Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Cooking for Two

 
Brandon Keilen and Michael Keilen

"Learning to cook for two, I think, was one of the hardest things when we first got married. I feel like I over-seasoned and overcooked, and a lot of our meat was dry and way too salty. But you just have to relearn portions."

-Michael Keilen

For the Bates girls, getting married is an especially big adjustment because it involves some serious cutting down of portion sizes. When you are used to cooking for an army and suddenly have to adjust your recipes to feed 90% fewer people, the learning curve can be steep. Some of the ladies weigh in in the video below.


Photo/video courtesy of UPtv

52 comments:

  1. Same here, only I was going from 4 or 5 to 2! I can't imagine what an adjustment it was for them!!

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  2. Don't blame you Bates ladies. It is an adjustment cook for 2,especially when your used to cooking for unmarried siblings still living at home and your parents.

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  3. Carlin needs to learn how to use a cutting board. The way she held that poor piece of chicken, cutting it mid-air with a scissors is telling to me. Most of these girls knew nothing about cooking when they married except for Michaela and Alyssa, who actually DID the cooking in their family. Shame on Kelly Jo for not learning herself how to cook, a basic, traditional role for a married woman. I believe that "piece of disgusting white fat" on the chicken that Carlin was referring to was the tenderloin in the chicken. Someone please tell her that she should use a knife and a cutting board to cut that out properly. Mid-air is no way to cut meat. Except for Michaela, those girls need to quit the 'silly, stupid-girl' act.

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    1. Why don't you tell us how you really feel 4:20??

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    2. I feel that ALL members of a family should learn the basics of cooking, regardless of their gender. It should not be the sole responsibility of the women. (My own parents shared in this, as do my husband and I, and our kids and their spouses.) I was glad to see that Carlin's husband steps up and shares the meal prep. There are so many online how-to's availble now that make it easier for anyone to cook. It doesn't have to be gourmet, either.

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    3. That’s really not very nice.

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    4. I always cut raw meat, poultry and fish with scissors now. Don't knock it until you try it. Scissors are sooo much easier!

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    5. @4:20-Amen to your last sentence; another exception is Erin.

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    6. Michaela has been married long enough to have made the transition.

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    7. Those are kitchen shears meant for food jobs, including chicken. If cutting mid-air feels the most comfortable for her, what's it to you? She IS cooking for her family.

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    8. I want to say that I will never understand why it is the assumed responsibility of the woman to be the cook. I know that is the traditional role in society, but I dislike cooking very much. So kudos to men and boys, as well as women and girls, who learn to and enjoy cooking. I am a retired female minister. I know some of my female colleagues felt they had to help cook. Before I even began my work in the congregation, I said that I would contribute money for food, serve the food, speak and pray at dinners but I would not be in the kitchen. They respected that, and I loved them for it.

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    9. July 14 @1:11 - I thought the same thing. Totally agree!!

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    10. 4:20am I TOTALLY agree. Just nobody either noticed it or would actually call it out. Cooking for two? Shoot, most of the adult Bates and Duggars can't even cook for one after they first got married. Yet, both families make the claim they are "preparing each one for marriage". What a farce and Katie is another one, set to move out and can't even remove cooked chicken breast from the oven.

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    11. 6:12, I think Michaella was talking about when she first got married.

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    12. By “tenderloin”, do you mean tendon? Hahahahaha There were so many errors in your comment I am leaning towards believing you’re a comical troll.

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    13. Okay, one question. Can you cook me a five star- first class meal? I wonder what it would look like if I saw how you made it?

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    14. Why does someone who is so obviously irritated by this family, interested in reading the blog? Read something that brings out the best in you, instead of the cruel and unkind side of you. Your attitude harms the cause of Christ.

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  4. I think they do fine with cooking and I enjoy their recipes. I am hoping that they will add the chicken recipe that Esther made recently and also one that Zach made.

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    1. I also would love to have that chicken recipes that Esther and Zach made. Both sounded delicious!

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  5. I know how to use a knife and cutting board for chicken, but I actually prefer kitchen shears because it goes faster. I say let her cut her chicken however she wants. Professional chef she's not, nor does she need to be.

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    1. Exactly, scissors make it so much easier!
      I cut my pizza at home with scissors!

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  6. For whatever reason, my Moma didn't teach me how to cook, so when I got married at 21, I bought a Betty Crocker cookbook. Never did learn how to fry chicken. Just went and bought it. Still do.

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    1. @5:15-exactly! If you can’t do the math but a cookbook and follow the recipes.

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  7. Why didn't Kelly teach the girls to cook? And why can't they do simple math to cut down a recipe?

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    1. She did, and sometimes it is too hard like 8 11/3 divided by 7? Can you do that real fast without using google or a calculator or paper?

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    2. Michaella cooked all the time.

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  8. Who do you suppose has been preparing their food since Michaella got married?

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    1. Kelly and Gil pitch in, pretty much everyone does a little bit, including the kids.

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  9. We had to go thru an adjustment period when the kids left home and it was back to cooking for just the two of us. We gained about 15 lbs that first year by cooking too much (and feeling compelled to eat it). We're better now... It's been 8 years, lol.

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    1. My husband gained weight when we first got married because I had trouble adjusting to cooking for two also.

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  10. I don't understand the over seasoning of food when cutting portions. If you have 25 chicken breasts in the pan or if you have 4 in the pan, how can someone put a large amount of salt on the 4? You only have the 4 to sprinkle salt over, for example, not 25.

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  11. Why don’t they just find and follow recipes? Or cook large portions and freeze the leftovers for later?

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    1. Not everyone uses a recipe! If you have family favorites that you've made over and over again you don't really need to look at a recipe. I don't anymore unless I'm trying a new dish.

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    2. 12:15 I think the OP meant that they can follow a recipe for appropriate portion amounts since they're used to making meals for a crowd.

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    3. Anon@12:15,

      Yes!

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    4. Right, 11:21, but if she was making things she's made for the family for years she may not even have a written recipe, just in her head.

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  12. Cooking for two is not difficult to figure out, and I come from a big family myself.

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    1. It's just habit, not "difficult to figure out." My family wasn't nearly that big, but I would cook too much food when I first got married.

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    2. It's "still not difficult to figure out" no matter where you come from. Period.

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  13. I have to admit, I’m like Kelley. I can cook, but I dislike it very much. Why can’t male and female members of the Bates family, knowing that mom doesn’t like to cook, pitch in. If they didn’t adhere to such strict gender roles, they could add the boys to the cooking roster. They like to eat. Learn to cook!

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    1. Zach cooks lots! All of the family pitches in. Katie and Travis help too.

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    2. I’ve often heard the Bates say that whoever is nearby pitches in. We’ve also seen Zach and Warden cook on the show...as well as Gil on the grill. In this video clip, Evan cooks with Carlin. I don’t see evidence of strict kitchen gender roles here.

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    3. I tend to doubt Lawson or Trace "pitched in" and cooked dinner for 21 at any time. One of the girls would be called to do it.

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  14. Why don't the young women (or young men) know how to cook before marriage? It seems like not much homemaking besides taking care of babies goes on in these large families. I wonder if the childcare is so time-consuming and overwhelming that preparing meals is overlooked. It's nice that they all are well-trained to care for babies, but there is more to running a household than that.

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    1. They haven't had babies at the main house for many years.

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  15. I love the Bates Family watch you all the time can’t wait for the next season to start
    Thank you for your ministry Boston Children’s hospital could use you!

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