Doing it wrong??

I like to cook but I almost never cook the way people mean when they say they cook -- I do all mine in 15 minutes or less, or in the Crockpot. I'm like you: stunted by early trauma, had a child too young by an abusive man, spent years trying to figure out just how to be a person in the world without caring too much about the fine print.

Here is what I would advise, for you.

Learn three or four basic cooking techniques. Don't waste time learning "recipes." Learn a few easy processes instead. For me, what I use most, it's simple: how to pan-fry meat without a lot of cooking fat, how to parboil vegetables, how to compose a sauce, how to bake/roast meats and vegetables. Those processes are your steady, never-fail base. You can do anything with them. Once you understand a few very simple processes -- how to do them, yes, but also how they work and WHY they work -- you'll find it easy to modify them for a range of meals. Learn, this week, just how to cook a lean meat on medium heat in a pan. Next week, learn how to parboil a sturdy veg like broccoli; once you understand that you will know how to modify it for any vegetable. The week after, learn how to roast a simple pan of root vegetables. Just knowing the very basic processes will help you immeasurably, because understanding these gives you a sensory idea (or "gut instinct") of how to do other things.

Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid! My son and I were living on $600/month until December, and I know the fear of wasting food... or spoiling a meal... and yet the best advice I have is, DON'T BE AFRAID. Your life has been an unceasing battle and you're still here, so that means you've conquered it all. Trust that you can also conquer a burned meal or a bad recipe. It might be hard. You might go to bed hungry a night or two. Life will go on. In the meantime, you will have many more successes in the kitchen if you approach it with confidence than you will if you edge in with fear -- thus saving you money and time.

Don't worry about fancy, gourmet meals. Look honestly at what you eat right now: the frozen whatsits, the drive-thru thingamabobs. Consider how you could make them at home. What is a McDouble? It's two beef patties, a bun, some cheese, some lettuce and pickles and ketchup. You can handle that! Do it at home. Buy pre-formed meat patties, if you need to. Use convenience foods to your advantage, to improve on your fast-food lifestyle. You don't need to be perfect, right now. You just need to be a little better. What's a Lean Cuisine? It's a small portion of pasta, some sauce, and some veggies. You can do that, too; buy bottled sauce, buy frozen veggies, cook your own pasta, and watch your portions. Whatever you eat -- make it at home, but make it feasible. There's no shame in using convenience items to expedite your cooking as you learn.

Finally, stop thinking about recipes. Stop thinking about all the whatever to produce the Eiffel Tower of food. Just think about components: how do I cook meat, how do I cook veg, what grains do I like and how do I cook them. You can do that. You can learn a couple of ways to cook any meat, a failsafe method of cooking veggies, one single stir-fry method, and how to make a dried grain. Once you know those few things, and what foods you like to make... you can do anything. Food is just categories. You don't need to be Julia Child, you don't need to be Alton Brown, you don't need to be that b*tch down the street. You just need to make a quick, tasty meal, and that is all about process and components -- not complexity.

On a personal note, OP, I really admire you and I'd love to be friends if you're into that.

tiffnkailey wrote: »

ksolksol wrote: »

If you don't have a salad spinner, put your washed greens in a clean pillowcase, go outside and swing it rapidly in a circle to fling most of the water off. You can store the greens in the pillowcase in your crisper. I actually prefer this to a salad spinner.

lol seriously? I can just see what my daughter will think of this.

most definitely seriously... I did that LOL but what I didn't know was that the green "juice" splattered nicely on my back patio LOL I did it in the middle of the yard after that... great workout lol

tiffnkailey wrote: »

lol seriously? I can just see what my daughter will think of this.

Seriously! It's kind of fun, actually.

my favorite omelet is egg, spinach, tomato and feta but hey I am weird and I know it lol

well dont look at my lunch today then lol I love Feta on just about anything lol

tiffnkailey wrote: »

Yes I do have a crockpot. Just haven't used it yet.

OMG, you are going to love your crockpot if you're busy and don't know how to cook. Most recipes, you just chuck everything in there and turn it on and go to work, lol!

tiffnkailey wrote: »

foodequalshappy wrote: »

I suggest omelettes. If you are not too keen on cooking and a bit scared to start, that would be my go to option. Try a plain omelette, then one with spices, then one with vegetables and slowly progress until you are making fancy ones. Eggs are cheap and easy to cook.
Good luck. You sound like you are really trying to make this work.

I do know how to make omelettes, so that would be a good start. I'm going to the grocery store tonight to get some food, I only have $30 to spend, but I can get some eggs, veggies, and hopefully some fruit with it. Is there a paticular cheese you would recommend? I like cheese in my omelette.

Chicken thighs are crazy cheap. And, I know it sounds ambitious, but you can sometimes get a frozen turkey for like $0.88/lb. You'll get a ton of meat from it and it's delicious and cheap.

Maybe not this week but in the future when you're feeling more confident in the kitchen.

tiffnkailey wrote: »

So lets say I put half of the chicken in the crock pot, carrots, (what other veggies do you put in your soup?) Then do you fill it with water and add some spices?

Carrots, celery, onion is my go-to on chicken soup, with some thyme and a boullion cube. I find that if I make my own soup, I can make it with less salt/boullion/broth than it calls for. Typically, I'll go half and half water and broth. My attitude is I can always add salt at the table, but I can't take it out of the soup.

Don't toss the stripped carcass, either! The next day, throw it back in the crockpot with onion, celery leaves (good way to use them up), carrot, thyme and fill it up with plain water. Let it cook all day and you'll have chicken broth much better than you can buy.

And simplest tomato soup on earth if you have a blender: throw no-salt canned diced tomatoes in a blender. Add about 1/4 cup milk per can, sugar and salt to taste (I usually go about a teaspoon sugar and just a sprinkling of salt on top per can.) Heat it up. Takes 5 minutes, tastes better than the canned condensed with fewer unpronouncable ingredients.

Not sure if canned, diced tomatoes are cheaper than canned soup, but on sale I can usually pick them up for about 50 cents a can, and the no-salt are no more expensive where I live than the regular.

I also like to blend cooked sweet potato in with tomato soup. Means I can use less sugar, as I get the natural sweetness off the sweet potatoes.