Can't cook don't cook! Time for change.

downandout! · 31 March 2005 at 3:27PM

Hi folks,

Me and my other half have watched with great interest Jamie's school dinners the last couple of nights and It suddenly dawned on me that we have a dreadfully unhealthy diet. Can't commend this guy enough for the work he has put in.

The only thing which we can cook is mince. None of us have ever cooked a chicken, we never eat pasta, we never eat steak, fish, salads etc, etc. All our meals are farmfoods frozen meals, tinned burgers, micro meals or take-aways.

My partner is quite a fussy eater in that there are few things she will eat. I on the other hand will eat just about anything (apart from the insects and stuff on I'm a celebrity get me outta here!

). I love most fruits but rarely buy it and when I do I forget it is there and it goes to waste, OH doesn't like any fruits (i know of, must ask

). I love most veg but again rarely buy any, apart from tins of beans(asda own make (good, bad?)), tins of peas and potatoes. I also love fish but my OH hates it and detests the smell so isn't happy if I make any apart from fish fingers.

Basically all we do is re-heat things.

We have 2 young kids (2.5 years and 4 months) and we need to change things for their sakes as much as ours. My oldest is a dreadful eater, our fault obviously, and I am ashamed to say her favourite meal is a chicken nugget happy meal!

Anyway I am looking for cooking tips to start changing our ways as this is not fair on ourselves or our kids. I have printed off the homemade soups thread and I intend giving one of these a bash sometime this week. Please give me simple recipes as we obviously ain't good cooks, but hopefully with the help of this site we can change this.

Many Thanks

downandout!

vanoonoo · 31 March 2005 at 3:59PM

you sound like another candidate for the world of slow cookers

have you checked out that thread yet?

Edinburghlass_2 · 31 March 2005 at 4:27PM

And thanks to Vanoonoo's suggestion I now cook my mince in the slow cooker, bung in an onion, some carrots if you want and hey presto its done

crana999 · 31 March 2005 at 4:28PM

Hi

One thing you can try that's really, really easy is a stir-fry.

All you do is slice up a selection of any veg you like, pretty much, into small pieces e.g. thin slices of carrot about the size of a 2p or so, finely chopped onion.

I wouldn't use potatoes but you could use any of these:
onion, carrot, bell pepper, mushrooms, sweetcorn (tinned/frozen), peas (tinned/frozen), fresh beans (any kind), tinned beans (not baked beans but you could try chickpeas, black eyed beans, etc), broccoli/cauliflower (cut into small florets), cabbage, baby sweetcorn, mange tout, fresh tomatoes, beansprouts..

Try to use a couple of different things but you don't have to go mad, 3 different veg would be perfectly fine.

Just heat a small bit of cooking oil in a frying pan or wok, then add the veg. Stir constantly for a few minutes until they are slightly soft and browned. Add a dash of soy sauce (If you don't have any, you can just eat it on its own if you want!) and eat!

You can serve it with rice or noodles or as a side dish. You can add Quorn or tofu (vegetarian) or meat - I will let someone else tell you what to do with the meat because I'm vegetarian and know nothing about cooking it!

This takes probably 10 minutes max, is very healthy, and you can change the vegetables for whatever you and your family like. It's very easy - if you have any questions just ask!

One tip: instead of buying big packs of veg, you could try just buying a couple of them loose (this is usually cheaper as well) and see if you like them or not. To buy just a couple of onions, mushrooms, carrots etc is very cheap.

Another tip: Could you try making a real effort to buy some fruit every week, and then get into the habit that you and the toddler have some at the end of every meal? (If he/she doesn't want a whole one, you could say cut up an apple, give him/her a few slices, and have the rest yourself).

If you or your OH work could you take a piece of fruit to work to have in a break?

Try having a special bowl or plate for fruit that is "obvious" in your kitchen so you can't miss that you have fruit.

flea72 · 31 March 2005 at 4:35PM

ok the easiest thing to do, is look at what processed foods you like and then, find a recipe so you can make it from scratch, and know exactly what is going into it

you dont even need to go the trouble of buying cookery books, a quick online search, will bring up lots of recipes

however it will be a shock if you are used to processed foods, as alot of them dont require chewing, and alot of people who eat processed foods find 'lumpy' food offputting

someone who finds tinned burgers tasty, isnt going to enjoy eating an all meat fresh burger, as they will compare the two and as they are nothing alike, will tend to prefer the one they are used to, rather than deciding whether they like the new flavour/texture or not - as was shown on jamies dinners

easy meals for beginners are shepards pie, spag bol, stir fry, carbonara, stews/casseroles or even a roast as they are easy to cook, its just a case of perfecting the timing

oh and dont worry about your kids liking Mcds, we only eat organic, home cooked food in our house, but given the choice, mine would also prefer a chicken nugget happy meal

Galtizz · 31 March 2005 at 4:36PM

Yep, slow cookers are sooo easy, just bung everything and switch it on and it *always* tastes gorgeous.

