The Cooking Disaster Thread

kylith

I'm awful, I just let my 2yo starve. *shrug*

Mystery Egg

kylith wrote: »

I'm awful, I just let my 2yo starve. *shrug*

So if they won't eat their dinner, they get nothing? Does that work and encourage eating? Genuine question.

BaZmO*

Mystery Egg wrote: »

So if they won't eat their dinner, they get nothing? Does that work and encourage eating? Genuine question.

Yeah. Can’t do it all the time obviously, but hunger is a great sauce.

I try all the tricks to get better food into the kids, but sometimes it’s demoralising when they won’t bother trying something new when you know they’ll like it.

As each one has gotten older I’ve done the, if you don’t eat, you don’t get anything else. They generally wolf down the next meal. I wouldn’t do it if they’re really young though. I also don’t try to force the same things on them.

Dizzyblonde

:eek:

I suppose it depends, with older kids, on whether you've cooked something they normally like? I regularly cooked 2 dinners when mine were young to allow for different tastes, for instance one of my daughters has never eaten beef because she just really doesn't like it. I'd never have served up spag bol for her when the rest of us were eating it because that would have been cruel.

BaZmO*

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

:eek:

I suppose it depends, with older kids, on whether you've cooked something they normally like? I regularly cooked 2 dinners when mine were young to allow for different tastes, for instance one of my daughters has never eaten beef because she just really doesn't like it. I'd never have served up spag bol for her when the rest of us were eating it because that would have been cruel.

Exactly. Serving up liver and onions or boiled cabbage and pigs trotters and expecting them to eat it is just cruel. But the general rule I try to live by is at least try it, and if you don’t like it you can leave it. There’s always enough of something else on the plate to fill them up.

cee_jay

My nephew started watching some cartoon on YouTube that encourages the "3 bite rule". He is a kid, aged 6, who has always refused dairy, except for butter. He loves mash, and depends on the day what veg or meat he likes.
From this cartoon though, he implements the 3 bites rule himself. If it is on his plate, he has to try 3 bites before deciding he doesn't like it. If he says he doesn't like it, that is fine, he doesn't have to eat it. More often than not, he ends up eating his food. Except dairy. No way will he have anything like milk, yogurt, etc. Nobody even tries hi with that anymore.

kylith

Mystery Egg wrote: »

So if they won't eat their dinner, they get nothing? Does that work and encourage eating? Genuine question.

No, not nothing. I make sure there’s something on her plate that she will eat, usually a fruit of some sort. If she decides that the rest of the food is yucky then that’s up to her, but I’m not going to give her anything else. She’s never more than about 2 hours from the next scheduled snack time so she’s not going to be seriously impacted by skipping half her lunch. And generally if I declare that I’m going to eat what she’s left she gets a lot more interested in it.

She’s pretty good about trying new stuff, especially if she sees us eat it first. Today she decided that she likes tuna, at least for today.

Muahahaha

In the middle of a cooking disaster right now. Was making the peanut chicken recipe posted by LizT on the Instant Pot thread. Chucked all the garlic, ginger, julienne carrots and the whites of spring onions in to the Instant Pot to saute. Then in went the soy sauce, lime juice and brown sugar and then I went to open the can of coconut milk but the tin opener would not grip whatever way I held it. Was at it for 10 minutes before copping a bit of metal had come off the opener and it was never going to grip.

So in my haste to get some liquid in there to pressure cook I reached for a can of tomatoes, this time a can with a ring pull. That had a bit of explosion when opening and my hand got tomato sauce all over it. Chucked that in anyway and then went to rinse it out to add a bit more water. At which point I realise it was a can of San Marzano tomatoes specifically for pizza sauce and it was my last one too. Meanwhile theres four cans of Tesco regular tomatores just sitting there looking at me.

