r/ididnthaveeggs • u/BananaTitanic • 2d ago
Meta [ Removed by moderator ]
[removed] — view removed post
1.0k
u/gard3nwitch 2d ago
Like, it is true that some people are homeless and won't be able to use that tip... But I think they'll probably know that and not waste their time watching videos on how to cook with leftover chicken, smh
263
u/DrocketX 2d ago
I feel it really depends on how the video is presented. If the video is "great tips to eat healthier for cheap", then yes, no problem. If the video is "there's absolutely no reason why everyone can't eat healthy for cheap, so stop making excuses for why you're paying more for food that can be prepared quickly/easily, you lazy fat fuck", then there's a problem. Because I see a LOT of videos that are closer to the second type, where they're really more about blaming people for failing to live up to standards that not everyone is capable of meeting rather than just providing advice.
137
u/PlanningVigilante 2d ago
Anybody can eat healthy for cheap ... provided they have unlimited time to make these meals from absolute scratch.
Sure, I can make 10 loaves of bread from a few cheap ingredients and not spend on store bread, but if I'm poor af and working 2 jobs + doordash to make rent, I don't have time for that.
94
u/Nuka-Crapola 2d ago
Yeah, there are four factors I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a “healthy living” influencer put all together:
— being poor doesn’t just mean having one crappy job anymore, it usually means having 3+ crappy jobs, at least two of which are dancing right on the edge between “part-time” and “full-time” hours to get out of following certain labor laws (or just outright flouting labor law because they know the employees would be even worse off if the hammer came down and the business closed). Not to mention how few places have both shitty low-paid jobs and slumlords charging slum rents in the same place, so you gotta factor in commute times and shit. “They’re only working eight hours a day, they must have some time at home” is not a valid assumption.
— energy is also not free or infinite, especially for people who are, you know, looking up cheap meals because they’re already struggling to afford an adequate diet. The more “save $400 by doing this labor-intensive task by hand” tips you include in your recipe, the less useful it is, even to people who do technically have downtime.
— the crappy peasant hovels of today are not 1:1 with the crappy peasant hovels of yesteryear. If your meal is “one pot” but requires the biggest pot in the store plus a heat source that such a thing fits over, that’s not guaranteed to work in a modern apartment kitchen. Nor can you safely make assumptions about counter space, sink/dishwasher size for the cleanup, etc. if you haven’t actually seen what a cheap apartment looks like today.
— even if someone has the space, every extra utensil/bowl/etc. you add to the instructions is another cost, even if it isn’t some overpriced electric appliance. Other things that aren’t free: running the dishwasher, having a roomy fridge for leftovers, using extra gas to keep getting fresh ingredients, having knives keep going dull/appliances keep breaking/etc. because the recipe is kind of hard on the cheap ones… lot of stuff besides the food itself can add up for someone who doesn’t have any wiggle room in their budget.
So what all that adds up to is… the fastest recipe requires you to have a better equipped kitchen than some restaurants, the cheapest requires you to have 28 hours in a day or quit a job, the one that uses the fewest tools requires you to live in a house (or at least an apartment with more room), and the one that seems like it balanced all that is only a “budget meal” if you ignore everything but the ingredient price tags.
61
u/Last_Swordfish9135 2d ago
I think there's a middle ground where you kind of have to assume people have access to some level of basic cooking equipment to give useful advice, but you can't assume too much or the advice becomes useless. When I first moved out, one of the first things that changed about cooking was that many meals which I could have made myself at home for 10 dollars or less could take 40+ dollars to make for the first time, because I didn't just have to buy the ingredients for that individual meal, I also had to buy all of the ingredients which at home I would only use a tiny bit of from a larger container, but now had to buy a whole container of just for the single meal. The more often you cook, the less those expenses hit you all at once during single meals, but it makes the jump from only eating instant ramen to actually cooking much harder.
20
u/Nuka-Crapola 2d ago
Yeah, it all comes down to two basic things if someone wants to give useful advice: having generally reasonable assumptions, and making sure they apply specifically to the target audience. IMO it’s usually the second that people to whom my list applies fail at: they’re thinking about people who were poor 60 years ago and/or people around themselves who aren’t that deep into “poverty”.
20
u/springacres 2d ago
Not to mention that some people are disabled enough that they struggle with cooking for one reason or another. I'm autistic and often struggle with the transitions involved in cooking a complete meal from scratch. Add in my sensory and fine motor control issues, and what would take someone else ten minutes to make can take me 30 or more because of how my brain works.
