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.

The OP absolutely could make a pasta sauce from scratch. I did one the other day that was just a tin of anchovies, garlic and a tin of tomatoes - got it off the NY Times website - and it was fantastic.

I would suggest that you make a big batch of tomato pasta sauce and freeze it. Then you can simply get some out of the freezer and use instead of a jar next time you make bolognese. This would work well as it mainly uses store cupboard ingredients.

3 cartons passata
2 medium onions
5 teaspoons of pre prepared garlic in a jar (Lidl do a good one)
half a jar of pesto
2 teaspoons sugar.
2 teaspoons of vegetable stock powder (I use Marigold low salt bouillon all the supermarkets stock it) or 2 crumbled vegetable stock cubes.

Finely slice the onions and then chop the slices into small pieces. Put a good slug of olive oil in a pan and fry the onions over a gentle heat for 7-10 minutes. Keep and eye on them to make sure they don't start to go a dark brown. Add the garlic and pesto and cook for a further 2 minutes, give it the occasional stir so that everything in the pan is combined (ie so long as it is all green from the pesto it is well mixed). Add the passata, stock cubes and sugar. Fill each passata carton to about 1/3 with water. GIve them a good slosh around to pick up any passata left clinging to the sides and then add that water to the pan. Give it all a good stir and leave it to simmer on a low heat for a couple of hours. Check it every 15 minutes or so and give it another stir. (Simmer means that it is barely boiling with just a few bubbles breaking the surface of the sauce.) Leave to cool and decant into 4 freezer bags or tupperware boxes. Freeze.

Then when you want to make a bolognese brown the mince in the pan and whilst that is happening get a portion of sauce out of the freezer and defrost in the microwave. Then chuck it in as if it was a jarred sauce.

Timings will be on the pack of the packet and then test a piece to see it is done. Quick cook pasta is revolting ime.

You can buy a pasta spoon ,I got mine for a couple of quid from Tesco which makes pasta removal easy. It's like a big plastic serving spoon/ladel with prongs around the edges to grab the pasta. Google it so you know what to look for next time you're out and about shopping.

Well done OP you're pushing yourself to try new things.

You need much more salt in your pasta water than you first think. Nigella once said it should be salty like sea water 😄

For your chopping board sliding, try putting a teatowel underneath it.

This cook book is fantastic. Although it says children's it's actually just a simple step by step guide and there are some great recipes in there. I have gifted it for students etc and all have said it's great https://www.amazon.co.uk/Childrens-Cookbook-Delicious-Step-Step/dp/1405305886

The traditional (well 1970s) way to check if spaghetti is cooked is to throw it at a wall, if it sticks it is cooked.

I agree on getting a server or using a sieve to drain the pasta.

Definitely drain the pasta. And let it sit in the colander for a minute or so to steam the rest of the water off, then you can pour it into a pan or onto a plate.

Rather than making a meat sauce by cooking meat and adding a jar, I agree with the above suggestion to start with making a simple tomato sauce. The Jamie Oliver book you have has an excellent recipe for spaghetti and meatballs, just leave the meatballs out for now and focus on the cooking the sauce and pasta perfectly. Finish with a grating of cheese and maybe a bit of fresh basil (get a pot, keep it watered in a sunny spot and it will last you all summer). If you want protein you could have the pasta as a side dish with some simply cooked chicken breast and a salad.

Now we're coming into spring, salads are also an excellent way of building your confidence and knife skills - again your book has a lot of fab suggestions for interesting salads

Cooking from jars isn't such a bad place e to start when your used to reach meal , it's how I got started I loved things like spag bol, chilli, curry etc so they were my starting points with jars & packets and then I began looking at the ingredients labels on the jar or tin and trying to recreating what ever sauce it was myself . Same with pastry, bought ready made for a while then learned to make my own. That was long before internet though & I didn't have any cookbooks, these days you can find recipes everywhere online though so it will be easier. Pick a ready meal you enjoy and start there.

