Basic recipe FAILS....

[Lori2882]

I am stressed/overwhelmed/upset by basic recipes failing for reasons I can't explain. It also is doing the same for my pocketbook! We are doing our first Whole30...ate ok before - not worst of the worst, but definitely not great either. We are 5 days from the end of our 30 days, and I'd like to stick to this way of eating, but it seems like it'll be difficult to enjoy sticking with it with FAILS on things like a freakin mayo recipe! First mayo attempt failed on a consistency level...this time followed a video posted on theclothesmakethegirl.com and ROCKED the consistency part, but it tastes AWFUL! Like bitter wood! Used light olive oil. Sitting here racking brain about what I did wrong...thought I used a higher quality oil...I did accidentally let egg sit out for 3 hours...may have used old mustard powder...but I've also read about blending issues making oil bitter...or lastly I also wonder if it is just my tastes that are screwed up from years of commercial junk? But I don't know cause I mean this. stuff. tastes. BAD! I just don't know where to start, but I feel like its too risky/expensive to try 10 more times to get it right! (Especially when every comment about the recipe I'm trying is a raving review about how awesome it tastes! My coconut butter didn't turn out so hot either!) Anyone else having these issues? I'd just like something to go right for once considering how much time (I know my kids are missing me as at times I feel I live in a grocery store or kitchen!), MONEY, and effort is going into this great way of eating! I've cut out the bread, pasta, sugar, oils, dairy, etc. but dammit I NEED mayo and other such basics to make this transition easier! It also makes me scared to try other recipes like these out of fear they will taste awful and be a waste of time and money - hence the 20 days in between my first mayo attempt and my second!

[BoCa]

I tried to make mayo once and it was horrible. I hear ya' I just don't have the hand for it, I guess. And you're right. It is expensive. I don't have the *need* for mayo that you're expressing, so I've given up and not minded, but you need some advice from a good cook! I hope someone will be able to help you with that.

 

For me, the recipe fails have been trying to make carrot chips and sweet potato chips. They weren't crispy, unless I burned them. These things just take too long to have to do them over and over and over again for mediocre results at best!

 

I think my solution has been to simply cook the same stuff over and over again. Not great either, but it works. And since I have kids who are NOT going to go on this diet (nor do I think they should), I have to cook many meals... 

 

it's not easy. I'm glad I'm doing this, but I'm also glad it's just 30 days. 

[Lori2882]

I so feel your comment about mediocre results not warranting do overs! Between the cost and time/effort, I just can't do it! My *need* is for variety...I worry that I can only survive so long with just saying F it and living without these types of things and therefore either eating bland crap or eating the same few things over and over again! I feel that is where I'll get in trouble and just want to run back to less healthy/easier/more flavorful "food" items. And knowing what I know now about those "foods" after making this change I REALLY don't want to do that! I too am not strictly holding my kids to the whole30 diet (not cooking separate meals, but allowing them things we cannot have when elsewhere) but I would love to transition them along to this way of eating. That way they are not like me at my age trying to put the brakes on and having to make this lovely but difficult transition on their own one day.

[Tom Denham]

Did you use extra virgin olive oil? Extra virgin olive oil makes a bitter mayo. I thought light olive oil was recommended to save money, so I made mine with extra virgin one day and it was awful. It is really important to use a cheaper, olive oil that says clearly on the bottle that it is light and does not say extra virgin. 

 

I thought making my own mayo was expensive until I saw how much a bottle of soybean oil mayo costs in the grocery store. The price is comparable. 

 

Cooking is a skill that every adult needs. A society where people eat out of boxes and from restaurants is corrupt. Join your great grandparents in being a skillful cook. It takes effort and practice, but once you have learned, you can whip up tasty meals and food quickly and easily. It does, however, take time to learn.

