# ...where / how to learn to cook?



## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

...just reading another thread & it prompted me to start this one....
I'm a 70-year old male who has never learned to cook a thing.(Kraft Dinner & PNB sandwiches don't count!)
I lived at home til I was married & fortunately ( or not) I married s very good cook! But after 40+years of home-cooked meals most every night, she's getting tired of it, and I would like to help out more; prepare a few meals on my own.
I would just like to learn the basics: how to prepare a few easy & fairly-healthy meals. Teaching me hasn't worked out between DW & me yet; and there don't seem to be any classes for this sort of thing in my area...and I guess I haven't found the right channels on youtube yet...
Any suggestions where / how I might get some good instruction?....🤷‍♂️


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## Gothenburg83 (Dec 30, 2021)

jargey3000 said:


> ...just reading another thread & it prompted me to start this one....
> I'm a 70-year old male who has never learned to cook a thing.(Kraft Dinner & PNB sandwiches don't count!)
> I lived at home til I was married & fortunately ( or not) I married s very good cook! But after 40+years of home-cooked meals most every night, she's getting tired of it, and I would like to help out more; prepare a few meals on my own.
> I would just like to learn the basics: how to prepare a few easy & fairly-healthy meals. Teaching me hasn't worked out between DW & me yet; and there don't seem to be any classes for this sort of thing in my area...and I guess I haven't found the right channels on youtube yet...
> Any suggestions where / how I might get some good instruction?....🤷‍♂️


Delia Smith.


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## milhouse (Nov 16, 2016)

I typically get inspiration for stuff to make based on stuff we eat when going out and try to copy it or look for a similar recipe online. 
A couple of Youtubers I also watch for ideas are the following. They generally focus on simple recipes and techniques to make cooking stuff at home easier. Some of their techniques aren't perfect and they occasionally mess up but it kind of illustrates you don't need to be perfect when cooking something tasty to eat at home. 

Food Wishes / Chef John
Brothers Green / Pro Home Cooks / Mike Greenfield
Adam Ragusea
Ethan Chlebowski 
Sip and Feast


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## Tostig (Nov 18, 2020)

You're less than ten years older than me. Where were you during the women's liberation movement?

Well, lecturing you about your past isn't going to help you today. It'll be like lecturing a struggling family that if they can't afford childcare, they shouldn't have had children.

So here we go.
I just did a quick Youtube search on how to cook:
fried eggs
hamburger
stir fry veggies
spaghetti
steak

Get the picture? What is it that you like to eat? Start simple and build a repertoire. Your wife wouldn't expect you to be masterchef. She just wants a break so give her something decent.

Have you ever hosted a bbq or wilderness camping? Transfer all your bbq skills to the stove.

When I first moved out on my own, I already knew how to make some really basic stuff. I also lived with some guys who only knew how to make spaghetti, so there'd be pot loads of spaghetti to last all week. When you get bored of the same sh*t, you experiment by adding new stuff.

Today, I love cooking with fresh garlic and red onions. And as my sons grew, I taught them "bachelor food". Now they are better cooks than me. And for the second time since the pandemic, as my wife is travelling, I've been alone at home for over a month cooking for myself everyday.

One of my Go-Tos is chicken drumsticks on a frying pan. Medium-high heat, flip every five minutes and after 20 minutes, it's ready.


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

^^^^...gettin' hungry here!...^^^😉


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## jlunfirst (1 mo ago)

Take your wife's soup broth or make the broth with a bouillon cube.

Can put in some chopped tomato or boiled pasta. Bring heat to boil, and turn down temp. Take 1 whipped egg and pour into hot steaming soup and stir with....well with chopsticks or wooden spoon quickly to break up egg. There's your light supper or whatever: Chinese Tomato Egg Drop Soup - The Woks of Life It is served in restaurants.

Hard to believe she doesn't want you to help chop up veggies for salads... She needs to let go abit and let you take over. Hope you find an area to become good.

