To ask for tips from people who enjoy cooking!

[Greenville]

I absolutely hate cooking. I avoid it alot and unfortunately because of this we end up eating lots of crap takeaways and ready meals.

I've tried getting into it but can't. I have bought cookery books but try one recipe and then its left collecting dust. I've tried doing a meal plan but only realise I only know how to cook around 10 meals, half of which are just meh and I don't enjoy.

I want to stop wasting money on takeaways and eating crap and to cook everyday.

When I wake up and think about cooking the first thing I struggle is what to cook. I don't know what to cook! Then it's I don't have the ingredients in the house and it's too much hassle/ no time to go shopping so then it's just easy to get a takeaway!

Help me break this cycle please!

How do you enjoy cooking? Why? How do you think about cooking? To me it's a chore.
Where am I going wrong with food planning?
I want to fall in love with food and cooking!

I can't help with Asian food but do you like pasta? Pasta sauces are generally quick and easy to make and much healthier and tastier than bought.

I quite enjoy cooking but I wouldn't say I'm especially good at it. My goals are to feed my family nutritious and hopefully yummy meals, all on a tight budget.

I think your 10 recipes are fine, that's 10 better than none!

For me it works well to have the pantry stocked with herbs, slices, sauces/vinegars.etc so most dishes are straightforward.

What do you like to eat? If you tell us your favourite foods we could suggest some recipes.

If I make curry, I do loads and freeze portions of it. I use my own recipe, which suits how hot we like it.

Think about what you like eating @Greenville and make your meals simple. I know some cultures base their existence around food and being in the kitchen. Fine if you enjoy it, rubbish if you don’t. Don’t feel guilty, get organised, and yes keep it simple and easy.

Hello fresh and guosto might be an idea for you. You pick a few recipes and they send all the ingredients and recipe cards. It's fairly easy and a great way to try new things without buying loads of ingredients which might not get used again.

Also I find going through a recipe, doing all the prep first then start cooking is a better way as you don't get flustered whilst something is boiling/frying, I certainly cannot prep ingredients as fast as Jamie Oliver, so this is a massive help for me. Also get the equipment together that you will use, sharp knife, wooden spoon etc so it's all to hand rather than diving in to the utensil drawer.

There are plenty of websites that can help with meal planning and you don't have to go all out fancy pants restaurant style food, there's nothing wrong with spag bol, cottage pie, stews, omelettes etc.

Good luck OP

Buy Pre-prepped frozen veg liked chopped onions, garlic and ginger. Get jars of curry pastes etc. Use your instant pot!! Take some of the faff out of it.

I have never considered hello fresh etc. I thought they would be really expensive! I know they do free trials so will check a few out! So do you get all the spices and sauces with them and you need to buy the meat? Is that how it works?

I’ve picked up loads of simple Asian recipes from Yt this woman is fantastic

youtube.com/channel/UCJJDD-Hy76jvUMRG-dpFkcw

@Greenville

I have never considered hello fresh etc. I thought they would be really expensive! I know they do free trials so will check a few out! So do you get all the spices and sauces with them and you need to buy the meat? Is that how it works?

You literally get everything you need apart from olive oil/salt/pepper

I found a few good recipes here too

www.easypeasyfoodie.com/

You literally get everything you need apart from olive oil/salt/pepper

Some of them are like that but not all. Simply cook for example is just the marinades/spices

@Greenville

I have never considered hello fresh etc. I thought they would be really expensive! I know they do free trials so will check a few out! So do you get all the spices and sauces with them and you need to buy the meat? Is that how it works?

Yes you get everything you need or they'll email you to let you know what you need to buy.

These meal kit deliveries are a great way to learn to cook and to try different dishes. You get everything you need, good quality ingredients and it's pretty hard to mess it up!

@pastabest

You literally get everything you need apart from olive oil/salt/pepper

Some of them are like that but not all. Simply cook for example is just the marinades/spices

I meant Hello Fresh. I missed the etc,

I do a lot of Asian cooking. What meals do you enjoy?
I’ll give some easy recipes if I can.

Blamelesscars I should have specified im south asian so Indian food! But thank you Im sure they'll be some good Indian cookery channels on YouTube. I'm going to have a look.

@Greenville

I have never considered hello fresh etc. I thought they would be really expensive! I know they do free trials so will check a few out! So do you get all the spices and sauces with them and you need to buy the meat? Is that how it works?

I've used Gousto and they send everything you need for the recipe, it's all pre portioned.

Simply Cook send you little spices pots then you have to buy the rest of the ingredients, bit more faff but some really good recipes. Simply Cook now sell in supermarkets and there's plenty of kits for curries, Thai, Chinese etc that you just have to buy the meat for.
Maybe pick 1 up on your next shopping trip and see how you go.

@Greenville

I have never considered hello fresh etc. I thought they would be really expensive! I know they do free trials so will check a few out! So do you get all the spices and sauces with them and you need to buy the meat? Is that how it works?

No you get everything you need to cook the meal. I've only tried Hello Fresh but have heard good things about Gousto so would definitely do a trial of one of them. I made some really lovely things with Hello Fresh.

Also if you haven't tried it already I like Jamie's 5/7 ingredients books for simple recipes.