[BoCa]

As far as the kids go, I completely agree with you about not wanting them to end up with bad habits they with they didn't have. I think my approach on that has been that I cook one "core" thing at least. It's a meat and veg thing or chicken and veg thing. But every couple of days I make them something they like that I can't have while I make my husband and me fish, which they won't eat no matter WHAT. So they are kind of doing the thing we are doing, but with less meat, because I think it's a weird amount of meat for anyone over the long run, and for them ever. SO on our fish nights, they get mac and cheese (home made, but still) or they get pasta with tomato sauce and a side of peas. I can't eat any of that, so when they hear that it's fish night, they know they're getting more "kid friendly" food. But on all the other nights, they eat as we do and haven't really noticed that the potatoes or the rice are missing.  

[CookieP]

I have never tried to make mayo and from what I read I probably won't.  Don't care for it much, so I guess I'm good.  But I have also heard that using extra virgin olive oil makes for bad tasting mayo as well (heard it on the food network).  Might want to try a more neutral flavored oil.

[BoCa]

Instead of mayo, I often use other spreads, that are usually eaten as dips. I had babaganoush tonight and that could work in places where mayo works, I'd think. Not everywhere, but lots of places. For instance, I wouldn't mix it with tuna fish, but I'd eat it mixed with small bits of chicken like a chicken salad. Very flavorful. Recipes abound and it's really basic. I made a cauliflower humus that I liked. My husband did not like it, so I can't boldly recommend it, but I thought it was very, very good. 

[Tina R]

I am stressed/overwhelmed/upset by basic recipes failing for reasons I can't explain. It also is doing the same for my pocketbook! We are doing our first Whole30...ate ok before - not worst of the worst, but definitely not great either. We are 5 days from the end of our 30 days, and I'd like to stick to this way of eating, but it seems like it'll be difficult to enjoy sticking with it with FAILS on things like a freakin mayo recipe! First mayo attempt failed on a consistency level...this time followed a video posted on theclothesmakethegirl.com and ROCKED the consistency part, but it tastes AWFUL! Like bitter wood! Used light olive oil. Sitting here racking brain about what I did wrong...thought I used a higher quality oil...I did accidentally let egg sit out for 3 hours...may have used old mustard powder...but I've also read about blending issues making oil bitter...or lastly I also wonder if it is just my tastes that are screwed up from years of commercial junk? But I don't know cause I mean this. stuff. tastes. BAD! I just don't know where to start, but I feel like its too risky/expensive to try 10 more times to get it right! (Especially when every comment about the recipe I'm trying is a raving review about how awesome it tastes! My coconut butter didn't turn out so hot either!) Anyone else having these issues? I'd just like something to go right for once considering how much time (I know my kids are missing me as at times I feel I live in a grocery store or kitchen!), MONEY, and effort is going into this great way of eating! I've cut out the bread, pasta, sugar, oils, dairy, etc. but dammit I NEED mayo and other such basics to make this transition easier! It also makes me scared to try other recipes like these out of fear they will taste awful and be a waste of time and money - hence the 20 days in between my first mayo attempt and my second!

Perhaps you are trying recipes that are complicated.  I am not a trained chef so I stay away from complicated recipes. I would start with my families favorite recipes and try to adapt them to Paleo. For example Spaghetti and Meatballs, beef stew, chicken soup, roasted veggies, shrimp, burgers, etc. I also look at the ingredients, for example Well Fed's chili recipe has cocoa powder in it. That doesn't sound good to me so I haven't made it yet. Also her beef stew has vinegar, it sounded weird to me. I made it anyway and really didn't like the vinegar in it. The mayo is an art. I made it with light olive oil but it was really bland to me, I may have to add avocado or garlic to it. Not all blenders work so it may not be you but your blender. I would look at the immersion blenders that are recommended by Well Fed or Nom Nom Paleo and see if you can pick up one of those. If you want mayo in your life it will be worth the investment. 

[Toni]

I have had several recipe failures, too.  I have tried bone broth twice, following the recipe in ISWF faithfully, and both times it was yuck!  The second time I even roasted oxtails and it was still awful.   I also tried a sort of spanish-version of caulflower rice that was kind of okay, but it called for 2 heads of cauliflower.  I only used 1 head, and the added ingredients (tomato sauce, spices,etc) were so sparse and blah for 1 head of cauliflower, I can't imagine how awful it would have been if I had used 2 heads.  I haven't tried mayo yet, but hope to soon.  One thing that I've really loved from clothesmakethegirl is "The Best Chicken You'll Ever Eat" and "Moroccan Dipping Sauce."  That might take the place of mayo for some people.