My partner and his brother, as children/teen, loved watching their mother prep baked goods and cook. They learned alot.. his mother made multi-layered German tortes, etc..so he and I never divided up cooking. It was taking turns at different times whenever it suited. He did bake also.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

jargey3000 said:


> ...just reading another thread & it prompted me to start this one....
> I'm a 70-year old male who has never learned to cook a thing.(Kraft Dinner & PNB sandwiches don't count!)
> I lived at home til I was married & fortunately ( or not) I married s very good cook! But after 40+years of home-cooked meals most every night, she's getting tired of it, and I would like to help out more; prepare a few meals on my own.
> I would just like to learn the basics: how to prepare a few easy & fairly-healthy meals. Teaching me hasn't worked out between DW & me yet; and there don't seem to be any classes for this sort of thing in my area...and I guess I haven't found the right channels on youtube yet...
> Any suggestions where / how I might get some good instruction?....🤷‍♂️


Yeah I heard this complaint from in MIL when my ffather-in-lawret retired. He wanted to help, but she found it frustrating and easier for her to do herself. Same with a with a few other retired couples I know. 

My kids started learning but being in the kitchen with me. First,learn knife skills. I assume at 70 are you less likely to injure yourself so you are already ahead from when my 4 year old was in the kitchen. Offer help your wife prep by washing and cutting. Ask if she wants specific sizing. I used to make a sample size or draw it out on a piece of paper and tell them exactly how I wanted it cut. That would help just being in the kitchen and seeing what kinds of things go together. I had my kids doing a lot of my prep for years while I did the main cooking. 

When I was working crazy hours, I purchased the HelloFresh boxes. Definitely a little pricier, but it was cheaper than eating out. The unintended benefit was my kids were about 8 and 11, they knew how to prep, I would have them do it while I was on my way from work. The instructions are so well laid out, my kids just started cooking the meals. After the first time, they could take the recipe card and cook it without the kit. This was good progression because everything they needed was in the box the first time, then since they did once, they could do it from scratch. It did have seasoning kits, so I was able to replicate them for my kids. The meal kits taught them really good tips such as the order to do things, for example preheat oven, cut herbs and veggies first, do the longer cooking items first etc. This also taught them to read recipes. My spouse on the other hand only liked to cook the meat and would do things out of order, and forget common sense. Once he left ALL the produce stickers on the peppers, cut them up and cooked them. When I asked why, he said the instructions did tell him to take off the stickers. Yet, he is actually very good cook. 

My youngest is a great cook now, she just finds random tik tok and videos. I honestly the most difficult part is knowing enough of cooking to find good recipes. Perhaps your wife would be willing to give you a recipe and you can always google the technique. Lastly, the "Joy of Cooking' is a great recipe book, but more importantly, it teaches you about the techniques and principles at the beginning of each section. I highly recommend this book, I got one at Christmas a few years ago, and learned so much, even though I am pretty decent cook. I have graduated into culinary textbooks but the Joy of Cooking is a much easier read.

Start with little things you like to eat. If it doesn't taste quite right, google it, there will be dozens of sites. You will find through practice some are more reliability than others.


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## cainvest (May 1, 2013)

jargey3000 said:


> ...and I guess I haven't found the right channels on youtube yet...
> Any suggestions where / how I might get some good instruction?....🤷‍♂️


Try this one ... 
https://www.youtube.com/@yousuckatcooking

Even if you don't learn from it you'll likely have a good laugh ...


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

Our grandson likes his dad and grandma’s cooking but his favourite is Papa Sags “big breakfast”.

First you need the tools to do the job.

We use pots and pans and the oven, but also a flat electric grill, crock pots, a George Foreman grill, air fryer, toaster oven, waffle grill, hotdog steamer, BBQ, and microwave.

Different tools for different food makes it a lot easier and with better results plus you can prepare different things at the same time.

Example..the scrambled eggs in the skillet, the hash brown patties in the toaster oven, the bacon in the microwave, the bread in the toaster, and the coffee in the Keurig.

All done in a couple of minutes.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

My wife is a very good cook and learned from her Polish grandmother and German parents as a young girl on the farm.

But the first time she cooked for me in her apartment she made lasagna and it came out floating around in the baking dish.

She was mortified and really embarrassed but we figured out she was so keyed up about the dinner that she put in way too much cottage cheese by mistake.

We went out for dinner that night, and fortunately for me she really did know how to cook and subsequent meals were fantastic.

