I need to learn to cook !!!

misskool

doelani wrote: »

Thanks for the replies and idea's

I have already bought the stuff for monday but MAY try to make a home made sauce instead. I have never made a white sauce, silly I know.

I've never made loads of things too. It's not silly, you just have to be brave enough to eat the results.


Small steps and soon you'll be whizzing lovely cheap meals up

doelani

Little_Vics wrote: »

why don't you give it a go, and if it's goes wrong you've got the jar as a back up? It's all about building confidence - am sure you'll be fine!

I think I might but will my stepkids ask for seconds and tell me mine is better than their mums ? :rotfl:

doelani

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

Please don;t despair - I simply don;t believe that anyone is incapable of learning to cook :j

Penny. x

thanks penny

I can cook some stuff, pies, stews, casseroles jsut not complicated things like spag bolg lol

sexki11en

It's really a case of you don't know till you try. If you are frying off the mince and draining the fat (or removing all the flavour as an italian friend once told me lol) then no - it doesn't matter if you buy 12% or 20% fat.

Are you buying one pack of mince or two? Sounds like it to me for that price :eek: (although I only ever buy whoopsied now and rarely pay over £2!)

Try buying one pack of mince and bulking it out with extra veg (courgettes, onions, mushrooms all go well in lasagna) and lentils really can't be tasted if they're cooked in well. My DH used to moan like hell if I put lentils in until I asked him "can you actually taste them", he had to admit he couldn't, now he doesn't even notice.

4 years ago, everything I cooked was from a jar lor packet. Now, the only things I don't cook from scratch are......erm..... i'm sure theres something. Anyway, my point is, we were all there once, and I know for a fact, taste wise - I wouldn't go back now.

Tomato sauce for a lasagna/chilli/bolognaise? Try:
1 onion
1 courgette
1/2 cloves of garlic
Some chopped mushrooms
1 tin chopped tomatoes
couple tbs tomato puree
1 oxo cube
some dried herbs or fresh if you have them (basil etc)
Sugar to taste if not sweet enough

Start by frying off your onion & garlic in a little oil. After a couple of minutes, add your mince, brown off mince (and drain if you like) then add courgettes and mushrooms. Stir in your tomato puree & oxo cube, stir well and add your tinned tomatoes. If it looks a little bit thick, swill some water round in your empty tomato tin and add the water. Chuck in a couple of tsp of herbs and bingo - bolognaise sauce! If you want to add your lentils, I always add them at the end, then let them cook in for about 45 mins/1 hour.

If you have fussy eaters or want it smooth like the jar ones - you can make the sauce (minus the mince!) and blend it till smooth. They'd never know they were eating lentils & veg. Then just fry off your mince as normal and add the sauce.

See how easy & cheap it can be?

Go on - give it a go You'll be hooked before long.

SK x

sexki11en

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food is good, too.

Penny, sorry to chop up your post, but I have to second this. I can cook (my husband says so lol) but this book is full of easy, SO tasty food. In fact, we're having Jamies MOF byriani from LO curry tonight for tea

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

Please don;t despair - I simply don;t believe that anyone is incapable of learning to cook :j

Once again - SO true. I couldn't boil an egg a few years ago and now I don't even follow recipes and rarely weigh things - just chuck it all together. It only took practice (and a fair few meals for the bin! :rotfl:)

Good luck!

SK x

debbym

Do your step kids stay with you all the time? Maybe you could perfect stuff whilst they are with their mum;) Homemade biscuits are always a big hit in our house with other peoples kids on sleepovers whatever the dinner is:D In fact one friend of our daughters requests making cupcakes as a play activity before she comes over cos she never gets to do it at home:rotfl:

Penelope_Penguin

doelani wrote: »

thanks penny

I can cook some stuff, pies, stews, casseroles jsut not complicated things like spag bolg lol

Repeat the bit in red, until you believe it Then stop thinking about bolognaise as being difficult - it's just another stew

lynzpower

OP definatley think about getting some cook books from the library, i havent seen ministrey of food yet, but I have other books that I love too.

Have you ver seen videojug? its a website where there are videos exactly shoping you what to do. If you have a laptop you can even take the lappy into the kitchen with you and pause the videos as you go.

http://www.videojug.com/tag/italian-food

julieq

Home made food should taste better than the jar anyway. If your OH is complaining about that I'd lump him personally (mine knows better than to say that sort of thing, it's important to keep them well trained).

What I'd do for a bolognaise type sauce is this, see what bits you don't think you can do:

1) Chop an onion finely. Easy way to do this is to top and tail it, pull off the skin quickly, halve it, cut slices with a sharp knife not quite all the way across so it's sort of like a comb if that makes sense, then cut across the strips so you get fine cuttings.

2) heat a frying pan with a little olive oil (for preference), just a couple of tablespoons, heat setting just over half the top setting for the ring. Fry the onions in that, they'll separate, shrink, and start to go transparent.

3) Cut a carrot or two into strips then small cubes (half a cm a side). Put them into the pan too. Coating veg in this way is good because it stops them absorbing too much water during the cooking.

4) at this point I'd usually put a sliced courgette and maybe some sliced mushrooms in too, but that's not classic bolognaise.

5) When the onions are reasonably transparent, they shouldn't be burned, put in the mince to brown. Stir it all around a bit as this is happening to separate and mix it.

6) chop a clove of garlic up fine and some fresh thyme/oregano or other italianish herb if you have some. Dried herbs are fine too, but don't buy masses of them specially.

7) After 5 mins of so of browning of the mince, add half a cup of red wine if you have any (not vital but red wine is good for adding richness to the taste) and let it come to the boil. Then squirt in a pack of Lidl passata and turn the heat down so it simmers. Chuck in the garlic and herbs (couple of bayleaves if you have them will help), a really good grind of pepper, and a little salt. Not too much, but underseasoning is as bad as overseasoning, so taste as you go and add too little rather than too much.

8) Leave simmering for maybe 30-40 minutes.

9) Explain to OH that you know where the jar sauce is made, and if he doesn't want to end up swimming in a vat of it he'd better find something constructive to say about dinner.

That's really about all there is to it. Most of cooking is about understanding the process and not overreaching, so as people have said you build confidence over time. If you stick to a few basics, and a tomato/herby sauce is a good basic because you can do it with lots of things, then you're well on the way.

angeltreats

I have to add yet another recommendation for Ministry of Food, whether or not you're a Jamie fan it's a great book, it helped my friend (aged 31) learn to cook when all her life she could hardly boil a spud.

I recommend you start off by learning to make a basic tomato sauce and a basic white sauce. Then you'll have the basis for absolutely tons of easy but yummy meals and it really is much cheaper to make them from scratch than to buy jars of ready-made.

Penelope Penguin - I wish you'd talk some sense into my husband, he claims he's incapable of learning to cook despite me trying my hardest to teach him a few bits and pieces!

Re mince - sometimes I really prefer a higher fat percentage, especially if I'm making something that needs to stick together like burgers or meatballs.