Tuesday 17 January 2012

Cooking for the Wei Family

There are reason why I've been making an effort to try new recipes and becoming better at cooking. And one of those main reasons is to one day cook a proper and complete meal for my family.

But, cooking for my family is not easy. I would know, I've tried unsuccessfully in the past but I'm not giving up. I'd like to say it's not because I'm a terrible cook but more because it's hard to accommodate for everyone. I have no idea how my Mother does it each night.

Sorcery and magic probably.

My Father is probably the biggest problem for me. First, he's a vegetarian, fish counts as a meat, egg doesn't. With these restrictions it generally means that I need to cook an entire separate vegetarian dish just for him. And I need to make sure I make enough to actually feed him.

Also, he hates onions and garlic, anything even related to them he also hates. So no leeks and sometimes even chives. This further reduces the number of vegetarian recipes I can use or variations of other recipes. Often if I'm modifying a recipe to cook for him I'm removing quite a lot and whatever I've made tastes really bland at the end.

I'll be honest, I think his favorite food is whatever Mom cooks for him. Which is sweet but a pain for me.

I hope you don't mind me "cooking" you this forever Dad.

My Mother and sister aren't much better. Mom prefers Chinese food (surprise surprise) and both of them hate fatty, deep fried, greasy or anything that would qualify as "rich" food. At least my sister likes soup BUT only if it's chunky. She hates blended soups.

And then we have my brother. He hates soup, he hates pasta, and he hates my cooking. He likes meat and prefers to cook his own food.

Myself? I'm not too picky as long as it's not vegetarian, Chinese and I'm not allergic to it.

Why do I even bother?

So we got quite the predicament here. What with all these restriction and my limited abilities. I'll keep trying though, I'll eventually work something out.

Feel free to suggest recipes or other things for me to try. I'm getting tired of looking through cookbooks.

68 comments:

  1. Hmm, that does actually sound kind of frustrating buddy. I mean I thought my family were picky but we're nowhere as bad as yours. I'd maybe put this ambition on the backburner for a while until they'll appreciate it more in the future but I don't know really, this is a tough one. Good luck getting it all worked out regardless man.

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  2. I suggest shooting one or two of them, it will ease the whole cooking thing, and let them know you mean business.

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  3. WOW. Try going to FoodNetwork.com

    That's a lot of restrictions! Good luck with trying to find something!

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  4. Interesting read :D im Not one for cooking though!

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  5. That's rough! I know how hard it can be cooking for vegetarians/vegans... have you tried a vegetarian lasagna? They can be quite tasty.

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  6. Wow, I've never heard of a "vegetarian" (technically pescetarian) who eats fish and not eggs. Weird!

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  7. I think the only thing I could possibly suggest here is meat substitutes. Talk about the deck being stacked against you there.

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  8. It's just two in my household these days, and it's tough between the allergies and things we just don't like. We manage though.

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  9. That sounds like an impossible situation.

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  10. That sounds like a hassle! Hope you find something that works. Most of what I know is simple stuff like pasta . . .

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  11. What about pastry dishes such as a Quishe?
    You can vary the ingredients within it quite a lot and it's easy enough to just make two of them at once. One for your dad which would be vegetarian, and another for the others.

    You can also vary the sauce with them to make them not taste rich, and puff pastries are easy to just buy straight from the store.

    Plus, if your family are anything like my friends, then the best part about the meal is that you can prepare everything in advance, and then just throw it in the over 20 - 30 minutes before you want to serve it!

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  12. I feel it. But you have to try and try until you get the right recipe on your own.

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  13. haha I don't know how it's done with so many people either, good luck. I eat the same thing over and over and over so I'm not a good one for recipes.

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  14. I agree! cooking isn't easy. I'm just starting out now myself. Interesting read!

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  15. Nathan's girlfriend says: try a tofu stir fry. If you cook it right, it takes on the other flavors in the dish so it doesn't taste all bleh, also you could sautee some meats to put on yours :3

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  16. The salad look really good! continue cooking, i love it :D

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  17. just take your family out to eat. they can order whatever they want and you wouldn't have to clean up! ;P

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  18. Go to KFC and buy a variety bucket of boneless chicken. You will be cured.

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  19. lmao @ the salad pic and comment. I know that feeling (from others) all too well.

    I wish I had some recommendations for your dad, but to be honest I'm a very laid-back and simple vegetarian. I also don't eat meat but do (very rarely now) eat eggs. I'm actually going away from them as I start my transition back to being a vegan.

    My girlfriend had the toughest time in our first year of dating figuring out what to cook (at least modifying dishes, not finding actual vegetarian dishes). I'm usually very happy and flattered when anyone takes a little step to make something vegetarian for me (probably because I live in Texas). But then again I've found a lot of people don't realize that there are tons of foods they regularly eat and are very good that, because they are labeled vegetarian at times, they avoid.

