Learning to cook

  • Thread starter Thread starter tapiocapudding
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
T

tapiocapudding

Guest
Help! I’m a 22 year old woman who hasn’t been married all that long and has a 2 month old baby. I never learned to cook. I didn’t really take the initiative to learn during my pregnancy and now it is impossible to cook anything during the evening which is DS’s least favorite time of day :rolleyes: I’m sorry to say the hubby and I have been living off kraft dinner, hamburger helper and plenty of take out which is bad cause we can’t afford it and it’s not helping me with this baby weight I need to lose! 😛
I’m hopeless at cooking now, really I am. I burn everything. I overcook instant noodles. I can easily ruin canned soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Once in an attempt to make sausages I melted the can opener to the side of the burner then set the burner on fire then burnt the sausages black 😛
I want to change and become an excellent cook over time. But now I’d settle for mediocre :p. How did you learn to cook? Can you recommend any tips for making quick and easy meals through the caterwauling of a cranky baby? I’d like to have a nice meal ready for my DH at night when he comes home…
 
Here are the easy ones I gave my kids, who are a little younger than you.

Cheap pork chops:

Preheat oven to 350. Buy any pork chop on sale, any thickness, any cut. Put in a flat pan. Pepper them. Dump in one can of cream of mushroom soup for about every 4-5 chops or dump in a family size can. Cover with foil. Put this in the oven for about an hour. Half way through (or when ever) remove the aluminum foil.

After you put the pork chops in oven, boil a big pot of water with a little vegetable oil in it (the oil is always good to use in pasta). Dump in some egg noodle and boil according the package’s directions. When done, drain. Serve the pork chops over the noodles, and spoon on some of the sauce from the pork chop pan.
 
I would recommend any of the “Barefoot Contessa” cookbooks. They have healthy preparations and are generally simple both as to steps and ingredients and recipies are reliable and almost idiot-proof.

Pick one recipe per week and FOCUS on each step you are doing (burning, over-cooking and melting instruments are nothing more that not paying attention.) I’d suggest perhaps Sunday afternoons when your hubby is around to care for the baby for an hour so you can pay attention to your cooking. After a few weeks you will start building a number of things you can cook well and give up that horrible boxed food!!

The other thing my husband and I did while engaged (and kid-free) was to sign up for cooking class together. It was really fun and we did things we both enjoyed like grilling, deserts, brunch items, etc. These classes usually also include wine tasting/pairing which can make the class seem like a date night! Get a sitter and try this once in a while.

This is not rocket science~you may never be Julia Child, but anyone can learn the master the basics with a little effort and attention.
 
Chicken (and rice casserole, or dumplings)

Boil chicken:
I personally like bone in chicken breast for this, when I catch them on sale. You need some fat, so do not use boneless and cheaper cuts do not really have all that much meat. A whole chicken also works. Fill a big pot with water and turn on high. When it boils turn it down leave it on medium. Salt and pepper the chicken (I also add garlic) and put it in the pot. Boil for 30 minutes are so until the chicken breasts start to split or the whole chicken pulls away from the bone easily. With these two dishes you can’t overcook it. Remove the chicken and place it on a plate to cool. Do not throw out the water.

Now you can take a break while the chicken cools. I sometimes cook my chicken an hour before I need it.

Chicken and dumplings - bring the water that the chicken cooked in back to a boil and boil medium high. When the water is boiling, take 3-4 cans of cheap biscuits, tear all the biscuits in two and drop them in the chicken broth. You will notice that the biscuits will first fluff up as they cook and float and then start to sink. When most of the biscuits are no longer floating on top, remove from heat. Take you well cooled chicken, rip it from the bone and skin and chop up the meat stir it into the dumplings and serve. Now when your little one starts to eat, you can chop your chicken early and refrigerate it. Then serve just a little bit of dumplings in his bowl and stir in some cold chicken. This will cool off the dish quickly for a child.
 
I learned by making simple dishes and also being the “assistant” to the great cooks in my family, lol. And some of the more complex ones, I just learned on my own (like my paella and Tuscan cuisine).

Rachael Ray’s 30 minute dishes are great. Of course, they’re 30 min. when you’ve done all the prep time! lol I especially love her carbonara!
 
Chicken and rice.

Cook chicken like I said above, only this time measure only four cups of broth and save the rest. Boil this four cups of broth and when it is boiling add two cups of plain rice. Cover and boil 20 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork. Stir in about one forth a block of Velveta into the hot rice, along with a can of cream of mushroom soup. Salt and pepper to taste. Last, stir in come of the cut up chicken meat from the chicken. Simple, stove top casserole. Again, if you refrigerate some of the meat, you can stir it in for baby as he gets old enough and it will cool it off.

Another cool idea is to stir in some frozen broccoli.

Speaking of vegetables, frozen vegatables are easy to make stove top. All you do is place in a pan, add a little butter and then season if you want (salt, garlic, for example). We keep several bags and just pour out servings as needed for each meal.

