cooking skills

[emi]

So recently i dont live with my mother anymore, before she always cook, and i didnt even bother, there were always good food on the table (stupid me).

 

But now i need to cook for myself and to be honest, my food suck and i am so disapointed. I am not really here to ask for cooking tips and hints ( but if you have please do share ).

 

I just want to rant and listen to others people experiences. How do you manage to feed youself properly ? And did you have so many meal fiasco before you become a profi?

[RecentChange]

Awe, such a shame you didn't learn from your mother didn't teach you. Hours spent in the kitchen with a competent chef is the very best way to learn.

 

My grandpa was a trained chef and food lover. He taught my mother. And from young age she taught me.

 

Went off to college and discovered none of my roommatea could cook! We worked out a deal, they buy the ingredients - I'll cook and feed them. Win win!

 

I am forever thankful it's a skill I acquired early in life

[Michelle ma Belle]

I'm Italian so cooking is pretty much in my DNA

 

Having said that, what I've always found challenging isn't cooking per se but cooking for ONE rather than an army of people. Ugh. I really hate it.

 

What I found to be helpful is cooking a big meal or multiple dishes on the weekend and then eating leftovers for the rest of the week. It really is a life-saver in so many ways. You not only have the time to plan and shop and cook whatever you'd like but then you get to reap the benefits of 'good' homemade meals all week long. And if you're creative enough, you can even turn those leftovers into something new by adding a dash of this and sprinkle of that.

 

And don't be fooled that simple can't be also be very good. What you need to do is learn a handful of tried and true recipes that are easily duplicated and make those the basis for your cooking. Eventually you'll gain more confidence in your abilities as a cook and may even try new recipes along the way.

 

Can your mother teach you how to cook a few of your favorites?

[Taramere]

So recently i dont live with my mother anymore, before she always cook, and i didnt even bother, there were always good food on the table (stupid me).

 

But now i need to cook for myself and to be honest, my food suck and i am so disapointed. I am not really here to ask for cooking tips and hints ( but if you have please do share ).

 

I just want to rant and listen to others people experiences. How do you manage to feed youself properly ? And did you have so many meal fiasco before you become a profi?

 

I often have my parents round to eat (they're getting to that age where I worry that they're not eating right) and they're always a bit astonished that I'm reasonably competent. My mother never taught me to cook, never let me help around the place etc. So I learned from other people. Partly from living with other people when I left home, or from friends, or cooking with boyfriends.

 

But most of all, I suppose, from when I worked in kids' homes in my twenties. Although there was a cook, she was only there during the day..and not at weekends. Part of what you're doing is preparing young people for independent living - so you can't just chuck pizzas in an oven. Plus cooking is a good activity to do with teens. A lot of important and difficult disclosures were made to me in the kitchen...but also, you'd often just have a good laugh and bond with them.

 

Obviously getting a good cookery book is a start, but you could combine that with watching youtube videos to learn efficient cutting and chopping techniques.

 

What sort of dishes have you tried making?

[Satu]

Learn how to make Macaroni cheese.

 

A man will do anything for a woman who can cook a good Macaroni.

 

This has been scientifically verified.

 

 

Take care.

[Wade Lamare]

Buy a few recipe books. Look online, there are numerous websites devoted to cooking.

 

If you buy a few recipe books look through them first. It is absolutely pointless as a beginner buying a recipe book with recipes that use umpteen ingredients and numerous stages.

 

Go for something simple, learn some basics of cooking.

 

I'd invest in a slow cooker. Nothing more satisfying than getting home to a well cooked casserole, and any leftovers can be frozen in tubs for another day.

 

Yes, several food fiascos. I remember making Boston Baked Beans and deciding I was going to make my own salt pork. It was awful, we had to throw it away.

 

Fiascos are part of the learning curve. Make notes in your recipe books, highlight where you think a recipe could be improved and try it next time you cook that dish.

 

Nutrition? Variety is the answer. I won't give you any advice as I'm not a nutritionist but common sense should tell you that too much sugary, fatty foods is largely unhealthy.

Again there are numerous websites and phone apps that will let you track fats, carbs, sodium, sodium and exercise and will possibly give you better advice than I can as a non expert.

[basil67]

I learned to make mum's spaghetti bolognaise, but for pretty much everything else I was self taught.

 

I think the first meal I made myself was pasta with an Italian tomato sauce. It was really simple. I slowly worked up from there. And yes, there were disasters on the way.

 

Recipe books and online recipes are the place to start. Perhaps we can give you some suggestions? What country do you live in? And what do you like to eat?

Edited November 30, 2016 by basil67

[carhill]

I've gone simple, since there's no family to cook for anymore, and today was a perfect example, using a Knorr rice mix pouch and some leftover turkey from Thanksgiving to bake a rice/meat dish in the oven, then fixed some frozen vegetables to go with it and had a piece of leftover olallieberry (it's like a boysenberry) pie from Thanksgiving as desert. The rice mix costs a buck and the veg portion about 50 cents. I generally eat for 3-4 bucks a day. Different soups provide variety and I still will make my own of those when I feel like it.

