It's a cooking one! (Help me, I'm useless)

[HungryHippo9]

Hello! I appreciate this isn’t AIBU but thought I would get more responses and tips in this section. It’s a cooking thread...

I’ve recently started a new job working long hours and I won’t be home during the week until after 7:30pm. Over the years I have wasted so much money on takeaways, meal deals and microwave meals and I really want to change that. I’m trying to be a bit more responsible with money and save up for a mortgage.

For context, I am 26, live by myself and I have no kids so will only be cooking for myself. I am a terrible cook (mum did all the cooking when I lived at home so silly me never took an interest and tried to learn) and have no patience what so ever. I honestly can’t think of anything worse than having to stand and cook a meal after a long day in work either. I am ideally hoping to batch cook easy/healthy/cheap meals on a Sunday for the week where I can then just pop them in the microwave or oven whilst I go in the shower and get into my pjs!

I prefer to shop in Aldi or Lidl as I find Tesco/Asda/Sainsbury’s quite expensive and for some reason when I shop in Aldi/ Lidl I will actually buy proper food to make a meal rather than just junk food like I do in all the other shops (not sure if it’s because the other shops tend to have the junk food scattered around everywhere and it’s more in your face if that make sense).

I love most foods including, pasta, red meat, fish (except salmon). I am hoping to learn to cook some easy and convenient meals which don’t include lots of ingredients and cost me a fortune to make, so mumsnetters if you’ve got this far please could you suggest some meals for me! Thanks

I'm also quite happy to eat the same meal a few days a week but would rather not use the same one every week as would like to have a balance!

In your shoes, I think I'd get a stack of mince sand cook a basic Bolognese sauce. Then, you can portion some for chilli (add kidney beans and chilli powder), some to freeze as a Bolognese sauce for spaghetti, and some to layer with pasta and a white sauce for lasagne.

If it's just you, you'd be best off being some foil trays to put it in, so that one tray = one portion.

Do you have a slow cooker at all?
It's so cliche but I love mine and I've only had it for a week.
I did teriyaki meatballs, veggie curry and Balsamic braised beef. Took 20 mins prep in the morning before work, in the slow cooker with a timer plug and done by the time I get home. Then all I have to do is throw on some rice or noodles or potatoes etc.
This week we're having veggie bean chilli, good ol' spag bol, lentil and chickpea curry, slow cooker fajitas and then a weekend treat of pulled pork.
The teriyaki meatballs were my favourite meal of this week

Yes to bolognaise, chilli, stew and curries. All can be cooked on the weekend portioned off and often taste better the next day.

Can I also recommend getting the quick roasting tin by rukmini iyer? (Or any of the other roasting tins)
The premise is that everything goes in one tin and you wack it in the oven and within 30 mins it’s done.
Her recipes haven’t failed me yet and they get my non-cooking DH to have a go happily.

Jar of antipasti / tub of olives etc from deli counter
Pasta
Prawns
Frozen garlic and frozen chilli
Pot of low fat creme fraiche

Cook the pasta according to the instructions
Meanwhile, heat the prawns (or cook until pink if using raw) with some olive oil and a bit of the frozen garlic and chilli
Add the antipasti and a glug of the creme fraiche to the prawns to make a sauce

Get one of the Rukmini Iyer Roasting Tin books. They are all recipes for meals that can be cooked in one dish, and there are loads of really nice recipes in there. Each one makes 4-6 portions, loads of them can be frozen, can't recommend her enough!

Buy the big trays of pork loin steaks and chicken breasts. Separate into ziplock bags, as many as you need in each bag for a meal.

Then add different flavours in each bag.

• red wine
• honey and mustard
• lime, honey and coriander
• bbq sauce
• garlic, lemon and oregano
• balsamic vinegar, garlic, cherry tomatoes chopped in half

Freeze them.

In the morning take out a bag and leave in the fridge, in the evening put on a baking tray 20-30 minutes in the oven on gas 6. Serve with:

• microwave rice
• tenderstem broccoli and asparagus drizzled with Oil and roasted same time and temp as the meat.
• pasta in tomato sauce
• macaroni and cheese
• potato - wedges/roasted/mash/boiled
• shredded and in a wrap with grated cheese and salsa

My DS buys those Aldi meals where you get your fresh meat and veg ready prepped and just have to cook it all. Does two meals.

Stir fries are pretty easy and quick.

Dd is that you

My dd bought a slow cooker and a georgeforeman grill she batch cooks curries and chillis freezes them also does fish/chicken/veg on her grill and has wraps

The above can’t be frozen due to the creme but it takes ten mins max so dead easy to cook after a tiring day at work.

