This is posted under a temporary/assumed name so that if my actually visits this forum I won't be busted.
I share an apartment with two other people, one of which is the center of this topic. He is a year older than myself; he is 23, yet he lacks some fundamental household skills. I did not know that he did not cook and I expected him to perform his portion (one third) of the cooking & cleaning. He doesn't know how to cook simple foods and I really doubt that he knows how to even cook scrambled eggs. I have lived with him a month and have seen him boil hotdogs in water and make popcorn in the microwave.
When I did find out that he knows pretty much nothing, I was shocked but the figured that: "Fine, I will do most of the cooking if he does a larger part of the household cleaning." Doing most of the cooking doesn't bother me. Most of the time I find it therapeutic and I enjoy cooking the way I would want to eat it. I've cooked roasts, lemon herb grilled chicken, chicken parm, chicken fried, potatoes mashed/boiled/baked, omelets, burgers, caser salad with grilled chicken, house salad, marinated steaks, mushroom-tomato sauce with bowtie/spiral/linguini pastas. I am trying to show him how to do basic cooking and cleaning. I demonstrated how to skin, de-fat, and slice the chicken into cutlets. We sat down and did a 'hands on' session with a package of 8 split chicken breasts. Since that time I have done more cooking while he just watched.
As far as cleaning is concerned, he doesn't do that too well either. I am certainly not a perfectionist, a look around the room and a peek at my college record will tell all. But I do expect that when dishes & eating utensils are washed that are indeed washed. I do not want to see a sticky film along the backsides of spoons nor do I want to see oily residue still residing in bowls that are so called clean. After finding out that he doesn't dishes properly (after explaining "Use HOT water, Use liberal amount of soap, Use scrubber cloth"
I have now bought disposable Styrofoam plates, plastic throwaway cups and fork & knives. The bathroom needs to be cleaned. I don't know if I should just give him the gloves, sponge & cleanser and have him do it, only so that I could re-do it for it to be clean. Or should I do it myself, with him watching and him to do it the next time.
Does anybody have any links/sites/advice/telephone #s/words/phrases that I could use to help "train" my apartment-mate? I am writing this just to vent and to see if anyone has been in similar situations. I really don't want him to cook for me or my other apartment-mate but I would rather him to cook for himself, instead of me cooking a big-ass meal twice a week.
Currently, the only easy to prepare foods we have in the apartment is hotdogs & sliced turkey-breast sandwiches. I guess he will be living on dogs & turkey because I am not cooking until Wednesday at the earliest. I will do another 'hands on' with pot roast, mashed potatoes, & mixed vegetables. I will be more forceful and demanding of him.
Tonight I made myself a quick & simple chicken cutlet parm. I snagged two frozen preskinned & defatted cutlets. Dumped some sauce on it & threw 'em in the oven in a baking disk at 225 degrees for about 45 minutes. Then I threw some more sauce & some cheese on it, covered the dish with foil, and left it in the oven at 400 degrees. About a half hour later I could smell it in my room upstairs so I took it out at set the table for dinner. He came down a minute later, sort-of expecting to find a portion for himself. He said "Looks good.", wandered about the kitchen for a couple of seconds, then went upstairs. For a minute I felt ashamed of my actions, but why should I? I am not in any way preventing him from eating. He does not ache for nourishment & sustenance. Perhaps this will spur him to cook on his own.
I understand that he did not pick up these skills from his mother. I understand that unlike myself, did not prepare meals & clean for his family. I have studied under the guidance of my mother, worked in two restaurants, and straight up experimented in the kitchen. By the 6th grade I could iron my own clothes, do my own laundry, & make an oven roasted chicken dinner. I hope I don't sound as though I am bragging or slamming him for not knowing, but I figured that he would have picked up some cooking skills off his mother.
My other apartment-mate feels very much the same way I do. I have no complaints against him. I've waken up to him making breakfast (eggs & French toast) and gone to sleep with him washing dishes or vacuuming the apartment.
So in the end, is it possible to train my inept apartment-mate?
