To ask how tf to cook?

[Easeljeasel]

Ok, this is embarrassing. I was raised in a house where the most ‘cooking’ that ever happened was fish fingers and oven chips. On repeat. Interspersed with potato waffles or, if extra effort was being made, a boil in the bag fish in parsley sauce with mash... Big processed potato theme as you can see.

Anyway, I went off to uni, have done well for myself career wise and now find myself late 30s, married with kids and in this crazy middle class world where people can actually really cook (I know it’s not a discretely middle class thing being able to cook btw, but over the years I have felt like the class thing has introduced dishes, ingredients - not to mention wines etc - others from my background have probably never heard of either).

Obviously this hasn’t been an overnight thing - in reality I’ve spent years and years going to dinner parties and cringing at the thought of reciprocating, buying cookery books and trying to learn but tbh just not sticking with it long enough for anything to ‘stick’ such that I feel I could achieve it without having to follow each step by step etc. All in all I find the whole thing intimidating and I’ve been too soft on myself for too long and not biting the bullet and getting on with learning.

As lock down starts to ease I know the invites are going to start returning (ultimate first world prob, I know) along with my anxiety about not being fit to reciprocate. And even outside of that my poor kids. They’re fine - more balanced diet than I ever had (not hard) but I’d love to start raising them with a lovely weekly schedule of healthy, home cooked meals rather than pastas and Waitrose fishcakes (my childhood fish fingers in slightly posher disguise!)

Any ideas on ‘starter’ meals to cook that:

A) kids will like on a school night

OR

B) I can use as a dinner party ‘go-to’, without having to perform 20 dry runs and a sleepness night of worry about it going tits up?!

SOS!

This one (Nosh for busy mums & dads) is really helpful for learning to cook family meals: NOSH for Busy Mums and Dads: A Family Cookbook with Everyday Food for Real Families https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0993260950/ref=cmswwrcppapiglttfabc7KBHXJ1KJXN3WBFA326C

I also found Jamie's Ministry of Food quite helpful (but Jamie Oliver's kids are clearly not like mine!)

Maybe try something from here whilst you get to grips with cooking, once you’ve enjoyed the simplicity of a few of these it might give you the confidence to be more adventurous. As for kids meals, it depends how fussy they are.

www.simplycook.com/landing/PPCB?utm_source=ppcbrand&utm_medium=brand&utm_campaign=£3trial&KW=10001&voucherCode=ppc_brand_3&gclid=CjwKCAjw9r-DBhBxEiwA9qYUpRrW1M8mkd8M5UkvecSG4vHe3p1oaj6SeYoZ_dsTOVMrlHKDyIu1_RoCkzcQAvD_BwE

The Roasting Tin/Quick Roasting Tin/Green Roasting Tin are good, as they are all in one pan so generally easier as you don't have to stress about timings. And the food is nice.

Why don't you try gousto for a few weeks or couple months you can choose fun recipes the kids will like. Gives you a step by step.

For dinner parties... You can make nice tapas type stuff if you do baked camembert, salads, bread, olives etc for a starter, just stock up from m&s etc. We made a lovely got smoked salmon pate recently with m&s tartar sauce with capers and hot smoked salmon it was lovely with toasted bread.

What about signing up to Gousto or Hello Fresh - wide range of meals (mostly child friendly) and easy to follow. I am not a bad cook but enjoy using these as they've made me try different styles of cooking.

Someone here'll probably have a code for a free box

I love a tray bake, I used to find a recipe to give me an idea of timings and if everything went in together or if I needed to put potatoes in first before adding veg and fish. So many different options and flavours. I love Mediterranean veg with loads of garlic and sausages, but also do Chinese flavourings and salmon or chicken with sun dried tomatoes and olives.

Ministry of Food - Jamie Oliver is a great easy book ,

proper basic foods, helped me learn to cook.

I was going to suggest the same as previous poster. How about trying Gousto for a few weeks. You get recipients cards which are super easy to follow. Build up a collection of some for family and some for dinner parties.

Second the Jamie Oliver Ministry of food suggestion!

