30 and never cooked a meal from scratch in my life - input needed

[Girlwhonevercooks]

Hi. I am a bit embarrassed to be making this post. I'm 30 and I've never cooked an actual homemade meal in my life. My diet is abysmal. I live predominantly on ready meals that you put in the microwave, meal deal sandwiches from Tesco and takeaways. I have a few questions. Do you have any recommendations for meals that can be made without using the oven? As it uses a lot of electricity and I can't afford to use it very much. I have a cooker and a microwave. What else do I need? Also if there is a cookbook for someone who is a complete beginner, please recommend one to me. Any other advice would be appreciated MN.

I'm 48 and have only recently started cooking from scratch. We have some pinch of nom books which I find easy to use and the results turn out well.

They do basic cooking at Dh's school.

There are good books with basics. As pp suggested, a jacket portion, pasta, rice, spag Bol, chilli, are good starting points.

Once the have mastered these try a chicken casserole

Chop carrots, onion, peel and chop some suede (you can buy these as a stew pack in supermarkets) and slice a leek. Chop 3 cloves garlic.

Take 1kg chicken pieces (with bones in) and fry for 3-4 minutes get brown in a large saucepan, Add the garlic, leek and onion fry 2 minutes, add rest of veg, pour in boiling water to cover it all and add 2-3 chicken stock cubes (I use kallo ones but Lidl brand are ok too). I add 1-2 spoons of pearl barley to the stock and a heaped teaspoon of herbs de Provence then stir, put the lid on and bring to boil then reduce the heat to just bubbling slightly called simmering, cook for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile make dumplings - you can buy dumpling mix, it's next to the gravy in Lidl or make your own, 150g self raising flour, 75g suet, pinch of salt and a teaspoon of sage, mix together then add a bit of water gradually to make it stick together in balls. Make 8 balls.

Add these dumplings to the stew and cook another 15 minutes turning them once during the cooking.

This will serve 4 people, fine for 3 days in fridge. 5 minutes to reheat in a microwave and can be frozen but must be thoroughly defrosted before reheating.

You don't need all the equipment Jamie lists.

If it was me I would start with something like a student cookware set that includes all the kitchen equipment and saucepans. You can replace as and when you need too or when you want better quality. You could end up wasting £000's on equipment you never use.

Or you can buy frozen dumplings.

I medium saucepan, one decent knife and one wooden spoon will do you for most things anyway. Cook the sauce in the frying pan and the pasta/potatoes/veg/rice etc in the saucepan. You can get these off facebook marketplace if you are cash strapped.

For info, I used to live in rented houses/flats and in one it had no cooker. So I had a one ring hob which I borrowed from work. I cooked from scratch every night because I had to, I had no money! I think I had 2 pans at the time, so would cook the rice/pasta halfway first, then do the sauce, then finish off the rice/pasta, drain and pop the sauce over it, reheat and serve.

I'd buy a bag of onions and one of peppers and would peel and dice the whole lot, and freeze it. I'd buy Netto tinned tomatoes for pennies, and some stock cubes and cheap pasta and rice and that would be my main ingredients for pretty much every meal. I'd be able to afford a new spice or two every month so I built up my skills and spice range as time went on.

Limiting yourself is a very good way of learning how to cook. It really is.

I would say for equipment that Kitchen Devil and OXO are excellent but inexpensive brands. A decent pair of kitchen scissors and a medium length knife from there plus a potato peeler is all you need to start. (Assuming you can't get to an ikea easily).

You could start with one of those stir fry deals from the supermarket- where you get a pack of veg, noodles and sauce. Just cook it all in one wok (or large frying pan). You can add your own meat or whatever if you wanted to. Chicken or turkey stirfry strips are good - make sure they're cooked through and not pink in the middle.
Then when you get some confidence you can try stir frying any veg and making sauces yourself.
Curry is an easy one too - diced chicken & onions in a pan with some tikka masala curry paste, add a tablespoon of tomato purée then when the chicken is cooked through take off the heat and add a couple of tablespoons (or one small pot) of natural yogurt and stir through. Serve with rice or naan bread. Get easy cook rice if you're nervous, or a microwave pack of pilau or basmati rice.
Tuna pasta bake is a student (and child) favourite- cook some pasta, in another pan stir together a tin of chopped tomatoes, tin of tuna and small tin of sweetcorn and any herbs/seasonings you want (a sachet of tuna pasta seasoning could be your friend here) and heat them up. When the pasta is cooked stir into the tuna mix, put it all in a dish and cover with grated cheese, put it under the grill for a few minutes to melt the cheese.

OP I haven't read everyone's replies but one thing to flag is that cooking from scratch could save you a lot of money especially if you freeze portions. Ready meals can be a lot more expensive than cooking from scratch.

