Want to start cooking - help!!

Yorkshirechick

I had a quick look to see if there was a similar thread to this, but couldn't find one, so here goes.

Lately I've got into bad habits with cooking, and tend to re-heat things rather than cook from scratch. I'm 3 months pregnant and have been feeling 'off' loads of food, so I've just been eating stodge really.

I also have a 16 month old and want to make sure he eats healthily. He is brilliant at eating fruit and veg, but I often feel like I'm just hashing things together than making them into a proper meal IYSWIM?

I have a week off work now and thought I'd try to make a meal from scratch every night to try and get into the habit.

Can anyone suggest.provide links to easy, quick and wholesome recipes that are suitable for a toddler as well as adults?

Thanks

Yorkshirechick

Also - I usually only have around half an hour to prepare and make dinner, as once I've picked DS up from the childminder he needs to eat quickly before he gets grumpy, and also so I can get him into bed at a reasonable time.

I also have a fairly unadventurous husband who won't eat fish unless it's battered, won't eat meat off the bone etc. You know the type :rotfl:

Pink.

Hi Yorkshirechick,

These threads should give you some ideas:

Simple recipes for someone who can't really cook!

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

super quick family meal ideas

Or have a browse through The Complete Cooking Collection

I'll add your thread to the first link later to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

Boodle

Congrats on the pregnancy In the beginning of my current pregnancy, my DD had a lot of "things" on toast, pasta and couscous as everything turned my stomach too. All these things are quick and easy and kids seem to love this sort of meal. You can throw frozen veg in with the pasta, tinned pulses, tinned fish or cooked meat - same with couscous only difference being having to ccok the veg separately but that ain't too much of a hardship

Jaycee1972

Hiya

I do 4 meals a week for me and my toddler (and sometimes his dad), the other days he is at nursery or his dads for his main meal.

I try to do a meal with pasta, one with rice and one with potatoes. The other will have one of these or occasionally may be noodles/couscous.

We are veggie and one advantage is that meals are quicker to prepare as well as being generally cheaper and more healthy. A lot of meals here involve, onions, garlic, mushrooms and a tin of tomatoes. Then add other veg eg peppers, courgette, aubergine, carrots or things like Quorn pieces and gravy granulesfor a casserole, Quorn mince, Red Kidney Beans and chilli powder for a chilli, chick peas or tofu and curry powder/spices/yoghurt/cream for a curry, Quorn mince and herbs for bolognaise or just veg for pasta sauce. Chuck a bit of wine in a casserole/pasta sauce if you have it. For variety, you can add cans of beans (black eye, butter, Adzuki) to casseroles or pasta sauce.

We have things like veggie sausages with potatoes and veg or Quorn fillets (you can do these in the oven in gravy adding mushrooms and onions if you feel like it), they only take 20 mins or so when thawed.

Jacket potatoes are hearty and wholesome with any of the above or just good old cheese and beans or cauli cheese and a bit of veg on the side. I sometimes do cheesy mash, sometimes with onion or swede and have this with veg/quorn/cheese/gravy. When I was pregnant, I ate a lot of potatoe based meals as that was what I seemed to fancy (mash and gravy)!

We often have mushrooms/courgettes fried with scrambled egg stired in on toast (to get those veggies in) but you could have this with sausage/burger and tomatoes/beans too for a more substantial meal. My little one who is 2.5 loves this but will happily eat all of the above.

If you make something you do in a big pot, make extra for another meal that week or to freeze to save you bothering another day. I do this a lot and also take leftovers to work as we have a microwave to heat things up

Have fun and congratulations on your pregnancy.

Jane x

Yorkshirechick

Boodle wrote: »

Congrats on the pregnancy In the beginning of my current pregnancy, my DD had a lot of "things" on toast, pasta and couscous as everything turned my stomach too. All these things are quick and easy and kids seem to love this sort of meal. You can throw frozen veg in with the pasta, tinned pulses, tinned fish or cooked meat - same with couscous only difference being having to ccok the veg separately but that ain't too much of a hardship

I've been trying to get DS to eat couscous for ages, but it's one of only 2 things he won't eat. Last time I tried to persevere with it and he made himself sick :eek:

zippychick

I was reading through some of those thread, and I found heaps more links Pink earlier linked to

Pink-winged wrote: »

Hi sunni,

Don't be embarrassed....we all had to learn to cook at one time or another. The best thing that you can do is to think of something you would like to make and then ask for help on here.....there will be lots of people who will be happy to help you.

In the meantime, these threads may help:

Son wants to cook

ashamed cant cook

A son who loves to cook......

food help for a non cook

I can't cook, can you help please?

I wanna basic cook book

cook book for someone leaving home?

Moved in with OH now wanting to 'cook from scratch!'

How did you learn to cook?


Pink

Heaps to browse through! Good work Pink.

I also found this , hilarious! Mr badexamples cooking index