Please help me with my family's diet, its terrible

[xxxJess123xxx]

Hi all, I have a 2 year old and a 5 year old. Both typically fussy. No allergies.
Our diets are absolutely terrible as I seriously can't cook. I'm the type of person who can't make an omelette or burn pasta for christ sake.
We eat shit basically. Ready meals, nuggets and chips, pizza. Lunches are sarnies crisps and some grapes etc.
I'm feeling like an absolute rubbish mum and I want to change but I seriously can't cook.
Does anyone have any stupidly easy, cheap to make, fool proof recipes for dinners for my family.
I am slightly overweight. Kids are good weights and take a multi vitamin each day. Eat far too much chocolate etc
I feel so ashamed 😞
Thanks x

Hi OP! Don't be ashamed, it's good you're trying to extend your repertoire a bit! Just because a little variety is nice sometimes.

I know you said you can't cook pasta, but do you think that might be a confidence thing? Because although omelettes can be difficult or come out wrong, pasta shouldn't do! Sorry if I'm telling you what you already know, but all you have to do is fill a big saucepan 2/3 full with water, put it on the hob on the highest heat til the water is bubbling hard (boiling) then put the dried pasta in for 10 minutes, turning the heat down to between low and medium just after you've put the pasta in. After 10 minutes drain the water, leaving the cooked pasta in the saucepan with the heat off. Stir Dolmio (or whatever sauce you want) straight from the jar, into the pasta.

Sorry if you know that but some people don't, I didn't when I was younger.

You can also microwave jacket potatoes, just prick a normal, raw potato with a fork a few times and microwave on high for 12 minutes (or longer - jacket potatoes don't burn.) You can do this with sweet potatoes as well.

You can buy dried filled tortellini pasta at the supermarket, with fillings like cheese and ham, or cheese and spinach. Although it says on them they need to be cooked in a saucepan, they don't- you can just put them in a bowl and cover with boiling water from the kettle. Leave for 3-4 minutes, drain and they're ready to eat. Stir through a tiny bit of butter and you're ready to go!

Student cook books are a really good way to learn the basics

Not read everything so this may have been said.
Roast chicken. Buy a roast in the bag chicken (they have instructions, if you're worried about food poisoning err on the side of well done, imo it's nicer that way anyway). Frozen roast potatoes/wedges, birdseye steamfresh veg bag, bisto gravey. Fish is very healthy, if you don't already then swapping fish fingers in for nuggets, or adding a can of tuna to a pasta sauce are good things to do. On the subject of pasta try mixing a jar of green pesto with a tin of chopped tomatoes and a teaspoon of sugar, then put half the mix in the fridge for the next day, or even freeze it. It's a good sauce to use up left over roast chicken too.
On slow cookers, you need a proper sc cook book/recipe, otherwise you will end up with too much liquid. It's also only useful if you have more time to cook in the morning than the evening.

Slow cookers don't save much effort but you can cook in the morning rather than he evening when you are knackered. Simple beef casserole - buy diced braising steak,onion, carrot, tin of chopped tomatoes, stock cubes or even those little stock pots.
Do this in the morning for an evening meal. Do it at lunchtime for next days lunch - in that case refrigerate after cooking and reheat the next day.

Turn on slow cooker.

Peel and chop onion. slice the carrots. Fry meat in a little oil until sealed, tip in chopped onion, fry until softened. Tip in tomatoes and heat until bubbling. Tip into the slow cooker. Tip the stock in, throw in the carrots. Stir well. Cover and leave on high for two hours, then low for five hours.

Serve with spuds or rice, plus peas or beans for a bit of green.

Slow cookers use very little electricity and can safely be left unattended. Wonderful invention!

If you can make a white sauce and a tomato sauce, I think you can make pretty well anything.

White sauce: melt butter (weigh it first, start with 50g) and then add the same weight of plain flour. Cook on a low heat for a minute. Then add a pint of milk and stir like crazy. The hard bit is the next bit. Do jot walk off! Keep stirring until the auce thickens. You may need more milk adding. Season with salt and pepper.

You can add grated cheese to this to make a cheese sauce.

You can use this sauce fro pasta dishes, lasagne, or a pie. If you want to use it for a pie, cook off whatever you want (chicken and sweetcorn, mixed veg) put the cooked bits in a pie dish. Pour over the white sauce and top with a sheet of ready rolled pastry.

Tomato sauce. Dice onions. Sweat till transparent. Add grated garlic. Fry for a minute. Add a carton of passata, salt, pepper, a bay leaf, oregano, some water. Cook. Blitz till smooth.

At the frying off oven stage, you can add any vegetables you like. Finely diced, added in order of hardness.