 

A big splurge is a meat and cheese and onion and olive pizza with the dough made in the bread machine. I don't eat much meat anymore, mostly rice vegetables and fruits.

 

The rice thing is pretty easy... today it was put a tablespoon of oil in the bottom of a corningware dish, slosh it around, put the cut up turkey drumstick meat in the oil, add some minced garlic I had laying around, toss the rice mix in the dish, add about 2 cups of water, then cover and place in a preheated 350 degree oven for 60 minutes. This puts a bit of a crust on top. I do it this way when I run out of propane for the cooktop, otherwise I'll do it in a saucepan on the stove. The veges get steamed in the microwave when the rice is done. Easy meal.

[RecentChange]

Btw, I am a pretty good cook, and I still have fiascoes and disasters!

 

Check out "America's test kitchen" videos. They do a good job explaining the how's and whys of cooking techniques.

 

Following a recipe is one thing. But they will help teach you how to cook.

[Arieswoman]

emi,

I am a great believer in the theory that "if anyone can read, they can cook".

 

In UK some schools/colleges run night-school cookery classes. Do you have any where you are?

 

Otherwise there are plenty of basic cookery books on the market.

 

Even after all these years I still can't cook Yorkshire Puddings, so I buy in frozen ones

 

Good luck and have fun ! x

[truthtripper]

Porridge, baked beans, oranges and apples got me through my uni days.

 

Living alone, I also tend to make food for the week. It's a waste of energy to cook everyday. I often snack on nuts, seeds, goji berries, dates and lots of fruit.

 

Ideally, we should not eat the same food everyday. For optimal nutrient exposure, variety is important. Not so easy living alone but can be achieved with a weekly rotation diet.

 

Btw, there are lots of easy to follow nutritious recipes online. I rely on these most the time.

Edited December 1, 2016 by truthtripper

[SpiralOut]

I learned basic cooking skills at home. However, I had to teach myself about nutrition and how to cook with certain ingredients because I am vegetarian and my family is not. So there was a lot of trial and error on my part.

 

I find the biggest challenge isn't so much cooking technique, but finding recipes that are easy that I actually enjoy eating. Now that I live with my SO, I cook different recipes to find stuff that we both like.

 

It's true that simple recipes are sometimes the best. Learn how to make pasta sauce from scratch, make a big batch, and keep the extra in the fridge. Then all you have to do is cook noodles and heat up some veggieballs (or meatballs). It's my go-to meal.

[basil67]

emi,

I am a great believer in the theory that "if anyone can read, they can cook".

 

In UK some schools/colleges run night-school cookery classes. Do you have any where you are?

 

Otherwise there are plenty of basic cookery books on the market.

 

Even after all these years I still can't cook Yorkshire Puddings, so I buy in frozen ones

 

Good luck and have fun ! x

 

I was a great believer in this too....until I started teaching my daughter to cook. For example, the recipe says "cook the spaghetti". What they don't say is "bring a pot of water to the boil, add whack of salt, add spaghetti, poke at the spaghetti till it's all lying in the water. Then lower the temperature to simmer. Stir occasionally" I found my daughter standing over a pot of unboiled water with the spaghetti sticks all poking out and scorching on the edge of the pot.

 

I now believe that a person needs to have a bit of basic knowledge when starting out.

 

OP, I suggest this in all seriousness - kids cookbooks have a lot more detail with pictures to support the instructions. It's a great place to start if you don't have someone to teach you.

 

Arieswoman, a friend recently showed me how to make the perfect Yorkshire Pudding. Happy to talk you through it.

[chloemn]

I also live without parents and have to learn how to cook delicious food for myself.

[T-16bullseyeWompRat]

Tial and error. Just keep at it. Follow recipes for a while until you have done it enough to know what seasonings you like. Watch cooking shows and pick up tips on the lingo because some recipes just say "sweat the onions" for example, and you might not know what the means. Just like everything else, just keep at it and you will get better. With time in, you can read a recipe and tweak it to your particular taste or not even need a recipe to whip up something pretty good from what you have just lying around.

 

Last tip, keep your knives sharp.

 

And Mac n cheese is overrated and frankly not that good.

[preraph]

When I was in high school, they put all the girls into a "home economics" course which was really just cooking and sewing. I guess that's gone by the wayside. Certainly sewing has. But it taught the basics so you at least knew how to follow a recipe.

 

If you really want to, take a junior college basic cooking course. It will probably be actually kind of advanced compared to the high school course, but it will give you the basics. Find someone who knows how to prepare simple meals and go over and let them teach you stuff. Your mother would be a good place to start! She'd love it.

 

Also, buy one classic basic cookbook. I recommend Better Homes. It's the one I've found to be helpful on basic stuff like white sauce, measurements, etc.

[Miss Peach]

Youtube has a lot of good resources for leaning how to cook. I'm not sure how advanced you want to get with it but most of the major culinary schools also sell their text books online in places like Amazon. I've bought them as gifts for budding foodies and they provide a good foundation rather than just recipes.

[RecentChange]

Oh yeah and as for courses, many community groups, cities, recreation departments etc have cooking classes. Took a great one in sushi prep once!