Veg - tinned veg isn't the greatest but at least it is veg. Frozen veg is much healthier than tinned because tinned often have preservatives in (i.e peas have a lot of salt in them)

Fish - you can make your own fishcakes *really* easily.

peel and chop 4 or 5 potatoes into quarters, put them in a saucepan 3/4's full with water. Put the saucepan on the hob and turn the heat up until it starts to boil. When it is boiling turn it down a bit so it doesn't boil over. The potatoes are done when you can put a sharp knife into them and them feel really soft.
Mash the potatoes with a masher
In the saucepan with the potatoes add 1 big tin of tuna or salmon and 2 or 3 teaspoons of parsley (in little jars at the supermarket, use Asda/ Lidl's own not Schwartz) mix it all up with a fork.
Get 2 slices of bread or rolls (the older and staler the better, but not mouldy) using the big bit of a grater (that you use for cheese) grate the bread onto a plate (makes breadcrumbs)
Crack an egg into a bowl and mix it up with a fork until the york is mixed in.
grab a handful of the potato/ tuna mix and squidge into a fishcake shape
put fishcake into the egg bowl and roll it around.
put the fishcake on the plate of breadcrumbs and roll around until coated
Repeat last 3 steps until you have used up all of the potato/ fish mix
put a tablespoon of oil into a pan, put it on the hob on a lowish heat chuck a little bit of bread in the pan (2 or 3 breadcrumbs) when the bread just starts to sizzle it is hot enough
Put 3 or 4 of the fishcakes in the pan leave 2 - 3 minutes then turn.
When they go brown they are ready. Keep turning until they are brown on both sides if you need to.

Sorry if the instructions are a bit to basic, but you say you've never cooked and if you haven't done it you have to be shown from scratch.

Last but not least check out THIS website. THIS bit is especially good (when it works, which it isn't doing today

) it shows you how to do basic things complete with pictures

I can also recommend THIS book for recipes and basics in plain English and a blokey way (for example kitchen equipment i.e potato mashers, knifes are listed as 'tools') I got it for my OH when I decided he needed to learn how to cook.

Well done for deciding to do this, you are over the first hurdle. Once you get into cooking you will start to pick it up quickly. Good luck.:T

Magentasue · 31 March 2005 at 4:57PM

I'd suggest a tip to the library - pick up a couple of cook books and make a list of recipes you like the look of. Then try them one at a time - no, no, not just the cake section.

There's a thread about cook books a few days back here. Try Nigel Slater - he's very down to earth but all about proper food. His new book Appetite is in our library and is just right for beginners.

JULIE · 31 March 2005 at 4:57PM

Why not try something mega basic like jacket potatoes and cheesy beans

Just stab the potatoes a few times..bung them on the oven shelf for couple of hours( I like them in for a couple of hours as we like em scrunchy on the outside) stick a couple of tins of beans in a pan then when all on plate grate cheese over the top... you could always put a small salad on the side or just a few cherry tomatoes... ideal size for littleuns... also baked beans aren't actually that bad for you and you could always buy the reduced sugar/ salt variety

Other toppings... egg mayo, tuna mayo, make your mince into a chilli or curry flavour

Why not try fish cakes for a change instead of fish fingers all the time

your OH really needs to look at the way she eats too as this (as you're aware) is a bad example to the children...you need to get the children eating fruit and veg... the 4 month old hasn't got bad habits yet so start early(when baby is ready for weaning) with pureed apple or banana...pureed potato or carrots and parsnips

with your older child just put a few seedless grapes into a bowl with strawberries and satsuma segments...this will then seem like fast finger food... my children are older now but I let them help themselves to the fruit bowl and very often they'll reach into the fridge for a tomato or carrot as a snack

Kiwi fruit is another lovely sweet fruit for younger children

Have mince with mashed potato and when you boil the potato in the same pot chop up parsnips, its a lovely flavour and also adds another veg to the meal in disguise... i'd recommend frozen peas not tinned and using frozen veg in general for you guys as you won't waste it by throwing it away as it won't go off........ i'll add another post when i've had time to think of a few more cheap n cheerful easy meals..... you say you don't eat pasta etc... is that cos you just don't bother with it or cos you don't actually like it??

firrybabe · 31 March 2005 at 5:06PM

Have you got a griddle ?

I use my griddle to make my own turkey burgers. (you could use beef if you prefer)

I get the turkey mince, add some salt, pepper, garlic,ginger + herbs and put into a bowl. I then use some plain flour to bind the mix

then separate it into say 1/4 inch thick circular burgers, if you do them too thick they take ages to cook !

I get the griddle nice and hot and then throw on the burgers and cook them.

Very easy and fairly quick, also as you don't need very much oil on the griddle it is quite healthy too.

As for the fish, maybe you could try baking monkfish tail or salmon fillets with some fresh herbs and spices ? In my opinion they don't smell too fishy and taste quite good.

JCL · 31 March 2005 at 5:23PM

Check the soup recipe thread for loads of ideas.

Soup has to be about the easiest thing you can make.

Good luck with the changes. You'll feel better for it and save money.

tiff · 31 March 2005 at 8:35PM

Well done for posting on here, you'll get loads of help and encouragement. I have always cooked my own meals but combined that with some ready meals and packets of things that arent really good for you. I also tended to stick to the same meals, rather than learn different things.

Since December I made a conscious effort to teach myself to cook. I buy a selection of fruit and veg each week and try to buy anything that is substantially reduced, even if I just make soup out of it, that's a Saturday lunchtime meal for all of us. As you already know soup is very, very easy to make you dont even need to follow a recipe. Just simmer a pan full of different veg with some chicken stock or veg stock and then put it in a food processor to make it smooth. Voila vegetable soup. As others have said, the slow cooker is excellent for beginners. Put your meat, veg and some stock/water in the slow cooker with herbs etc and it will turn out lovely. Learn how to thicken sauces and anything you make will be perfect.

You could buy a beginners cookbook, but really the best thing to do is decide what you want to make and then find out (ask on here) how to do it. If you go to a recipe site sometimes they include lots of ingredients, whereas people on here tend to cook in the real world and have better/shorter/cheaper ways of doing things.

Good luck.

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Can't cook don't cook! Time for change.

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