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What's your worst cooking/baking habit?

Mine (at least recently) is making things too salty! I think it's just because I know we like salt, so I've been going a bit overboard. I am also pretty confident about seasoning things without tasting a whole lot. I had some homemade refried beans that were inedible on their own, and some other salty things. I need to remember to just add salt later!

What about you?

I try to eliminate as much fat as possible which generally isn't a good idea...mainly with baking. Then it flops :( Also, I have a bad habit of throwing (non-sharp) cooking and baking objects across the kitchen, into the sink, because i'm too lazy to walk over and put it in the sink nicely...I should probably stop doing that lol

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My worst cooking/baking habit is NOT cooking or baking. It's so much easier for me to just have a salad, or toast, or something. It's been weeks since I made rice, I didn't make any homemade soup this fall/winter (which I used to do quite a bit), I've hardly done any baking in the past year, and I actually haven't turned on the oven for months.

Eeek  :-\

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My worst habit is throwing things in mad-scientist style, neglecting my measuring cups/spoons. This is usually okay for cooking but probably explains why I'm such a terrible baker :)

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i'm a mess in the kitchen.  i use too many pans.

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i'm a mess in the kitchen.  i use too many pans.

haha ditto!

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My worst habit is throwing things in mad-scientist style, neglecting my measuring cups/spoons. This is usually okay for cooking but probably explains why I'm such a terrible baker :)

I'm just the opposite.  My worst habit is following directions with precision, without experimenting or accounting for my personal tastes. 

I have these little glass bowls to hold the measured ingredients.  I measure out everything first with anal retentive precision and set them aside. 

http://www.theyoungandhungry.com/uploads/images/bowls.jpg

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I'm just the opposite.  My worst habit is following directions with precision, without experimenting or accounting for my personal tastes. 

I have these little glass bowls to hold the measured ingredients.  I measure out everything first with anal retentive precision and set them aside. 

http://www.theyoungandhungry.com/uploads/images/bowls.jpg

:)>>>

you can throw things in after you add all the measured ingredients, though!

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That's true AC...for some reason I don't like messing with a recipe.  Now if I make something from my head, remembering a recipe as inspiration, then I can throw things together and experiment and not measure.  But when I have a cookbook in front of me, I'm pretty loyal to the recipe.  I'm weird like that.

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That's true AC...for some reason I don't like messing with a recipe.  Now if I make something from my head, remembering a recipe as inspiration, then I can throw things together and experiment and not measure.  But when I have a cookbook in front of me, I'm pretty loyal to the recipe.  I'm weird like that.

same here. I'll generally go to all sorts of places to get correct ingredients too, and my mom and boyfriend would always complain that I *have* to follow a recipe exactly when I go all the way to one store for a couple of ingredients. If I don't follow it, then I'm not really making the recipe, am I?
On that note though, I do make substitutions or omissions sometimes. Generally that's because I absolutely can't get something or don't care for the ingredient.

Similar thing, and not sure if it's a bad habit or good habit (I'm leaning towards good), but when I can I usually buy the exact amount of something I'll need. I.e., I set out what recipes I'll make for a month/however long the list lasts (that's how I wind up with so many reviews, AC!), and figure out I need, for instance, 1.75 cups of red lentils. So I'll get, in bulk, 1.75 cups lentils. I know a lot of people just get a bag, or a large amount, but I like to use up things so i don't have crowded cabinets. I think it's generally a good thing, but that means once I get close to the end of the list, I either have absolutely no food other than condiments, or a few odd things I couldn't get precise amounts of (right now, that's mung beans, urad dal, barley, tamarind, and fresh shredded coconut). Which means I have to get creative... or, find recipes to use those things.
The only staples I get without specific plans are brown/white rice and pasta/sauce.

I'm going to have to use up the random things soon, because of moving. I feel silly moving with a 1/2 cup of black eyed peas...

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Similar thing, and not sure if it's a bad habit or good habit (I'm leaning towards good), but when I can I usually buy the exact amount of something I'll need. I.e., I set out what recipes I'll make for a month/however long the list lasts (that's how I wind up with so many reviews, AC!), and figure out I need, for instance, 1.75 cups of red lentils. So I'll get, in bulk, 1.75 cups lentils. I know a lot of people just get a bag, or a large amount, but I like to use up things so i don't have crowded cabinets. I think it's generally a good thing, but that means once I get close to the end of the list, I either have absolutely no food other than condiments, or a few odd things I couldn't get precise amounts of (right now, that's mung beans, urad dal, barley, tamarind, and fresh shredded coconut). Which means I have to get creative... or, find recipes to use those things.
The only staples I get without specific plans are brown/white rice and pasta/sauce.

