Can't cook need to learn new mum

[mrsbrooks]

Hi

I really struggle in the kitchen, even with recipes, unless my dh is helping me. Really want to learn simple tasty meals before my dd can eat. We have a deep fryer and cook great fresh breaded chicken and I can fry an egg but apart from that everything tastes burnt or it's raw and I get flustered

Any ideas on 5-6 easy meals (ps my dh doesn't like the traditional shepherds pie, lasagne, bolognese etc family meals)

Thank you

Stir fry? You can get the pre-chopped bags and some protein (prawns/chicken strips work well) and a bag of ready cooked noodles and it's easy peasy.

For the chicken (for eg)
heat a bit of bland oil in a wok (like groundnut or sunflower)
Tip in chicken and cook for a few minutes (depending on size of strips, maybe 5 minutes) till it's all white on the edges
Tip in the pre-chopped packet of veg 0 usually they tell you to cook this for about 3-4 minutes.
After about 1 minute add the pre-cooked noodles which usually take 2-3 minutes
Then add any sauces or flavourings - maybe a ready made sauce, or some soy sauce and balsamic vinegar (makes nice sweet and sour style sauce). Sweet chilli sauce, whatever you fancy
Stir till cooked.

Even if you want to go down a prepare it all yourself route, teh good thing with stir fry is you get all the ingredients prepped before and then just put them into the wok in the right order (things which take longest first) and so it's a bit less fluster-making when you get to the actual cooking part.

What sort of things does DH like?

My tip for 5 basics would be as follows

1. Fresh tomato sauce. Once mastered it's a good base for pasta dishes, pizza, some casseroles and even curries. Easy Recipe here
2. A good omelette. Very cheap, versatile and nutritious.
3. Roast chicken. Simple standard that is all about timing and temperatures rather than ingredients. Once you can do this you can roast anything. Delia's Roast Chicken with Lemon and Thyme
4. Beef Stew. A winter standard that uses cheaper cuts and which will simmer away in the oven quite happily for hours while you go and do something more interesting. Basic recipe here
5. Kebabs. Simple & quick way to use up odds and ends of vegetables with or without meat and turn them into something fun and colourful. Suitable vegetables are peppers, courgettes, onions, mushrooms, fennel. Cut everything into chunks, marinade in olive oil, lemon juice and herbs, slide onto skewers and grill or BBQ until cooked through.

BTW... DH's presented with any nicely cooked meal should have the good grace to eat it and not turn up their noses....

Have you tried Delia Smith's How to Cook? It has very clear and detailed step by step information which is great for the beginner cook :)

It can be done, I didn't cook when DS was born but have learnt as he's grown up and now he's nearly 10 and loves mum's cooking, we have family meals and both DH and I are much healthier too.

I started with a lot of pasta and sauces (tomato and bacon, mushroom, carbonara) together with salads, and sausages and mash, and scrambled egg, and roasted chicken breast wrapped in bacon ( cos I was scared of a whole bird), with vegetables.

When DS started weaning I made him meat balls, risottos and meat loaf, all of which we still eat as a family, and lots of fish cakes, fish pie, homemade fish fingers and chicken fingers.

I'm still learning and am going to have a go at a few simple curries this summer.

hello! good luck and well done for wanting tolearn to cook, i totally sympathise with getting stressed-why is it that children get narky just as you start to sort out the evening meal? :) you are not alone xxx

1. chilli is straight forward- roughly chop an onion and a carrot+fry, add one can chopped toms, one can of kidney beans and then leave to bubble for as long as you want.
2. jacket potatoes are good-just buy a few, wash them, wrap in tinfoil, shove in oven at as hot as poss for about 1 hour and a half-great to get done before children go crazy. you can have them with anything so a can of beans, just cheese, salad, tuna etc
3. i buy lots of veg frozen so that i can make anything nutritious, so just boil up. eg boil pasta, when its nearl done add peas and sweetcorn, drain, add a can of tomato soup or a ready made pasta sauce. you can also do pasta with veg then at last minute drain and pour in some cream+ cheese

also if you google recipies you can normally find some online where ppl have taken a photo at every stage which is helpful so you can chec it's all ok.
if you can, i would buy a pressure cooker from a second hand shop for a fiver, they are really easy to us and make everything taste nice

Cheesy pasta?
In a pan fry some chopped up bacon/pancetta until golden. Tip in grated cheese and tub creme fraiche. Stir, and it turns into a creamy sauce. You can use ham instead, or fry courgette at the start, or add some onions. Serve over pasta

I did a chicken dish the other night that was nice
Chop up chicken breast small, and fry in a pan until it's brown. Add garlic (lazy garlic), chopped onion, chopped peppers, chopped bacon/chorizo and chilli if you like it. Tip in a couple of tina of tomatoes ad either put in over or simmer on hob until chicken cooked through and piping hot. I had it with rice

Jamie Oliver ministry of food is the best simple cookbook I found

It's hard if you haven't had a good foundation in cooking when growing up. My family had the same 7 meals over and over and over when I was growing up, all of which were some sort of pasta and sauce out of a jar, or a can of some sort of soup thrown over meat. It didn't help my confidence that DH used to be a chef. I have recipes, but am American, and am afraid they won't be much help for you, but just wanted you to realize that cooking is something that will just take you time to master. I went from not knowing how to make anything to there's not much I can't make, but it took lots of time and persistence.

I found a fab book called "Eat Up" by Mark Hix years ago. It deals with family meals and helps you cook stuff even a baby can have too. Lots of easy healthy recipes and very tasty too - my rule of thumb being if DH can cook it ANYONE can!!

I am not a great cook but I have Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food It is really good and has loads of different things to try in it.

Try this recipe finder and meal planner. Also, you might want to have a look on the website of your local PCT, they quite often have free cookery courses available.