Is there a how-to-cook-what-you've-meal-planned thread?

iammumtoone

As promised this is my weeks meal plan

Pork chops - I always do mine in the oven, lay in dish sprinkle over some gravy granules pour over boiling water till just covered and put in oven gas 5 for about 45 mins
mustard mash - add wholegrain mustard to your mash start with about 1/2 tablespoon taste and keep adding till you get the taste you want, if you dont like mustard you can add horseradish sauce
frozen broccoli and cauliflower

Jacket potato with seafood jacket with prawns (frozen are cheaper) and cut up crab sticks. I am going to try to make my own mayo but you can just use ready brought or seafood sauce http://mortgagefreeinthree.com/2013/06/ten-second-mayonnaise/
sweetcorn
salad

sausage bean casserole - http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=nhs%20sauage%20bean%20casserole&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.nhschoices.nhs.uk%2Fchange4life%2Fbefoodsmart%2FC4L_Sausage_tomato__butter_bean_bake.pdf&ei=MwvKUdvzKcq80QW2xIGwCw&usg=AFQjCNGWfUx9-5sQPhf7bRv8JxY9papumw&bvm=bv.48293060,bs.1,d.d2k
part baked bread - follow instructions on packet

Frozen fish
potato wedges - Cook potatoes in microwave on jacket potato setting, cut into wedges, lay on baking tray, spay or drizzle with oil, season with salt and pepper (if you like you can season with spices) place in oven and cook same time as fish or until just starting to brown.
baked beans

For puddings
rice pudding / banana custard / tinned fruit and ice cream / self saucing choc pud (not made one of these before I will google and pick the simplest recipe)


Its not very adventurous or exciting and I wont really be 'cooking' anything but there are no ready meals and its easy and cheap.

babyshoes

I use my microwave a lot for easy supper side dishes. It is easy to microwave some veg (fresh or frozen, your choice) and potato/rice/other starch to serve with grilled chops or sausages and appropriate sauce/gravy - instant or jar stuff is fine to begin with. If I'm feeling lazy I will often use frozen mash - it is way better than the powdered stuff (yuk!) and nearly as good as home made stuff. A dollop of mayonnaise stirred in makes it really luxurious.

A basic roast is easier than you think, and can make plenty of leftovers for other meals. I put lots of roasting veg, plus chopped potatoes in the bottom of the roasting dish, put a grid over it and the meat on top. All cooks together, then I use the combined meat/veg juices to add to gravy powder gravy. A splash of port, wine or sherry is nice too, makes it more like 'real' gravy. Ok, so you don't get crispy roast potatoes or yorkshires with this, but if you really want those just cheat and buy them frozen, then bung them into the oven at the appropriate point of the roast's cooking time (if they want a hotter temp than the roast, just give them a bit longer instead). They are easy enough to do at home, but do mean it isn't an 'all in one' meal.

The tricks to making a good roast are:
a) how you prep the meat - for pork I dry the skin with paper towel, slice through the skin and fat in strips (make sure your knife is very sharp) then rub the skin with salt and put in a very hot oven (gas 8 or 9) for the first 30 mins of cooking time then turn it down to gas 5 - the skin puffs up to give a good crackling. It will take a bit of experimentation to figure out just how much salt to use - more will make your crackling crispier but can be too salty to eat. For chicken I rub the skin with a 'chicken spice' blend that you can buy in the herbs and spices section, or you could use your own combination. Just a smear of olive oil with salt and pepper is fine too. You can put various things in the cavity or under the skin at the neck end for flavouring if you like, garlic and/or lemon is nice but I often don't bother. Lamb is yummy with garlic, kalamata olives and rosemary. If you don't like olives, leave those out. I make a bunch of holes in the meat with a sharp knife and prod small pieces of each flavouring into each hole.

and

b) figuring out how long to cook it for and at what temperature... Pork is 1 hour per Kg, plus half an hour, gas mark 5. Chicken is 40 mins per Kg, plus half an hour, also gas mark 5. Lamb varies according how rare or well done you like it, think there must be a table online somewhere. Supermarket meat will generally have temperatures timings on the label.

These timings are all approximate of course - ovens do vary in temperature so be sure to check that it is cooked. Cut into the deepest part of the meat and have a good look. Poultry is cooked if any juices run clear when you cut into the deepest part of the meat. Pork should not have any pink remaining in the middle. Lamb and beef can be eaten rare if you like.

savetosave

Hi
I totally agree you shouldn't pressure yourself to do too much at once. My son has just come back from his first year and uni and has suddenly gone from not being interested in cooking to asking me to teach him. (Hooray!)
So he is having a cookery lesson once a week, of something he likes and I'm trying to plan it so that we build on something he has already learned. The first week we did cottage pie, the second we did macaroni cheese and so now that he has done meat and tomato sauce and cheese sauce, this week we are doing lasagne.
Before he goes back I will write all the recipes and tips in a book for him to take with him.

Ask your friends what they like to make too, people who enjoy cooking often like to help others learn and if they're friends they won't laugh at you, we'll not too much anyway.