That sounds depressing, to me! I love having a stocked pantry. I'm sad that I can't keep mine as stocked as I used to when I was able to get so much stuff in bulk. You weirdo.

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my mom always has an overstuffed pantry/fridge/everything, so when i lived with her my only option was to keep it to a minimum. i'd have like a couple containers of grains/beans among allllllll her stuff, and she would complain that i'd buy too much/there was too much of my stuff in the cabinets. also, one time we got drugstore/cigarette beetles in EVERYTHING, and then i had a roach problem last summer here, so it's... very motivating.
i also just like "finishing" things.

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I hate washing dishes, so I've been known to let them pile up.  Sometimes I'll re-use them...like if I used a knife/chopping board for last night's stir fry, I might use them again for today's soup.  Or I'll use the same plate for toast at breakfast and a sandwich for lunch (sometimes for 2 days in a row).  I also follow the 10-second rule when things fall on the floor.  I'm gross like that.

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I hate washing dishes, so I've been known to let them pile up.  Sometimes I'll re-use them...like if I used a knife/chopping board for last night's stir fry, I might use them again for today's soup.  Or I'll use the same plate for toast at breakfast and a sandwich for lunch (sometimes for 2 days in a row).  I also follow the 10-second rule when things fall on the floor.  I'm gross like that.

yup yup. except for the 10s rule... normally, yes, but with my floor the way it is... no.

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I hate washing dishes, so I've been known to let them pile up.  Sometimes I'll re-use them...like if I used a knife/chopping board for last night's stir fry, I might use them again for today's soup.  Or I'll use the same plate for toast at breakfast and a sandwich for lunch (sometimes for 2 days in a row).  I also follow the 10-second rule when things fall on the floor.  I'm gross like that.

I do this too!
Andy is my dishwasher, and he doesn't always keep up with me....I dirty a lot of dishes!  So I tend to reuse things if they're not too nasty....
I would probably eat off of my floor but anything I drop, the dogs immediately snatch up, so there's no time....

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my mom always has an overstuffed pantry/fridge/everything, so when i lived with her my only option was to keep it to a minimum. i'd have like a couple containers of grains/beans among allllllll her stuff, and she would complain that i'd buy too much/there was too much of my stuff in the cabinets. also, one time we got drugstore/cigarette beetles in EVERYTHING, and then i had a roach problem last summer here, so it's... very motivating.
i also just like "finishing" things.

That sounds like my mom!  My sister still lives at home and has resorted to putting a mini-fridge and a food basket (for pantry foods) in her bedroom because of the lack of space in the kitchen.

Sucks about the insect problem. ick:/

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I hate washing dishes, so I've been known to let them pile up.  Sometimes I'll re-use them...like if I used a knife/chopping board for last night's stir fry, I might use them again for today's soup.  Or I'll use the same plate for toast at breakfast and a sandwich for lunch (sometimes for 2 days in a row).  I also follow the 10-second rule when things fall on the floor.  I'm gross like that.

i reuse sink stuff too! i just wash it off... it's not like anything nasty like carcass is polluting it... i eat stuff off the floor as well... unless i haven't mopped it in awhile and i see dog hair on the food when i pick it up :/ hahaha you are not alone!

i don't usually let dishes pile up though... i am kinda a neat freak

and Erin: i agree about the dog thing... my little doggies are like vultures circling around, waiting for food to drop

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i think the reusing dishes thing has been worse since we got our dishwasher working. because i'm waiting for it to get full enough to run, i'll have all my bowls in the machine before most other things.

i wonder if it'll change at the new place... no dishwasher.

or maybe i'll be as lazy as always.

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i have a dish washer but it sucks... i was so excited when we got our place to finally have a dishwasher that works (the one at my BF's old house was a piece of shit too)... well it doesn't so i am still hand washing freakin dishes... i wonder if they let you test appliances before you sign the lease... if i new my shower would be ice cold after 15 minutes as well i would have never moved in!

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Lol. Relating to dishwashers. I've never had one and when I was in TN me and my mom had to turn it on before we left and we were just sitting there confused as heck trying to figure out what buttons to press. Hahaha. I'm dishwasher stupid. Dishwashers are weird and I don't ever use them even if I can.

I can't follow recipes.
I eat weird things alone that you shouldn't eat alone probably. Like nooch and wheat germ and baking soda/powder and egg replacer and kelp flakes and superrr weird things. Lol.
(I seriously eat a handfull of nooch plain whenever I use it for anything. I just stuff my face in my hand. It probably looks gross if people see me do it. I dont care. Haha)

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I add garlic to EVERYTHING.

I'm with Tweety in the need to measure everything. That is until I get to teaspoon quantities. Then I just pour/shake/add whatever in because I can never find my teaspooner.

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