[Carlaccini]

I've heard others using Macadamia nut oil or Avocado oil.  I have tried the avocado oil mayo once - I found it to be rather heavy tasting (and green!)  So definitely recommend the Extra Light tasting Olive oil (brand: Bertolli) I pick up a large container (I think 2 liters) from Costco - for around $15. (Canadian)

 

Extra Virgin Olive oil = very bitter mayo.  Inedible in my books.  I did that once.

 

I was always a mayo girl.  Mayo with French Fries = awesome in my books.  My mayo of choice was Miracle Whip (so lighter tasting).  I taste it now - blech. 

 

The fact that you let your egg sit at room temp for 3 hours - no worries there.  I do this on a regular basis.

 

My recipe for mayo is very similar to Well Fed way - with the exception that I add a teensy bit of apple Cider vinegar.  I found the lemon way to too lemony and the ACV alternative waa-aay too tangy.  So I use 1/2 of a squeezed lemon + 1/2 tsp (or less) of ACV. And I use an immersion blender method

[jent103]

Carlaccini, that's funny - I like the all-ACV method *because* it reminds me of Miracle Whip! We were a MW family, not a mayo family.

 

I've let my egg sit out overnight before. I figure if it's good enough for the chickens it's good enough for me.

[ShannonM816]

I have had several recipe failures, too.  I have tried bone broth twice, following the recipe in ISWF faithfully, and both times it was yuck!  The second time I even roasted oxtails and it was still awful.  

 

I've made beef broth a couple of times, I don't care for the flavor of it by itself, even though I love beef and eat it often. But I like it in recipes. If I want broth just to drink, I prefer chicken, even though my chicken broth never gels like the beef broth does. It just tastes lighter somehow and more appealing. So it may not really be failure, you just may not care for the flavor. I don't like the smell of it either while it's cooking, I just put it up with it -- and I love the smell of most meats cooking.

 

I'm not a great cook, and while I haven't had much that was completely inedible, I do have a lot of things that don't turn out as well as I'd hoped. But I am getting better, and I'm branching out and trying new recipes some, while sticking to things that are "safe" things to me, things that I pretty much never screw up, like hamburger patties and roasted veggies and chicken roasted in the crockpot. So I guess what I'd recommend to Lori2882 and others is don't give up, you will get better. Find a few things you do well that you don't mind eating a lot, and then when you have time and the inclination to try something new, pick a recipe or two that gets good reviews, plan on cooking it when you have plenty of time and aren't feeling rushed, and if you taste it and think it isn't quite as good as you hoped, try to determine what it was that made it that way -- is it some spice that you don't like/wish there was less of? Did it need to cook more/less time? Try to keep some for leftovers too, some things are actually better that way. I spent a lot of time on supper one night, new recipe, cut of meat I'd never used before, and was really disappointed with how it tasted. But, being single, I had leftovers, and it turned out, as leftovers, it was really good. So if I make it again, I'll make it as part of a big cookup for the week and not even taste it when it first gets done, just put it in the fridge to have the next day. I don't know why it made a difference, but it definitely did -- and that takes the pressure off of me to try to time that dish to get it served for a specific meal, too.

[jent103]

Yes! to what Shannon said. I spent most of my Whole30 trying tons of new recipes and spending way too many hours in the kitchen. I completely complicated things for myself, unnecessarily. Now I stick to mainly simple things (which either means inherently uncomplicated, like hamburger patties, or recipes that I've made a bunch of times by now), and try a new recipe or two on weekends that I have time. I also cook (or prep) nearly all my food on the weekends so during the week I'm mostly just reheating. To paraphrase Melissa Joulwan - I like to cook, but I hate making dinner. So mostly, I don't.

[Emma C.]

I had to get used to olive oil mayo. I don't think it tastes anything like "regular" mayo. Olive oil mayo tastes like... well... olive oil.

