Today I shall be Mainly...

[Big Kev]

Touching and squeezing foodstuff is currently taboo in shops here, can't see any problem with 'click and collect' for a kitchen cabinet...

[Marilyn]

Fair enough...but I need to check food labels too and use by dates. ( might not seem important to you, but you would be amazed how they sneak Garlic into food...and sugar). Call me weird, but I need to know EXACTLY what I am eating.
We rarely eat red meat. Most of our diet is Veg based ( plus Chicken and Fish). Most of the food we buy is unprocessed. ( base foods that we turn into yummy meals)
Can’t trust another human to pick for us...

[PanBiker]

I take it you never go to a cafe or restaurant?

[Marilyn]

Next to never Panbiker!
If we do it is due to family pressure and it is a nightmare for us to source a suitable meal. Recently, we had to go to a restaurant with my son and his girlfriend. It was an upmarket pub. We went through the ENTIRE menu with staff ( embarrassing and time consuming and we just wanted to sit there and drink water whilst others ate!). They did not have ONE meal that did not contain garlic. We were truly embarrassed. So was my son and his girlfriend. They could not even serve us a bowl of chips or a bowl of salad, as both had garlic.
Finally they steamed us a bit of fish, on a bed of steamed rice. Cost us £30 each. Totally embarrassing. ( not to mention lousy )

[PanBiker]

No real answer for that apart from try try to learn to LOVE garlic, nothing wrong with it. I take it you don't have an allergic reaction to it and it's just that you don't like the taste? Your actions could be regarded as excessively compulsive I suppose and must be very life limiting in many ways.

[Marilyn]

Garlic makes me ill. I get a crippling pain from front to back as if I have been shot through with a cannon ball. It can last over 12 hours and it is so bad that I avoid it at all costs. You would too, if it happened to you!

[Marilyn]

It is not life limiting if I choose my food carefully. So much easier as I buy loads of fruit and veg and make my own meals. ( for example, I would not choose to book into an Italian Restaurant for a family “do”, but I expect to find something suitable to eat at a Gastro Pub. Not so apparently...everything either has a Garlic Crumb, Aoli, and Garlic Salt even in Chips.
I am telling you, that when this is something you wish to avoid, it is terribly terribly difficult).
Then, if the restaurant offers to cook you something special ( at a cost) they use the very same pans that they have cooked garlic in. ( so you still get sick )

[PanBiker]

Fair enough, I developed an allergy to coffee when I was in my late 20's not had any for 30 odd years. Cold corned beef as well although I can eat it cooked in any way. It' the preservatives and I am told you can teach your body to tolerate them by taking them in small quantities and then building up. Not bothered, although I might experiment with the coffee at some point as I love the smell. You can also "grow out" of intolerances such as these. You never know if you don't try. It was migraine and nausea, violent shaking, sweating and shivering with me, had to take to my bed. First episode came on without warning, I had been drinking coffee for years without any problem.

[Marilyn]

Well...I never feel terribly well...along with the gut pain, but I have never thought of other symptoms because the gut pain is so severe.
But garlic is so insidious. You would be shocked to know how many crackers, ready meals, sauces,dips, convenience foods it is in, even frozen fish etc. I always say that Garlic is the new sugar. ( we all know how sugar has infiltrated our lives in the last 40 years). Well...garlic is in practically EVERYTHING, so take your spectacles to the supermarket, read a few labels, and know how I live! ( can’t even trust a sausage these days!)

[PanBiker]

If it's so bad I would be asking my doctor to see if there was anything that could help or have you already been down that route?

[Marilyn]

Really?
Ask a doctor?
Are you kidding me? Why not just avoid Garlic by being observant and asking questions when you can’t read food labels?
( man...some people just want to take a pill for everything...instead of being vigilant over their own health!)

[Marilyn]

Funny thing about Coffee though...in my young days I may have had at least 10 cups in a day. Can only handle 2 cups a day now, and I am not bothered if I don’t have any actually. Most happy these days with a glass of tap water all day long!
If we do go to a Cafe, I sit drinking water out of my water bottle whilst hubby enjoys a Coffee.

[PanBiker]

Really?
Ask a doctor?
Are you kidding me? Why not just avoid Garlic by being observant and asking questions when you can’t read food labels?
( man...some people just want to take a pill for everything...instead of being vigilant over their own health!)

Not kidding you and it's not a pill for everything but surely it is worth the ask. I don't pop pills if I don't need them but if it's beneficial for a given condition it's a no brainer. Ha, Freudian slip, I have taken a few for problems in that department, but don't need to now.

