How do you cure a SO of bad cooking habits?

[Fern]

My SO is a pretty decent cook; his forte is steaks and seafood on the grill.

HOWEVER, he assumes he is a master at everything he does, inlcuding letting seafood and meats dethaw for hours at room temperature, stuffing the bird, not a good idea as was pointed out in another thread and storing opened bottles of wine, jam or other stuff in the cabinet instead of the fridge. Eeeww. (i remember my best friend's family kept butter in the cupboard too, tho they had a big family and went thru it quick....)

The worst had to be when i saw he kept a gallon container of USED vegetable oil for making his homemade french fries. Just like they do at fast food restaurants, you know, the artery clogging variety? Gosh, sometimes i'm afraid what i'll find looking inside those cabinets.

[Ima saver]

I am shocked that you have a SO. I guess I never read where you had mentioned him. My DH cooks everything, but he is very neat and puts everything away in the right place.

[jodi]

Oh dear, I really can't give you an answer, since my family is guilty of teaching me almost ALL of the above bad habits. I know the rational behind most of them...and I can't argue with logic. But I will never stop stuffing the bird. my mom tried that one year for Thanksgiving and no one ate the stuffing (which is usually the first thing gone...).


Thawing meat on counter: guilty
Stuffing the bird: guilty
Storing open bottles: wine - guilty, jam - not guilty
Butter in the cupboard: guilty (we no longer do this, but my family did it growing up - winter only as the summer heat would melt it)
Used veggie oil: Guilty (my mom used to keep the same oil in the deep fryer to reuse, but we only use the deep fryer maybe once or twice a year now, so it's new oil every time)

I hate to say it, but you may have a losing battle on your hands. I know the reasons for NOT doing most of these, but I will probably never stop unless I get sick from it. There's a thought...maybe a mild case of food poisoning to teach him a lesson?? (just kidding, of course!)

[Tightwad Kitty]

Originally Posted by jodi_m

Oh dear, I really can't give you an answer, since my family is guilty of teaching me almost ALL of the above bad habits. I know the rational behind most of them...and I can't argue with logic. But I will never stop stuffing the bird. my mom tried that one year for Thanksgiving and no one ate the stuffing (which is usually the first thing gone...)....................
.......I hate to say it, but you may have a losing battle on your hands. I know the reasons for NOT doing most of these, but I will probably never stop unless I get sick from it. There's a thought...maybe a mild case of food poisoning to teach him a lesson?? (just kidding, of course!)

Around my house if you left anything out the cats or ants would find it first.

Bad case of food poisoning was the case that I don’t have a problem in this area. Two in fact cases of food poisoning, both were told to me by my father. He was cook in the Army in the WWII, someone had delivered them off pork to cook with. My father was the Officers Cook and they had not cooked the meal of pork that night, but the other mess had! This is how they found out what had happen. In a camp of 800 only the one’s who ate food from the officers mess didn’t get sick. 755 were sick for days. :vomit-smiley-020: The second time was the family next door to us when I was in my early teens, the whole family 2 adults and 4 kids came down with bad case of food poisoning, the wife had a habit of leaving food in a saucepan on the stove or in refrigerator then cooking it up a few days later in the sub-topics. Husband had a science degree too! I was old enough to remember that one! As I help cleaning up the kitchen and refrigerator.

[PrincessPerky]

Try starting small, with some facts, and try keeping life easy on him when you do it, and well honestly go with the 'it is prolly silly but it wont hurt to put it waay' cause honestly it might be silly, but prolly wont hurt to put it away.

Leaving food out long term is bad, short term? he is prolly imune cause he survived childhood!

[Fern]

Originally Posted by Ima saver

I am shocked that you have a SO. I guess I never read where you had mentioned him. My DH cooks everything, but he is very neat and puts everything away in the right place.

Wow. What you said really does make me feel this is a 'comunity,' even though none of us will ever meet. Doesn't that feel wierd?

"Young love" of about 1.4 years...if we're fighting, he's persona non grata! Most other times, he's the apple of my eye.

[Tree0164]

Originally Posted by Fern

Wow. What you said really does make me feel this is a 'comunity,' even though none of us will ever meet. Doesn't that feel wierd?

"Young love" of about 1.4 years...if we're fighting, he's persona non grata! Most other times, he's the apple of my eye.

Ima I thought the same thing. I always pictured Fern as a single gal. Glad you got some love.

I have to gently remind DH that some things will just get you sick. He doesn't always listen. None of us have gotten sick yet.

[boefixepa]

Hummmm...pondering here. I've done some of these, but not all. I do save the oil, but that is because it's seems such a waste to throw it out if it isn't dirty. I strain the top clean part off and save it. The bottom part with all the floaties goes....never thought it a bad idea. I don't save open cans, but what's wrong with open jars? Oh, went back it's a fridge thing....just put it in the fridge and don't stress over it. Most wines do just fine in the pantry....granted I just use cooking wines and not drinking wines. And what's wrong with thawing meat on the counter as long as it doesn't sit there too long? ....granted any meat sitting on my counter would be dog food the second my back was turned...I speak from experience here. If it's done thawing and he still hasn't used it, move it to fridge. He'll find it there when he's ready. But trying to change who he is, that's just going to stress you out.

Are you being picky about what you percive is a health risk, or are some of his ways simply different....not wrong...just different.

[Fern]

The reason why you shouldn't thaw meat on the counter is becus it will gradually dethaw from the outside in. Part of it will be exposed too long to warmer temps while the other part inside is still frozen. Exterior portion will let bacteria or whatever grow.

I grew up in a very health/food conscious family, so yes, i do think it's a health risk and it's not just being picky.

I'm moving in with him sometime this summer...once my house sells...so i'm sure there will be dozens and dozens of areas where we'll have to learn to compromise. Easier said than done, with a 46 year old woman and a 50 year old man, both of us never married! By this time in life, you tend to do things a certain way becus you've learned that's what works best.

[Ima saver]

I do think of us as a little family and maybe someday we might meet. I am on a local forum and we have had two get togethers and are planning another.

[Fern]

Ima, that's so funny, I was just reading the earlier posts and thinking, woudln't it be cool if those of us who wanted to meet, met? But i assumed others wouldn't be interested.... You did that with antoher group? Wow. i bet that was really interesting! But how would you decide on a location since we're all over the place?

it would be fun to share our photos here, but i know the point is to be anonymous and i guess who knows what wierdos that might attract.

[Ima saver]

Yes, we did, most were from my area, but I have had lunch with people from Fla. that came to my area. I have received an e mail from one lady on this forum, who is building a house, about 20 miles away and I think we are going to meet for lunch when she comes to this area.
I guess it would only be feasible if we lived in the same state or a bordering state.
One of the people I met at the last get together graduated from the same high school as me, just two years later. It is a small world!

[PrincessPerky]

If there was a meet up I would go if I could Just cause we talk so much online, it would be cool to have a real face (though I bet in many cases it would be a shocker!)

[Fern]

Yes, I'm sure many of us would be quite surprised when we met! Just like a high school reunion. Oh, but it would be something to remember with a smile, i'm sure.

[lrjohnson]

I'd be interested in a meet up. I can't really think of an area of the US I wouldn't be interested in seeing, so I'd just "guide" my next vacation towards the gathering. I'd schedule other stuff so if the get together fizzled it'd be no harm, no foul.