Can't Cook?

[havejoy]

To cook beans:

1. Take the bag of hard beans and cover them with water about 2 inches over the top of them. Let them just sit overnight.

2. In the morning pour off the water and add new water.

Throw away any bean parts that are floating.

3. Recover with water and bring to a boil.

4. Turn down to a simmer and add a few pieces of cut up ham or link sausage

5. Add 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp garlic and a cup of diced onions.

6. Simmer for about an hour.

You can play with this basic recipe by adding a can of diced tomatoes or by starting with several different kind of beans mixed together.

[havejoy]

Here's a basic cornbread recipe to go with the beans:

Put these ingredients in a bowl:

1 1/2 cup ground ccorn or corn meal

1/2 cup white flour

3 tsp. baking powder

3 TBSP white sugar

1 tsp salt

Mix with a whisk or a spoon will do.

Mix these ingredients in a measuring cup:

1/4 cup canola oil

1 Cup milk

1 large egg

Mix these ingredients and then add them to the bowl of dry stuff. Stir until well mixed and them pour into a 12 count muffin pan that has been sprayed with pam.

Bake in a 415 degree oven for 20 minutes.

[havejoy]

To cook fresh vegetables:

Potatoes---peel and slice a couple of potatoes and place in boiling water with a TBSP of butter and a tsp salt.

Boil for about 20 minutes. A little less time if you sliced them thin; a little longer if you sliced them thick. They are done when a fork goes thru them easily.

You can eat them like this or drain and mash them and add a little milk and more butter for mashed potatoes.

Carrots----slice and boil for 20 to 30 minutes. You can eat like this with a little salt or you can mix a little melted butter and brown sugar together and pour over them for glazed carrots.

[carlymomof3]

I hate to cook and wish I like it more. I dread even getting out stuff like pots and pans. The clean up is the worse too. If I could afford to eat out 3 times a day I would. I fix alot of frozen things, microwave stuff and food in cans. I have 3 boys and they haven't complained yet but I feel like they are being short changed.

[Iggy]

To cook fresh vegetables:

Potatoes---peel and slice a couple of potatoes and place in boiling water with a TBSP of butter and a tsp salt.

Can I ask why you add butter when you boil them? You are dumping the water and butter down the drain. Butter is expensive.

Save the butter for when they are cooked. You can cut the potatoes into quarters and then half or quarter the quarters.

[gabelpa]

I hate to cook and wish I like it more. I dread even getting out stuff like pots and pans. The clean up is the worse too. If I could afford to eat out 3 times a day I would. I fix alot of frozen things, microwave stuff and food in cans. I have 3 boys and they haven't complained yet but I feel like they are being short changed.

Something we recently purchased that has been a boon to home cooking - a 6.5 liter crock pot. It's great, lump in meat (Beef + lamb = Scouse), potatoes, carrots, onions,gravy brownings, garlic powder, pepper, salt. Turn it on Low in the morning, forget about it until Dinner. Serve up, and put what's left in the fridge/freezer. It'll make even cheap cuts of Beef fall-apart tender. The pot even goes in the Dishwasher and the Oven.

I don't know if my wife has weighed in on this thread, but this recipe is especially for you Carlymomof3:

Chili bean soup to feed an army (vegetarian/vegan/meaty):

You will need:

onions (any kind)

oil or lard (Whatever you have on hand, we usually use olive cause we have tons of it)

beans (tinned beans work great, drain them first. Recommend a mix of pinto, kidney & black eyed beans, minimum 3 tins. Baked beans work as well, just not on their own)

sweetcorn (tinned, drain first)

tins of cheap chopped tomatoes (Has to be cheap or won't taste right)

mince/chuck/other meats (Added for you carnivores out there, we usually leave this out to keep cost down)

pack of taco/fajita/enchilada/mexican seasoning mix or make your own. (your own is expensive to obtain, but saves money over time)

Heinz tomato ketchup (Cheap stuff has too much vinegar)

milk (leave out to make vegan,but helps the flavors meld)

Cooking directions:

heat oil in big pot

cook onions, meat, and spices together (leave out meat if not using, obviously)

dump in beans and sweetcorn

add in tins of tomatoes until it's as thick as you want it

add in 3 squirts of Heinz per tin of tomatoes

add in splash of milk if using

bring to the boil, simmer for a minimum of 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sweet spot is very low heat for about 2 hours.

