Want to eat healthier but recipes still say microwave

McKneff

If you don't change your ways, all this crap builds up in your system and it will catch up with you in middle age,


Simple as that really.


Or are you just lazy......

redfragglebiker

Hi OP. I know you say you don't want to cook but would you be up for the idea of cooking large batches of food and then freezing them so you could reheat later on? You could do spaghetti bolognese, shepherds pie, chilli, even batch cook some chicken breats with a few herbs and spices. You'd need to take some time out say 1-2 days per month to actually cook the meals but after that you're then back to using the microwave for most things but the meals are healthier and you know what's in them. It might not be anything you're willing to entertain but it could well be worth a thought. My other question is have you thought about investing in a slow cooker. perfect for lazy vcooks or people that aren't that bothered as you simply chuck everything in and then ignore it for a few hours whilst it all cooks. I don't even brown the meat off beforehand unless it's sausages (sausage skins go a bit slimy in the slow cooker)

Horace

OP - I agree that some recipes are really complicated and use weird ingredients.

I taught myself to cook out of necessity - I got bored with eating beans on toast. I had a book called Can't Cook Won't Cook which helped but these days I prefer Delia because her recipes work. Of her books I usually use How to Cheat at Cooking or One is Fun.

The only meals that get microwaved now are tv dinners that I have cooked myself and have frozen.

The best thing I ever bought was a slow cooker - (it cost me £7 from Wilkinsons) and it is big enough for me. I sling in stewing beef (bought from butcher or supermarket - ready cubed), a peeled and sliced carrot, a peeled and chopped onion, some water to cover it, a stock cube, a handful of pearl barley, a pinch of herbs, some black pepper. I set it on auto and it cooks all day.

Remember that some beginner websites are foreign and will give names of things that are actually common to us but called something else in whichever country the site is based. I know that American and Australian sites do this a lot and in some cases I have had to google the item.

If a recipe contains an ingredient that I do not like, I omit it - the food still tastes alright.

When I was married my husband did all the cooking - I remember trying to bake a cake and it didn't look like the picture and he made a point of criticising it (he had never baked a cake in his life) and I never baked again. Now I am divorced - I bake all the time (there are times when cakes do not turn out as expected but then I remember what mum has told me often enough - there is nothing that can't be fixed with a bit of cream).

dronid

As you can see, you're in the right place. Ask anything and pretty much most of the time you'll get a sensible answer (or a commiserating answer, or a joke). It's all good. Is there any food you eat, ready meal that you like particularly or anything you can't stand? We can work from there...

dronid

mardycow wrote: »

I too do not do cooking .... I buy frozen chicken fillets or breasts, frozen veg. bagged salads, cucumber, toms etc and that is what i now eat mainly, tinned tuna is great. so that is easy enough. i cook the chicken in a frying pan with a little olive oil, doesn't make me a chef but at least it is much healthier,

It might shock you mardy but cooking chicken in a frying pan does make you a cook and someone who is cooking. It can be as simple as that. If you tipped a tin of chopped tomatoes over it and heated it till it bubbled, then grated cheese over the tomatoes and chicken and put it under the grill, you've something you could serve up to people. Add some herbs/ garlic as you put the tomatoes on, better still. It all comes from simple roots.

LameWolf

I too dislike cooking; but my DH likes eating, and I refuse to serve him food that's been "mucked about" with, so I cook.;) Vegetarian food only - the sight and smell of meat or fish makes me ill - but DH is happy with that.:A

I'm pretty much self-taught; I didn't learn cookery at school, and my mother was a shockingly bad cook - it's said she could burn water!:rotfl: So I reckon if I can do it, anyone can.:D

I've snagged loads of recipes off the threads on this Forum - they're all tried and tested, and sometimes the people who post them add things like "the book says this but I find doing that works better".

gwin

Blown away by the help you have all offered. I will take a lot of the ideas away and give them a go.
I'm not lazy as one suggested, I just don't get the 'cooking is enjoyable' thing. To me it's like saying you love to vacuum or iron.
It doesn't help that I've not been exposed to many varied foods. As a child my mum did basic food as we didn't have much money. Then as you get older you feel as if you should know these things so don't ask.
My 21 yr old daughter is more worldly than me because they grew up with it. I didn't go to a restaurant until I was in my 20s!
I like the idea of the spag bols and shepherds pies and the slow cooker sounds a great idea.

littlepinkbiscuits

When I lived alone I used to batch cook and freeze stuff. I would spend a whole day every six to 8 weeks making huge pots of chilli, lasagne and casseroles with dumpling, meals like that. Once they were stashed in the freezer I could relax for the next few weeks!