I found I didn't like my own cooking after a whole of not cooking and eating a lot of convenience foods, eating out and takeaway. It's because when they make those foods they concentrate on taste, and I was trying to be too healthy at home. I had to increase the amount of sugar/honey etc. And also salt. Then over time I have reduced it again slowly. But you get used to that style of food so you need to change your taste slowly, not expect to snap straight to eating healthy home cooked food. Try and make lots of gentle changes over time whilst building your simple recipes up a little at a time. Dramatic changes usually result in lots of disasters, rejections and feeling disheartened. Whereas small changes and improvements can be so much more rewarding

Would something like gousto or HelloFresh be in your budget?
I’m sure there are lots of people on here could give you a discount code if you’d like to try it.
We have a gousto box each week - we swapped from HelloFresh.
While I’m an okay cook, I hate meal planning and coming up with ideas. It also means that DH, who is not a confident cook, will happily cook as well.
We get a two person box for three of us, and we like to get DS involved in choosing the recipes.
You also then build up a bank of recipes that you’ve tried and can buy the bits yourself.
If you want to try gousto Pm me and I can send you a code.

You're not a bad mum..
Tray bakes are your friend.. Chicken and veg in a tray, oil and herbs and seasoning, roast some potatoes on the side.. Slow cooker meals.. Also hidden veg in pasta sauces or chilli.. When i made Bolognese i cut up celery and carrot really fine in the food processor and DD doesn't even notice. Pesto salmon with new potatoes and steamed veg in microwave... Even things like homemade chips with homemade burgers.. Your trick is.... Meal planning.

Okay step by step for an omelette.

Frying pan - add table spoon of oil.
Add veg (I use cut up tomatoes, asparagus, onions, peppers - but you can use what you like). Also add sliced ham cut up if you like it. Fry on a low heat for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile crack 3 eggs with a pinch of salt and pepper into a bowl or jug and whisk.

Pour eggs over the veg and cook on a low heat until the egg on top of the omelette stops being wobbly (don't move the omelette at all). When no longer wobbly put the pan under the grill on a medium heat for 3 minutes - remove and add a handful of cheddar cheese and put back under the heat for another 1 minute.

Wiggle the pan back and forth and side the omelette on to a plate.

Frying pan - add table spoon of oil.

Before that-buy a good frying pan. That’s the key.

Another vote for Jamie's Ministry of Food.
Just try one recipe at a time and it becomes easier.
Gousto is also good as it gives you exact measures of ingredients and really detailed, easy instructions.
I have 50% off code if you fancy trying it.

My friend has been on a cooking course that helped her learn some of the basics. She struggled most with the timings, amounts, food preparation, knowing when stuff was cooked and getting the temperatures right. I think it helped slightly but was not really basic enough in places.

I got her a timer for her kitchen. I wrote through each stage and put times for when she needed to do each step. I cooked with her a few times getting her to do more each time. I really think it's confidence with many people.

She's got about 10 meals she can now do. Macaroni cheese, cauliflower cheese, jacket potato with cheese/beans/tuna and sweetcorn, tuna and sweetcorn pasta, chicken and sweetcorn risotto, chicken and sweetcorn in a mushroom sauce with mash, sausages and mash with peas, mince and peas with mash, corned beef hash.

She's mastered those recipes and has been trying new recipes on her own. She sticks precisely to the recipes and is very nervous about her cooking but really happy when she's successful.

I'd love a code for gousto please!
Thank you so much for all the replies.
My skills are basically zero. I have no idea how to peel an onion/garlic. I don't know how to make sauces etc. I have cooked mince etc before though but just with a pasta sauce jar.
Kids are super fussy and eat pasta with a tomato based sauce (jar) nuggets and chips and pizza on rotation. But I'm sick of us all being so unhealthy and tbh they won't starve, they will eat something new eventually.
This evening for example I tried to do sweet potato chips (frozen, shop brought) in the oven with Iceland greggs sausage rolls and sweetcorn from a can.
Did the chips for longer than what they said on the packet but they still come our soggy and not edible. I felt like crying looking at my children with the crap on their plates.
I think a simple cook book and u tube is a good place to start x

This evening for example I tried to do sweet potato chips (frozen, shop brought) in the oven with Iceland greggs sausage rolls and sweetcorn from a can.

I always have the same issue with sweet potato chips. They’re much less reliable than regular chips. I’ve had better luck with unpeeled actual sweet potatoes cut into small pieces, coated in olive oil and cooked for about 30 mins at 200c/gas mark 6.

The trouble is when you’re an inexperienced cook, it’s easy to think everything is your fault when it isn’t.

I think the secret is to cook a proper meal every other night. Freezer food inbetween. And little healthy additions to the meals they already like.

Batch cook too. Which is cook a proper meal. And double/triple/quadruple the recipe. Then you portion it out and freeze it.

For example. I cook spaghetti bolognaise once a month Eat it that night. And then freeze pots/Tupperware/bags of it in the freezer. Then all you do is take it out of the freezer the night before you want it. And leave it on the side to defrost. Then just heat it up in microwave until really really hot. Then just boil spaghetti. Grate cheese. Make a little salad or crudités for the side. Boom

How about a mild curry? Again, make it. Then freezer portions for next week.

Mine like chicken drumsticks Just cheap Asda fresh chicken drumsticks. Bung them on baking tray Oven bake for 35 mins. Then boil corn on the cob. Baked beans maybe. Boom.