If using a crock pot, cook onions, spices, meat in a pan, then add everything into the crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

We have used dried beans in this, but we've always cooked the beans fully before adding to the pot. May work after 20 minutes of boiling if going for a long cooking time. Haven't tried the crock pot with dried beans yet.

For added goodness, add grated cheese, tortilla chips, salsa and sour cream. You can even add guacamole and it tastes fine.

If you use a thicker mixture (fewer tins of tomatoes, longer cooking times, leftovers) you can wrap the mix in tortillas, and put in the oven with a cheese sauce over the top for enchiladas, or just provide tortillas, cheese, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, and let everyone make their own taco, burritos, etc (just depends how you fold it)

Cleanup is easy as long as you portion off leftovers immediately. We don't use nonstick cookware, and the cleanup is easy as long as you don't burn the bottom. If you do.. break out the steel wool scrubbers.

I've even got a recipe knocking about for refried beans substitute using red lentils,weetabix, and a metric ton of cheese. Let me know if you want it.

[Faded]

yes. its true, i cannot cook, ... anything. lol. its very pathetic i know.

i just never learned my mom and i it had just never came across our minds to teach me haha..

my mom is a rather nervous cooker haha, she is a perfectionist and every measurement has to be exact, i did learn how to bake,... some..

i just never tried to see if thats a talent of mine or not, but now that im starting on my own so to speak (being a live-in nanny for a year) im afraid i will starve haha! if not live off chips and all that good stuff , anyhow, i did learn how to clean like none other i am a the miricle cleaner haha even if i do say so myself jk,

so yes this is sad haha, but can anyone tell me how to cook simple things like.. potato's.. and beans.. vegetables... the only thing i know how to do is brown meat haha and thats because thats what i had to take over when the phone would ring, and it was one of my older sisters needing to talk to my mom.

can anyone provide like a DETAILED very detailed, as in every aspect of cooking certain things? like what i gave as an example?

any tips would be great!

thankyou!

--Elisabeth

There is a TON of easy and cheap recipes that consist of some or all of the following. Beans, Rice, Herbs and Spices, a can of soup.

Step 1: Learn to successfully cook rice without burning it. This is arguably the easiest thing in the world, but I've screwed it up by not paying attention.

I like to cook. I hate recipes. I'm just a mad scientist in the kitchen I guess. The trick is to get your basics and learn to use them.

Recommended Spices and other basics:

Salt

Black Pepper

Sugar

Brown Sugar

Flour

Corn meal

Chicken Boulin -- prefer non-cubed

Beef Boulin

Cayenne Pepper

Italian Seasoning

Curry Powder

Cinnimon

Allspice

Parsley

Sage

Rosemary

Thyme (I use it a lot)

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Ground Cloves

Ground Nutmeg

Cilantro

Chives

Coriandor

There's more. Lots more. I can't think of them. It can wait till I get home from work. The key is to make it to some place where you can buy large quantities of all of the above for cheap. Where I'm at, I think the place is Garden Fresh.

I also have a few recipes. Yep, I even forced myself to use measuring spoons a couple of times. You might also invest in an automatic breadmaker. Very little effort yields a lot of home-baked bread. Good stuff.

[Tarnished]

Rice can be the easiest thing to make, the main secret to it is paying attention. If you do not pay attention rice can be the easiest thing to mess up.

First you need to make sure that you have the rice to water ratio correct. For example: for every cup of long grain rice, add 1 1/2 cups water. Combine these in a pot (one that you have a lid for) and start on medium heat with the lid off, cook rice until it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to a low heat and put the lid on. Now watch it. The rice will take some time to cook so you can do other things but make sure that you come back often to check on it. What you are looking for is the water, you can see it still bubbling, eventually you will see it begin to dissapear (into the rice) once you can no longer see the water take the lid off and stir up the rice with a fork, can you still see the water near the bottom? Yes: cook it more. No: taste a grain or two of rice, if it is slightly crunchy still then add a little more water and continue to cook, if it tastes right then you are done. Rice is much like pasta in many ways, you have to keep tasting it until it tastes done.

