Help Please - Cooking Advice for a Kitchen phobe

[GalleyGirl]

So part of my new budget is predicated on my not eating out so much. However not only do I not know how to cook, but I have no interest in learning. I also have OCD, which has manifested itself in my being afraid of food, esp. if I perceive it to be old or contaminated (all food in a grocery store is contaminated to me because you don't know who has touched it before). Setting aside my psychological issues, do you have any general cooking advice, recipes, etc. for cooking at home when you're a total novice at it? TIA!

 

[*Stargazer*]

The first thing to do would be to make a list of meals you actually like eating. You could go out and buy yourself a cookbook today but if you won't eat 90% of the stuff in it, what good will it do you? Once you know what you like, it is so easy to find recipe sites on the web to find good basic recipes.

Also, you can still eat at home and not have to do much "cooking." It isn't always as healthy as cooking from scratch, but you can find plenty of pre-cooked and prepped meals that will still save you money even if they are a bit more expensive than cooking from scratch. One of my favorite no work meals is a bagged salad, some fruit and cheese and a rotisserie chicken. Plus then you have leftover chicken to pick at for days, which means extra meals.

 

[Hilly]

Allrecipes.com is awesome for recipes, feedback, and easy to follow steps.

 

[Beauty Mark]

I don't want to make you more fearful of the world, but you also don't know the conditions under which your food was cooked when you eat out. At least in your own kitchen you know that you cooked things thoroughly.

How willing are you to eat the same thing several days in the same week? Because I cook enough food at once so that it lasts several days.

Googling recipes is the easiest way to find simple stuff. I recommend making stir fry as often as possible, because you can alter what you put in it, and it's simple enough. I usually use fresh vegetables, but you can always use frozen.

If you hate handling raw meat, I think some companies make pre-cooked stuff.

Pasta with sauce (you can add meat and veggies to the sauce) is about as easy as it gets. Use whole wheat pasta to be healthier.

The way I make my store lists is that I think about what I'm craving or like to eat, then I write what I need or find recipes to find out what I need. It saves you the hassle of overbuying or underbuying.

 

[Chic 2k6]

Jamie Oliver has some great recipe!

it does sound icky at the thought of other people handling stuff like apples before you but its easy to wash it to make it kinda germy free.

Cheese & Bacon ravioli in carbonara sauce is delish, and Tagiliatelle with polish kabanos sausages is an easy dish to do

 

[Trunkmonkey]

The most important thing, in my opinion, to remember is the first time you make something follow the directions of the recipe to the letter. As you cook it more and more often you'll add a touch of this or take out a touch of that. Beef is hard to mess up.. just cut into it and see if it's done. Chicken and pork are a little more complex so I'd suggest going and spending $8 on thermometer so you can be sure they're done. I precook meals on the weekends and freeze them for the coming week. I have really easy recipes for salsa chicken (this is a good weight watching meal by the way), Chicken alfredo, Faux Ziti, and Sun Dried tomato chicken if you're interested. They all freeze well and work for dinner and lunch. Just nuke and nosh. Lastly if you REALLY want to make your life easy get a good crock pot. If there's a particular salad dressing you like (not the creamy ones) just dump 3 or 4 bottles of it in your crock pot, put in 4 chicken breasts, and set it on low for 12 hours stirring occasionally. When it's done your chicken will literally fall apart and you can put this on a salad.

Good luck

 

[MAC is love]

Buy a cook book! One with pictures, and just try to follow the recipie as best as possible. You will screw up a couple of times, but you will eventually get the hang of it. You're obviously not going to get a perfect meal the first time! Just practice