If you need any tips everyone on here will help.

wik

Hi Op and all xx

A couple of suggestions.... Do you have a sure start near you? is always worth asking if they have cook and eat sessions...

another idea is look for a 'student' cookbook - they tend to be very well presented and easy to follow..

also have a look at the change4life website.

this may sound daft - but pop into you local library and ask if they have any information about cooking sessions available locally..

wik x

sonastin

Here is my method/timings for the easiest "roast" chicken dinner in the world:

At some point in the morning or around lunchtime (roughly 6 hours or more before you want to eat), put a whole chicken in the slow cooker with a bit (probably just enough to cover the bottom of the dish) of water. Put it on high and leave it. If you're out all day so it'll be in there for 8 hours or more, same but on low.

(For real easy cheat job, use frozen roast spuds and cook according to the packet and do other veg. For home made roasties + roast carrots, follow below)

About 45 min before you want to cook, put the oven on to warm up - about 200degC or thereabouts.

Peel enough spuds to give you however many roasties you want & put them in a pan of boiling water.

While the potatoes par boil, peel and chop some carrots. I usually do 1 carrot per person and chop into batons about the size of my thumb.

Once the carrots are ready, drain the potatoes. Put them back into the pan with a splash of oil. Put the lid on the pan and give it a good shake so the outside edges rough up (makes 'em crispy) and they get covered in oil.

Put the potatoes and carrots into a roasting dish. Make sure the carrots get a coating of oil too - there's usually spare from the potatoes when I do it but I sometimes have to add a wee bit more.
Put the roasting dish into the oven for 30 minutes.

(We usually have another veg like cabbage, brocoli, spinach or frozen peas. These tend to take roughly 8-10 minutes to boil/steam so I use this pause to prep them. I put them into the pan or the steamer basket which sits in/on the pan but add the boiling water later).

About 10-15 minutes before the potatoes & carrots are due to be ready, switch off the slow cooker and carefully take the chicken out and put on a plate or chopping board. (careful because it might fall apart). Pour the liquid which is in the slow cooker into a pan. Put the chicken back into the (switched off) slow cooker pot to "rest".

Pour boiling water over your second veg and put them on to cook.

Put a heaped teaspoon of cornflour into a (clean!) empty jar - I use an old mint sauce/horseradish sauce-type jar - and add a little water. Put the lid on and shake the jar over the sink so that the cornflour mixes well. Pour this mix into the pan of slow-cooker liquid. (Or alternatively if there's too much fat in the slow-cooker juices, use chicken stock made by following the instructions on the packet of stock cubes). Put it on the hob & keep stirring until it comes to the boil - should thicken up to a nice gravy. You'll probably need to add a drop of gravy browning (really only a DROP - or it will go really brown!) to make it the right colour. Taste and add a pinch of salt if it is a bit bland.

Once your gravy is done, most of the other stuff should be too. Carve the chicken and serve.


For over a year I had to cook on a 2 ring camping stove with only a combi-microwave to use as an oven. This was when I truly mastered the art of a proper roast dinner and i can't believe how scared of it I used to be. Follow the above with whatever DS's favourite veggies are and you won't fail to impress.

lostinrates

Skips mum,

I used to take care of lots of fussy eaters, and something that might help you, and your son, is to get him to help. Kids are far more likely to eat and take pride in something they have helped with. Not practical on a school night maybe, especially while you are finding your feet, but certainly at weekends.

Using a kids cookery book will let I'm pick meals, with basic tech niches for you both, do something together, and also, make sure he is well equipped in the future. .

Also consider it need not be complicated .....if you and he make a dip like houmous and prepare some brightly coloured veg and things like apples you have a nice light summer lunch or supper.

jumblejack

Pizzas are great for when kids have friends over.

A pizza base is so easy to do.

Practice when you are under no pressure.

I can rustle one up now in minutes (you don't need to let the dough rise like with bread!)

A couple of cheap pasta sauces in the cupboard are handy as then you can spread a moderate amount on the top, sprinkle a few dried herbs on and top with cheese, cherry tomatoes, leftover ham, pineapple chunks, sliced sausage, anything you have in! Seriously!!

The boys will appreciate that you have made it yourself and think you are the best mum ever!!!

It will save you a packet and gain lots of brownie points!!

meg72

As Jumblejack says, you cant go wrong with Pizza, I have never met a kid who doesn`t like it.

You can cheat if you dont have time or dont want to make the base, use a french stick or pita bread instead.

Be warned though you will find you DS becomes very popular when the word gets round his Mum does pizza for tea, I drew the line when my
DS arrived home with 6 of his friends, I managed to feed them all with the addition of loads of homemade chips but told him no more than 2 friends in future unless he gave me plenty of notice.

Valli

http://reluctantgourmet.com/cooking-techniques

flyingmamma

skipsmum everyone has to start somewhere ,i am a busy mum and a tired cook i have 3 youg kids and a husband who works away during the week.i do lots of pasta bakes....i found this great blog the other dsy...called crumbs......their brocolli pasta was a winner .....have made it 3 times already! i also do a tuna bake which is easy.....in an oven proof dish add 1 can chopped tom,1 drained can tuna,2mugs pasta quills,pepper,heaoed teaspoon mixed herbs,1 can of water,1 squirt of tom puree,pinch salt. give it a good mix and stick in oven180 for 45mins.remove and sprinkle cheese...oven for 5 mins then serve. dead easy and tasty.....servewith garlic bread.i also add chilli fkakes to mine but not kids.good luck and well done for trying.....loads of people dont bother!