No. I just like knowing how it should work. Probably a left-over from being without a Mom growing up. I’ve had to learn all those lessons, like the difference between rough chop, chop and mince on my own.
I’ve always just done it by feel. As I’m getting ready to buy bulk onions for winter, and I always run out, I was curious about what the 50# of onions should get me? And trying to figure how much of the 50# I should keep…
Yes, the right amount of onion in a recipe IMO is either half or all of an onion in my cupboard 
they’re so variable on flavor intensity anyway, like jalapeños, I just assume it’s part of every time you cook being wonderfully slightly unique because of fresh ingredients.
while there is a “should” for these specific skills, I’ve never heard of a way to measure an onion’s general size that isn’t at least a little bit subjective! So consider yourself the expert on your personal onion amounts!
I almost always use a whole onion, even if the recipe calls for part of one. I feel like a partially used onion always goes to die in my fridge. In that case I try to pick the smallest one. If a recipe says “medium” onion I always use a large one. I really never buy small ones because I love onion, and I feel like it’s with garlic, more is always better!
I have Talenti containers I use for partial veg: onion, bell pepper, chopped carrots, whatever. I put these in a specific area of my fridge. When I’m cooking, I pull the appropriate container and use that first.
This is the only way I don’t end up pitching the 1/2 an onion, etc. and it took me some time to come up with it. It probably would NOT work if the containers weren’t transparent, so I see the veg inside. Otherwise, no doubt, I’d forget.
I do this too! I love those Talenti jars more than the actual Talenti 
Yep, and it gives me an “excuse” to buy more every now and then…
I chop up sad vegetables and put them in the freezer. Totally fine for any dish where they are cooked.
I always mean to do this and never do…
Well, I am retired and one of my “projects” was reducing food waste. I didn’t really have the bandwidth to consistently do this when I worked. So, don’t worry about it. 
THank you for saying this!! It’s a reminder I need a lot 
Hahaha! I also did not effectively use my freezer when working. I just couldn’t juggle meal planning and the inventory in the refrigerator-freezer. Sad, but true. There were 3 groceries on the way home, so I would buy stuff a couple of days each week and cook it when I got home. Then have more food waste than I wanted since things that didn’t get used up, would often spoil. Leftovers were never put in the freezer because they just wouldn’t get eaten later because I would totally forget about them.
You do what you can, without optimizing things to death or insanity.
I mean this sounds very European to me!!
100%
I wish! Hahaha. It was far more random than Continental. Chicken breasts cook fast, bagged salad, frozen vegetables - not duck confit!
in my head 1 medium onion is 1 cup chopped. a large onion is 1.5 - 2 cups. a small onion is 1/2-2/3 cups.
Talk to me about slow cookers! Instapots scare me, and I mostly want to avoid cooking in the 2-3 hours before dinnertime. Prepping a bag of ingredients that get dumped in sometime during the day, and then only having to start rice or something like that, sounds like it would work great for us.
I want something compact (not a ton of storage space), durable, and cute. Oh, and as nontoxic as possible. Is there a reason I should look beyond this $19.99 cutie?
Any favorite slow cooker recipes without red meat or tons of dairy that you like?
Any chance anyone has an Apple Watch SE and has Opinions?
I would recommend going with a slightly bigger 6 qt option for a family, but that would probably be ok if you don’t think you’ll fix big meals.
In general, I definitely only use the slow cooker when the meat is going to be shredded because otherwise I don’t like the texture. But I’m a huge fan and use it once a week at least.
One of my fave ideas (we’re retired too btw) is to make a plainer, big hunk of something (could be a squash or roast) and we eat part of it day 1. Then I make a more highly seasoned partial dish day 2. So roast beef day 1 and beef tacos day 2, for example.
Helped us use up the bits and pieces. Also if there’s more than 2 meals’ worth, I can put the plainly seasoned portion in the freezer and not have to write a long note about what’s in it… “simple roast beef” works.