Learning how to cook

sandraroffey

did someone say stale bread????? make breadcrumbs and freeze them. they dont need defrosing much, just grab a handful out of the bag. providing of course the bread hasnt been frozen before.

Soworried

itcanbedone wrote: »

Thank you, I usually put it in the fridge, wait a few days, and then throw it away :eek:. Just like everything else. My friend has chickens and often gives me eggs, but because they don't have a red date stamp on them, I get worried after a few days and throw them away too .

Other things include:

'thinking' the four chicken breasts smell a bit odd and throwing them away
buying big bags of salad, using a little bit and then throwing it away when it goes rotten
Leaving sausages in the fridge and then throwing them away with the dish, bowl, or plate
Throwing away frozen veg just to make room in the freezer for something else

etc.

This is not only expensive but really wasteful and I'm not doing it any more (confessional over). :A

:T Good for you.
Try imagining what ever is in the fridge as cold hard cash. That gammon is £4ish. Would you throw money away or find a use for it? If you can't find a use right now you would put it in a savings account or jar. That is your freezer.
I will find you a link to the using up freezer thread. It would be nice to see you on there. x
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3307650

maman

Just had to post to congratulate you on your excellent intentions!! Good for you!:T

With the eggs, I'd make something with them and freeze that if you're concerned. Quiche is incredibly easy and if you're worried about pastry then either buy ready made or make a base from mashed potato (without being sexist I find men like this as it's more substantial). You can put just about anything in quiche but the basics are egg, milk, cheese and then bacon or asparagus or tuna or whatever!!! Or make tortilla or frittata which doesn't have pastry.

Soup is a great way of using up wilting veg, perfect for lunches.

Good luck and just ask if you need to know anything. Meal planning will save you money, start with planning to use the stuff you have in the fridge/freezer/storecupboard then only buy what you must have to make meals.

Linda32

itcanbedone wrote: »

'thinking' the four chicken breasts smell a bit odd and throwing them away

You can freeze your chicken breasts. If you are likely to use two at a time then put 2 in a freezer bag and label these
accordingly. When you want to use them, say for tea time on Saturday, take out of freezer on Friday night and put in fridge. The cook as you wish.

itcanbedone wrote: »

buying big bags of salad, using a little bit and then throwing it away when it goes rotten

Unfortunetly, as it has been said you can't freeze lettuce as it goes slimy.

itcanbedone wrote: »

Leaving sausages in the fridge and then throwing them away with the dish, bowl, or plate

Same as the chicken.

itcanbedone wrote: »

Throwing away frozen veg just to make room in the freezer for something else

Errmm don't buy anything else

HTH

she_who_can_not_cook

isn't it mayo and lettuce you can not freeze ... i went to iceland yesterday and got some large reduced pork chops i put them in bags meal size i also do that with mince i roll it up like a sausage and freeze get it out the night before and we have quick spag bol chilli cottage pie ect ect

ps op go to the library and get some cookery books for some ideas of freezing foods or web OAMC or Batch cooking lots of stuff about it

Soworried

she_who_can_not_cook wrote: »

isn't it mayo and lettuce you can not freeze ... i went to iceland yesterday and got some large reduced pork chops i put them in bags meal size i also do that with mince i roll it up like a sausage and freeze get it out the night before and we have quick spag bol chilli cottage pie ect ect

ps op go to the library and get some cookery books for some ideas of freezing foods or web OAMC or Batch cooking lots of stuff about it

I freeze tuna mayonaisse without incident.

itcanbedone_2

Thank you all! I have now frozen 3 meals worth of ham, and also halved the chicken breasts we needed last night. I am also going to freeze sarnies :T

Must stop hubbie going out and buying ice cream;)

Soworried

I've never tried to freeze sandwiches before. I freeze the bread or rolls seperate to the filling.
That could be good for people who are in a hurry in the mornings though.

zippychick

We have a thread on leftover gammon for next time. I usually make soup from the stock - cook it in water with the following - half a bag of carrots (cut in half), couple of onions cut in half, courgette/what ever veg and a couple hundred g lentils. I remove the meat once it's cooked, whizz the veg and add back some gammon pieces - yummy soup with little effort and loads of leftover gammon

our ham hock thread has loads of ideas and similar soup recipes

If you learn your way around the board there is almost a thread for everything here, so once you learn how to search, you can find almost anything

There is the quick questions thread up at the top as well.

I think the key is to change your mindset - so when you buy a bag of lettuce, have something in mind to use it all up (burgers, then fajitas, then BLT sandwiches) . We have a thread on uses for lettuce

Once you buy the chicken breasts, either use them that day, or get them in the freezer immediately to save the risk of them going off. I bag mine up in individual freezer bags, freeze separately (called open freezing so they don't all stick together), then put them al in a coloured plastic bag so I can take one out a t a time. Generally i poach chicken breasts from frozen with no issues. 15 mins usually does it, although check the middle has no red.

So start by making plans for key ingredients as you buy them

How to organise everything in my life OS is a good starting point for you.

There are loads of threads but ive taken a mind blank so if anyone can help, please do

Anyway hope that helps and ill merge your thread later on

Zip

Anselm

- I wasn't sure where to post this so apologies if its in the wrong place, my friend in The Arms recommended here -

Hi I'm Anselm, I'm 20 and at uni (but I commute) and apart from being able to cook British classics like cheese et toast and le beans on toast I can't cook much else.

This leads me on to my next question, I want to learn to cook because its a good skill and otherwise I'll starve, but how do I learn 'the basics' and what is considered basic meals to cook?

I'd like to be able to cook pasta, rice, chicken or a few easy basic meals that are quick and nutritious so I'm not reaching for takeaways.

Any help/advice is much appreciated. :j