Oh, all the stuff I said, there is lots of down time between steps and few time sensitve things to do. That is why I mentioned them for when you are dealing with a little one.

My daughter just was married last month. I have a standing rule that she can call any time in the middle of cooking to get on the spot advice.
 
pnewton- thanks so much for the recipies! I will try them out! 😃

Island oak- I know I’m careless 😊 Usually I’m trying to cook something on the side and then burn the heck out of whatever I was trying to cook originally. But I’m not off the hook completely, at times I wander away to tend to the baby or watch tv and forget I’m cooking :rolleyes:

sancta- does Rachel Ray have a 30 minute cookbook then? Or is it just on tv?
 
convenience foods were made for you, i mean it, take advantage of what you can, such as boil in bag rice, veggies that steam in the microwave in their own bag etc. Use convenience foods only for real food, and cut down the junk food, to make up for the added cost. use sauce & gravey from a jar, not from scratch, not even a mix etc., buy the veggies already cut up, the meat cut the way you want to cook it. Yes it will cost more but cut down or out the junk and snacks and eating out, you will cover it.

until microwave popcorn came out we would literally ruin every single pan I ever owned making popcorn, and nearly blew up a gas stove (and the whole neighborhood).

make meals ultrasimple, one dish, 4 ingredients max
1 meat, 1 veggie, 1 starch, 1 sauce or topping or side
dessert is a piece of fruit or something purchased on special occasions.

make the meats serving-size pieces until you work up nerve to try roasting whole cuts.

put a label at the top that gives your recipe a sensible name
“Chicken broccoli cheese bake”
“beef stew”
don’t get cute with names but you could write
“that great spaghetti thing my sister makes”

Campbel soup has a great cooking book combo out I just saw it at B&N, combo of 4 of their classic cookbooks
one-dish 4-ingredient meals
slow cooker meals
and two other easy topics I forget

choose 7 to 14 simple suppers your family likes that you know how or can learn how to make and just keep repeating them
start with 7, work up to 14. Most women make the same 14 meals most of the time anyhow unless they are really up there with the cooking thing

this is the important part, and the only thing that helped me. at the time I used 5 x 8 index cards but you could do this on the computer, but I still think it is better to write it out.
I used the index cards that come in a spiral binding, but you want cards, not paper (with lines).

write a list of ingredients with amounts or size
write the directions for assembling it,
write the directions for cooking it
maybe you don’t need this step but I did, cut out magazine pictures of what you need: chicken pieces, frozen broccoli, jar of cheese sauce, pack of instant rice and paste the pictures on back of the card.

now prepare the recipe, and check every work you wrote to make sure it works (size of pan or what you need for yourself to remember “my big glass pan from Aunt Suzy”)
temperature, how long, whether or not to cover with foil.

anything you can microwave instead of bake in the oven or do on stovetop is a plus because there is less likelihood of damage.

keep utensils simple, too much in the kitchen just is confusing.

3 mixing bowls of graduated sizes,
4 pots small, med, large, spaghetti with lids
invest in a good set of microwave cookware, pyrex or corning is best. the new glad wrap, the opaque, made for microwaving is excellent
2 fry pans small and large, with lids
3 good knives, small, med, large
etc.

if you find yourself cooking with only two pans, put the rest away until you need them. clean out your drawer and keep just what you use, put the rest in a basket on the highest or lowest shelf.

get a regular slow cooker and the cookbook that comes with it and learn to use it, you can put the stuff in the pot in the morning while the baby is napping. gradually work up to 4-5 true blue recipes you can use over again.

the cookbooks put out by manufacturers of foods are also a godsend, like the bisquik and campbells booklets.

best tip of all–get your hubby hooked on grilling outside. you prepare salad, side dish, get out some bread while he throws something on the grill.
 
I could have written this post! Thanks for the ideas so far; my poor hubby works so hard, but still does all the cooking. :o
 
puzzleannie said:
best tip of all–get your hubby hooked on grilling outside. you prepare salad, side dish, get out some bread while he throws something on the grill.
Click to expand...
Now you are talking!!!👍
Tell him it’s either that or the diapers.
 
…really it isn’t. It’s not magic; it just takes practice and persistence like most things.

Rachel Ray has a whole line of cookbooks out; check with your library. Most libraries have shelves and shelves of cookbooks of all kinds.

My favorite online recipe site is allrecipes.com. You can even do an ingredients search, say, if you have chicken and mushrooms and want to make something with them. I’ve found many wonderful recipes on that site. The reviews are very helpful.

Alton Brown with Food Network has awesome recipes, too, and his TV show “Good Eats” is fun and informative. His recipes are on Food Network’s web site.

