I can't cook... where do i go from here!?
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iNikosaurus wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »If you can read you can learn to cook. Go to sites like epicurious to find menu/recipe ideas.
Lol well yeah, humans can do anything they put there mind to. Doesn't hurt to ask people on here for their suggestions on the steps i take. As i state in this room i do use google but for more idea's i'm looking to others for suggestions. Thanks though i'll check out that site
That's the way I learned...I picked up a cook book (before internet days) and just went with it. It's basically just a "do it" kind of a thing I started with recipes marked "easy" and went from there...20 years later, I'm a phenomenal cook.
I prefer sites like the the one I mentioned to google because you can look things up by meal or what kind of food you want, etc and a ton of recipes will pop up....0 -
My question is--would you like to cook? If the answer is yes and you're a beginner I'd suggest looking around for cooking classes to get you started. Cooking is fun and creative. It's something that is not a waste of time to learn since you always need it. Yes, you can learn from books or the internet, but it's harder than a class where someone shows you and explains. If you don't have money for a class, do you know someone that cooks well? You could ask them to show and explain a few things. At first repeat your recipes alot and then change them up and expand from there. I started out making popcorn and scrambled eggs when I was 12. Now I cook for 5 people everyday. Good luck.
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iNikosaurus wrote: »
Some of these look really interesting but some look not so healthy. Like grilled cheese aren't the healthiest right? The cheese has too much fat, bread is too much carb and butter or margarine you use adds up as well. I also enjoy my grilled cheese with ketchup cause it tastes far to plain without it to me. Some good idea's on those pages though. Thanks!
i had a grilled cheese for lunch just the other day.....0 -
Meh. I'm no cook. I look at the calories I have left and the macros I need to fulfill and put the things that work in a pan with oil and garlic. Tonight it was 5.2 ounces of tilapia and 12 tablespoons of egg beaters with a laughing cow cheese. All on the same plate. Fuel.0
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I eat a lot of things that might not be a traditional 'meal' per se, especially if I am serving the family a food that I can't eat (celiac plus allergies). Costco rotisserie chickens are great... combine that with some steamed broccoli, cauliflower, peas or whatever you like, and it's a pretty healthy meal. I'm happy to skip the peeling, mashing, boiling of potatoes, and what have you. I've also been known to make a supper of shrimp cocktail
with a bowl of berries for dessert. 0 -
I can cook, but am not enthusiastic about it. Microwave prepared foods - I buy a pint of chicken chili once a week for 2 meals, fish takes about 3 minutes, frozen veggies are quick too. I have a grill - chicken breasts cook in five minutes, steak in 3 or less. Anything is possible if you want it bad enough.0
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I don't mind eating the same foods most of the time. V8 juice, Greek yogurt, banana(s), salad, avocados, pistachios and/or sliced almonds, are on my list nearly every day. I bought some Cuties at Costco today to add some variety, hah! I like to cook up a large meal (I live alone) and break it up and freeze into several servings as another poster mentioned here; measure it all, add up total calories for the dish, and divide it by how many portions you want. My motivation is getting on maintenance so I can eat out again, woo hoo!0
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iNikosaurus wrote: »
Some of these look really interesting but some look not so healthy. Like grilled cheese aren't the healthiest right? The cheese has too much fat, bread is too much carb and butter or margarine you use adds up as well. I also enjoy my grilled cheese with ketchup cause it tastes far to plain without it to me. Some good idea's on those pages though. Thanks!
It is possible that you are limiting your foods because of some idea of what you consider healthy. Grilled cheese can be healthy -- it depends on your goals.0 -
Kraftfoods.com is great for starting out and learning to cook. You can put in what you have on hand and it will give you options. Usually most of their recipes are easy to make for beginners and will also have the nutritional value with the recipe.0
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That or I frequently just scroll through the food section looking for ideas.Go to Pinterest.. Type in what you will eat and it will populate a bunch of stuff for you with only those ingredients. I do that when I don't know what to make and its near the end of the week and the fridge is getting empty.
Budget Bytes is one of my favorite recipe sites.
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I feel your pain. I hate lunch the most. Sandwiches are off the menu, I just cant fit them into the calories, I did have fruit and yogurt 3 x a week but got sick of it and I have just changed it to wraps because I figured I needed the carbs after the gym at lunch. Breakfast I have the same cereal everyday until the box runs out, then I buy a different cereal. It does get pretty dull... when asked "What do you want for dinner" I normally reply " a small pill that will fill me up, yet give me the correct dietary nutrients my body needs"0
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iNikosaurus wrote: »What ends up making it hard is I am terrible at math and end up screwing up royally, repeatedly in trying to calculate it. So do you calculate everything you put in then you get how many calories the whole meal has. and say you want each meal to be 300 calories each do you divide the calories it equaled by 300 and however many times it goes into it is how many servings you have? how do you measure that out in grams? It rattles my brain haha. Math is my worst subject T.T
Yes, that will work.
