Cooking from scratch

[yougettocomeback]

Help! I know I need to up my cooking game but I'm struggling a lot. Everyone I know seems to be cooking from scratch but delving deeper, that seems to differ between people! Some think a jar of sauce and pasta is cooking from scratch, others would say making the sauce and others would include making the pasta.

At the moment we eat a lot of beans of toast, scrambled egg on toast, jacket potatoes and fillings, pasta and jars. It doesn't help that I've struggled with food a lot and don't like onions, peppers, mushrooms, leeks or cabbage.

I want to be a better provider for my children, what are some easy meals I can start introducing that are healthy but not difficult?

It's a texture thing with onions I think as I am fine with them smooth and I know a lot of things I eat (curries, casseroles) have them in. I tend to just eat the meat chunks or the bits I like!

I can make scrambled eggs! Not great at omelettes. I can make a lovely pasta sauce with tomatoes and herbs and garlic! I can absolutely do a roast but my four year old doesn't like them so it feels like a big effort for little reward! I can make lasagne, bolognaise with jars so will definitely look into making my own sauces for those!

I like the idea of chicken with a sauce and rice and veg. Everyone loves rice and veg here so that would be a winner! I guess I want my children seeing my husband and I cooking so they get used to it. We do try but often we're exhausted and it's too easy to fall back on pasta and pesto or our current favourite, rotisserie chicken from supermarket with potatoes you shove in microwave and a ready made salad!

And honestly I am so touched with how kind and helpful everyone is being. I was so worried I'd be torn to shreds for admitting I'm not a great cook

Two of mine have texture issues with food (aspergers related). PP’s tip to grate onions etc (or finely chop them) is a good one.

I use one of those egg slicer things several times on each mushroom, for example, to make them into minuscule mushroom cubes. Lentils add fibre, proteins and vitamins and the orange ones dissolve when added to anything with a long cooking time. If you are doing something with lots of veg, it’s worth using a food processor.

Cooking is like anything else, OP; if you weren’t taught or shown, you don’t know. Don’t be embarrassed about it.

Actually, I'm same as RickTarr, my dc has texture issues, as well as multiple food allergies.
I wasn't a good cook, but had no choice but to cook from scratch to meet dc's dietary needs. Decade+ later, I'm quite decent cook now.
So I think once you pass the stage of learning basics, it will be a lot easier after that.

Sounds like you lack inspiration and motivation, rather than not being able to cook. I would start with pasta, and challenge yourself to make a difference pasta sauce each week. Buy some different pasta shapes too, and see what you prefer with each sauce.

Some ideas - all fairly quick and easy:

• Roast feta and cherry tomatoes www.delish.com/uk/cooking/recipes/a35426947/baked-feta-pasta-tiktok/
• Butternut squash and spinach realfood.tesco.com/recipes/healthy-pasta-with-butternut-squash-and-creme-fraiche.html
• Bacon, mushrooms and peas secretsauce.co.uk/pasta-rice/bacon-recipes/creamy-bacon-and-mushroom-pasta/
• Courgette and peas www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/cheesypastawithyello_76613

From there, you could move on to chicken - and learn how to do rotisserie chicken in a number of different ways. E.g. rotisserie chicken could be added to the bacon and mushroom pasta sauce and served with rice or bread. Or turned into a lasagne with the tomato sauce you already make. Every new recipe you learn will provide several different opportunities - you just have to get cooking.

You sound tried out and guilty that you're not cooking tbh.

Are you worried about calories? Salt? If you look at labels there's stuff out there which doesn't contain loads of stuff you wouldn't put in at home.

It is a pita to start with but assuages the non cooking guilt!

You and your DH are cooking together when you do which is fab.

But you're both worn out.

Some ideas.

New pots don't need peeling despite what others might say! And the skins are good for you. Go for the baby new pots or salad ones. Quick wash boil kettle. Boil in pan 10 -12 mins or so. I like them with some butter on. If you have any herbs in garden send 4yo to get some. Buttery Herby new pots easy and delicious.

Salad is awesome you don't need to make it tiny pieces. Wash roughly cut up red pepper tomatoes cucumber done.

Higgidy quiche is yummy and feels virtuous even though bought. That sort of thing. You'd buy sausages already assembled. No probs.

Buttered leeks are a piece of piss and are oniony but with a different texture. They are super easy to chop like 2 secs. Frying pan little butter and oil, cook till they all go floppy.

Don't set yourself and your DH some kind of goal out of the way it 'should' be done.

Easy to cook is fine if it's tasty and everyone will eat it.

[quote Eleoura]I'm surprised at how many replies have included onions and peppers in their replies- when you already said you can't/don't eat them!!!

