I was searching through the cookable recipes in Skyrim. None of them heal that much health in comparison to Healing potions. This isn't that surprising. Food seems to just kinda be there for the sake of the world seeming more realistic.

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Cooking#Recipes

They only restore between 5 and 15 health. I was going to rely on food only for healing. but after seeing how much food heals, that won't work. My character is a hunter though. I can still hunt for skins. and I can have cooked food as an emergency last resort. A VERY last resort....

I kinda wish that they'd made cooking a worthwhile endeavor, too. Even making a character eat to live would be great. I hope they implement this in a DLC - where needing to eat is a necessity, not just something you can completely ignore. Like, a mode where if you don't eat for days, your health bar doesn't regenerate, and after a week you lose stamina faster, then after 2 weeks your strength decreases, etc. That, or make food worthwhile to make (ie give food a more realistic HP boost).

I try to make my character eat 2-3 times a day, just for RP purposes, anyway.

Animals are kind of common. I agree with you that cooking ought to have been implemented better. It's tough getting a hold of food ingredients. And even after that, not much is gained from the cooked food.

I think they went with developing alchemy because with alchemy, a player can make all sorts of potions and poisons. With cooked food, it can be used for health, stamina, and magic regen. With alchemy, you have that plus potions which boost stats and poisons to help you in combat. So in the long run, if the Devs had to make a decision, it was better to develop alchemy instead of cooking.

Also, mixing together ingredients in a potion would be more potent than cooked food. Because of the ingredients used in the potion.

Just because I think I understand why, doesn't mean I like having cooking being under-developed. There's something about "living off the land" that is enjoyable. Of course, making potions IS a form of living off the land. Because you can gather ingredients for Alchemy from plants and dungeon walls/floors.

Cooking is overpowered if you look at it the right way. It takes 1 stamina point for a power attack. Some food items heal 1 stamina per second for I think 720 second, thus allowing for 720 consecutive power attacks.

Looking at the bright side, part of "living off the land" could involve gathering your own Alchemy ingredients. And mixing your own potions to restore Health, Stamina, and Mana.

In fact, the Alchemy Tree has Perks which boost the strength and effectiveness of potions and poisons:

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Alchemy_(Skyrim)

So to "live off the land," your character could gather their own ingredients. And mix their own potions. As opposed to buying Ingredients and buying potions. Plus, when you mix your own and you have those Alchemy perks, the mixed potions are stronger.

That's a good point. I was focusing on Health regenerating and totally forgot about Stamina.

I want this too. A lot of us want some form of hardcoe mode that can be toggled on and off, it only makes sense in a world that is packed full of food.. The word is this aint gonna happen though. But then a couple weeks ago I never would have guessed we'd get to build our own house, either.

I like Stews in Skyrim. Some of them even would give you enough healing.
But yes I agreed, foods still can be implemented better.

I would like if there was a mode where not eating affects health, magic and stamina regeneration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww2hlk0GXPs&feature=related

Yup. I'll love it.
There's mod for that though, and I just saying.

Yeah, implementing food better would be nice. And the toggle of having NOT eating affect your health, stamina, and magicka regen would be cool. Except there should be a time limit after turning it on or off. As in a time limit before turning switching it on or off again. For people who are hunter types. or for people who wanted an extra challenge.

For Vampires/Werewolves, instead of eating food, you'd HAVE to drink blood or go into wolf rage mode and feed off of people after killing them.

I still enjoy Skyrim though. I'm not saying "oh this game is terrible." I just looked up cooking because of my Hunter charcter. Even though it doesn't have those little details like requiring food and drink, it certainly has a lot of other things that are in depth. The game is incredibly detailed and there is much to explore and find.

A Hunter must also know the plants of the land. Someone who spends a lot of time in the wilderness needs to know which plants are harmful and helpful. A hunter who eats the wrong plant can be a soon-to-be-dead hunter. Knowledge of various plants can really help out a hunter. And help them not die when they know which plants are deadly.

Most foods are only useful at the beginning of the game when your health/stamina/magicka are low.
The stews are pretty good for Stamina regeneration. I wouldn't rely on them for health regen, but they're better than nothing in a pinch.
Elsweyr Fondue is great for magic users: boosts magicka regen by 25%, and boosts magicka by 100 for 12 minutes. That's useful for the whole game!

That's the power of the Moon Sugar..