I don't know what to cook!!

JesusFreak

I think its a combination of both.

I mean we only have about 3 varieties of ready meals each - me: macaroni cheese, lasagne, canneloni
hubby: chilli & wedges, curry & rice, fish pie

the rest of the foods we have are frozen things like turkey dinosaurs (lol), chicken nuggets, value burgers, oven chips, battered fish, kievs, fish fingers, chicken burgers, fish cakes, pizza, sausages, waffles.
these are usually accompanied by beans, peas, mushy peas, sweetcorn.

so i know i can try to make macaroni cheese & lasagne which we will both eat as well as the cottage pie & spaghetti bolognaise but i need 7 meals which we will both eat and its not like there are homemade versions of fish fingers that cost less than 60p for 10 is there??!! so i dont know what we should eat in replacement of those things if that makes any sense?

valk_scot

How about a good cookery book? I can recommend Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food. I can cook fine but my DS wanted something a bit more concrete (and trendy!) than just learning to cook from his mum so I bought this for him when he was 13. It's very straighforwards, simple, minimal ingredient recipes with all cooking terms clearly explained. Also the actual recipies are excellent, very tasty and foolproof. Well worth a look. I think DS has cooked most things from it in the last couple of years and not had a failure yet.

misskool

stir fries? they are quick and easy. Healthy too.

If you want to be really cheap, a head of cabbage shredded finely, a carrot (grated or shredded), and slice an onion finely. Add beansprouts if you want. Slice some peppers and mushroom.

Heat some oil in a pan (or a wok but it really doesn't matter).
Add the veg when the oil is hot (test by putting a small piece of onion in and when it sizzles, the oil is ready).
Mix all the veg in and stir around. Some drops of soy sauce (or a sachet of what ever sauce you fancy until you are ready to make your own).
Eat with rice or noodles.

If you are cooking with meat,chicken/beef slice them thinly and add the meat to the oil before the veg and cook it for 2-3 minutes.

misskool

To get ideas of what other people are eating, see
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3710729
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3705165

freyasmum

JesusFreak wrote: »

so i dont know what we should eat in replacement of those things if that makes any sense?

Ok, well if you have a look at the following two links, you can get an idea of what kind of meals you can make:

Main Meals
Main Meals & Side Dishes

I often think it's harder to come up with ideas of what to cook than it is to actually cook them.

Also, to be honest, I'd just keep buying the fish fingers but have them as something of a 'treat'. I wouldn't have all the others though

E2006

JesusFreak wrote: »

I like to eat pizza and burgers and chips

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

Hiya,

I dont often post, more of a lurker so I hope you dont mind...

Pizza: Wholemeal pitta breads topped with tomato puree, dried mixed herbs, crushed garlic & any veg (sweetcorn, onions peppers etc) then grated cheese. Under the grill for a few minutes. Serve with salad and home made spicey wedges: Chop a potato into chunky wedges, par boil for 5 mins, drain, place on a baking tray, spray with oil and sprinkle with chilli (I use a chilli & garlic grinder, but a llittle chilli powder would work too), and bake in the oven until nice and crispy.

Burger & chips: lean mince, chopped onion (very small), mixed herbs, garlic crushed and an egg - put it all in a bowl and combine then form into burger shapes and either grill or 'fry' - I do mine in spray oil again. Serve in a wholemeal roll with home made chips; potato chipped, par boiled for five mins then baked in the oven.

Lasagna is easy - use your bolognese mix, then each layer of pasta brush with milk and sprinkle cheese on. I do this instead of cheese sause as Im not keen on it.

You could make your own chicken nuggets - chicken goujons dipped in egg and then breadcrumbs and baked in the oven.

Another quick and easy meal is stirfy.

Hope that helps, and sorry of any of the above have already been mentioned - I havent read the full post yet

E

MummyD

First of all - welcome!

If I were you, I'd order a good cookbook online and have a read through.

Something like this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Housekeeping-Step-step-Easy-follow/dp/1843404133#_

or the BBC good food 101 series which are clear and concise (and reasonably cheap books to buy!):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Food-Suppers-Triple-tested-Recipes/dp/1846077680/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326400576&sr=1-3

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Food-Student-Dinners-Triple-tested/dp/1849902569/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326400576&sr=1-10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Food-Healthy-Triple-tested-Recipes/dp/1846075661/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326400576&sr=1-11

If you're very budget conscious they also have a 101 Cheap Eats and a 101 Meals for Two

Just have a read and see what catches your fancy. Cooking is a lot easier if you're interested in what you're doing!

Also, you can look on the BBC Good Food website (google it) which have loads of recipes - you can search by ingredient too.

Just start small - maybe a different pasta dish or some fish and you'll soon find that it's not as daunting as it may seem.

Best of luck!

Rx

sp1987

JesusFreak wrote: »

I think its a combination of both.