Good luck

Hi OP

This is quite a timely topic for me. I really do enjoy cooking and I’m good at it. But I had to teach myself because my mum is a good baker but not a good savoury cook and I don’t think she enjoys it. I think, on rare occasions when she hosted people at our home when I was a child, she found it incredibly stressful.

I learned over the course of a decade. I also watch a lot of Food Network, which teaches you a lot about what to cook and gives you ideas about what you can do with leftovers. I can rustle stuff up out of an almost empty fridge. These are skills I have acquired over the course of a decade. I have also invested in an absolutely outstanding set of knives; this makes cooking a pleasure.

I also agree with meal ingredient delivery services being a great way to start!

I think the first response on the thread is correct, people who enjoy cooking don't mind pottering in the kitchen so your best advice will come from other people who find it a chore.

Keeping it simple would be my suggestion, tray bakes and one pot meals as suggested by PP will help make the whole process of providing a healthy meal feel less labour intensive.

Bags of frozen vegetables will cut your prep time so there's no need to be a slave to the chopping board and stocking longer life proteins takes the pressure off having to quickly use ingredients before they go out of date, halloumi, choritzo etc. Tinned beans and lentils are also great for adding fibre and protein to meals and can be added to pretty much anything you like whether it's a casserole or salad. There are plenty of herb and spice mixes available now which make it easier to add flavour without getting the balance wrong.

Is there a reason that the cooking falls to you? Is there anyone in the household who has more interest and might like to take the job on.

youdoyoutoday I've just had a quick browse of the website. Thank you. Looks really good and love how it all looks quite simple to make. I'll have a good browse later.

Like you I hate cooking but have a few firm favourites that seem to go down quite well and take minimal prep and cooking time.

Sweet chilli sesame salmon with stir fried veg and noodles

Chicken fajitas

Thai green curry ( you can buy these fab green dragon kits that you just Chuck in with the veg and stir fried chicken)

Spaghetti bolognaise ( I usually do a bucketful and then freeze leftovers)

Chilli con carne

Chicken thigh tray bakes

Tesco confit duck legs with hoisin with home made potato salad and coleslaw. ( my DD also does these wicked Oodon noodles with these
Sometimes! )

Steak with air fried chips and tray baked green veg

Home made pizza with the dough made in a bread maker. ( actually DH does this- again minimal prep)

Slow cooker chicken stews

In your case, I'd set aside a day to batch cook things you can freeze. Then you just defrost the portions you want, and serve with a salad, roti, naan, rice, lentils etc.

Some things that freeze well:

• lasagne
• shepherd pie
• curries
• tarka dal

The link below shows many Indian meals that can be frozen to save time:
www.tarladalal.com/recipes-for-indian-freezer-314

DP loves cooking. I used to loathe it and he still does 90% of it but I've learned to get to grips with it to a limited extent.

Firstly accept you'll never enjoy it like someone who really loves the actual process. DP loves it because he finds it relaxing but I find so much about it frazzling and stressful - worrying about whether the ingredients I have are exactly right, worrying about what exactly that vague recipe instruction means, worrying about whether the pots etc are the right size, worrying that it'll all be a disaster. I'm also pretty clumsy which doesn't help at all.

Secondly work out what exactly you hate about it and work around that. I'm clumsy, crap at multitasking and have no knife skills whatsoever - so I avoid anything that involves finely chopping, juggling multiple pots and pans, needs any sort of delicate hand. Weighing and measuring, on the other hand, I can cope with. So soups, stews, basic baking, roasting tin dishes I can do.

Thirdly prep everything so that you're not taken by surprise during the actual process. Chopping takes hours more than any recipe says it will. Get every kitchen implement you'll need out and ready. When I cook I want to feel like I'm just a pair of automated hands.

Or maybe it's boredom and constantly thinking of things to cook that you hate - those aren't really my issues. I stick on banging tunes while I cook to ease the boredom, and I love food so I enjoy reading recipes and sending them to DP so he can actually make them.

I don't think I'd have got this far without DP though. His love of cooking means a) his kitchen was well stocked with ingredients and decent knives etc when we started going out - it's amazing the difference a good knife makes, b) we do a lot of cooking together (ie, he does the bulk while I potter around weighing things and getting in the way, but still picking up tips and tricks).

'The quick roasting tin' is very good. Its just a bit of prep, put it in the oven and it comes out ready!

I enjoy cooking because I love making others feel good. So providing a nice meal that they enjoy and eat all of, and thank me for, makes me feel good and that I’m fulfilling my role (SAHM).

I cook easy food well, like bolognese (once you’ve found a good recipe, just stick with it), pasta bake (sauté veg, add to cooked pasta with 150ml double cream, 150ml passata, garlic and 1tsp Italian herbs, cover in cheese and put in oven), fajitas, beef rendang, Thai green curry, salmon new potatoes and veg, Cajun chicken, new potatoes and salad, sausage and mash.

All easy to get right.

Gousto and Hello Fresh use set of packaging, as they provide everything, even mayonnaise, soy sauce etc. Also, it's not very flexible, as you have to cook all the food before it goes off. We prefer Simply Cook because you can just keep the boxes in a cupboard until you're ready to use them