonder if there's more to it.

Since going primal I have done so much more experimenting, and even the mistakes haven't been disasters, just something to improve upon.

Also I notice that I way prefer my own food to almost anything else I come across (not talking about eating in fancy restaurants here, I'm sure I would love that but it's not something I have the opportunity to do often). What I mean is just other homes, shared meals, or occasional basic eating places.

Perhaps my tastes have just become more picky. Other people seem to have no problem devouring stuff that I would now turn my nose up at. Does that happen to you?

[Graycat]

I used to be an okay cook pre-primal, but I have definitely improved some. What I find really cool though is how much simpler and faster my meal preparation has become. Most of the things I cook are with only few ingredients. I don't mess with baking. This is something I had always considered unhealthy food, a waste of time and money. LOL

[magicmerl]

I think it depends on where you start. I already knew how to cook, so being primal just means restricting the ingredients, finding some new ones, and mourning the loss of the best lasagne in the world.

[LauraSB]

Does anyone feel that you have become a better cook since going primal?

I always thought of myself as an ordinary cook, I mean I can do it but doesn't everybody? Now I start to wonder if there's more to to it.

Absolutely! I don't think it's me, though. I think it's the ingredients. DH and I were pretty adventurous, students of FoodNetwork, always lamenting the crap selection of good ingredients in our local grocery stores, but we were a little timid when it came to meat portions and use of cooking oils and fatty ingredients. I have really stepped up my cooking and shopping contribution, because I am the primal driver in the family and everybody is happy with the primal meals that have been appearing. I have sourced pastured meat, dairy and eggs, local organic produce, good olive and coconut oil. Nearly every primal recipe I've made has been a winner, according to my family, whereas previously, DH and I were happy with a 50% success rate.

I should say that primal versions of typical grain foods have all been less than impressive to my family. I don't bother with those any more. They are happy with straight up meat, veggie, fruit, dairy meals with an occasional bit of rice. If they want some grain thing, they just eat it, but total grain consumption has gone way, way down.

[primal ddllar]

Over the years I've become a better cook. (only recently gone paleo/primal) I see cooking primaly as just adding to my bag of tricks. Challanging me to find a substitution for some ingredient which allows me to experiment.....heck, who am I kidding....my cooking is always an experiment. :-)
Eat real. Live real.

[NZ primal Gwamma]

I am not a good cook, never have been..... but I am a trier ! And I am getting better. But for me its about taste. Everything tastes better now, maybe thats because I don't have too many toxins in the system tainting the food ?????
But I have to learn, and I do have a delightful support network on another thread. They impart all sorts of knowledge and advice...... so really I am the lucky one, being able to start with a clean slate.
Don't get me wrong I have a couple of things that I make amazingly well - chocolate marshmellow stacks, 4 tiered chocolate cake, merangues.... but these - now - do not play a big part in my kitchen !

[namelesswonder]

I moved into my first apartment a few months after starting eating Primal. I'd been cooking a bit before, at school and where I was living before the apartment, but it was the first time I was entirely reliant on my own cooking. I am definitely a better cook now! I have my own methods of how to cook things that might not be "right" to other people, but it puts edible food on the table, so nobody complains. My experiments and recipe-following still fail from time to time, but I'm sure that's true for a lot of people.

[KotikBegemotik]

I learned how to make Paleo/Primal lemon curd.

Lemon curd!

Now I just have to find something to smear it on.

[Annieh]

Yum, primal lemon curd might be nice on my chocolate waffles. I agree, deciding what to put underneath spreads is the issue of the day, isn't it?

I made an amazingly sticky cheese spread (was meant to be a ball, but hey, I'm working on it).

I spread it on rice crackers, then I tried cucumber slices, but in the end I didn't bother spreading it on anything other than my tongue. Gone now!

[JoanieL]

I think I'm a more thoughtful cook. I almost have to be since I no longer do a Po' Boy from the corner store, nor do I order pizza when I'm feeling lazy (or just in the mood). I've had to re-learn making tomato sauce for everyday use because jar sauces that don't have non-primal ingredients are stupidly expensive. I'm more experimental with veggies and spices. I've tasted new meats and fish.

Pretty much there used to be beef, pork, and chicken in my freezer, with the occasional package of squid or liver. Since eating grass-fed beef, things like squid, oysters, salmon, and chicken liver (even organic) seem inexpensive, so my diet is definitely more varied. Which necessitates better cooking skills unless I want to eat everything poached.

I will also miss my baked Italian dish this Christmas (usually lasagna or baked ziti), but I think I'm going to concoct a sort of cheese tart with everything I like about lasagna except the pasta.