I find things like savoury traybakes and pasta bakes are the easiest- because you shove it all in 1 pan and bake. No need for multiple pans and pots!

BBC food also have many tutorials of the basics
www.bbcgoodfood.com/videos[/quote]
I hear you but the jar sauces all have these ingredients in. I think when peppers and onions et al are roasted and whizzed up they are generally acceptable to those who 'dislike' the closer to their raw state versions.

@SpeedRunParent- I never said the Op should use jars of sauce. The thread is about cooking from scratch! She can make tray bakes/pasta bakes without onions/peppers if wanted.

It sounds like you've got a really good base to begin with - you said the four year old likes rotisserie chicken? What about swapping that out for a roast chook - very simple!

I am not one of nature's cooks, in contrast to DH, but I try! (I'm very trying).

My two mantras are: everyone has to try a little, and in contrast, if it's an utter disaster, there's always takeout.

Oh, a good one if you don't object to fish, is oven baked salmon. Grab a salmon fillet, put it into a square of tinfoil, salt and pepper, a dollop of butter, a splash of lemon juice and wine, wrap up into a parcel, bung it into the oven at 150 for 20 minutes. Lovely with roast spuds, or new potatoes, and veges - a great source of omegas, also.

@yougettocomeback

It's a texture thing with onions I think as I am fine with them smooth and I know a lot of things I eat (curries, casseroles) have them in. I tend to just eat the meat chunks or the bits I like!

I can make scrambled eggs! Not great at omelettes. I can make a lovely pasta sauce with tomatoes and herbs and garlic! I can absolutely do a roast but my four year old doesn't like them so it feels like a big effort for little reward! I can make lasagne, bolognaise with jars so will definitely look into making my own sauces for those!

I like the idea of chicken with a sauce and rice and veg. Everyone loves rice and veg here so that would be a winner! I guess I want my children seeing my husband and I cooking so they get used to it. We do try but often we're exhausted and it's too easy to fall back on pasta and pesto or our current favourite, rotisserie chicken from supermarket with potatoes you shove in microwave and a ready made salad!

Since you like rice, and following LateAtEight's suggestion of an Instant Pot, you can make amazing risottos in it. And you don't have to stand stirring it for hours.

On the onion front - I use onion powder or blitz an onion in the multichopper, when cooked not one of my onion refusers can tell :-)

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chicken-rarebits
is one of our favourites. It's as popular with ds at 25 as it was when he was 10. It's easy as well; I serve it with steamed or roasted broccoli, and potatoes for those that want them.

Start with things that you already know your family will eat.
You eat scrambled eggs, so learn to make an omelette and frittata.
You eat beans, so learn to make a bean and sausage casserole, or bean soup , or chilli sauce.

Some of the items on your list, like the things on toast, seem more like snacks than full meals, so once you start cooking a wider range of meals it will be more interesting for you as the cook and those eating the meals.
Also you mention how much your husband eats, it could be that he needs more substantial food than beans on toast.

I hope you enjoy learning to cook, as a nice meal is one of life's pleasures.

Grating onion sounds hell on the eyes! Any tips?

No need to over complicate things.
I plan the week thinking about who is going to be in and how much time I will have available in which to cook.
On a 'not much time' night we could have omelette and salad or shakshuka or spaghetti carbonara.
A bit longer dhal with flat breads or minestrone or fish fillets with new pots and green vegetables or liver and bacon
And if longer we have curry or roast chicken or sausages and baked pots.

Easy things to learn are stew, mince dishes, vegetable curries and stir fries.
This time of year there can be lots of salad/ warm salad options.
Fish, potatoes and veg is a good healthy and easy meal. Also roasted vegetables.
Don't try to learn everything at once. Learn a couple of new things then gradually expand.
Print recipes you like/ want to try and start your own recipe book.

At the moment we eat a lot of beans of toast, scrambled egg on toast, jacket potatoes and fillings, pasta and jars

A lot of that is filling, nutritious and economical so no worries there!

I'd work on pasta sauces - I find most of the jarred sauces a bit icky. They are expensive for what they are which is basically tinned tomatoes!
Do you like garlic? A simple pasta sauce is quickly fry chopped garlic in olive oil, add any chopped veg if you want it (courgettes or mushrooms if not peppers?) then chuck in tinned chopped tomatoes (or passata if you like it smoother), maybe some dried herbs like oregano or mixed herbs and simmer while the pasta boils.

[quote Eleoura]@SpeedRunParent- I never said the Op should use jars of sauce. The thread is about cooking from scratch! She can make tray bakes/pasta bakes without onions/peppers if wanted.[/quote]
I think you miss my point. Op is already using jars therefore it's possible that she won't dislike onions and peppers when they are cooked in with a home made sauce.