Need to learn to cook!

xFitnessFlirt
xFitnessFlirt Posts: 128
in Food and Nutrition
So I'm tired of fast food and my dad the cook in the house but doesnt always cook healthy foods. And I'm 18 and still burn cereal LOL. I know its sad but hey no one taught me to cook and I'm just clueless on cooking.

SO whats the best way to teach yourself to cook and healthy/clean things too!?

I tried looking up recipes but some are confusing since I'm not familiar with all the different types of ingredients and different ways of cooking.

So does anybody know any good websites that show you step by step on how to cook and has recipes for healthy meals. Maybe I can get my dad to eat healthier more often too if I can cook things good and he likes it. lool

Any tips are appreciated too.

Thank you!

Replies

  • DrBorkBork
    DrBorkBork Posts: 4,099 Member
    cookbooks are your friend. For some clean eating ones, try Make It Paleo and Paleo Comfort Foods. The latter has a killer jambalaya & gumbo recipe that we can't get enough of!

    also I have a food/recipe blog, but it's for people who do Primal/Paleo/Gluten Free/Low Carb/etc.
    http://theprimaljunkfoodie.blogspot.com/p/recipes-for-disaster.html
  • jesswait
    jesswait Posts: 218 Member
    Maybe some online tutorials? http://www.ehow.com/cooking-techniques/
  • Topher1978
    Topher1978 Posts: 975 Member
    Cooking is pretty easy. Get some good cookware. Start playing. Watch some coking shows, watch tutorials. I suggest learning how to properly use a chef knife. It sucks at first... will take a few weeks to get down, but it is the fastest and safest way to prep food. Even the Walmart knives will do. I had a great German made chef knife, but my knife bag was stolen :-( I am using the Walmart special and it is great. It is not properly weighted, but it outworks an other knife I currently have!
  • MyOwnSunshine
    MyOwnSunshine Posts: 1,312 Member
    Buy some of Rachel Ray's "30 Minute Meal" cookbooks -- they give very detailed instructions for easy meals. There are a lot of healthy recipes in them that rely on fresh ingredients. Once you learn some basic cooking techniques, you'll be able to follow basic recipes from any cookbook or recipe site.
  • AuntieMC
    AuntieMC Posts: 346 Member
    There are a lot of short videos on the internet about cooking various things! Try googling videos! For instance, if you enter "sushi" or "making sushi", or, for something really easy, "scrambled eggs", and search for videos on that, you will see short, step-by-step videos of making different kinds of sushi or methods of making scrambled eggs. Each video tends to only be a few minutes or so long.
  • SpecialSundae
    SpecialSundae Posts: 795 Member
    Just go for it. Honestly, the best thing with cooking is to take a "f*** it" mentality and experiment. Force yourself to eat everything you eat (unless it's unsafe) and you'll quickly learn.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    if cooking were easy people wouldnt need cookbooks.

    OP i agree with experimenting. get some good coobooks with meals you're interested in and practice. for me i started out with a basic american style cookbook (better homes and gardens) with a bunch of "traditional" recipes as well as a thai and jamaican cookbook because i love those foods as well.

    pick 1 or 2 recipes a week. you will mess up at firs but with practice you'll get it. you have no idea how much burned and yucky tasting food i have choked down, but at least i made that crap myself :laugh:
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
    Pasta and baked chicken dishes are a good place to start.
  • MsJulielicious
    MsJulielicious Posts: 708 Member
    At your age I had just gotten my first apartment and it was sink or swim on feeding myself. I collected recipes and intructions from family and friends, but nowadays you can find step by step youtube tutorials. Trial and error!!!! That's what it takes, cookbooks such as campbells kitchen are good for beginners. A decade later cooking is a passion of mine and I can make complex and gourmet from scratch dishes. practice makes perfection,but in my early years I def had some interesting dishes. You'll get it. Get in the kitchen and start experimenting, only way you will learn. also skinnytaste.com is a good site as well as allrecipes.com
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    Try YouTube. They have tutorials for EVERYTHING on there. Also, check and see if there any cooking classes available in your area. I believe my local community college offers cooking classes for the beginner. Also, look for cooking blogs. Google should readily turn up as many as you would care to read.
  • Topher1978
    Topher1978 Posts: 975 Member
    I often use what used to be recipezaar for new recipes. I will usually read 50 to 100 recipes of a food I want to make, and then creat my own. It is really fun. One thing that puts food over the top is fresh herbs!! Fresh herbs make a good meal, a to kill for meal!
  • returntorural
    returntorural Posts: 339 Member
    Watch PBS. They sometimes show cooking shows on the weekends.
  • ChaiSpyce
    ChaiSpyce Posts: 46
    Invest in a good basic cookbook. I recommend Betty Crocker Cooking Basics. http://www.amazon.com/Betty-Crocker-Cooking-Basics-Confidence/dp/0470111356/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1356395047&sr=8-6&keywords=betty+crocker