I dont know what this is going to taste like now as San Marzano tomatoes are very sweet and Id already thrown in 3 tablespoons of brown sugar. To make matters worse its 800g of chicken thighs gone in on top of everything so whatever happens Im eating this hybrid of Italian/Asian chicken for the next few days :mad:

Dizzyblonde

Oh no! Well at least you hadn't put peanut in there. Maybe adding lemon juice would balance out the sweetness and it could be really nice with pasta?

Muahahaha

lol its too late for pasta as well as Ive rice cooking in the microwave. Will taste it and add some more lime juice if its too sweet. But whatever it is, its a mess Serves me right for buying a cheapo can opener in the pound shop, I couldnt find one anywhere else locally at the time :mad:

Faith

A can opener is something I finally invested a decent chunk of money in and it's worth every. penny.

I can't remember exactly the brand, but it's probably Oxo.

Gloomtastic!

The ikea can opener is cheap but excellent

https://www.ikea.com/ie/en/p/koncis-can-opener-stainless-steel-00081534/

rubadub

Muahahaha wrote: »

Was at it for 10 minutes before copping a bit of metal had come off the opener and it was never going to grip.

A tin can be opened with a knife. Some go at it with the tip which is very dangerous as it can slip. If you go at it with the bit of the knife near the handle it is far safer, but your knive has to be a suitable style. And you might not want to be using your finest Japanese fancy knife!

Lady Haywire

On occasion I enjoy a Frey Bentos pie And I can only ever open the tins by bringing the opener the whole way around & pushing it into the tin if that makes sense.

Graces7

Lady Haywire wrote: »

On occasion I enjoy a Frey Bentos pie And I can only ever open the tins by bringing the opener the whole way around & pushing it into the tin if that makes sense.

Oh now I need to order one of those pies![ Yearn! Not had one for … years!

An dI know what you mean.. Let the lid drop in? Then a knife under the edge and lever it out..

Muahahaha

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

The ikea can opener is cheap but excellent

https://www.ikea.com/ie/en/p/koncis-can-opener-stainless-steel-00081534/

Funnily enough I used to have one of those but it is one of several kitchen items that somehow vanished into thin air when I moved house a few years ago. The cheapo pound shop can opener that wouldnt work last night was its replacement as at the time Dunnes were out of stock of them and I needed one that day.

rubadub wrote: »

A tin can be opened with a knife. Some go at it with the tip which is very dangerous as it can slip. If you go at it with the bit of the knife near the handle it is far safer, but your knive has to be a suitable style. And you might not want to be using your finest Japanese fancy knife!

yeah I did think of heading to Youtube for a solution and I do have a japanese style meat cleaver. But was just trying to get everything into the Instant Pot at half time during the football so after 10 minutes off faffing about trying to open the can of coconut milk the rage in me just reached for a can of tomatoes with a ring pull instead.

I ate it in the end and had another portion for lunch today. Chicken in tomato sauce wouldnt be somethng Id ever make but it wasnt that bad in the end. Still annoyed though that it wasnt the chicken in peanut sauce it was supposed to be after I had all the ingredients chopped and ready. At least my lesson is learnt, always open the can first before you do any other prep.

BaZmO*

Lady Haywire wrote: »

On occasion I enjoy a Frey Bentos pie And I can only ever open the tins by bringing the opener the whole way around & pushing it into the tin if that makes sense.

That’s the way I used to open tins of beans or tins of fruit when I was a kid and I couldn’t use the tin
opener properly. Mind you, it was at terrible tin opener so it never really gripped the time properly. I think the teeth were worn from years of use.

the beer revolu

I've struggled to find a tin opener that works on all tins. Or is it can opener and cans?

I have a very slick looking Rosle one that works brilliantly on some cans for me but not for my wife, at all.
Bought a fairly decent one in homesense - doesn't work on some cans.
Cheapy one, isn't great.