I made meatballs in red sauce and thought of you OP.

Buy a pack of meatballs.

Brown them in a pan so a bit brown all over them take them out and put them on a plate.

In the same pan ( the bottom will be a bit brown from frying) add some sliced onions, I use 2.

Cook them slowly until brown but not burnt, add a squirt of tomatoes puree then a carton of passata ( tastier than canned tomatoes)

Add a bit of water if you need to loosen it up. Add dried parsley and basil or mixed herbs- start with a sprinkle then add more later if needed.

Add a teaspoon of brown sugar or white. Then add a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar.

Add salt and black pepper.

Put the meatballs back in with the lid on and let them cook through.

If you want the sauce to be thicker let it simmer with the lid off.

Serve with pasta and freshly chopped basil

Sorry ready meals not reach,
Damn you auto correct!

For the classic spaghetti you will need a medium or large saucepan 18cm or 20cm ish to cook the pasta. If you get one with a lid you can then drain the pasta once cooked and won't need a colander.

I'm going to disagree with this. Unless you're only cooking for one person, a pan full of water and pasta or potatoes etc, is quite heavy to hold and drain with the lid, and it's awkward avoiding the steam on your hands as you do it, and small bits slip out of the pan and into the sink. Besides, if you get a colander it's much easier to drain and rinse tins of pulses etc.

@Girlwhonevercooks

You're making a great start

Start with the basics though

An omelette

frying pan with a bit teaspoon of sunflower oil or butter 2 stired up eggs and salt to taste in a medium hot frying pan

then move on to an omelette with some chopped fried onion till just turned golden then add 2 stired eggs

then same as above but fry some mushrooms with the onions and add some Worcestershire sauce and grated cheddar

this way you’re adding steps and flavour as you get more confident

stir fry’s are easy

just chop some veg like broccoli 🥦 red pepper, onion 🧅 or spring onion, mushrooms 🍄‍🟫 and chicken breast - chuck in a frying pan or wok add some soy sauce and that’s a good start.

next time add garlic and ginger (you can use garlic powder and ginger powder) and some oyster sauce or hoisin sauce

then next time add rice or noodles 🍜 for noodles you just pour boiling water on them for 3 minute, strain off the water in a colander or sieve then add to the pan at the end and mix it all in

Also go on TikTok because there are lots of great videos of easy step by step dishes. Just type in a dish that you fancy.

also chucking a chicken leg in the oven with some veggies and potatoes is easy peasy

again you just chop the veg and potatoes and mix in about couple of tablespoons of oil and pinch of salt and roast on 180 for about 30 mins to an hour

everything in the oven is about 180 for between 30 mins to 1 hour

then you can add herbs like dry rosemary, Thyme, sage or parsley or mixed herbs. You only need one or two teaspoons

Tray bakes are really easy. So for Nigella's one, always a winner, put chicken thighs, bone in, (2 if you're cooking for one) in a pyrex dish, rub olive oil on the skin, turn them over so the skin is on the bottom. Add red onion chunks, new potato chunks, say cut the potatoes in half, add chunks of chorizo, mix it up a bit, sprinkle some lemon juice (bottled is fine) amd a bit of oregano. cook at gas mark 7, after half an hour turn the chicken over and spoon the juices over it. Leave for another half an hour. Really good and very little effort. Less than 10 mins prep.

Does involve using the oven, but if you scale it up, it gives good meals for later lunch so worth it on the energy front. Microwaves up well as leftovers.

BBC good food online lots of nice easy recipes

I second traybakes. I have all Rukmini Ayers books on kindle. Chop up the ingredients as required, throw in a roasting pan and shove in oven. You can scale down the recipes easily or freeze, or take to work for lunches.

I haven’t got time to read the whole thread but I started (when I first moved out on my own) with student cookbooks. Simple recipes needing minimal equipment and intended to be budget friendly. Not fancy by any means but gave me confidence to experiment more