Can you only cook 4 dishes? Do you eat spag bol twice a week?

csarina

Queenie.............long years ago when my youngest daughter was having cookery lessons at school, I took them to task for sending a list if ingredients for something that included tinned things......(she is now 39) so this has been going on for ages.............

I have an extensive list if dishes I make........mince I cook up and make at least 4 different dishes with including spag bol............

sausage...... &.mash, toad in the hole, casserole with beans.

Liver with either sausage or bacon.

Braised steak, steak pie, meat and spud pie....casseroled with beans

Pork leg......cooked in the pressure cooker and then turned into pork and beans or with yogurt sauce and rice.

Shoulder of lamb........after 2 meals, one hot one cold, the bone turned into stock for scottish broth.

The list is endless and far too long to put on here. We have spag bol maybe twice in a month...........a chicken will do us 3 meals and the carcass used for stock to make soup.

I never use bought in sauces, make my own...sweet and sour sauce is so easy to make at home...as is curry sauce and tomato sauce for italian dishes and pizza........I regularly make mustard sauce, parsley sauce, bechamel etc

OK I am retired now, but I used to do the same when I was working full time and had 4 children at home, its a question of organisation..........I know, I did it......

lynzpower

I think people are actually quite scared of making sauces. I have to say a basic white sauce made with a roux took me years to get right.

I do all my sauces myself ( using tinned toms admittedly) white sauce base with eg mustard, mushroom, I do a green peppercorn sauce too . Roasted veg sauces, I've made my own relishes as well. I use comptons for gravy and add wine or port for with roasts or bangers & mash. these I can manage being out at work for 14 hours a day- but then again we dont eat till gone 9.30 most nights, and certainly, if i had kids- and was doing these hours- would I bother? Honestly, much as I hate additives I think Id fold and buy packet, but only for pour over sauces ( the jar ones as a rule knock me sick, particularly chicken tonight style stuff)

When I met OH his only dish he could make was spag bol and he thought he had to use a colmans packet. I asked him, whats in there we dont have in the cupbaord- he didnt know. Therein I feel lies the problem, and we come back to the sprit of OS yet again. Our grans might be able to cook from scratch, but many parents of my generation dont. And so it gets passed down to us in our 20s that to make spag bol yourself you need a packet. We know different, but I think, as Ive said before, the academicalisation ( I know thats not a word ) of home economics to food tech or food studies has plenty to do with it. ( I can say this with both a gcse & a level in Food studies) Where you can get marked on designing a packaging for a pizza but not how to make a pizza base without it coming from a packet

badgermonkey

Yes, I'd like to know how many of these four meals are from scratch - at least if they are it's not too bad. But I saw someone in the shop trying hard to choose between two packets of Shepherd's Pie mix - what on EARTH is in them? Gravy granules? If you can't figure out how to make Shepherd's Pie then there's not much hope.

lynzpower

badgermonkey wrote: »

Yes, I'd like to know how many of these four meals are from scratch - at least if they are it's not too bad. But I saw someone in the shop trying hard to choose between two packets of Shepherd's Pie mix - what on EARTH is in them? Gravy granules? If you can't figure out how to make Shepherd's Pie then there's not much hope.

Its really bad isnt it. I think a lot of it is people
a) not being taught how to cook from scratch at home or school
b) going to most pubs and having say a shepherds pie thats also out of a box
c) the world of packets and jars

Cookery programs as a rule USED to be quite fancy, think delia with her pinch of arrowroot, or some such item that many as a rule wouldnt have had in
I think Jamie and Gordon Ramsey have a lot to be credited for, showing how simple good food can be in the "wack it in the pan" variety of cooking. Saying that though, its my belief that people watch cookery tv, if they already like cooking. its certainly not easy to watch TV progs and remeber how to make things.

I always hark back to when I met OH, and he came to stay at mine for the weekend for the first time, I made HM burgers & wedges, then profiteroles ( his diet was much more limited then than it is now) I thought "if he doesnt eat this Im stuffed". This is one of the simplest things we make, and he thought I was the best cook on the planet :T sadly he moved in shortly after and saw how easy it is to cook well from scratch & hes not so impressed these days :rotfl: and now his burgers and HM pizzas are SO much better than mine :T

thriftlady_2

lynzpower wrote: »

Its really bad isnt it. I think a lot of it is people
a) not being taught how to cook from scratch at home or school
b) going to most pubs and having say a shepherds pie thats also out of a box
c) the world of packets and jars

It's just too depressing:( but you're right Lynz

findingmyownway

sonee2405 wrote: »

I cant cook to save my life.Can someone please tell me how to make veggie spaghetti bolognese please or cheese pie.I know how to make any type of biriani or curry though because i watch my mum and have it all memorised -problem is i dont like indian food and live on chips

Check out some of the receipe threads on this board

but my basic veggie spag bol would be:

1 pack quorn mince
1 tin lentils
2 tins chopped tomatos (or 1 + passata)
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp marmite
2 tbsp lea and perrins / worchester sauce
pepper / mushrooms / courgette / whatever i have in the fridge
herbs (basil and corriander usually)

Fry onion and garlic until soft. Add vegetables and cook about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, passata, mince, lentils, marmite, worchester sauce and herbs. Bubble away for about 20 mins. Easy peasy!

I often make a very similar dish with chickpeas and a couple of big fresh chillis instead of quorn mince - makes a super tasty pasta sauce

trigger2

My MIL only gets ready meals, I dont think she knows how to make 4 things honestly she wonders why they're skint . We do tend to stick to the same sort of things but I do try new things too. We tend to have -
shepherds pie
spag bol
mexican mince & tacos
toad in the hole
chicken pie
roasts (various)
stir fries (various)
pasta dishes (various)
hm chicken nuggets
hm pizzas (inc non cheese/tomato toppings for oh, awkward so & so)
soups (usually mixed veg, lentils etc)
hm puddings & baking

Actually that's not bad now I look !

Doom_and_Gloom

My parents were both taught how to cook from scratch with a quite a wide repitoire I'd say and I would watch them cook when I was younger (admittidly we use tinned sauces every now and then). I am vegan so I cook for myself only now and I have to live on a budget and well vegan ready meals not the cheapest in the world therefore it's not only easier but cheaper for me.

My usuals are:
Vegan SP
Veg curry
Veg chilli
Veg spag bol
Lentil soup
Veg soup
Veg with a tomato and chilli sauce
Pasta salad
Salad, jacket patato with beans
Steamed veg with quinoa/cous cous/rice/pasta
Veg pizza made with cheezly (vegan cheese)
Veg roast

If I didn't know how to cook any of this I wouldn't be able to survive. They are varied due to what veg I have in and what not but they all taste ok. Sometimes I will cook double and freeze but it does depend.

chardonnay_2

i think it would be great if more people took part in the meal planning thread even if they posted after they had it or posted their previous weeks meals (perhaps some would prefer this as what you had last night thread?) as some people don't get on with meal planning. it would maybe give us all inspiration and courage to try something new? i'd love to see MATH'S as he seems to have a months worth of different meals.

Littlemiss-lotsofdebt

I've never really been taught to cook so have picked things up from my sister and by trial and error (and from here of course!) My usuals tend to be:

Chilli
Spag Bol (not v. often though!!)
Lasgane
Pasta Bake
Roast
Curry
Fajita's
HM Pizza & Wedges
HM Burgers
Cheese & Potato Pie
Sausage Casserole
Sausage & Mash

OH wouldquite happily live on toasted ham & cheese sandwiches but I'm not a big fan!!