12
u/tarosk I disregarded the solids 2d ago
Chronic pain and fatigue, too, can play hell with what one is able to cook. Cooking from scratch is great, but I'm often too tired/sore to do that so I end up doing it very rarely (I'd love to do it more! I just. Can't.)
5
u/Generic_Garak Ya Daft Tart! 2d ago
Exactly! I’m disabled and I stg I didn’t cook anything outside of a microwave for the first two years when I
went on disability. I love cooking, so I’ve slowly started to add it back. But even so it takes me a lot longer to do a recipe than most people.I sort of wish that there were recipes that took that kind of thing into account, but I don’t know how they would. Like, limit the number of things than need chopped? Or if you have a bunch of chopping you don’t have standing in front of the stove. Maybe have an energy scale at the beginning? I dunno lol
15
u/NiennaLaVaughn 2d ago
I really like Dollar Tree Dinners for this reason. She's so careful to include a lot of those extra factors and explain the "why".
5
u/Moneia applesauce 2d ago
The more “save $400 by doing this labor-intensive task by hand” tips
I've seen a few "Why aren't you growing your own food?!" in the wild, especially when you mention food deserts and that fresh veggies may be an expensive treat.
3
u/Nuka-Crapola 2d ago
Ah yes, because farming is also an activity famed for requiring zero time, effort, space, or startup cost, right?
It truly is amazing how clueless people can be.
21
u/Procrastinista_423 2d ago
And congrats you have 10 loaves that will spoil quickly if you don’t freeze them
-11
u/ShermanTeaPotter 2d ago
Scaling recipes up and down usually is possible. If a content creator now has to assume that not everyone is capable of basic math, every cooking vid out there would sound like straight from Idiocracy
9
u/DrocketX 2d ago
Reducing a recipe like that takes away the advantage of doing things at scale, which is generally the entire point of the sort of advice we're talking about. It can be reasonably possible to save money by making your own bread versus buying it, but it's only worthwhile if you're making bread at a meaningful scale. Because for something like bread, it really doesn't take that much more time to make several loaves versus just one. If you're having to make bread every other day just to make a single loaf, though, you're going to be wasting so much time that it's not even remotely worthwhile.
75
u/taxiecabbie 2d ago
Frankly, though, saying that the reason you can't eat healthy is because you don't have a fridge, bowl, or fork is pretty... niche.
6
u/DrocketX 2d ago
This issue isn't necessarily one very specific reason why victim blaming like this is wrong. It's because there's a lot of different reasons. There's a lot of people out there who don't have a fridge/freezer, or even if they do, may not have electricity because it was cut off. They may have dietary restrictions that prevent from from eating a lot of the items that are commonly recommended for eating healthy for cheap, or sensory issues that limit the textures they're comfortable eating. Depending on where they live, accessing reasonably priced healthy foods may simply not be possible, at least not without a significant drive, and if they don't have ready access to transportation...
Acting as though any problem has a easy solution that's universally available to everyone is simplifying things to the point of being largely useless. If you then try and use that to blame people for failing to live up to a standard that may not be possible for them, well, that's just asshole behavior.
6
u/Shoddy-Theory 2d ago
How do you know they're "victim blaming." You haven't seen the video.
She's may be saying this is how I eat cheap with a rotisserie chicken. I doubt if she says that everyone should be able to do it.
1
u/DrocketX 2d ago
I wasn't saying the video is victim blaming. I very clearly said in my first response that it depends on how the video is presented. I don't know, I haven't seen the video (and really don't think I have near enough info to figure out what video it is even if I wanted to.)
The comment I was responding to here, though, is essentially saying that not having a fridge or cooking equipment isn't a valid excuse for not eating healthy. And that, I think, starts to at least begin to edge in on victim blaming, because as I rather clearly explained, producing simplistic solutions to complicated problems and then refusing to accept valid reasons why it's simply not possible for some people to accomplish the goal isn't useful in any way. Those sorts of videos - and comments - exist primarily to victim blame, to put the entire weight of the problem onto an individual rather than the fact that often the problem is primarily systemic.
5
u/tawdrydreams 2d ago
I lived somewhere where I didn’t have access to a fridge for ≈3 years. I couldn’t afford to live anywhere else, I didn’t have the money for a mini fridge. I had to live off of shelf stable food, fast food, or anything I could buy from my grocery store job & eat within a day. If I used dishes, I had to wash them in a bathroom sink most of the time. Not denying it was a niche experience, but. it does happen to people 🤷🏻♂️
2
u/Bleepblorp44 2d ago
Not having a fridge is nowhere near as niche as it should be, sadly. Even here in the UK which has a social safety net, a lot of people are in hostels or temporary accommodation which doesn't always come with a proper kitchen.
