I don't know what to cook!!

JesusFreak

Hello.
I have "lurked" for a while and have been following OS enviously for quite some time.

A bit of background:
When I was growing up both of my parents worked full time so I was expected to come home and make my own dinner everyday after school, however this consisted of putting either a shop brought or a homemade ready meal in the microwave.
When I went to university this carried on but i mainly ate oven pizza, mcdonalds, chicken nuggets, chips or baked potato and beans.
When i got married my husband did all the cooking but we mainly had things like brought tortelloni, frozen kievs or again shop brought ready meals.
I gave up my job due to illness about 6 months ago and now it is my "chore" to cook.
I have tried everything, slow cooker - my husband didnt like anything i cooked in it and i didnt like that all the foods were mixed together as i have OCD so my foods apart from certain things need to be seperate. So we sold the slow cooker.
Ive made cottage pie which turned out ok.
Chilli turned out ok.
spaghetti bolognaise turned out ok.
other than that we have also been living off ready meals and what my friends call "bad childrens food" chips, nuggets, fish fingers, pizza, burgers, pies etc

So as a result not only are both myself and my husband overweight but i still dont really know how to cook!

We spend £70 a month on food for the 2 of us.

It seems to me that buying a whole chicken or minced beef or the like must make shopping cost an absolute fortune!

We are due to start IVF when we have lost a bit of weight and i don't want any children we have to be brought up on this kind of food and i dont want them to suffer obesity either and id like to be able to teach them to cook properly.

So i have 3 aims
lose weight
learn to cook
dont go over my food budget

I know there is a whole host of recipes on here but im looking specifically for easy things to make with step by step guides.

My grandad did talk me through how to cook roast chicken on christmas day which i managed perfectly.

Im 27 in a few weeks time and its about time i learnt.

Please be kind, this is my very first post.

Also if i should have posted somewhere else or something please point me in the right direction.

I wanted to also say you are all such an inspiration and i admire you for the hard work you go to in providing well for your families.

TIA

p.s i can bake cakes very well :rotfl:

dottygirl

Hi sadly Im not an expert however Im sure more people will pop in. Have you tried your local college they may run cooking classes. Its a great way to meet people as well. Good luck.

kezlehan

Hi there, I recently got into cooking, and cook for my mum and her husband every night, I absolutely love it. I am a healthy eating freak (sad I know at only just 20 years old) but we all seem to enjoy the meals I cook. I'm just wondering what type of things you are interested in cooking? Obviously there's a wide range of meals out there, so it would be good if you could specify the types of things you like to eat, meat, veggies, soups etc... We all have our own tastes, so if you could say the things you like that would be great.

misskool

What do you like to eat? What do you think you want to cook?

There are lots of easy to follow videos on videojug to start you off.

JesusFreak

dottygirl wrote: »

Hi sadly Im not an expert however Im sure more people will pop in. Have you tried your local college they may run cooking classes. Its a great way to meet people as well. Good luck.

Hi thank you for your reply and suggestion, unfortunately im currently suffering from social anxiety - avoidance agoraphobia so im not able to go to any classes at the moment. I am being treated so may be something to look into when I am able to leave the house again.

JesusFreak

misskool wrote: »

What do you like to eat? What do you think you want to cook?

There are lots of easy to follow videos on videojug to start you off.

I like to eat pizza and burgers and chips

I quite like lasagne ready meals, canneloni, pasta bakes, macaroni cheese.

Big_Graeme

JesusFreak wrote: »

p.s i can bake cakes very well :rotfl:

So you can cook then, baking a cake isn't easy.

Have a look on Amazon for a student cookbook, there will be plenty of tried and trusted recipes that won't break the budget, they will give you the confidence to try cooking other stuff.

JesusFreak

kezlehan wrote: »

Hi there, I recently got into cooking, and cook for my mum and her husband every night, I absolutely love it. I am a healthy eating freak (sad I know at only just 20 years old) but we all seem to enjoy the meals I cook. I'm just wondering what type of things you are interested in cooking? Obviously there's a wide range of meals out there, so it would be good if you could specify the types of things you like to eat, meat, veggies, soups etc... We all have our own tastes, so if you could say the things you like that would be great.

oh i do like soups, plain ones like carrot, tomato, leek and potato is nice too.

i tried to make soup once but it exploded out of the mixer and looked like id murdered someone in the kitchen!!!! tomato soup EVERYWHERE!! boiling hot too so i got burnt! :rotfl: id give it another try with a step by step instructions.

JesusFreak

Big_Graeme wrote: »

So you can cook then, baking a cake isn't easy.

Have a look on Amazon for a student cookbook, there will be plenty of tried and trusted recipes that won't break the budget, they will give you the confidence to try cooking other stuff.

thank you i will....

are there any recommendations?

monnagran

There is no problem in keeping your foods separate - just steer clear of casseroles etc until you feel more confident. A whole roast chicken is not so expensive, you don't have to eat it all in one meal! Make it roast with veg one day, cold with salad and Jacket potatoes another, any bits that are left heated through with something like condensed chicken soup and served with veg and scones a third day, ( I would put the scones on top of the chicken & soup and bake in the oven, but that may not appeal to you.)
You probably need to stick to one form of protein and various salads or veg until you have sorted yourself out. You will soon start to get more confident - promise.
Get yourself a basic cookery book, there will be plenty of advice on which ones to try from this thread. Personally I like Delia Smith's 'Learn to cook' books.

Good luck, if you've got a good book and can read you're more than half-way there.

Stephen_Leak

Hi. Welcome to the madhouse.

OK, we all have to start somewhere. As your spaghetti bolognese, chill con carne and cottage pie worked, I can instantly add another meal to your repertoire by taking a step back. If you can make bolognese sauce, you can make this. It's basically a bolognese sauce minus the meat.

TOMATO PASTA SAUCE

Enough for pasta for 2

INGREDIENTS

2 cloves of garlic
2 onions
1 tablespoon of olive oil
400g tin of plum tomatoes
140g tin of tomato puree
2 teaspoons of mixed herbs

METHOD

Peel the garlic and chop it into tiny pieces. Peel the onions and chop them into tiny pieces.

Put the oil into a frying pan on a medium heat. Add the garlic and onion. Fry the garlic and onion for about 4 to 5 minutes until the onion is soft. Stir frequently to stop it sticking.

Open the tin of tomatoes. Put the juice into the pan. Chop the tomatoes while they are still in the can (it’s easier than chasing them around the pan). Put the chopped tomatoes into the pan.

Add the tomato puree and herbs. Stir thoroughly.

Continue to cook, stirring as the mixture boils, until the sauce has reduced.

ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

Use basil instead of the mixed herbs.

Add a glass of wine and cook for a bit longer. Or drink the glass of wine and cook for the same time.

Add ¼ of a teaspoon of chilli powder to make it into Arrabbiata sauce.

This sauce can also be blended and used as a pizza topping.

TIPS

Plum tomatoes can be used either whole or chopped. It is difficult to stick chopped tomatoes back together again if you need to use them whole.