 

Ever since I bought an immersion blender, I haven't screwed up my mayo once. In fact, I don't even let the egg and lemon juice come to room temperature and it still works! So if you're not using an immersion blender or if you don't have one, I would strongly recommend it. I use mine all the time.

[Semolina]

Mayo ... I've tried a few and discovered:

 

- I think mustard in mayo is vile (it makes it uneatable)

- I prefer to use vinegar (white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar) rather than lemon as the acid (1 tbsp. per egg)

- light olive oil is ESSENTIAL

- I use sea salt and a little cayenne in mine and it is yummy

 

For me, the mayonnaise is the difference between being able to do this for 30 days and just doing it most of the time ... it goes in salad dressings, with eggs, with chicken, in pies ... I use it all the time for that "cream" replacement.

 

The thing about cooking is the more you do, the more you get confident about what is good for your palate. I am lucky enough (?) to have cooked most of my life, to the point I can look at a recipe and go "hmm. not sure about the balsamic vinegar in that one. I think it would taste weird with balsamic. I'll just leave it out."

 

Good luck.

 

ETA: forgot to say, mayonnaise is the hardest of the "basic recipes" ... so don't let that put you off trying other stuff. And that's from a seasoned cook.

[bleu romaine]

@lori2882 hang in there!!! I love the taste of store bought mayo but every homemade mayo I made tasted nothing like that UNTIL last night!!! I didn't use a recipe i just winged it. I used 1 1/4 cup extra light tasting olive oil, 1 egg, a ton of chopped garlic 1/2 bulb, 1/4 minced yellow onion, 1 tsp salt, 3 tbs white vinager. I first sauteed the garlic and onions in a little olive oil with a dash of salt just long enough to make them sweat over low heat, then added everything into a bowl and mixed with my hand held immersion blender! Taste absolutely fantastic!!!! Great consistency and has that beautiful mayo kick:)

[graygirl]

Here is a suggestion...is there anyone else that is doing Whole 30 with you?  Friends?  Family?  Maybe you can find someone that can make mayonnaise and you can make something else and do a trade.

 

I am doing the Whole 30 with about 15 of my CrossFit box mates.  And, we have our own group page on Facebook.  We share recipes, success and failures...all the way around.  This, I find, is extremely helpful in doing Whole 30...support!

 

Good luck!

[Vian]

I found out that I do NOT like mayo made with lemon juice. It makes it bitter. Try making it with another acid like vinegar (I prefer the clean neutral flavor of white distilled vinegar). Light tasting olive oil should be fine, but I've started using Chosen Foods refined avocado oil (should be available at Costco in 1 litre bottles for about $10) and really like it. I also use Melissa Joulwan's method for mayo (theclothesmakethegirl)

[**Ann**]

I definitely feel you on some fails. I don't prefer light tasting olive oil for mayo, its not the same as when I use avocado oil.  But avocado oil is much more expensive.  I think I will go splurge on avocado oil for this in the future.  I sucked at mayo, until I found this, now it comes out almost every time (I say almost b/c there have been 2-3 times over the thousands of times I've made it, it was too runny). I have found that I don't like lemon juice in my mayo either in the base (I can add it later to make a dressing no problem). I prefer either apple cider vinegar or good ol distilled white vinegar.  ETA:  I cannot use mustard powder in my recipe. I tried and it failed.  It works much better with a compliant dijon mustard.  ETA2: Like a poster above, with the immersion blender, I don't even have to worry about temps of the ingredients.  My egg is cold when I mix, and if my oil was in fridge (depending on oil) that is cold too. My acid is usually warm.

 

http://themeanestmomma.com/2012/10/17/paleo-mayo-even-faster-and-easier/

 

I totally fail on coconut butter and nut butters.  I don't have the powerful food processor or the expensive vitamix.  I will eventually invest, but I know for now, the butters will be more work than I'm willing to put in.

 

I also can't make a whole 30 pot roast that I like.  Sorry, I cannot stand the coffee grind and/or cocoa recipes out there.  I like pot roast in the old fashion completely unhealthy way, and I haven't successfully made one to recreate it. So pot roast is not a dish in our house b/c I'm tired of tossing out big hunks of meat.

