Meal ideas for my hates-to-cook partner :)

sarzzie

So Me and my partner are both trying to lose weight - we've got the exercise thing down but he needs some help with the food (I'm doing Jenny Craig so no problems for me there).
I'm trying to help him write up a makeshift meal plan, and i need some help with dinner! He thinks he can't cook at all and pretty much refuses to, so he's been eating the frozen meals. But, now he's decided he wants those for lunch instead and now i have to think of something else...
if anyone knows of any good meals that can be assembled from ready made ingredients that would be helpful, or a meal with few ingredients that requires minimal cooking. We're also on a tight budget so cheaper things would be better... i'm really at a loss here :S
thanks for your time
Sarah

anemoneprose

I don't know what's involved in Jenny Craig - does that mean you eat different foods?

Most guys won't complain with some kind of grilled meat + veg. Marinades and spices can help cheaper meats taste better.

sarzzie

With Jenny Craig you get a meal plan - they give you the main foods and have to buy fresh things like vegetables and milk etc. So I have a meal plan all set out and kj controlled for me.
he should be ok with the meat and veg, maybe i can convince him to cook some meat for himself haha

Nix143

Ok, if someone isn't a cook you want to start them off slowly and build up in tiny, incremental steps - otherwise they'll throw their hands up and say they can't do it. My girlfried was the QUEEN of microwave meals - or buying expensive ready prepared stuff that required minimal effort so I've gone through a 'you CAN cook' process with her.

Some techniques/ideas that might help
1. What does he like to eat? If he likes to eat it then he'll be more inclined to cook it.
2. Steamfresh bags of veggies - I use these when I can't be bothered chopping and peeling - 2 mins in microwave and ding! They're ready
3. George Foreman - anyone can cook meat on this. Butterfly a chicken breast, shake on seasoning of your choice and you're away. I often have gammon steak with the fat trimmed off done on there as well.
4. Slow cooker - now, you might think a slow cooker isn't something obvious but this has been the main thing in convincing my girlfriend that cooking is easy. Complicated recipes paralyse her but a slow cooker is massively forgiving, it's really REALLY hard to get something wrong. Start off with some meat, some veg (sliced onions, carrots, etc) and a jar of cook in sauce - Asda do some cheap low cal ones. Literally throw it all in, I dont even bother browning the meat most of the time. This can be done the night before, takes 5 mins, leave it in fridge overnight and then turn it on low before he goes to work. Then not only does he get a meal that night he has a meal/s for another night/s. Zero 'cooking', no skill and yet an edible meal. Once he's done this a couple of times then you can start making your own sauces but right now the idea is to turn his perception of himself as someone who can't cook around. Serve with boil in the bag rice/wholewheat pasta - heck, even microwave rice if that's what it takes to get him started.

I think it's really daunting when you haven't cooked to think about cooking - but little steps add up. I found that my girlfriend started to gain confidencve and then want to branch out into other areas - don't think she'll ever be a natural cook but she's much less scared of it now.

Good luck