(Fixed spelling & grammar)
ApartmentDweller
I share an apartment with two other people, one of which is the center of this topic. He is a year older than myself; he is 23, yet he lacks some fundamental household skills. I did not know that he did not cook and I expected him to perform his portion (one third) of the cooking & cleaning. He doesn't know how to cook simple foods and I really doubt that he knows how to even cook scrambled eggs. I have lived with him a month and have seen him boil hotdogs in water and make popcorn in the microwave.
When I did find out that he knows pretty much nothing, I was shocked but the figured that: "Fine, I will do most of the cooking if he does a larger part of the household cleaning." Doing most of the cooking doesn't bother me. Most of the time I find it therapeutic and I enjoy cooking the way I would want to eat it. I've cooked roasts, lemon herb grilled chicken, chicken parm, chicken fried, potatoes mashed/boiled/baked, omelets, burgers, caser salad with grilled chicken, house salad, marinated steaks, mushroom-tomato sauce with bowtie/spiral/linguini pastas. I am trying to show him how to do basic cooking and cleaning. I demonstrated how to skin, de-fat, and slice the chicken into cutlets. We sat down and did a 'hands on' session with a package of 8 split chicken breasts. Since that time I have done more cooking while he just watched.
As far as cleaning is concerned, he doesn't do that too well either. I am certainly not a perfectionist, a look around the room and a peek at my college record will tell all. But I do expect that when dishes & eating utensils are washed that are indeed washed. I do not want to see a sticky film along the backsides of spoons nor do I want to see oily residue still residing in bowls that are so called clean. After finding out that he doesn't dishes properly (after explaining "Use HOT water, Use liberal amount of soap, Use scrubber cloth"
I have now bought disposable Styrofoam plates, plastic throwaway cups and fork & knives. The bathroom needs to be cleaned. I don't know if I should just give him the gloves, sponge & cleanser and have him do it, only so that I could re-do it for it to be clean. Or should I do it myself, with him watching and him to do it the next time. Does anybody have any links/sites/advice/telephone #s/words/phrases that I could use to help "train" my apartment-mate? I am writing this just to vent and to see if anyone has been in similar situations. I really don't want him to cook for me or my other apartment-mate but I would rather him to cook for himself, instead of me cooking a big-ass meal twice a week.
Currently, the only easy to prepare foods we have in the apartment is hotdogs & sliced turkey-breast sandwiches. I guess he will be living on dogs & turkey because I am not cooking until Wednesday at the earliest. I will do another 'hands on' with pot roast, mashed potatoes, & mixed vegetables. I will be more forceful and demanding of him.
Tonight I made myself a quick & simple chicken cutlet parm. I snagged two frozen preskinned & defatted cutlets. Dumped some sauce on it & threw 'em in the oven in a baking disk at 225 degrees for about 45 minutes. Then I threw some more sauce & some cheese on it, covered the dish with foil, and left it in the oven at 400 degrees. About a half hour later I could smell it in my room upstairs so I took it out at set the table for dinner. He came down a minute later, sort-of expecting to find a portion for himself. He said "Looks good.", wandered about the kitchen for a couple of seconds, then went upstairs. For a minute I felt ashamed of my actions, but why should I? I am not in any way preventing him from eating. He does not ache for nourishment & sustenance. Perhaps this will spur him to cook on his own.
I understand that he did not pick up these skills from his mother. I understand that unlike myself, did not prepare meals & clean for his family. I have studied under the guidance of my mother, worked in two restaurants, and straight up experimented in the kitchen. By the 6th grade I could iron my own clothes, do my own laundry, & make an oven roasted chicken dinner. I hope I don't sound as though I am bragging or slamming him for not knowing, but I figured that he would have picked up some cooking skills off his mother.
My other apartment-mate feels very much the same way I do. I have no complaints against him. I've waken up to him making breakfast (eggs & French toast) and gone to sleep with him washing dishes or vacuuming the apartment.
So in the end, is it possible to train my inept apartment-mate?
(Fixed spelling & grammar)
ApartmentDweller
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