[Iggy]

Rice can be the easiest thing to make, the main secret to it is paying attention. If you do not pay attention rice can be the easiest thing to mess up.

Get an electric rice cooker or even one that works in the microwave.

When you cook rice in a pan, bring it to a boil, reduce the burner to simmer, put the lid on and then LEAVE IT ALONE for about 10 minutes, or what ever the package says.

The more you lift the lid to check on it, the more you slow the cooking process down. You release all the steam and slow the cooking process down.

I prefer pearl rice because I like sticky rice. I rinse it in a sieve until the water runs clear. Then I put it in my rice cooker. For 1 cup of rice, I add 1 1/2 cups water. NO salt or butter. Put the lid on and flip the switch.

I now mix pearl rice with wild rice. Adding the wild rice after I rinse the pearl rice.

To make fried rice, do not rinse the rice. You will need cooked and cooled rice. Sauté your onions, grated carrots, celery. Actually you can do any vegetable you want. I use a bit of butter along with vegetable oil. When veggies are just slightly transparent add what cooked meat you want. Ham, bacon, chicken, turkey, hot dogs - what ever. Cut it up in small pieces, and don't add too much. Now you add the rice. All at once. Turn your burner up to med high and stir your rice to keep it from sticking. Add a bit more oil or even a bit of water. You need to get your rice HOT without it sticking to the pan or scorching.

Once the rice is steaming hot, add two or three slightly stirred raw eggs and take your cooking spoon and fold the eggs into the rice. You want to be able to see that there are eggs in this.

When the eggs are just cooked, remove pan from burner and add your soy sauce. You want your rice to get a nice brown color- this is what the soy sauce does. You will never get your fried rice brown any other way.

Stir the soy evenly into the rice, remove to a serving bowl and eat!

I love fried rice all by it's lonesome, but you can serve it with hamburger patties, pork steak or pork chops, fried chicken strips/breasts/thighs or even with fried eggs for breakfast! I have even served it with meatloaf.

I will use 6 cups of cooked rice when I make fried rice. I also use my dutch oven to fix the fried rice in. This way I can really stir and not have to worry about rice spilling over the edge onto the stove top.

[Sequoia]

I just glossed over the many responses. I hope I'm not repeating anyone.

2 ways to bake a potato are in the oven or in the microwave. Either way, be sure you wash it well!

OVEN - cover outside with Crisco for nice texture, fork it, wrap in aluminum, bake at 400 degrees for half hour or so

MICROWAVE - fork well all over, keep it kinda wet, wrap in Saran Wrap, cook for 5 minutes, let sit for 2-3 (Still cooks when microwave is off)

Here is my favorite cooking website: Food Network - Easy Recipes, Healthy Eating Ideas and Chef Recipe Videos : Food Network It's the best. Full videos are in the upper right hand corner, but frequently they post shorts too. It's great because it tells you the length of each recipe, whose it is, and everyone rates them.

Now for getting the cooking down, you really only need about 2 weeks worth of meals. Sunday dinners require something a little special. Pick a couple of special recipes for Sundays, then pick simple meals for the rest of the 2 weeks.

Simple - Hamburgers, chicken legs, PastaRoni (in a box) with chicken strips and peas, spaghetti/cook some sausage and veggies up add sauce, fajitas/burritos (just need browned meat and onions/peppers as far as cooking goes), taco salad (check out foodnetwork.com), Asian noodles (add veggies and soy sauce), stew (brown some meat, add veggies, stick in crockpot or big pot on low for the day)...etc

Also, when you go to the store, look in others people's carts and see what they are buying. I was just asked a couple days ago about the ingredients I was buying. Shared a recipe. It's kinda fun!