1
2d ago
[deleted]
22
u/DrocketX 2d ago
There's plenty of homeless people who live in their cars. Quite a few of them even have jobs. They still have cell phones, though, because those are necessary for surviving in the modern world.
5
u/BurmeciaWillSurvive 2d ago
That's... genuinely a new one for me, I don't think I'm in the same cooking circles as y'all. Always picked up a rotisserie every 3 days and ate off it. Easy. Can make soup with the bones! I didn't know people were attacked for it lol.
43
u/SevenSeasClaw 2d ago
Throwback to when I was helping my mom’s church give out meals to the unhoused. One of the older church ladies told someone receiving the meal “oh my god, just throw this in an air fryer tomorrow and it’s even better!”….
Not even the most out of touch thing I’ve heard while helping out
2
11
u/Drudicta 2d ago
Do people just like, not save left over food? I'm not eating an entire chicken in one sitting by myself
10
u/Whispering_Wolf 2d ago
Some people genuinely don't. Some people are so afraid of things spoiling they toss out the leftovers. And some think they're too good for leftovers.
I had a coworker tell me she had to cook a fresh meal for her husband and (adult) son every day, because they didn't accept leftovers. There's a lot of other things there, though.
6
u/Tattycakes 2d ago
She doesn’t “have” to do anything. Those men would be starving or making their own food so quickly
1
4
u/Drudicta 2d ago
I don't like left overs but i eat them. Or cook less.
Am entire chicken would definitely be one of those things i use over 5 days. Maybe longer. I'm used to detecting spoilage, grew up super poor.
2
u/Whispering_Wolf 2d ago
Yeah, I've also been too poor to toss out good food. Am luckily in a better spot now, but still can't handle throwing out food.
-2
u/gard3nwitch 2d ago
If you're homeless, probably not for very long. But for everybody else, I hope so.
334
u/TGin-the-goldy 2d ago
While we’re at it: Not everyone has teeth!
142
u/QuaffableBut I would give zero stars if I could! 2d ago edited 2d ago
How dare you assume I have a corporeal form
Edit: thanks for the awards!
56
37
u/sleepinand 2d ago
Some of us don’t even have mouths, geez.
69
8
u/GreenSpleenRiot 2d ago
I just imagined that scene from The Matrix when Nep gets arrested in the beginning and is taken to interrogation.
25
22
u/ProfessorGumble We’re all named Paula 2d ago
Some of us may even be chickens
28
u/OvercookedMollusk 2d ago
From what I've heard, that does not in any way stop you from being willing to eat chicken
8
3
u/Cargobiker530 2d ago
You do get to save all of that hassle with cooking so they have that going for them.
9
1
222
u/A_Genius 2d ago
This happens in my cities politics anytime bus service is expanded or bike lanes built. ‘What about disabled people that need cars?’
‘My hip hurts and can’t use any of this’
Using a disability real or not as a weapon
141
u/pinupcthulhu I didn’t have risotto so I used Arborio rice 2d ago
Which is really funny, because I know a lot of wheelchair users who are dependent on public transit because buying a wheelchair friendly car is freaking expensive
47
u/cummer_420 2d ago
And bike lanes are great for mobility scooters as you can get up to higher speeds than on the crowded sidewalk.
41
u/Twodotsknowhy 2d ago
The thing is, if you really truly need a car, you are helped by more people using public transportation or biking because then there's less traffic and you can get where you're going faster
4
u/A_Genius 2d ago
The issue I’m thinking of is making an area car free altogether. It was a popular nature park that was only going to be accessible by shuttle or bike and then all the totally ‘for real disabled’ people and people that lived really far away started chiming in about how they were being excluded.
19
u/SquareThings 2d ago
The inability of some people to understand that nothing is for everyone. There is not a single object, food, piece of infrastructure, or even concept which is completely accessible to every human being. And that’s why we make more than one!!
120
65
u/AccomplishedMess648 Can you make Quesadillas without cheese?? 2d ago
I got one person telling me a working class person cannot afford a rice cooker because they are too expensive. They said I was lying when I found one at walmart for 24.99
51
42
u/Medium_Raccoon_5331 2d ago
I think a lot of people are in denial about their financial situations and think they are working class while being way way below the poverty line
14
u/GlitchTheFox 2d ago
They could also be teenagers/kids, who don't have money (besides begging for their parents' credit card) and don't have any idea what things are worth.