Here’s a wonderful roast chicken recipe that has never failed me:
allrecipes.com/Recipe/Roast-Sticky-Chicken-Rotisserie-Style/Detail.aspx

It’s wonderful “as is” but I’ve also made it when I was out of one of the spices, maybe thyme or white pepper, and it was still good. You prepare it the night before and pop it in the oven the next day. The juices make heavenly gravy, if you know how to do that.

Happy cooking!

Patty
 
Second suggestion for Good Eats - Alton Brown teaches along with the recipe. You can buy the DVDs - well worth it.

A good basic cookbook will help. The Better Homes and Gardens or Taste of Home are great basics to have on the shelf.

Taste of Home magazines (there are several) are good basic real food.
 
tapiocapudding said:
Help! I’m a 22 year old woman who hasn’t been married all that long and has a 2 month old baby. I never learned to cook. I didn’t really take the initiative to learn during my pregnancy and now it is impossible to cook anything during the evening which is DS’s least favorite time of day :rolleyes: I’m sorry to say the hubby and I have been living off kraft dinner, hamburger helper and plenty of take out which is bad cause we can’t afford it and it’s not helping me with this baby weight I need to lose! 😛
I’m hopeless at cooking now, really I am. I burn everything. I overcook instant noodles. I can easily ruin canned soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Once in an attempt to make sausages I melted the can opener to the side of the burner then set the burner on fire then burnt the sausages black 😛
I want to change and become an excellent cook over time. But now I’d settle for mediocre :p. How did you learn to cook? Can you recommend any tips for making quick and easy meals through the caterwauling of a cranky baby? I’d like to have a nice meal ready for my DH at night when he comes home…
Click to expand...
I learned to cook early, in self-defense. 😃 And I’ve always been interested in food.

You might try watching Rachel Ray—her recipes seem to be realistic and simple to follow, if you don’t mess yourself up by trying to stick to her 30-minute time limit.

The classic cookbooks can’t do you wrong either, like Good Housekeeping and Betty Crocker. Or what about the Back of the Box cookbook (easy, foolproof recipes from the backs of boxes, natch. You gotta love that New England Puff Pudding!).

Don’t overextend yourself. Master a couple of basic good dishes like meat loaf, roast or pan-sauteed chicken, salisbury steak, mashed taters. Stuff men like. 😉

Want some extra cookbooks?
 
tapiocapudding,

any woman who uses ‘caterwauling’ to describe her baby’s afternoon fussbudgie routine, doesn’t need to cook.

sit down, write your first book. the starving artist experience will make those baby pounds disappear AND when it sells millions of copies, you can hire Contessa to come cook for you.

sttill insist on cooking? consider making excellent salads.

clean and dry a bagged salad, put other salad stuff in it, stir fry in a HOT pan a few strips of thin-sliced round steak. serve over top of salad. good bread-- a whole grain baguette is nice, butter.

dinner. and very nutritious.

i love allrecipes.com and use the recipe finder by ingredient often. when you get good, let me know. i’ll give you a delicious and easy flan recipe, every bit as good as my puerto rican grandfathers flan, but easier by far.
 
One more thing - the crock pot/slow cooker is your FRIEND.

You can get a roaster chicken (be sure to take out the bag of nasty giblet parts) rinse it off with water, pat dry. A bit of kosher salt and pepper and pop it in the crock pot. Let it cook on HIGH for about 5-6 hours.

The chicken will be moist and falling off the bone.

You can put any meat in the crock pot and have amazing recipes.
 
Also I would suggest a kitchen timer so you don’t get distracted. You hear the “bing” and remember.

You could even use one when making pasta. Normally pasta boxes has cooking times for al dente. Set the timer when you put the pasta in the water.

There are really good pre-made pasta sauces on the market (look for ones without added sugar in the ingredients). Then you could add frozen veggies like cauliflower, carrots and broccoli mix to the sauce as you warm it.
 
Get the cookbook “Fix it and Forget It”. It’s a cookbook filled with great crockpot recipes.

The crockpot is wonderful for busy moms…just throw some stuff together and turn it on…it is truly fool-proof!!! Also, it’s very hard to overcook something in the crock pot (it is possible, but not easy to do:p ).

Good luck to you! Honestly, I learned to cook from trial-and-error and watching lots of FoodNetwork! 👍 😃
 
Mary_Gail_36 said:
Also I would suggest a kitchen timer so you don’t get distracted. You hear the “bing” and remember.

.
Click to expand...
Dollar store has great digital timers with a magnet and a clip - you can clip it on your shirt, it ROCKS.
 
When I got married in 1989 a neighbor-she watched me grow up-gave me her Crockpot, it was in her garage used maybe once a year. I used that Seventies-orange appliance until the heating element died. My favorite thing to do is to brown a roast on the stove before I let it go for 4-5 hrs, I still do this in the quiet of the morning. I’ve never been able to burn anything in crockpot. It’s perfect for babies’ time schedule. Especially my oldest, who would demand my complete attention in afternoon/evening hours.

(Now he’s 18 and thinks Bedtime is 2AM.)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top