[Marilyn]

I am confused, Panbiker....( stay with me please, as I often get the wrong end of the stick.)

[PanBiker]

Can't help you with your confusion Maz. Which bit is vexing you?

[Sue]

We never “click and collect” or order anything online to be home delivered. I need to view stuff, touch stuff, squeeze stuff, smell stuff before I judge it worthy to buy
We like the BEST fruit and veg etc

Not the best thing to be doing right now. I see all fresh fruit, veg, meat etc at Bacup market. Everything else, buy as needed, send back if not right. Clothes wise you can’t try anything on anyway in a shop so it makes no difference. I also would not want to touch. I prefer prepacked. Wash or wait a bit before I touch it

[Sue]

Touching and squeezing foodstuff is currently taboo in shops here, can't see any problem with 'click and collect' for a kitchen cabinet...

Agreed

[Sue]

Fair enough...but I need to check food labels too and use by dates. ( might not seem important to you, but you would be amazed how they sneak Garlic into food...and sugar). Call me weird, but I need to know EXACTLY what I am eating.
We rarely eat red meat. Most of our diet is Veg based ( plus Chicken and Fish). Most of the food we buy is unprocessed. ( base foods that we turn into yummy meals)
Can’t trust another human to pick for us...

Food labels! Almost none of my food is labelled apart from cereals and yoghurt and I often make my own. That is unless you count milk and butter. All meals are home cooked from basics unless we go to a restaurant admittedly or the very occasional take away ( during lockdown) We use tinned tomatoes and tinned pulses everything else is fresh or frozen , and where possible home grown. We eat fruit and veg till it comes out of our ears, We love cooking as I am sure others on this site do too.

[Big Kev]

Fair enough...but I need to check food labels too and use by dates. ( might not seem important to you, but you would be amazed how they sneak Garlic into food...and sugar). Call me weird, but I need to know EXACTLY what I am eating.
We rarely eat red meat. Most of our diet is Veg based ( plus Chicken and Fish). Most of the food we buy is unprocessed. ( base foods that we turn into yummy meals)
Can’t trust another human to pick for us...

Food labels! Almost none of my food is labelled apart from cereals and yoghurt and I often make my own. That is unless you count milk and butter. All meals are home cooked from basics unless we go to a restaurant admittedly or the very occasional take away ( during lockdown) We use tinned tomatoes and tinned pulses everything else is fresh or frozen , and where possible home grown. We eat fruit and veg till it comes out of our ears, We love cooking as I am sure others on this site do too.

I have been known to cook the odd meal
I have numerous pots in the freezer with different sauces in. I like a bit of bulk cooking and making use of my pressure cooker. I treated myself to a new one with a dial on it, Paulette was terrified of the old one with the weight on it.

[Sue]

Give me an autoclave ( as a practising bacteriologist) any day rather than a pressure cooker

[Wendyf]

What's an autoclave when it's at home?

[Big Kev]

I remember using one to sterilise theatre instruments many years ago. I believe it uses the same process, higher pressure and heat.

[Wendyf]

I was always wary of pressure cookers and have been very happy without one for many years now!

[Marilyn]

None of our fruit or veg is wrapped here, with the exception of potatoes and carrots ( you have a choice there of buying them in a bag or picking them up individually and bagging them yourself). But everything else is sold loose, with no wrapping. You have to pick each individual Brussel Sprout up etc. little tomatoes come in tubs, but bigger tomatoes are just loose, no wrappings.
I was amazed when food shopping in the UK. Everything was wrapped in plastic.
Just a different way of living.
And you need to feel Avocado for example to see if it is ripe...also smell melons etc to see if they are ripe.

On the subject of eating out (not something we tend to do often), you will be amazed just how little fresh food is cooked by so called “Chefs”. The particular place we went to really only heated stuff that was previously frozen! They had 4 types of Fish on the Menu ( we love Fish). Two were pre-battered with garlic in the batter, two were pre-crumbed with garlic in the crumb. Could I just have a plate of chips then? No...because they come in frozen and pre-seasoned with garlic in the seasoning. So what about your Butternut Pumpkin and Lentil dish? Sorry...that has garlic in it madam. Can I have a plain salad then. No...that comes pre-flavoured and bagged...and has garlic croutons already in it.
Not much actual cheffing going on in that kitchen!
So, microwaved rice and plain steamed fish that they must have nipped out and bought special.

[Marilyn]

A shelf in my pantry...(I write use by dates on the bottom of the jar, just in case you are wondering )