Americans are lazy cooks

[Dogonthebed]

I’m an avid Pinterest collector of recipes. I see something I like the look of then pin to that’s week meal plan only to find out it is an American recipe Recipe stretching it as they seem to have shortcuts for everything we can’t get in the UK. Can they actually cook? It is the equivalent of us making a cottage pie from a Coleman mix. Anyone else find it bizarre how much help they get for basic recipes then having the cheek to set up a blog as recipes??? They could just read the back of the instructions fgs!

I think the UK is moving in the same direction. We don't have some of the highest obesity rates for no reason.

We live too fast a lifestyle. Cooking from scratch is a skill that many of us haven't had the opportunity to learn.

A friend told me that lots of apartments in NYC don't have a full kitchen 🤷‍♀️

Wtf is up with mumsnet posts bashing Americans?.
AIBU to conclude from mumsnet all Brits are miserable whiney bitches with a stick up their ass ?

I do agree. I use Pinterest a lot when looking for recipes, but have been dismayed when I look at the ingredients.

As Canadian, I have a few web sits on my favourites lists, including Canadian Living magazine and Ricardo Cuisine. It's funny, even though we officially use metric as measurement, all our recipes are in cups and tsp/tbs.

If I use a BBC recipe (which I often do), then I have to re-calculate to volume instead of weights.

I use a lot of American recipes off Pinterest. If it says “a box of cake mix” I won’t bother. If it says “Italian herb seasoning” I just whack in a bit of basil, oregano, parsley, etc.

A lot of recipes have a toggle between “US Customary” and Metric, but if they haven’t I can’t usually be bothered to do the conversion (different if you’re using a book, and you can pencil it in).

But I find that for a lot of European things I might want to cook (recently I was looking for a recipe for an Italian thing) then an American blog will often be great, because the writer’s family came from that country, and so they are authentic family recipes.

I would also say that most pasta sauces are beyond easy to make, and yet there are jars and jars of them in UK supermarkets.

It’s bashing mainstream American cooking, not the people.

It's tiresome, embarrassing and some people think it makes them look superior.

That's a rude thing to say based on one blog. Maybe you need to work on your research skills and find a better recipe blog.

Oh I don't know. Using a packet cake mix or making your own cake from scratch has the same end result - a cake. The method of construction is irrelevant.

Bizarre innit? Cooking a perfectly ordinary meal at home - Brits used to do this a lot as take out came late here - is now perceived as evidence of moral worth. Cooking isn't difficult and, sadly, probably doesn't make anyone a better person. Make what you like to eat. If you want to throw a can of soup in, do so.

There's no such thing. You just made that up. I live in the US and our cooking varies greatly from person to person. You're really missing out on a lot of good meal ideas with your snobbery.

💯

I thought cups were actual measurements ?
Ie proper cooking cups not just a cup.from the kitchen cupboard .

You're fully entitled to not give a shit what your food's made of. I can't see what you stand to gain from trying invalidate those who do care about making good food from scratch, though.

You probably care about things that others don't. Do you want to be repeatedly told you're wrong, or somehow faulty, for being interested in them?

It’s bashing mainstream American cooking, not the people.

The title is Americans are lazy cooks. Americans being people. Let’s not pretend this isn’t yet another American bashing thread. 🙄

As someone who now lives in the US, I have to say it is incorrect to make such generalizations. It might also be about class or region - where we live now is a wealthy east-coast town, and everyone I know is cooking from scratch. I also briefly lived in Utah and (with big families and a focus on food storage) ate a lot of (disgusting) casseroles with tins of mushroom soup as their basis.

But, growing up in the UK, the nearest my mum got to cooking was a jar of curry sauce thrown on some chopped up chicken, or a sachet mixed with grey mince-meat to make chili. It was hardly a foodie heaven.

For baking recipes, try some other books. I have a book from the Boston bakery "Flour," which doesn't contain one "take a box mix..."

Comprehension skills not all that either.

I follow various Americans on TikTok who cook, some because they're outrageous and wouldn't dream of making them myself, and others are normal working/stay at home mums who make standard week day meals which I'm interested in. One in particular says that her family is on a lower income as she is at home with the kids and so she substitutes items in recipes which I find really relatable.

It's not just one blog though.
I'm constantly searching for recipes, and i just know through experience to click "back" straight away if a recipe is measured in "cups".

Then you lack flexibility as a cook.

All posts are about recipes involving lots of prepackaged mixes and highly processed foods. The title is bashing, but the posts are not.

I don't want to bash all Americans. Maybe it should say many American food bloggers can't cook.

My particular dislike is adding a cup of oil in cake mix (bleugh). I like to bake with flour eggs and butter: end result tastes better. If you're going to throw garbage ingredients in you may as well buy cheap shop bought alternative. Save yourself the effort.

I agree if any of the American "chefs" on Instagram are anything to go by- crush up a pack of Doritos, cover in grated plastic cheese, can of creamed of chicken soup and half a pack of butter- most of the recipes look like a heart attack on a plate!

We could ask to have title amended as it is offending our American neighbours?

Way to show your ignorance here

A cup is an actual measurement in the US, a specific amount on our measuring cups. Its 250 grams if you're too lazy to Google.

Butter comes in sticks with tablespoons marked along the side. It's very handy, you just slice off what you need.

As always on American bashing threads, just because we do things differently doesn't mean we're wrong or stupid or lazy.