Newbie on board...

trisham_3

Hello,
I'm Trish and i am 22, married with 2 young children. I have been lurking for a long time and think it's about time i registered and became more involved.
At the minute i have 2 very fussy eaters and a very hungry husband, i am overweight and we live on convience foods. We have a small amount of debt and are paying it off regularly. We usually would spend £60 a week on shopping for myself, dh, 5 yo and 2yo. I feel that it is far too much and tired of feeding the family on crap.
I am terrible at cooking but willing to learn..;) .
I am not doing anymore shopping untill the cupboards are clear of the crap.
I have tried making bread by hand but it always turns out hard and horrible same as the biscuits. Any tips welcome!
I hope to enjoy learnin to make my money go further.

moggins

£60 a week isn't too bad but if it's all junk food then it is

I've got a very fussy eater too and a 12 year old giant plus hubby who works shifts so I know it can be difficult but it is achievable.

Most of us home bakers have bread makers so don't feel guilty about bad bread, I would never bother if it wasn't for my bread machine.

Have a look through the indexed meals and see what takes your fancy, cooking is easy really, it just takes a bit of time and concentration when you are just starting out.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=458838#post458838

d.o.o.g

Cooking is FUN. Tell yourself this every time you're in the kitchen. Also tell yourself it's YOUR recipe you're following, not Delia's or Jamie's or whoever. They just give you the building blocks. The best cooking lesson I ever learned was that recipes are just GUIDELINES, they are not the LAW. Don't be afraid to start with simple stuff and just experiment. Some of the best things I've ever cooked have been experimental The other day for example I was looking to make some Indian Lentil thing following a recipe from a Madhur Jaffrey book. I got the lentils on (following the instructions on the side of the packet) and realised I didn't have half the stuff the recipe called for. So I just raided the cupboard and started adding things - a bit of curry powder, some dried figs, dried apricots, a vegetable oxo cube. The result was fantastic. Served with boiled rice.

The great thing about following your own recipe of course is you can never get it wrong. You might get a meal you don't fancy again, but if you're picking ingredients you've already bought, that's unlikely.

poppycracker

I don't like cooking either. My OH is always on at me that I have to learn to cook (he's a chef and doesn't think that my hard earned home cooking skills are anything to be proud of) and that puts me off more so my advise to you is don't let anyone push you into cooking, you have to want to do it otherwise it's not enjoyable, and cooking should always be enjoyable imo

welcome to OS btw, should have said that to begin with!

ChocClare

If you're used to convenience foods and not a confident cook then start off with something easy that doesn't taste too "different".
How about lasagne or spag bol or shepherd's pie? They all have the same basis, so you could make a batch and do different versions of it. If you're not sure, here's what you do:

Put about a tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan (you may need a little more depending on the size of your pan). Turn the heat on low. Chop an onion and grate a carrot. Put these in the pan with the oil and just allow to cook gently until the onion is soft. Now turn up the heat and add about 500g mince (fresh or frozen). Don't shoot it in all at once, add it a bit at a time and KEEP STIRRING so it doesn't stick and the onion doesn't burn. When all the meat is in and has lost its raw colour add a splosh of red wine. Don't have any red wine? Don't worry! Leave it out, then! Next add a small tin of tomato paste (19p from Tesco) and a teaspoonful of dried mixed herbs or dried oregano or dried herbes de provence and stir round. Now add a pint of stock (chicken oxo cube and water will do) and mix again. Let the mixture come to the boil, then turn the heat down, put a lid on the saucepan so it three-quarters covers it and let it simmer very very gently (there should just be the odd bloop on the surface of the sauce). I would let this simmer for absolutely ages, go cold, take the fat off the surface and reheat for the following day, but it's perfectly good the same evening; just simmer until the sauce is thick (you can turn up the heat if you're in a hurry!).
If you're going to have spaghetti bolognese, cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the packet, drain, put sauce on top and add some grated cheese.
For shepherds pie, boil some potatoes in some salted water for 15-20 mins until very soft, mash with butter and a little milk. Put your sauce in a dish, top with the mash (and grated cheese if liked) and heat through in the oven or under the grill until the topping is golden brown.
For cheat's lasagne, cook pasta (not necessarily lasagne) and put layers of pasta, meat sauce and bought cheese sauce in a dish and top with grated cheese. Again, heat through in the oven or under the grill. If you want to make your own bechamel sauce for the lasagne and are not a confident cook, don't bother with a roux: take a tablespoon of CORNflour and mix to runny paste with cold milk. Bring some milk to the boil on the stove and stir into the cornflour mix, then put the whole lot back into the saucepan. Add pepper and salt or pepper and grated cheese (you don't need the salt if you're adding cheese as cheese is salty anyway).
While you're finding your feet there is nothing wrong with buying certain convenience foods: Tesco's mashed potato; fresh cheese or other sauces; prepared veg etc. As your confidence improves, you'll find that you end up doing it all yourself anyway.
Best of luck - let us know how you get on!

growingafamily

hey I'm a newbie too !!!
I am 24, overweight (since birth of DS), married to a skinny husband who can eat what he likes (although he jogs everyday), and a 11 month old son - who is currently refusing to eat anything he can't pick up.
I have been gradually trying to change over to organic, but have been finding it difficult to budget and forward plan due to hubbys shiftwork - but HURRAY he is starting a new 9-5 job so we will be able to have proper family meals.

I like cooking but am rubbish at baking so lots of advice needed there - esp for any goodies that are suitable for a hungry toddler !!

And as we move in two weeks for hubbys new job I need to use up a ton of meat from the freezer in about 12 days !!!!