 

When I first started paleo, I've made really fancy dishes, but that was too much work and too expensive for all the details. Now, I have it down to the basics, but make a treat occassionally with a fancy dish.

 

Oh, my other big fails are snack foods, like chips or fries.  I can't bake those things to save my life, pan deep-frying takes way to long and too much effort when I eat it all right after cooking (lol), and getting my deep fryer out with palm shortening is too much mess and clean up (unless I"m bulk cooking it). So I don't do those anymore either.

[**Ann**]

@lori2882 hang in there!!! I love the taste of store bought mayo but every homemade mayo I made tasted nothing like that UNTIL last night!!! I didn't use a recipe i just winged it. I used 1 1/4 cup extra light tasting olive oil, 1 egg, a ton of chopped garlic 1/2 bulb, 1/4 minced yellow onion, 1 tsp salt, 3 tbs white vinager. I first sauteed the garlic and onions in a little olive oil with a dash of salt just long enough to make them sweat over low heat, then added everything into a bowl and mixed with my hand held immersion blender! Taste absolutely fantastic!!!! Great consistency and has that beautiful mayo kick:)

 

I agree, I do like the taste of store jar mayo, and I think using the white vinegar is what gets you to the "store bought" taste.  I like a richer mayo taste too, but sometimes, you just want the other taste.

[**Ann**]

Also as an example.  I made stupid easy paleo's kicken BBQ shredded chicken this weekend.  The recipe called for 1.5 cups vinegar and I just KNEW looking at that, it wasn't my thing. So I actually took an idea from Everyday Paleo's BBQ and used .5 cup pineapple juice, .5 cup apple juice, and .5 cup apple cider vinegar, as the base, added some liquid smoke and it came out pretty good.  I might actually up the pineapple juice and lower the vinegar next time, but it was soemthing I could see I wouldn't like at all. Plus, I prefer a BBQ sauce like Sweet Baby Ray's which is a very sweet and rich sauce, not vinegary.  Its not been easy trying to recreate a sweet BBQ sauce on paleo, but dammit, I'm going try if it kills me.  lol

[praxisproject]

If you make a mayo and all else is well but you don't like the taste, it's worth tasting the components. I've bought some really bitter limes that make horrible mayo, but they make everything horrible

 

I don't like mayo made with ACV, I much prefer lemon and lime I make mine with macadamia oil or avocado oil (this makes bright green mayo)

[toriellie]

I also can't make a whole 30 pot roast that I like.  Sorry, I cannot stand the coffee grind and/or cocoa recipes out there.  I like pot roast in the old fashion completely unhealthy way, and I haven't successfully made one to recreate it. So pot roast is not a dish in our house b/c I'm tired of tossing out big hunks of meat.

 

How do you cook pot roast the "old fashion" way?  I have a crock pot recipe and an oven recipe, and both are good and taste just like regular old roast beef. 

[Jen Brandon]

Did you use extra virgin olive oil? Extra virgin olive oil makes a bitter mayo. I thought light olive oil was recommended to save money, so I made mine with extra virgin one day and it was awful. It is really important to use a cheaper, olive oil that says clearly on the bottle that it is light and does not say extra virgin. 

 

I thought making my own mayo was expensive until I saw how much a bottle of soybean oil mayo costs in the grocery store. The price is comparable. 

 

Cooking is a skill that every adult needs. A society where people eat out of boxes and from restaurants is corrupt. Join your great grandparents in being a skillful cook. It takes effort and practice, but once you have learned, you can whip up tasty meals and food quickly and easily. It does, however, take time to learn.

Quick question… I'm about to make the mayo, but I thought only the Extra-Virgin Olive oil was acceptable according to the shopping list… am I missing something? 

Thanks!

 

Best of luck to the person with the original post!

[GFChris]

Quick question… I'm about to make the mayo, but I thought only the Extra-Virgin Olive oil was acceptable according to the shopping list… am I missing something? 

Thanks!

 

Best of luck to the person with the original post!

As Tom said, do not use extra virgin olive oil to make mayo - taste is way too bitter/inedible. Use light olive oil, macadamia nut oil, or avocado oil instead

 

The shopping list is not an exhaustive list.