I also used to do baked potatoes and omelettes from scratch as quick evening meals.

I was never interested in cooking, but once I started doing it I really got into making things, now I bake cakes and make my own pizza bases and bread sometimes, and ice cream!

Once you get confident with one meal, you can add to it and begin to experiment.

Maybe say to yourself that one night a week from now on you will prepare one meal from scratch, even if it is beans on toast, egg on toast, or pasta with some beans and tuna stirred in. Start simple and don't try things that take too long. I used to only like cooking if it took ten minutes or less!

suki1964

gwin wrote: »

Blown away by the help you have all offered. I will take a lot of the ideas away and give them a go.
I'm not lazy as one suggested, I just don't get the 'cooking is enjoyable' thing. To me it's like saying you love to vacuum or iron.
It doesn't help that I've not been exposed to many varied foods. As a child my mum did basic food as we didn't have much money. Then as you get older you feel as if you should know these things so don't ask.
My 21 yr old daughter is more worldly than me because they grew up with it. I didn't go to a restaurant until I was in my 20s!
I like the idea of the spag bols and shepherds pies and the slow cooker sounds a great idea.

Mince is so versatile and fool proof

Says she who fried it up in oil the first ever time she cooked it lolololol


Mince and tatties are a firm favourite in this house As a learner cook there is no harm in starting with tinned veg and gravy granules

Dry fry mince. That is put the mince in a big frying pan or sauce pan and heating till all brown. Stirring and breaking it up till all brown

Add a onion. Chop it however is easy for you.

Boil a kettle

Add a tablespoon of gravy granules to mince and onions and add enough hot water till you get a lovely sloppy mix

Add a tin of potatoes and a tin of carrots and even a tin of sweetcorn and turn the heat down till the gravy is just bubbling

When veg is hot it's eadible

Add salt pepper to taste

If it gets too dry, add more water. Too wet, more gravy granules


Simple and easy and better then a microwave meal

And best of all, you actually cooked it

krlyr

gwin wrote: »

Blown away by the help you have all offered. I will take a lot of the ideas away and give them a go.
I'm not lazy as one suggested, I just don't get the 'cooking is enjoyable' thing. To me it's like saying you love to vacuum or iron.
It doesn't help that I've not been exposed to many varied foods. As a child my mum did basic food as we didn't have much money. Then as you get older you feel as if you should know these things so don't ask.
My 21 yr old daughter is more worldly than me because they grew up with it. I didn't go to a restaurant until I was in my 20s!
I like the idea of the spag bols and shepherds pies and the slow cooker sounds a great idea.

There are lots of foods I never ate until I moved out of home at around 21, and still foods now that I haven't tried. I think that's partly why I do enjoy cooking so much - getting to try those things, whilst tailoring the recipe to my taste. For example, I love Chinese food except for aniseed type flavours. By making my own sauces, I can omit (or cut down) the 5 spice in a recipe to avoid the taste I dislike.

Lots of helpful advice - everyone had to learn to cook at one stage, I too asked silly questions like phoning my mum to ask her how to fry chicken! I still overcooked it, it was rubbery and horrible! Nowadays, my mum's asking me how I've cooked certain meals!

Build up gradually. Don't try making a bolognese from scratch tomorrow - all the methods and ingredients will frazzle your brain and it may put you off. Use a jar of sauce this time around, it will get you used to the simpler steps like browning the mince and draining the fat, and it'll be a bit healthier than a readymeal bolognese. Next time around, you could buy one of the cartons of passatta (that's blended, seived tomatoes) that's already got herbs and garlic in it, you'll probably want to add a bit of sugar to get the sweetness that readymeals and jarred sauces have, but this is something you can cut down over time as you learn to flavour things with herbs and spices (and has your tastebuds adapt).
Things like sachets of spice mixes (e.g. fajitas) or sauces (teryaki sauce) will simplify recipes, but still introduce an element of cooking for yourself.

Also look into other shortcuts. For example, buying bags of frozen diced onion - it works out a little more expensive perhaps, but if just the thought of chopping an onion brings tears to mind, using ready-cooked saves a step in cooking and avoids draining your motivation.

You'll learn what you like - I used to follow recipes to the letter because I didn't know which herbs or spices would go with which, which ones would be more overpowering and needed to be used in smaller quantities, and so on. As you get used to using them, you'll learn which you prefer - OH and I love paprika, for example, but aren't keen on basil. Once you get used to it, you'll know to add a heap of this, but only a pinch of that, you'll know that X spice goes nicely with Y cuisine, or Z herb will go nice with chicken but not so great with beef, and so on.


Oh, and I hate ironing and hoovering!