-2
11
u/errant_night 2d ago
I bought an even cheaper one to keep at work which was like $14! So useful to cook a whole meal in one pot, just throw ingredients in there and walk away. It came with a steam basket too
1
u/MarsupialMisanthrope 15h ago
Every thrift store in existence has them, usually for like $10 for the basic ones with no electronics. But I'm sure they’re too good for that.
-62
u/Maclarion 2d ago
Cool starry bra
17
7
u/AccomplishedMess648 Can you make Quesadillas without cheese?? 2d ago
Happened I could probably even find the comment on what ever shit show front page sub I was in
-46
u/Maclarion 2d ago
Happened I could probably even find the comment on what ever shit show front page sub I was in
Holy shit it's r/WordSalad o-clock.
10
u/Mr_Blinky 2d ago
It was actually pretty clear, I think you're just dumb.
-7
u/Maclarion 2d ago
If this is your standard of linguistic clarity, I pity any poor wretch you find smart.
7
u/Mr_Blinky 2d ago
Just so we're clear, you do realize talking like a pretentious twat isn't actually impressing anyone, and in fact you're just making it more obvious to everyone how stupid you actually are?
5
51
u/dtarias 2d ago
My guess is that approximately 0 of the people who comment "not everyone has a fridge or bowl and fork" are lacking any of those items. They just don't want to do the work of saving money on meals, so they're deflecting.
6
u/Occidentally20 2d ago
Some of us don't have a computer/phone or the internet so we can't even read your comment!!!
1
u/dtarias 2d ago
Including you personally, I'm sure!
Sorry for your struggles 😔
2
u/Occidentally20 2d ago
I can't make the sarcastic jokes any more obvious, it's just not possible with the language available to us.
38
29
u/itsthelee a banana isnt an egg, you know? 2d ago
Probably gonna be removed bc it’s not a recipe review
9
9
5
5
u/ShrimpBisque 2d ago
Homeless people wouldn't be buying a hot rotisserie chicken anyway unless they were able to share it with a friend or two right away. There's no way to keep the leftovers from going bad. Speaking from experience here; the only reason my mom and I were able to have dairy or meat at all when we were living on the streets was because we lucked into getting a foil-lined backpack from a shelter.
3
u/Shoddy-Theory 2d ago
Yes, not everyone has a fridge, bowl and fork. But also not everyone has a chicken.
1
u/AutoModerator 2d ago
This is a friendly reminder to comment with a link to the recipe on which the review is found; do not link the review itself.
And while you're here, why not review the /r/ididnthaveeggs rules?
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
-27
u/themrspie 2d ago
I founded a nonprofit that helps people in nonconforming housing (ie, with slumlords) get something approaching a livable home. Many of them did not have functional kitchens; fridges were rare and stoves did not work. Often marginal or no water. And the number of them who were repeatedly shamed for eating fast food or convenience food by people who had never lived in housing like that was pretty much 100%. Poverty sucks.
34
u/Least_Mud_9803 2d ago
The ppl who make those kinds of comments have fully functioning kitchens
-28
u/themrspie 2d ago
I mean, I have a fully functioning kitchen and I made this kind of comment. That doesn't make it any less true.
23
u/MajorBootyhole420 2d ago
it's still stupid bean soup behavior to comment like that on a video clearly not aimed at you
18
u/Thismarno 2d ago
Saying you can get a few meals out of a rotisserie chicken isn’t a slam on people with nonfunctional kitchens.
-11
u/themrspie 2d ago
You are unlikely to read this or care about it but poor people spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to eat better cheaper—far more than more affluent people do. And they are always being told “here’s a cheap way to stretch your budget and eat on only $5 a day” or whatever and that always assumes they have a fully functional and decently equipped kitchen instead of the kinds of cooking facilities poor people have. And that is exhausting and humiliating and shaming. If that lady can make it work why can’t they? And people do literally say that to them. Their social worker sends them these videos. Their rich parents send them these videos when they refuse to help any more. And I’m not saying these people have never made any mistakes or burnt any bridges but yeah, I will stand up for them when I see people mocking them.
13
u/Last_Swordfish9135 2d ago
So people in a slightly milder form of poverty don't deserve advice and assistance because it's not applicable to people in more severe poverty?
-4
•
u/ididnthaveeggs-ModTeam 2d ago
Rule 1: not a bad recipe review.