Edited January 17, 2009 by Sequoia

[AKinPA]

Elisabeth,

I really couldn't cook as a young adult and all I can tell you is that the other day when someone asked the young men what their favorite restaurant was, my son answered, "Home. My Mom is a great cook." So stick with it and don't assume that there is anything such as a natural-born cook.

The cookbook I bought my son when he wanted to start learning how to do his own cooking was this one: Amazon.com: Anyone Can Cook (Better Homes & Gardens): Better Homes and Gardens, Tricia Laning: Books.

It's awesome because it really does step-by-step preparation with a LOT of photos. It doesn't ASSUME you know anything. And it's got a ton of great recipes in it.

[AngelLynn]

I love to cook. But not ashamed to cut a few corners occasionally espically when it comes to time.

Nothing wrong with Hambuger or Tuna Helper occasionally. Although a lot of sodium in those things, I am not ashamed to say that a few times I've cooked it.

I have to say the easiest thing to make is Spaghetti with a bottle of sauce and sometimes some hamburger thrown in as well.

If you are someone who buys a whole roasted chicken at the store, if there is any leftover chicken, debone it and chop into peices, boil some noodles, and throw in some frozen mixed vegtables, canned chicken broth and put it all together and you have a quick chicken soup. Although you may also want to add some salt and pepper to taste. These are a few things I do timewise and are pretty quick.

I've done cooking out of a cookbook and I love to experement with food but these are some of the things I think anyone can do.

[ladykemma2]

i know this is an old thread, but I think it it is more important to learn technique than recipes. I found "great chefs" TV show to be most informational. then i bought the culinary institute cookbooks for more technique based recipes and menus. once you know the technique you can make anything.

The techniques are easy and versaile: know how to make stock and court bouilllion, how to saute, braise, roast. Once you know how to steam, boil, bake. how to do the trilogy of flour, fat and liquid. how to make sauces.

Edited May 3, 2009 by ladykemma2

[Guest pimpberries]

Oh dear, a woman who cannot cook,

"Practice makes perfect." Let it come to you naturally and in good time, just relax and you'll be fine. Try some things and relax.

Hopefully your man is an great cook!

[Guest]

Something to improve on your "meat browning" skills:

You will need:

- egg roll wrapper (you can find this in most produce sections in the US - are you in holland? I prefer to get my egg roll wrappers in the Asian store - they are sometimes called Lumpia wrapper if you're in a Filipino store).

- ground beef

- frozen mixed vegetables (usually comes with peas, carrots, and green beans)

- soy sauce

- salt and pepper

- bean sprouts (optional)

- vegetable oil

- 2 tbsp of flour in 1/4 c water.

To prepare:

- Brown ground beef in high heat. Drain excess oil and return to pan.

- Add frozen vegetables.

- Season with soy sauce, salt and pepper. Soy sauce is salty as well, so put the soy sauce first, little by little, tasting as you go. Then add salt and paper to taste.

- When veggies are not frozen anymore, remove from heat and add bean sprouts (if you want). Mix thoroughly then put in a collander to drain.

- Get a sheet of egg roll wrapper, line about 2-3 tablespoons of the mix diagonally on the wrapper (would look like a line of meat/veggies in the middle of a diamond wrapper). Fold the bottom corner over the meat, then fold each side corner over to form an envelope. Then roll the meat to form a "post" and wet the top corner with water and flour mixture to seal.

- Make a bunch of these and fry in vegetable oil until the wrapper is light brown (takes about 2 minutes). Remember, the inside is already cooked, you're just browning the wrapper.

You can even make these ahead of time, put the prepared rolls in a freezer bag and put in the freezer. When ready to eat, just take the meat rolls straight from the freezer into the frying pan. Let it brown and serve. Yummy.

Variation for Dessert:

- Instead of meat/veggies, slice a ripe banana cross-wise, then length-wise to make 4 long pieces. Put 2 slices of banana and one square of hershey's milk chocolate in the middle of the egg roll wrapper diamond. Sprinkle brown sugar over the banana. Wrap like instructed above sealing with water and flour mixture. Then fry. Serve with vanilla ice-cream and drizzle of chocolate syrup. YUMMY!

Easy does it.

[Guest somemei]

keep you best~~~~~...............