1) sum all calories in entire recipe
2) calories in entire recipe / # calories you want in a serving = # of servings
3) weigh entire recipe
4) weight of entire recipe / # of servings = weight of one serving that has # calories you want in a serving.
ETA: took out all quotes in the thread except the last one - somehow they ended up too messed up to fix easily.0 -
We all learned to cook one thing at a time. We all tried new foods one at a time. I'm retired and I still am learning new things. I just found out turnip greens are delicious. Who knew? You only learn by trying.
The web is GREAT for cooking. And zillions of both amateur and professional cooks have put instructive videos on Youtube. Don't underestimate what you can find to help you. For example, I just went to Youtube and searched "how to boil noodles" and there were lots of videos that would show me how.
We aren't born knowing that when a recipe says to "cream together the buttter and sugar," that they aren't talking about the cream that comes from a cow. We all had to learn it -- some of us from our mothers -- but now with the web it's like having mom on call to help you learn how to cook 24/7.0 -
This is one of my favorite recipes that I created after having a similar dish in a restaurant.
Chicken and Tortellini Soup
8 Servings (1 cup each) you can easily fit two servings of this into your calorie goals and make a meal of it.
Ingredients:
1 – 48 ounce carton of Low sodium chicken broth
8 oz raw trimmed boneless chicken breast cut into small pieces
1 – 9 oz (2 ½ cups) package of Buitoni Spinach Cheese Tortellini (from the fresh deli foods section)
1 cup of diced carrots (or use the matchstick carrots you can get at the store)
¼ cup chopped onion
2 cloves chopped garlic
3 cups raw baby spinach
½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
1 tsp cracked black pepper (or to taste)
1 cup of water
To Prepare: Pour broth and water in soup pot. Turn burner on high. Add in the chicken, onion, garlic, and carrots. Let boil for about 8 minutes, and then add the pasta and the spinach. Add in seasonings and boil about 8 more minutes and turn down to simmer for 10 minutes and it is ready to serve.
Nutrient Analysis
Calories 178 Protein 13g
Fat 4g Calcium 9g
Saturated Fat 2g Sodium 972mg
Fiber 2g Cholesterol 40mg
Carbs 19
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iNikosaurus wrote: »What ends up making it hard is I am terrible at math and end up screwing up royally, repeatedly in trying to calculate it. So do you calculate everything you put in then you get how many calories the whole meal has. and say you want each meal to be 300 calories each do you divide the calories it equaled by 300 and however many times it goes into it is how many servings you have? how do you measure that out in grams? It rattles my brain haha. Math is my worst subject T.T
Yes, that will work.
1) sum all calories in entire recipe
2) calories in entire recipe / # calories you want in a serving = # of servings
3) weigh entire recipe
4) weight of entire recipe / # of servings = weight of one serving that has # calories you want in a serving.
ETA: took out all quotes in the thread except the last one - somehow they ended up too messed up to fix easily.
Or just use the recipe bulider then its saved for the next time you make that recipe.
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iNikosaurus wrote: »What ends up making it hard is I am terrible at math and end up screwing up royally, repeatedly in trying to calculate it. So do you calculate everything you put in then you get how many calories the whole meal has. and say you want each meal to be 300 calories each do you divide the calories it equaled by 300 and however many times it goes into it is how many servings you have? how do you measure that out in grams? It rattles my brain haha. Math is my worst subject T.T
Yes, that will work.
1) sum all calories in entire recipe
2) calories in entire recipe / # calories you want in a serving = # of servings
3) weigh entire recipe
4) weight of entire recipe / # of servings = weight of one serving that has # calories you want in a serving.
ETA: took out all quotes in the thread except the last one - somehow they ended up too messed up to fix easily.
Or just use the recipe bulider then its saved for the next time you make that recipe.
That works too, to get the number of servings in the recipe, but you'll need to save it first with an arbitrary number of servings, then come back and edit the servings number until you get the calorie value you want. But, no math
It won't help for getting the weight of each individual serving. For that, you'll still need to do 3) and 4).0 -
high calorie =/= unhealthy =/= badiNikosaurus wrote: »
Some of these look really interesting but some look not so healthy. Like grilled cheese aren't the healthiest right? The cheese has too much fat, bread is too much carb and butter or margarine you use adds up as well. I also enjoy my grilled cheese with ketchup cause it tastes far to plain without it to me. Some good idea's on those pages though. Thanks!
fat =/= bad
carbs =/= bad
there is only to much or to little of something. But outside of medical/allergic immediate reactions- nothing is inherently unhealthy or bad. You just might over do it and you have to be careful about it.
Stop thinking so hard and just go cook something.0
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