I think the problem is that cans are no longer standard and ring pull cans aren't designed with an opener in mind.

oscarBravo

My OH insists on using one of [URL="https://www.checkfrank.ie/fiskars-classic-can-opener/1482050]these[/URL] especially for opening the small cans of tomato paste.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fsE2koSkqk

Alun

oscarBravo wrote: »

My OH insists on using one of [URL="https://www.checkfrank.ie/fiskars-classic-can-opener/1482050]these[/URL] especially for opening the small cans of tomato paste.

Also worth noting that most Swiss army penknives have a similar style of can opener on them. A bit primitive, but it does the job if necessary.

Alun

the beer revolu wrote: »

I've struggled to find a tin opener that works on all tins. Or is it can opener and cans?

I have a very slick looking Rosle one that works brilliantly on some cans for me but not for my wife, at all.
Bought a fairly decent one in homesense - doesn't work on some cans.
Cheapy one, isn't great.

I think the problem is that cans are no longer standard and ring pull cans aren't designed with an opener in mind.

My wife is the same, she claims it's because she's left handed, but then she uses that excuse for a lot of things, including cutting the bread wonky

I think a lot of the problem is that the rim on many cans these days isn't thick enough for the serrated wheel to grip on.

phormium

My father had one of the electric tin openers, worked pretty well too, I always considered it a pointless device but used it a couple of times and I wouldn't rule it out! If I break off a ring pull I often find it's easier use the tin opener on the bottom of the tin rather than the top if there is any bit in the way on top cos of the ring pull.

Graces7

phormium wrote: »

My father had one of the electric tin openers, worked pretty well too, I always considered it a pointless device but used it a couple of times and I wouldn't rule it out! If I break off a ring pull I often find it's easier use the tin opener on the bottom of the tin rather than the top if there is any bit in the way on top cos of the ring pull.

I had an electric one for years in the days way before ring pull cans. It was a life saver when I had multiple cats. ( Just realised it was literally nearly 30 years ago..) Very efficient.

Checkout guy in Lidl told me that they sell the same beans in ring pull and ordinary tins with a price difference of 10 cents. Very cheap beans still need a tin opener.

rubadub

the beer revolu wrote: »

I've struggled to find a tin opener that works on all tins. Or is it can opener and cans?

Alun wrote: »

Also worth noting that most Swiss army penknives have a similar style of can opener on them. A bit primitive, but it does the job if necessary.

+1, I have never found a can I could not open with one, even a can of semi frozen cider. Once you get the hang of it you can be pretty quick.

Tree

phormium wrote: »

If I break off a ring pull I often find it's easier use the tin opener on the bottom of the tin rather than the top if there is any bit in the way on top cos of the ring pull.

Logged on to add that! I always flip the can over if it's bust.

L1011

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

The ikea can opener is cheap but excellent

https://www.ikea.com/ie/en/p/koncis-can-opener-stainless-steel-00081534/

I've had one of these fall apart - the plastic bodied ones were more sturdy weirdly.

Handles started rotating so you couldn't get grip, head shifted somehow so it would mangle every second can or so.

Dizzyblonde

Tree wrote: »

Logged on to add that! I always flip the can over if it's bust.

So do I - the ring pull end is the wrong shape/depth for can openers.

Kintarō Hattori

I tried my first ever slow cooker recipe, a Brazillian coconut chicken curry and it was crap. There was no flavour and the chicken was barely warm and seemed kinda slimey (it wasn't pink). Quite disappointed as it seemed like it might be lovely.

Gloomtastic!

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

I tried my first ever slow cooker recipe, a Brazillian coconut chicken curry and it was crap. There was no flavour and the chicken was barely warm and seemed kinda slimey (it wasn't pink). Quite disappointed as it seemed like it might be lovely.

Oh err, doesn’t sound like it’s cooked. Did you brown the chicken in a pan beforehand? What setting did you have the slow cooker on?

L1011

Slow cookers / slow cooking in a dutch oven in your oven on low (which is suitable for most slow cooker uses really) plus chicken - particularly breast - is a quick way to have an unhappy result.

It will break down in an unexpected manner usually.