Can't cook don't cook! Time for change.

Debt_Free_Chick

I'm not so sure about the slow cooker at this time of the year. Do you really want warming, rich comfort food when the BBQ & salad season is about to start?

I would really suggest Saint Delia largely because if you do exactly what she says, then things turn out exactly as she says. The "How to Cook" books are brilliant. We bought them for a 13 yo nephew who expressed an interest in cooking and there's nothing now he can't cook!

Also, she talks about nutrition (a bit - enough) and gives tips about equipment and store cupboard essentials. Some of the recipes have a long list of ingredients, but the method is extraordinarily simple.

You can get a taste for her style on the website https://www.deliaonline.com

Even if you don't buy the books, just put an ingredient into the search engine on her site and she'll give you a complete recipe.

Downandout - any chance you could find room in the garden to grow lettuce, toms & spring onions? If you can get the kids involved, you'll likely find that they will eat what they've grown themselves!

frankiep_2

I would recommend any of Jamie Oliver's cookbooks for a novice cook, But the Jamie's Dinners is very good, with lots of basic ideas and recipes, and every recipe I've tried out has worked very well and been easy to understand.
Delia Smith's cookery courses are also extremely easy to understand, even to the point of how to boil an egg! and if you've never had the opportunity to learn to cook you need that kind of help!
You are already helping your children, by recognising the problem and trying to do something abiut it ..Well Done.

crana999

try https://www.beyondbakedbeans.com for some simple recipes, tips on buying foods etc

tiff

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

I'm not so sure about the slow cooker at this time of the year. Do you really want warming, rich comfort food when the BBQ & salad season is about to start?

I think its something I would use throughout the summer. Not for stews and such, but for cooking meat joints mainly, to go with salad. It has the advantage of not heating up the kitchen too, which is good for me as I have a low ceiling in my kitchen as its in the basement. We will use the BBQ when its really hot, but for cooking meat to slice up for sandwiches and salads its ideal

vanoonoo

tiff wrote:

I think its something I would use throughout the summer. Not for stews and such, but for cooking meat joints mainly, to go with salad. It has the advantage of not heating up the kitchen too, which is good for me as I have a low ceiling in my kitchen as its in the basement. We will use the BBQ when its really hot, but for cooking meat to slice up for sandwiches and salads its ideal

thats how I feel too tiff - esp as i dont have a barbie - so its going to be great for things to go with salad and not have the whole kitchen getting hot.

downandout!

Just been shopping and bought lots of fruit, and veg. Only just had our dinner so kept it simple tonight and made baked potatoes with coleslaw. Went down quite well.

Wait for this one.......we have a slow cooker and a blender and I didn't even know. :rotfl: Afraid we don't have a BBQ either so I will be swatting up on the slow cooker stuff.

Thanks all for the kind words of encouragement along with all the tips on recipes etc. :beer:

crana999

If you feel like it, post what you bought, and we can probably give you some ideas for what to make and perhaps some ideas to cut your costs too..

littleangel

Fantastic thread!

I too have been watching Jamie's Dinners with horror. About the food, of course, but also about the fact that the kids seem to know nothing about food - they can't even identify vegetables!

So congratulations on your resolution!

One of the things I remember when I was a kid (apart from the "eat everything on your plate - think about the starving children in Africa"), was cooking with my grandmother. She loved having us around, we loved helping, and it left me with a love of good food and an enjoyment of cooking. So get the kids involved in the cooking and they'll be more receptive to change! If you have a garden, maybe think about starting a vegetable garden. If not, even a herb garden on the windowsill could be fun, and give you tasty additions to any meal that you do cook, which avoids the need to add salt for taste.

RE: how long fruit keeps, one thing to remember is that having bananas in a fruit basket make all the other fruit around them ripen / get overripe a lot quicker. Which is great if you've got some rock-hard avocados, but not so great if you've got other fruit around as it doesn't last as long before it turns nasty. So keep the bananas separate (unless you've got some fruit that isn't as ripe that you want to ripen)

misty

Although I love my veggies I can get stuck in a rut with my fruit - apples/bananas/grapes/kiwi - but I find making smoothies in the blender - means I will eat things like strawberries which I normally don't like.

Put in fresh strawberries ( stalk out)
add natural yogurt
and milk ( I use skimmed for the fat content but for kids you can use the full fat)
a bit of honey if you need the extra sweetness.
Blitz it up and away you go.

If your wife doesn't like fruit she may like it like this. Using seasonal fruit keeps it cheap.

Also roasted veggies are really easy to make. You can put them with any meat or eat them alone.

Simply add the veg you want to a roasting dish. I use new potatos scrubbed and whole / sweet potato peeled and chopped in big chunks/ peppers any colour in v big chunks/ parsnips peel and cut in half/ carrots ditto/ and a garlic bulb ( when it's cooked - squeeze the cloves out they're lovely and juicy) baby corn too

just drizzle over some olive oil and get your hands in make sure the veg is lightly coated add some blacked pepper, sea salt, and a sprig of rosemary and leave in the oven until cooked.

Use any veggies you like - aubergine and courgette work too but I hate them.

Casserole is double easy too
Put in chicken pieces ( I use breast fillet chopped)
add onion, peppers, celery, mushrooms, carrots etc
Pour a tin of chopped tomatoes over, season and leave to cook
Can serve with pasta, rice or potatoes.
I'm a big fan of sticking everything in together and leaving it.

filigree_2

I used to love the "Get Stuffed" series, I really wish it was on telly when I left home and had to feed myself! It is being repeated at something silly like 4AM on Channel 4, you could set the video. I liked it because they usually didn't ask for fancy ingredients or equipment, just the sort of basics you would already have in the kitchen. Any books or websites aimed at students would be helpful for you.

If your little girl likes nuggets, you could try making drumsticks in breadcrumbs. Roll some chicken drumsticks in beaten egg then roll them in breadcrumbs, put them in the oven with a bit of oil for about 45 minutes. The packet label will tell you what temperature and how long for, I usually just guess Most kids seem to like drumsticks, especially if they're allowed to pick them up in their fingers. Pop some jacket potatoes in the microwave for 10 minutes then put them in the oven with the drumsticks, it's a really easy dinner.

You don't have to be perfect overnight. A chicken is really easy to roast, you could throw some jacket potatoes in with it and serve it with frozen veg. When you've got the hang of that you can graduate to roast spuds and all the trimmings.

Keep reading this site - clever Moneysavers have lots of ideas for food that is cheap, easy, healthy all at once