Help me become a moneysaving domestic god!

Seakay

Glass chopping boards do nothing for your knives and are very noisy - I had a couple and only use them to protect work surfaces from hot pans now.

Delia is always ace for basics and for first attempts at new things, and has a website full of recipes plus a book called "one is fun" which became my step father's bible after my mother died. It helped his confidence so much that soon he was finding and using her recipes for bread, cake, jam and marmalade!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h_?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=one+is+fun&x=0&y=0

http://www.deliaonline.com/

footballmanagerwidow

brisck1 wrote: »

Hello all!

I have recently made a change in my life which means that I now have a lot more free time than I used to and I want to use this opportunity to make myself more domesticated from cooking to cleaning and hopefully beyond (and of course all in the moneysaving spirit)!

Im hoping that there are a few domestic gods and godesses out there who are kind enough to share there knowledge with me and help me become the house trained man that I aspire to be!

Anyway to kick things off the first thing I want to address is that I am completely clueless at cooking! I know some of the basics, like how to cook pasta and boil and egg, but apart from that my skills havent grown much since I was a student!

What Im wondering is if anyone can recommend a good book for beginners which not only deals with the basics but also has a nice variety of recipies so I dont end up eating the same food every week (oh and lots of nice pictures to help me:p)?
To follow that up i'd also love to find a book with recipes aimed soley at serving 1-2 people (as I live alone). Most of the books i've browsed at the book stores are aimed at family and I dont want to overspend on ingredients when I dont have to!

Will post more as I think of them! Thanks in advance!

Rob

My hubby had a book called cooking for blokes before I met him, and he still uses it now -you can then advance onto "Flash cooking for blokes"! :rotfl:

Anyway, he loves it:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooking-Blokes-Omnibus-Duncan-Anderson/dp/0751532754/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248022284&sr=8-1

mrbadexample

greenbee wrote: »

Good luck with the cooking... there is lots of expertise here... check out Mr Bad Example's threads if you want to see how good the teaching is!

It's true. Here's the index.

Butterfly_Brain

Jamie Oliver's ministry of food is a really good book to start with. as for housework get yourself into a routine and do it every day, it will not build up on you and become daunting and you will wizz through a flat in no time.

Patchwork_Quilt

I would recommend you look for children's cookbooks in the library. They are a good start and some of them have pictures, which is very reassuring. Then, when you get into your stride, you can just take them back

Trinny

HI there

lots of good stuff has been said already really - i am not a great cook either but i have found that there are some great foolproof recipes in the mega index. I would also look out for Mr Badexample's thread - good advice for blokes who want to cook.

I would start with the skills you have from cooking as a student - there are some good student cookbooks -

"Beyond baked beans" is pretty good as is "grub on a grant". If you get the hang of the basics from these books - you should be able to get a copy from the library, then you should be able to progress from there.

I am sure the veteran MSE'rs will keep you on the right track

Good luck

Trin

geordie_joe

I wouldn't buy any cookery books , well apart from the BE-RO book at £1 from Morrisons.

Most people, judging by the posts in this forum, don't use any of the recipes in the books they buy. You'd be much better off just searching online for recipes and cookery sites. There are millions of sites dedicated to cooking, so you are bound to find some that you like.

This forum is also chock full of recipes that are tried and trusted by users. Just decide what you want to cook and do a search in here for it.

LabLover

Im only 21 myself and I moved into my own flat at 17 , but luckily my mum had prepared me well :T I would recomend learning how to make a simple cheese sauce , and a simple white sauce . These can be used as the base for many sauces and with different meats and pastas added can become different meals .
I fry some garlic and onion with mushrooms and bacon , then make a simple white sauce(i make it pretty milky) ,mix in cooked pasta and then pop in oven proof dish , grate a slice of stale bread on top , sprinkile on some grated cheese and then pop in the over till crispy mmmmm . Also a simple base of tinned tomatoes , onion and garlic can be converted into , a simple pasta sauce , chilli , spag bol , lasagne. It really is just learning the basic bits. My fave simple dish ( all the bachelors at my work , use this to wow the ladies) cook some pasta , fry an onion , garlic and mushrooms and bacon , drain the fried stuff add half a tub of cream cheese ( the stuff with herbs and garlic) then add a little milk and keep stirring until it becomes smooth , add more milk untill it because a nice light sauce and then stir in pasta. Using half a tub makes quite a bit , but just reduce quantities for yourself .
As for the cleaning it really depends how messy you are,I like to do big clean on Monday night , change sheets , bleach the bath etc , then I just tidy round and hoover everyday ( i have a dog ) then maybe on fri night or sat morning I bleach house again. It just depends , Good luck !!!! :T
P.S A few people on here have recommended slow cookers , they are fab , especially in the winter. I normally chop some carrots , tatties and leeks , add some water and a veg stock cube and leave all day . Then come home to lovely hot soup ( and my dog standing in a puddle of her own drool , aw bless )

LabLover

O forgot to say about puddings !! One thing you should try is a fruit crumble , I make one of theses every time the fruit in my fruit bowl starts to look a little sorry for itself . Its so simple . The recipie I have ( from Jamie Oliver ) is for six people , but it really isnt that much , so maybe if you half it ? some other OS'rs on here might know if its freezable?!?!
For the crumble topping
225 g plain flour
115g butter
90g Sugar
Pinch of salt
Filling
455g of washed and prepared fruit
3 table spoons of sugar
For the topping bung all ingredients in a bowl ,rub all ingredients betweens youre finger and thumb untill it looks like fine breadcrumbs.Easy Peasy
For the fruit I normally use what is lurking in fruit bowl, apple n pear is my fave, Just wash it and peel it then I mush in pear and chop up apple small then mix 2 of the tablespoons of sugar thru the fruit . Put fruit into the bottom of oven proof dish , sprinkle remaining sugar on top , then top with crumble , give it a shake to even out topping place in pre heated over (200c) then bake for about half an hour untill the top is golden. Serve with some custard or ice cream... Simples !!!

brisck1

Thanks Lablover, im really inspired to try your pasta recipe! Will probably give it a go over the weekend