    It covers kitchen tools and equipment, how to photos with recipes, and techniques. The recipes are easy to make and don't have a lot of ingredients. The idea is to teach basic cooking skills in a format that isn't overwhelming for beginners. I think this book will give you the foundation you need to prepare delicious home cooked meals.

    I bought this for one of my nieces a few years ago to help her build her skills. She liked it a lot and thought it was very helpful.
  • xFitnessFlirt
    xFitnessFlirt Posts: 128
    thanks so much for your replies! I dont think I can afford a cookbook right now I dont even know how much they cost but I'll look.
    But thanks for all the websites. Some are so helpful and look so delicious!
  • JustANumber85
    JustANumber85 Posts: 644 Member
    you can get cookbooks CHEAP at the goodwill, half price books and FREE at the library.

    You might even want to start with a crockpot. You can literally throw in a frozen chicken and hours later it is fully cooked. Its not technically cooking BUT you can learn from there and you can start to do healthy things.
  • xFitnessFlirt
    xFitnessFlirt Posts: 128
    you can get cookbooks CHEAP at the goodwill, half price books and FREE at the library.

    You might even want to start with a crockpot. You can literally throw in a frozen chicken and hours later it is fully cooked. Its not technically cooking BUT you can learn from there and you can start to do healthy things.

    thanks, i'll keep an eye out for cheap cook books
  • Textmessage
    Textmessage Posts: 387 Member
    thanks so much for your replies! I dont think I can afford a cookbook right now I dont even know how much they cost but I'll look.
    But thanks for all the websites. Some are so helpful and look so delicious!

    Just use google and youtube! The best part is, they're free. :P
  • kcoftx
    kcoftx Posts: 765 Member
    When I first got married, I could boil water and that's about it. Cooking Hamburger Helper was a puzzle to me because I had no idea what "brown the meat" meant. I didn't have access to Google back then. My husband will tell you that some of those early meals took me hours to make simply because I didn't have a clue. Now I can cook a lot of things by heart and follow any recipe, except a cookie recipe. For some reason, I still mess most of those up. The best way to learn is by doing. You have the advantage of Google. That helps. If you mess stuff up, that's okay. All of us do it from time to time. It's practically a rite of passage.
  • wibutterflymagic
    wibutterflymagic Posts: 788 Member
    Invest in a good basic cookbook. I recommend Betty Crocker Cooking Basics. http://www.amazon.com/Betty-Crocker-Cooking-Basics-Confidence/dp/0470111356/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1356395047&sr=8-6&keywords=betty+crocker

    It covers kitchen tools and equipment, how to photos with recipes, and techniques. The recipes are easy to make and don't have a lot of ingredients. The idea is to teach basic cooking skills in a format that isn't overwhelming for beginners. I think this book will give you the foundation you need to prepare delicious home cooked meals.

    I bought this for one of my nieces a few years ago to help her build her skills. She liked it a lot and thought it was very helpful.

    I agree, this cookbook is really good for basic information. See if a friends mom or dad would be willing to get you started. Look at your local grocery stores and see if any of them offer classes or I would think your school would offer cooking classes.
  • what_lola_wants
    what_lola_wants Posts: 129 Member
    Youtube, you get to see the demo. I have problem picturing the process by reading from the book LOL
  • xFitnessFlirt
    xFitnessFlirt Posts: 128
    When I first got married, I could boil water and that's about it. Cooking Hamburger Helper was a puzzle to me because I had no idea what "brown the meat" meant. I didn't have access to Google back then. My husband will tell you that some of those early meals took me hours to make simply because I didn't have a clue. Now I can cook a lot of things by heart and follow any recipe, except a cookie recipe. For some reason, I still mess most of those up. The best way to learn is by doing. You have the advantage of Google. That helps. If you mess stuff up, that's okay. All of us do it from time to time. It's practically a rite of passage.

    i know how u feel lol all i can pretty much do is boil water and put things in the microwave! lol we all have to learn sometime and now i need to learn! thanks for your advice!

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