[The Duggars and Their World: Fashion, Food, Finance, Schoolin’ and Child Rearin']

 

Thanks for replying, Julia, SometimesBites, and others...  I'm computer phobic and doing the best I can to keep up here.  I'm not the best at quoting posts by others. ;)

 

"That explains the younger years, But it does not explain why as the kids got older their meals didn't progress with their ability. It's not like they were busy studying or out with their friends. Cooking is essentially a large part of their expected jobs, shit school was already at the dining table, it wouldn't have been a reach to include proper nutrition and recipes."

 

I'm a member of a foodie website and we recently had a discussion about this.  It turned out that most of us like adventurous food. ;)  Some of our 'extended family members' have 'midwestern tastes' as far as we could figure out.  It boiled down to bland, ect and

YMMV,  but there are people who 'live to eat' vs people who 'eat to live'.  

 

I was raised fundie but I love to cook.  My mom was a dyed in the wool fundie but also a believer in the post WW2 50s 'better living through science' thing, that included frozen and/or pre-prepared food served out of plastic pouches.  Our family of 6 kids survived on instant mashed potatoes and TV dinners until I was old enough to cook- it was a skill born of self-defense. ;)  The Joy of Cooking cookbook was one of my first and very much cherished links to the outside world.  :)

[The Duggars and Their World: Fashion, Food, Finance, Schoolin’ and Child Rearin']

 

First post here, so please be gentle ;)

 

Reading about the Duggar's diet and the recipes they have 'shared' makes me sad.

 

I have a theory about this.  Some time ago, possibly when Michelle had her laundry room breakdown and finally checked out as a parent, the work of feeding that army fell to the oldest girls.  They were children faced with a task most grownups could not handle without frozen, pre-prepared food at the ready.  So therefore came all the packaged processed stuff.

 

Aside from the frozen stuff, the TT casserole, chickenetti-type stuff makes me think 'kiddie cooking'.  It  *seems* like a real grownup dinner, but on a skill level manageable by kids.

 

The TT casserole was probably one of grandma Mary's 'recipes'.  She had probably checked out of all that domestic stuff long before Michelle did...

[The Duggars and Their World: Fashion, Food, Finance, Schoolin’ and Child Rearin']

While we can all agree that Duggar diet is known to be pretty awful, I was under the impression that the older girls still cooked these gross dishes. However, as I have re-watched some old episodes that showcase Jana in the kitchen, it is apparent that even these unhealthy meals aren't really prepared by them. In one episode, Jana dumps out some bagged salad and serves what appears to be nuked frozen lasagna. She even rolls her eyes and shakes her head 'no' when asked if she made it. 

 

As someone who hates to cook but can easily make lasagna from scratch, I am confused about what actual skills the older girls have to prepare them for life. I always thought, at the very least, they had domestic skills. However, I'm not sure about that anymore. Opening bags and cans, and microwaving frozen meals is not cooking.

 

If you are raising your daughters to be housewives, why not prepare them with domestic skills?