EASY COOKBOOK - I hate cooking & need some help pls :)

[millymum34]

Hello all,

We?re not even a week back into the school routine and I am already struggling! I hate, yes simply hate cooking dinner and the worst part is it has to be done every day.

I always want to get it over as soon as quickly without feeling guilty about serving unhealthy ready meals. My oldest has several severe food allergies so a lot of time goes into her meals which leaves me with 3 other mouths to feed, whom luckily eat pretty much anything. I looked @ a take away 1s or 2s a week but I doubt they are very healthy and the fact is we probably couldn?t afford it either.

I really want to put a lovely dinner on the table without all the pains and was looking into a simple VERY easy to do cookbook, I thought about Jamie?s 15 min, but it seems it gets slated for needing an extent of exotic ingredients and unrealistic timeframe.

Can anyone pls suggest a cookbook which has very easy recipes (preferably healthy) which could be made in advance (I have 40 min before I need to dash of to work) or within a 35 min timeframe in the evening? I looked at so many books but I really am clueless.

Thank you ladies !!

Slow cooker is your way forward, bung everything in the pot in the morning and its ready for you coming home at tea time don't know how I lived without mines for all those years!

Jamie's Ministry of food.
Easy, family friendly and won't break the budget.

I found some student cookbooks were pretty good and were not too complicated!

Apples for Jam by Tessa Kiros. Most of the recipes are 5 or 6 ingredients and they're really yummy. You can get the book from AbeBooks.co.uk

My mum used to use a Gina Steer cookbook when I was in my teens and she had 30mins to get a healthy dinner ready in the evening (that's 30mins, from starting prep to eating). She used the grill pan cookbook, however Gina Steer has other books too and from what I understand they are also quite simple and quick.

PS If you're thinking of buying a cookbook then look on eBay if you wouldn't normally, as there are a number of sellers who do good prices on new or good quality used. I've bought a few books around 99p and then £1-2 postage, even books I have struggled to find elsewhere.

I get a subscription to Good Food magazine which I find really helpful - they've usually got loads of good family recipes. If you buy a copy from the newsagents, there's usually an offer inside for the subscription, which can work out really cheaply.

I've just switched from Olive magazine which I got for years and was equally good (but aimed more at the young professional market - the recipes were mostly for two people)

The current October GF issue isn't as good as the previous three though, so maybe flick through it and see what you think first.

But I like magazines rather than books for everyday food because you get recipes based on what's in season (i.e. usually cheaper in the supermarket) and lots of new inspiration every month. They often also figure out a week's worth of meals for you and provide a shopping list - even more time saved!

I have the solution

This is a free downloadable cookbook... 101 square meals ... Low cost, low fat dinners. Free Irish publication from the money advisory bureau.

www.mabs.ie/publications/educational/

Enjoy!

Why not look in your local library - that way you can get ideas from a number of different books rather than relying on one.

Can you get your kids interested in helping? Even little ones old help put a salad together. But also second the slow cooker.

I would really recommend What's For Dinner by Fay Ripley. None of the recipes are very complicated, have short ingredients lists, tend to have no more than about 5 steps in the instructions, and most importantly they work and are delicious! I have used my copy so much since I got it and have easily made half the recipes in it. It is by far my most used cook book.

I hate food shopping but love having full cupboards with food and love eating cooked full dinners but hate the hassle of the rush. I've just refound my slow cooker which I love. It takes 10 minutes in the morning and tah dah it's done at night. The other thing I hate is dealing with potatoes and peeling them even before cooking. Weirdly this works, keep peeled potatoes in the fridge in water and get them out when you need them. They keep for upto a few days and just keep topping up with peeled potatoes and change the water every few days. You can do chillies and bolognese in slow cooker as well, can't be bothered fannying about in the kitchen haha

Jamie Oliver's ministry of food is very good. Unlike all the other books, everything is "Normal" family meals: bolognese, shepherds pie, few curries, few roasts, few stir-fries etc. And there are step by step photos of everything.

I like Good Food magazine too. You can get it quite cheaply with Tesco vouchers if you have any. Enough recipes in there to last for years!
I'm guilty of owning lots of cookbooks and just being an average cook. I'm trying to do one new recipe a week. Doesn't always work out but I like the idea!

I don't know if this is any good, free kindle download so worth a look

Hamlyn QuickCook: 50 Recipes

BBC Good Food website is good as well - and free

If time is tight then having all meals pre-planned and pre-thought-about could save a bit of your sanity!
I have a five-week meal plan (week five not always used) - I've done all my thinking in advance, my shopping list takes care of itself, and everyone knows what's for dinner! DH reckons we actually have more variety now than when we were deciding as we went along & always seemed to end up having pasta of some description...!
It's an investment of time at the beginning but well worth it

Good point Ipsy - I'd say it doesn't even need to be 5 weeks tbh. When I was growing up my Mum had a 1 week meal plan - I think 2 weeks would more than do to get started with.

I find the bbcgoodfood website quite useful. There are plenty of recipes that aren't highly complex or have a ton of ingredients, and instructions are generally clear. I've had a reasonable success rate with the recipes and you can filter the search for certain ingredients and difficulty level, among other things.

Oh, and consider making your own healthier 'ready meals' by cooking extra and freezing. Just double up on ingredients. I find curries/chillies/bolognese sauce all take this treatment well and it means I don't have to cook 7 days a week.

I hate cooking all my life! I always feel guilty, because I really want provide my kids not with fast food but healthy meal. What can I do if everyday cooking is just not for me?
In this situation a really good choice for me is customized meal plan. I recently got vegetarian one from perfectdietplan.org/. It eliminated not only time-consuming cooking but grocery shopping as well. Works well for me and for my family. It is tasty and healthy. I've even lost a couple of pounds in two months!

Just to say thanks everyone for all the links - very helpful thread OP xx