In terms of equipment I think you need a chopping board, a wooden spoon and a decent sharp knife that you can use to chop vegetables. A grater of some variety (you can buy a 4 sided one with different grating surfaces) and a peeler would also help. You may be able to get this kind of stuff quite cheaply from a supermarket or try your local free site like Olio. I would also try to get an air fryer in time, if you have family who would buy you a birthday or Christmas gift you could ask for one as a gift or for money towards one. Small ones are not very expensive.

I can't see what kind of food you like but I'd start with pasta dishes, jacket potatoes and stir fries. You could move on to something like baked eggs or a simple curry (where a jar sauce would serve you well). Well done for starting out!

Seems a pretty reasonable list to me. Just visit a charity shop or ask friends for handmedowns.

That does look like a good starter set.

I'm still using my Sabatier knife that I got nearly 40 years ago.

Although more recently I have acquired a couple of Japanese Damascus steel knives.
OP I agree with the others, a chopping board, wooden spoon, peeler and a grater will take you far with cooking.

I'd add kitchen tongs for turning things over.

Do you have any friends you could ask as well?
I would LOVE to help someone (honestly) without any judgement and would happily go over and talk them through a recipe and give tips etc
I just really like cooking and helping people

Agree. I buy straight to Wok udon noodles and a small pack of lemongrass sauce (or chow mein etc). Which are not from scratch. But I chop up lots of stir fry veg e.g. onions, peppers, courgette, mushrooms etc, fry those first, then add the sauce and noodles. Not from scratch but an easy way to start, getting fresh veg, but not having to do the rest from scratch.
Similar with pasta, fried veg and a jar of sauce.

Delia Smith - How to Cook is a great no nonsense resource. You can get it cheaply on ebay. If you don't have a lot of cash, get your equipment off Marketplace, Freecycle etc. People are always offloading stuff. Then once you've worked out what you like doing, you can upgrade.

DH who could barely chop an onion when I met him taught himself with Delias complete cookery course, he even made a cherry pie!! I could do basics and she was good for me too many moons ago.

Learn a basic tomato sauce and a basic white sauce. These are the base for so many recipes
Tomato for Bolognese,arrabiata,chilli, etc
White sauce you can add cheese for cauliflower cheese, macaroni cheese, add cooked bacon, use with chicken and veg in a pie dish to make lovely chicken pies or with fish ( shop bought puff pastry as a lid).
The more you experiment the more you will learn what herbs and spices complement different meats and veg.

When I started I used to buy a few jars of herbs and spices with each shop or a kitchen tool and gradually built up my equipment.

A pan is a pan, you can fry small amounts in a saucepan.
A sharp knife makes life easier

In 50 years of cooking I have never ' needed ' a griddle

Start with easy pasta dishes a basic tomato sauce, some Italian mixed herbs or basil and oregano and mix it up by adding to the sauce,
Bacon,olives,peppers etc

Delia’s recipes are online!

Thats what I love about her website!

The link I posted above takes you through it all.

There is a reason she is a saint!

You don't need talent to cut an onion, open a tin of tomatoes & a few herbs to make a pasta sauce. Jar sauces are loaded with preservatives, sugar & salt. They don't taste half as good as homemade.

Delia is very good at explaining how to do everything- nothing is left to chance or guesswork

Get to your local charity shops!! Ours sell pans and kitchen equipment for pennies!!

Hello again everyone. I have an update. I am very grateful for the advice I have received from you all. I have an Ikea not too far from me so I went there earlier this week. I bought a wooden spoon, chopping board, peeler, grater, set of knives, measuring jug and a saucepan. I already had a frying pan. I was hoping I would be able to cook spaghetti in the saucepan, but my DM says it's too small. It's this saucepan with 2 litre capacity. I was able to use it to boil eggs though. That's a start at least.

What size pan (in terms of litres) do I need for pasta, assuming it's just for one person? Do I need a pot for cooking pasta or can I just use a saucepan?

I would have thought 2 litres is fine. You can break the spaghetti before putting it in if you like, or just push it down as it softens.

4 litres for spaghetti normally. And spin and soften to get into the water, never break it unless you want Italian nonne coming round to find you! But I still break spaghetti if I feel like it.

However, as long as it's a roiling (really furious) boil and the pasta can move freely around, it's fine. Fettuccine nests go into a smaller pan easily so you could use your 2 litre for those if it's just for you. Most spaghetti dishes are fine with fettuccine.

Great progress OP, glad you have access to Ikea, their kitchen shop is brilliant for well priced decent quality basics.

I know you're supposed to cook spaghetti in a huge pan and you're not supposed to break it up, but honestly, it's fine snapped in half in a small pan, especially when you're cooking for one person rather than Nonna's extended family.

Just keep an eye on it so it doesn't boil over but stays boiling. A lot is said about having to cook things 'just so' but a lot of the time it doesn't really matter unless you're running a proper restaurant and for the majority of home cooks what's far more important is that they're able to feed themselves a healthy diet made up of food they enjoy, within whatever their budget allows.