At the weekend, practice some basic skills like cooking onions and other vegetables really slowly in olive oil (way longer than most recipes suggest) until they're gently cooked and very soft. Add garlic towards the end, never with the onions. Experiment with adding things like fennel seeds and chili.

This makes the base of so many dishes. Once you have mastered this, you can add wine, passata, tomatoes etc, to make a basic sauce for pasta.

Adding meat, tofu, beans, pulses etc, after softening the vegetables cranks things up further and experiment with curry-type dishes, chili, etc.

Being able to cook delicious food for yourself is so fantastic. Good luck OP!

I do a pasta sauce or stir fry sauce (eg satay - finely chopped onion and garlic, a bit of curry powder, peanut butter and coconut milk) and make loads, freeze it in batches, and then when you're back you only need to heat pasta or do a quick stir fry.

Fish is always quick to cook. You can mix breadcrumbs herbs and parmesan and pop it on top of a fillet for a posh 'crust', only takes 15 min to cook.

Soup also freezes really well and reheats well

My dd also buys those meals from Aldi

Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food is great for people who don’t know how to cook and has loads of recipes you could batch cook.

I’d buy a cookbook, like Nigel slater real food, or Jamie ministry of food, Nigel is aimed more at cooking for one or two. Even delias awfully titled one is fun.

But they do the basics...and do it well. Also a cooking course or evening course can be good.

Soup. Simmer whatever vegetables are looking sorry for themselves at the end of the week: regulars here are watercress; courgette/tomato; cauliflower and cheese; broccoli; carrot - or just bung in an assortment.
Simmer for half an hour-ish, then blitz in blender. Spoonful of cream should you have any. Good for lunches or any easy supper.
There's an old Delia Smith book called One is Fun and she's easy to follow for beginners.

Oh wow I am loving all these ideas! I absolutely love home made meals so really keen to learn and will definitely be practicing over the next few weekends.

I did think about getting a slow cooker but just never bothered in the end. I've heard of so many people that their great so I think I will definitely invest in one and the cook book people suggested. My friend bought me a cook book at Christmas but unfortunately it's quite a fancy one which involves lots and lots of ingredients (bless her she knows I'm a terrible cook).

Sorry, I didn't mean to drip feed either - but my freezer is a counter one which is quite small as I don't have enough room in my kitchen for a big one. It stores enough but isn't huge so can a lot of these meals be kept in the fridge if I plan to eat them the same week?

I love my slow cooker but I find I always have to fry onions and other stuff before putting it in.Good stock cubes..Aldi do a Norr repro which is excellent. The jelly sort not the cubes.

To the poster who said soup - I absolutely love soup, I use to make a lovely butternut squash one with my grandma . It's so handy for taking to work as well and really fills me up as opposed to sandwiches!

DD1 basically buys nice bits from the deli and adds salad or frozen veg and rice/cous cous /pasta. Just eats what she fancies.

DD2 has a one pound meals book that looks pretty good.

As well as batch cooking mince make a casserole and freeze portions in old take away cartons. Have it will potatoes rice or chips. Buy frozen veg to have with it too
Buy some frozen cooked chicken, you just have to defrost it and shove it in pitta bread with some salad

Roast a chicken. Day one with roast potatoes and a vegetable. Day two cold with salad. Day three/four make a very basic curry and rice. You'll be sick of the sight of it by then, but it's cheaper to buy a whole chicken than portions.

Two step carbonara is dead easy and tasty. Google it.

Things like Bolognase, once you’ve got that nailed it can be adapted for cottage pies and chilli.

Passata works really well instead of tinned tomatoes (or as well as) as it thickens the sauce.

None of these things have to be complicated. I was never taught to cook as my parents didn’t let me near the oven (why I don’t know). So I just learned myself.

Also, get a slow cooker, I love mine. You can buy packs of casserole veg which you just chuck in with the meat and stock.

DH and I do things like pasta bakes, lasagne, cottage/ fish pies and they do the 2 of us for 2 meals.
Also do you have a slow cooker? We batch cook chicken and chorizo stew, campfire stew, tagine, curry, chilli etc- a slow cooker full does 4 portions. Freeze in individual portions and serve with micro rice pouches, pasta or couscous.

Nigel Slater's "30-minute cook" - some of the recipes take less than this, none of them are at all difficult and all of them are adaptable for 1 serving, or you can make-1-freeze-1.