I'm old fashioned. If in doubt I go to Delia.

I totally sympathise - my DP was taught how to cook as a teenager but I wasn't; he thinks I'm bonkers sometimes when I ask questions about the most basic cooking techniques. But I simply don't know. I ate beans and chips from the deep fat fryer every night for about two years.

I genuinely recommend Gousto boxes for this. I am an experienced and accomplished cook, but still enjoy these!

Shamelessly posting a referral link for 50% off your first box and 30% off for the rest of the months boxes cook.gousto.co.uk/raf?promo_code=ALLIS33205208&utm_source=androidapp (I get £15 to spend on future boxes if anyone uses it!).

All the ingredients bar basics like salt, pepper, splash of milk etc are in the big with instructions on how to prepare it all.

Aww thank you guys - I was so nervous posting this and thought you’d all shriek with horror and tell me I was a lazy old wench who should be handing herself over to social services about the kids!

Thank you, thank you - googling/ following all linked suggestions!

I'd try a subscription service as others have mentioned to get your confidence up, nd give you some ideas. I had a Jamie Oliver book as a younger adult that was easy but nutritious - think it was ministry of food which someone has mentioned above. That was brilliant in giving me some basics when I moved out so that might be a good one and you can probably pick up a copy second hand as its quite old.

I'd sympathise if you were 21 but you are late 30s. There comes a time when adults have to take responsibility for themselves. If in doubt google.

Voted YANBU - I had no idea that people cooked from scratch until I left home. I also have a very limited diet.

I'm getting better and since having my DD I use fresh ingredients when I can and make sure she joins me when I cook so she doesn't end up like me.

Don't be afraid to experiment. The BBC Good Food website has some recipes that are fairly easy to follow.

Following this thread for my own inspiration.

Start with breakfast dishes as they’re easier and more forgiving. I assume you already know the basics like boiling an egg / using the hob to saute etc etc. So you could try simple restaurant style scrambled eggs, an omelette (frittatas tend to be a bit easier than french style at the beginning), fry up, or go all out by making a breakfast quiche lol

You need a beginners cookbook. It should start with something like here is how to roast a chicken breast. Then here is how to do it with 3 different sauces. Here is how to roast a mix of potatoes and carrots. Now do it with a bit of broccoli mixed in. Basically it gives you simple meals to make that teach you the steps of how to cook so that in the future you can cook without recipes.

Mine is 30 plus years old, but I did a bit of googling and it looks like more modern versions do exist.

For the dinner party - get catering in and Sid the worry, you’ve made a career so but the dinner

YouTube is your friend, better than cookery books in reality. Deliha smith was my go to cookery book for entertainment www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/italian/pasta-puttanesca-tarts-spaghetti

Delia is a bit old fashioned but very easy to follow and pretty foolproof.

The BBC Good Food website is brilliant.

Omg @UnsolicitedDickPic! Yes! Not only am I terrible at inviting people over but I’m also awful at offering to help when there as I’m constantly terrified they’re going to say yes and then ask me to ‘just quickly [insert French word for technique I don’t know] a couple of [insert obscure veggie I can’t confidently identify from the fridge]’

On reflection it’s a miracle we keep receiving invites at all really!

I fell in love with cooking by watching loads of food network or just general cooking shows or competitions even. You learn so much and they show you how!

If I get a "free" hour on a weekend I get a cuppa and fold laundry while I watch it

cariadlet I agree Delia is old fashioned, but some dishes don’t go out of fashion. The instructions are very comprehensive and easy to follow

What do you like to eat? Or what do your kids really like to eat? In my experience just wanting to cook won't get you there, you need to be invested in the result. So to start with think what is your absolute favourite comfort food, google a recipe (look at several to compare) then give it a go. It'll be step by step for a while, always allow extra time.
I enjoy cooking, but the absolute best bit is being able to have whatever food you want, made exactly how you like it.
An easy to follow book won't help you if it's recipes for stuff you don't like.

The roasting tin recipe books are the nuts, I love them. Literally just lob things into a roasting tray. I've used modified recipes from there for dinner parties.