Jacket potatoes? Tuna mayonnaise and salad. Or baked beans and grated cheese.

Pesto pasta. I boil fusilli pasta. Drain. Then stir in pesto sauce from jar. Then finely grate courgette in and cheese. Boom (who could peel off the green bit of the courgette to hide the green)

Homemade potato wedges. Cut them into wedges. Then spray with oil and bung in oven for 30 mins ish. Serve with fried egg and baked beans.

Always have sweet corn and peas in the freezer. If I do fish fingers and chips. I serve with peas or sweet corn or both. Mine get a couple more chips if they finish their peas and sweet corn .

Tinned fruit and icecream
Jelly
Yogurts

I think of the food groups when I feed my 4. Protein. Carbs. 5 a day.

Could your 5 year olds have cooked lunch at school? That would take pressure off maybe

I think you just have to go for it love. I learnt myself and I’ve burned and still burn food on a regular basis. You just get better at it. I promise.

I’m not adventurous with my family of 6. And we have freezer food 2-3 times a week. But it’s just a balance really.

I'm a good cook - also incredibly modest! - I don't cook sweet potato fried because they always come out soggy. Keep them for meals out / take away.
I agree with the posters who recommended a student cook book. The recipes tend to be budget friendly and not require too much equipment. And explain the recipe very clearly. We bought one at the start of lock down for DP and DC as I said if I didn't get my regular meal out or takeaway, they would need to cook once a week or so!
Good luck x

Spaghetti Bol

Dry fry 500g beef in frying pan with sliced onions and small bits of carrots. (You could buy frozen chopped onions. And even frozen mixed veg) Mince will turn brown. Then add a dolmio/ragu jar and a can of chopped tomatoes. I put a bit of water in from the kettle and crumble a beef oxo cube in. Lower heat and cook for about 15 mins.
If it’s too lumpy for your kids. Get a hand stick blender and whizz it a bit. Not completely. But just a bit

Cook spaghetti
Grate cheese

You could even posh it up a bit. And put kidney beans from a can. And 1-2 tsp of mild chilli powder. Boom. Chilli con carne. Serve with rice. Or nachos. And soured cream. Grated cheese. Guacamole if you like.

Or make a cottage pie. And serve the bolognaise with mashed potatoes. Boom

3 Potential dishes there

A few healthy (or at least "healthier") cheat meals might be best. Then a couple of nights a week, you could have a go at cooking a proper meal.

Cold chicken and pasta salad
Fish fingers and (microwave) veggie mash.
Sausages and baked potatoes (could be microwave baked potatoes)
Baked beans on toast with grated cheese
Boil in the bag fish on microwave rice.

Add 2 veg to each meal. Our usuals are sweetcorn, carrots, peas, broccoli and green beans. Just peel for carrots, cut, chuck in together and boil for 3-4 minutes.

Scrambled egg in the microwave, you get a good filling meal that kids like in about 3-5 minutes with minimal washing up. Serve with toast, or a bagged salad, DD likes it in a buttered bap as a sandwich.

• Break eggs into microwaveable bowl
• Add some grated cheese, salt and pepper
• Stir till well mixed.
• 1 min in microwave then stir
• 1 min in microwave then stir
• Repeat till it looks cooked the way you like it, some people like it a bit runny, others prefer the eggs close to rubber in texture.

For extra richness you can add a small knob of butter on the last stir.

If you want to get more adventurous you can add chopped spring onions or chives, finely chopped chillies, fried onion and/or peppers.

Sweet potato chips are bastards.

Sweet potato chips are soggy and disappointing. I have always cooked them for my DC at home when we have them so he just thinks that's what chips are like (I do normal crispy ones for me and tell him that they're "spicy" so he doesn't want them). I'm wondering at what age he will discover the deception.

I think there are 2 issues:

1. What to feed family
2. Learning to cook.

You can make some small changes to what you are already eating to make them healthier e.g. always having a bowl of chopped or grated veg on the table that children can take from before during and after their meal. Chicken nuggets oven chips and beaked beans with the veg bowl there is completely fine dinner. Or tin of mixed peas and sweetcorn or frozen veg. All good.

Your lunch also sounds fine but maybe ditch the crisps sometimes, add a full fat yoghurt and add the veg bowl and maybe another piece of fruit.

Breakfast: Instant/packet porridge (without added sugar. One you just add boiling water to) with grated apple and cinnamon. Or a boiled egg,. Or avocado on toast.

Lots of good advice on where to find good basic cook books (Delia's how to cook, Jamie ministry of food etc)

To add to the suggestions:

Delia Smith “how to cook” literally starts with how to boil an egg. It’s ancient now but if you can find it (library? eBay?) it is brilliant.

And The Batch Lady - find her on YouTube. She specialises in making delicious hearty family food in bulk so you cook once and make enough for several meals in the future. She uses ready chopped frozen veg a lot so no need to be scared of knife skills etc.

And maybe get your 5 year old involved - might be more willing to eat something they’ve helped to make themselves!