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Meal Planning and cooking from scratch

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Right.... Im on a mission to start cooking from scratch and planning my weeks food to try and save some money as we throw so much food away it is awful!

The only problem is that im a terrible cook hence why all meals in the past have been ready made or jars etc (which is also unhealthy too!)

So im racking my brain trying to think of nice simple food I can start off with (some of the recipes look far too complicated!)

Can anyone give me any ideas of simple cooking that I should be able to manage????
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Comments

  • ascot64
    ascot64 Posts: 146 Forumite
    Can I suggest you try and get hold of a Jamie Oliver Ministry of Food cookbook. It is really helpful if you have never cooked before.

    Even as an experienced cook I think it is great.

    But to get you started think of all the things you can do with mince.

    Homemade burgers - add an egg a chopped onion and a bread roll soaked in milk, squish with your hands and make into burger shapes, fry and serve in rolls with tomatoes and lettuce
    Spag Bol - brown mince with onion, add tin toms, tom puree or ketchup and serve with spag
    Chill - same as Spag Bol but add kidney beans and chilli powder and serve with rice
    Cottage Pie - brown with chopped onions add carrots peas and gravy granules and a mashed potatoe topping.
  • Benson
    Benson Posts: 402 Forumite
    Im off to Amazon to have look now!!!!!! :beer:
  • also check out the first page of the grocery challenge, we hav esome great easy recipes there
    Nonny mouse and Proud!!
    Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience
    !!
    Debtfightingdivaextraordinaire!!!!
    Amor et metus. Lac? Sugar? Quisque massa vel duo? (stolen from a lovely forumite!)

  • Nicki
    Nicki Posts: 8,166 Forumite
    You could try a roast. Not as hard as it sounds and if you went for beef or lamb it wouldn't matter if your timings were a bit off as you can eat both either slightly under or slightly overdone and they still taste good. Just whack it in the oven at the time and temperature it says on the back of packet, serve with mint sauce or horseradish from a jar, and boiled or baked potatoes if you can't face timing roasties right. Then you could use leftovers sliced cold with a few oven chips for another night's meal.

    Chicken casserole is pretty forgiving too. Just brown your chicken pieces in a frying pan. Put in a casserole dish. Fry some onion and garlic together. Add a can of tomatoes, a teaspoon of mixed herbs, some salt and pepper, and cook at around 180 for around an hour. Serve with rice, pasta or baked potatoes. Again because you are cooking for a long time, a few minutes more or less won't do it any harm, just make sure when you pierce a chicken piece that the juices run clear.

    Toad in the hole - pop a tbsp of lard or veg oil in a roasting dish with your sausages and bake at 220 for 10 mins. Meanwhile mix 4 oz plain flour, 1 egg and 150ml of milk with salt and pepper until it is smooth. Pour over the semi cooked sausages and pop back in the oven for another 20mins or so until golden brown and puffy. Serve with peas or baked beans.

    Grilled chops, steaks, gammon steaks are also dead easy, and can be tarted up by topping with marmalade or cheese before you grill them.
  • Pink.
    Pink. Posts: 17,650 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Hi Benson,

    I agree with ascot64, mince is very versatile and is what I used to start teaching my children how to cook.

    These earlier threads may help you:

    Simple recipes for someone who can't really cook!

    hopeless cook

    I'll add your thread to those later to keep the ideas together.

    Pink
  • hi benson i`d really recommend " the dairy book of home cookery" its my bible, i dont really use cookery books although i have loads, im a very tradition cook. why i find this book so good as it has alot of basics in it, im cooking all the time but sometimes i forget a quantity so this book is great. it has things like pastry recipe, sponge mix, omlette, bread and butter pudding, chicken soup,coeslaw,lasagne, all with variations, pretty much everything in these recipes you will have in your cupboard, not like most fancy books. it also has in the front weight conversions, temperatures, all different meat cuts and what they are good for and all fish and when there in season. this book has been around for years and gets reprinted often. hope this helps.
    One day I will live in a cabin in the woods
  • betterlife wrote: »
    i`d really recommend " the dairy book of home cookery" its my bible,

    I'd second this! :T I picked up my copy in a charity shop (a 70s edition) - it's the same edition my Mum always used. Charity shops are a great source for cookery books, particularly if you're starting out and don't want to spend a fortune on books.

    Stews and casseroles are good for beginners because they can be very forgiving (if you forget about them!), but you need to patient and cook these nice and slowly. Cottage pie and spag bol are great staples and can be cooked in large batches and frozen (well, not the pasta but the sauce!).

    As well as plenty of recipe ideas on here, there are loads of great recipe websites out there. The Delia website and BBC Goodfood websites are great and they do have a lot of simple recipes, as well as more complicated stuff.
    GC May £178/£250 NSD
  • kazmc
    kazmc Posts: 428 Forumite
    Hi there

    I made fishcakes for the first time and they were lovely and scoffed up by my very fussy DD7 :D
    Soooo easy - just mash potato and tin of tuna, shape them into fishcake shapes and fry for a while then pop in the oven. Well cheap and really scrummy.
    Good luck
    Karen
  • Reverbe
    Reverbe Posts: 4,210 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    ascot64 wrote: »
    Can I suggest you try and get hold of a Jamie Oliver Ministry of Food cookbook. It is really helpful if you have never cooked before.

    Even as an experienced cook I think it is great.

    .

    I'd second that. I class myself as being able to cook but there are a lot of things I have never done or never done from scratch and I bought Jamie's Ministry of Food from the Book People at work for this very reason. It would help me with those things I dunno how to do myself like chilis and curries. Now I am not biased cos I met the guy due to a tipoff form here and got a HUGE free Xmas pud, my book signed and a mag signed for a gift. I genuinely think Jamie loves food and cooking and wants everyone to be able to share in this life pleasure and his no nonsense non stuck up way is very accessible. I love the way he says he cant be a***ed with making pastry anymorewhen there is good stuff to buy.:D
    What Would Bill Buchanan Do?
  • JoolzS
    JoolzS Posts: 824 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    If you've got broadband the BBC website has some video recipes in the food section, plus masterclass videos for some of the basics.

    Julie
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