I mean we only have about 3 varieties of ready meals each - me: macaroni cheese, lasagne, canneloni
hubby: chilli & wedges, curry & rice, fish pie

the rest of the foods we have are frozen things like turkey dinosaurs (lol), chicken nuggets, value burgers, oven chips, battered fish, kievs, fish fingers, chicken burgers, fish cakes, pizza, sausages, waffles.
these are usually accompanied by beans, peas, mushy peas, sweetcorn.

so i know i can try to make macaroni cheese & lasagne which we will both eat as well as the cottage pie & spaghetti bolognaise but i need 7 meals which we will both eat and its not like there are homemade versions of fish fingers that cost less than 60p for 10 is there??!! so i dont know what we should eat in replacement of those things if that makes any sense?

You seem to eat very much like I used to. In fact I had turkey dinosaurs last night because I fancied some.

So perhaps if we have the same quite bland taste I can possibly give you a few ideas?

You can make your own pizza (I'm no delia and I can do this) which you can put whatever toppings you like on. Much less salt and e numbers making them yourself.

I buy chicken breasts, wrap them in bacon and oven cook them, then grate some cheese on the top. Obviously you may not be able to do it every night as chicken is quite expensive but once a week would be a nice treat.

Home made chips/wedges? Can just oven bake wedges of potato brushed with a teeny bit of oil. Much lower fat 'chips'.

Really you don't need to go far from what you know to start with. Your palette may not like a massive change immediately. Just add one or two new meals in every so often and learn to cook 'known' food yourself.

Sausage, mash, peas and gravy? Very easy. I just use gravy granules because I'm lazy.

I'm trying to think of plain tastes that won't send you back to your pre-packed stuff.

Cheese and potato pie? You could just make mash and grate cheese on the top and have it with home made potato wedges (very potato based I know but to get you going).

sp1987

MummyD wrote: »

First of all - welcome!

If I were you, I'd order a good cookbook online and have a read through.

Something like this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Housekeeping-Step-step-Easy-follow/dp/1843404133#_

or the BBC good food 101 series which are clear and concise (and reasonably cheap books to buy!):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Food-Suppers-Triple-tested-Recipes/dp/1846077680/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326400576&sr=1-3

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Food-Student-Dinners-Triple-tested/dp/1849902569/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326400576&sr=1-10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Food-Healthy-Triple-tested-Recipes/dp/1846075661/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326400576&sr=1-11

If you're very budget conscious they also have a 101 Cheap Eats and a 101 Meals for Two

Just have a read and see what catches your fancy. Cooking is a lot easier if you're interested in what you're doing!

Also, you can look on the BBC Good Food website (google it) which have loads of recipes - you can search by ingredient too.

Just start small - maybe a different pasta dish or some fish and you'll soon find that it's not as daunting as it may seem.

Best of luck!

Rx

I have 101 cheap eats and 101 one pot dishes.

I find the latter much more useful to me.

Sezzagirl

Hi

Some of the pasta-ry and soupy recipes you've been suggested here are great - hope you'll have fun trying them:j

For something different, what about a more "grown-up" version of some of the meals you already have - Pork Chops with Potatoes and Veg! Really the same as the prepared meat and pots you already have (eg Nuggets and chips) but sounds different!:)

You can grill the chops or steaks and you could have them with Jacket Potatoes - Cook pots in the oven at 170 c for about 1 1/2 hours and serve with butter and grated cheese! If you have any metal skewers, put them through the pots as they cook - it will help the middles cook!:)

Or you could make Roast Potatoes - extra special!:T

You need potatoes (Maris Piper or King edwards are best for roasties I think), vegetable oil, a saucepan and a roasting tin

Put about 1 tablespoon of oil in the roasting tin and put it in the oven switched on to about 190 c

Peel the pots and cut them into pieces, probably about quarters, and put them in the saucepan. Cover them with water and put the lid on. Put them on the heat - high - until they boil. turn them down a little and let them bubble for about 5 minutes

When they have boiled for 5 mins, drain the water off them, put the pots back in the saucepan and give them a little shake to make the outisdes fluffy

Take the roasting tin out, tips the pots into the hot oil and shake or grind some salt and pepper over them. Turn them in the oil and put them back in the oven for about 30 mins, turning them once or twice.

They should be lovely and golden and crispy! Serve with some chops and some veg. They do frozen veg in small portions which are very easy
:j
For some reason, chops with roasties and veg will sound "better" than nuggets or dinosaurs to anyone who wants to judge!

Good luck and have fun trying new things

ps have just read this back and it looks a bit complicated but that's only because I've tried to do a step by step. If it's too simple, you can ignore but it might help you

pps if you are trying to eat healthily, these could be a treat but this is quite a low fat way of making roasties and will be better that pre-prepared pots