    I know this was no help, but I saw the word vegetarian and I had to chime in.

    I must say that I think it's great that you're willing to do all of this for your family and are actually worrying about it to some extent.

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  20. How about your mom's recipes, at least to start. Then you can get feedback about what people like best out of those and make your own meal based on top choices from what they already eat. Does that make sense?

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  21. That is quite the predicament. I'd suggest cooking for yourself first so you get a better feel for it; that way, your predicament will be less a series of obstacles and more of a challenge and exercise in creativity.

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  22. Sadly, I only know Chinese recipes, hah. Good luck.

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  23. you should try cooking cup of noodles lol

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  24. lol. sorry but this is funny. i can see why it's tough to cook for your family though. personally i think it's most diffcult to cook for your dad. i cant imagine much food without onions and garlic - these are like life lines in culinary.
    cant think of any recipes now but let me look around and i'll email you.
    cheers.

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    1. I agree Jaya. A vegetarian who doesn't eat onion or garlic would be difficult to cater for

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  25. wow, sounds like your dad has the diet of a Asian vegetarian. Easy. attempt to make south Asian food. Or you can make veggie burgers, pizza, crepes, ect

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  26. How could he be a vegetarian and not eat onions and garlic? Aren't those the most common vegetarian spices?

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  27. The only solution is to make them eat cardboard. Not that waxy coated stuff, just plain, unpaletable cardboard. Then we'll see how fussy they are.

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  28. cooking just isn't for me haha, I've got friends who do the cooking for us. I think the most I've made my family is cereal in bed on special occasions when I was young haha.

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  29. peanut butter sandwiches obviously ^_^

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  30. I can pretty much only recommend toast, cereal, things that can be heated in the microwave and... that's about it. Cooking is hard, though fortunately my family will eat anything so if I ever have to cook for them it might not be too bad.

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  31. At my household, if you don't like it, tough. I'd hate to have to cook something different for everyone, that's just.. intense.

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  32. Reading this made me hungry.

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  33. Mission Impossible Dude. How about fondue..one pot cheese and veggies the other Chinese wit meats? Plus you just have to prepare the basic stuff and then its fun to have everyone involved at the table.

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  34. It's hard to please everyone. Just ask them, what they would like and if it's not too difficult to cook, try that.

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  35. Wow! they're all very picky eaters!

    If I was you I'd make what you want and say "If you don't like it don't eat it!" and leave it at that!

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  36. http://heavytable.com/make-your-own-jucy-lucy/

    there you go lol that is some good stuff

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  37. I made a recipe maybe you like dear! gloria

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  38. he he what a nice bunch of different people in the family :) You have a bunch of vegetarian recipes at my Facebook page. I'm also a vegetarian but I make food which is delicious to the meateaters too.

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  39. I'm a vegetarian and I admit that I'm a pain in the butt!!! lol

    Some recipes?? I make a modified ratouille with pasta that is delicious!! I also know a great receipe for pasta with brocoli rabe & mushrooms. Then you put in the sausage. Just give ur dad his dish first. :)

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  40. wow those are some tight restrictions...how about Indian food?

    Following

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  41. good luck chief

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  42. You've definitely got me stumped on this one...

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  43. I feel your pain bro. I wish I can cook better too!

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  44. This is quite a tall order, cooking is not easy and with all these various restrictions and requests...I am thinking fried rice?? this is so bad!

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  45. Cooking is a art.

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  46. haha sounds hectic, good luck next time!

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  47. I tried cooking the other day, but the egg had a double yoke and I didnt know if that counts as 2 eggs in the recipe >_<

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  48. keep in mind that there are all kinds of indian food that you can try. http://www.sanjeevkapoor.com/Recipe-Home.aspx can help you

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  49. just be a wizard in the kitchen, be the wizard... what...

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  50. try the polish cousine
    some of the food is to die for

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  51. The beautiful thing about salad is you can put absolutely anything into it. And if people don't like an ingredient, fuck 'em, they can easily eat around it.

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  52. there are some pretty decent tofu stir-fry dishes out there, which could satisfy all the family restrictions/preferences

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  53. Living alone and cooking for yourself offers so much flexibility and freedom.

    Cooking for your family is a pain in the nuts.

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  54. i would give you some recipes because im quite the cook but im from mexico so i dont know how you guys handle mexican food

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  55. I wouldn't want to be caught in a similar situation. There are lots of recipes/cooking tips on the internet, though.

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  56. I never cook for my mom, mainly because I don't know how to do anything but put something on the right temperature and lay it on a cooking pan. Mad skills.

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