Sometimes stuff happens so don’t give up.


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## jlunfirst (1 mo ago)

sags said:


> My wife is a very good cook and learned from her Polish grandmother and German parents as a young girl on the farm.
> 
> But the first time she cooked for me in her apartment she made lasagna and it came out floating around in the baking dish.
> 
> ...


My partner taught his ex how to cook. Her mother died when she was a teen. 
So yes I am familiar with some key German dishes beyond apple strudel and pretzel, sausages. I can't say I learned to cook it much except my variation of apple strudel. I learned beyond northern German which you find at Oktoberfest in K-W. He was from Germany's famed wine southern region....more delicate French influence pastries, white asparagus,etc.


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## Mukhang pera (Feb 26, 2016)

Learned to cook in university. Living on my own, I soon got tired of Chinese takeout, pizza, KD and Swanson TV dinners. That was long before the internet, so I acquired a few cookbooks. I learned that, back then, the “Joy of Cooking” was regarded as the definitive work. Over time, I also came to realize that, if there was a hard way and an easy way to achieve the same result, Joy of Cooking would seek to teach you the hard way. So, in this respect, I part company with PA. Maybe I should open again one of my old copies of Joy of Cooking (I think we have 3, since it was a common gift for someone starting out, years ago. Maybe my assessment would be different now.

I am abroad and not near any of my old cookbooks at the moment, but a few on which I came to rely were C. Claiborne's "New York Times Cookbook", Mme. J. Benoit’s “My Secrets for Better Cooking”, T. Morse “Never in the Kitchen when Company Arrives” and Edna Staebler's “Food That Really Schmecks”.

But now, with the internet, so very easy. A fair starting point is, let’s say you would like to make a tuna casserole. Just google “tuna casserole recipes” and dozens will appear. Many with YouTube or other videos showing step-by-step how it’s done, etc. A good part is you will see many different recipes and can choose what looks appealing to you, see what ingredients are needed (I often will look for a recipe that allows me to cook with whatever is on hand). These days, anyone can do a decent job of cooking with all the internet help available. Many of the recipes come with reviews, which can help, because some reviews will offer how the reviewer changed ingredients or method somewhat, and sometimes they help out. 

There are many YouTube regulars I check in with now and again. Here's one I like:









Mary's Kitchen Crush


Canada's culinary sweetheart Mary Berg shares her delicious twists on home-cooked classics inspired by her family and friends.




www.ctv.ca


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## Saveching (Sep 18, 2021)

I used to teach people through doing personal video call or in person with small groups. Even made custom cookbooks!
You can hire a personal chef to show you how to get to your goals. (from sourcing, materials, technique, concepts, ect)
Some colleges will have cooking demos or classes you can attend. Chemistry is good to brush up on.
Go to the busiest farmers market you can find and ask. Cooking is a social experience.
Volunteer.
Cooking books that focus on your demographic.
Practice. Practice. Practice.
If all else fails. Retire on a cruise ship (sarcastically joking)


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## MrMatt (Dec 21, 2011)

I'm teaching my kids to cook, I would do a similar process.

I'd start with frying as you can see what is happening. 

Grilled Cheese, throw in a slice of lunchmeat if you want.
Fried/Scrambelled eggs.

These can lead to fried dishes, stirfrys, fried rice etc.
- Rice cooker for rice and you can make lots of "Fried rice" with different seasoning.

Chicken Fingers, fish sticks, fish << cook in oven.

Hamburger & Fries - BBQ & Air fryer/Oven


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

If I was anywhere near the ocean or a sea market, I get myself a lobster and boil a pot of water. Dump the entire thing in there (cruel but hey, someone is gonna to buy him/her and eat it so might as well be me!) and voilà, dinner's ready. For the sauce, you can melt some butter with garlic or the absolute lazy person's way, Worchestshire or even salad dressings. Yummmy! Steaming fish is even easier (of course so is eating) - cleaning it from scratch (scaling, gillings and gutting) is all the hard work!


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

Filleting fish is an art form I could never master no matter how much I tried.

My buddy could perfectly fillet 20 fish by the time I hacked one into little pieces.


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## HappilyRetired (Nov 14, 2021)

There are plenty of easy recipes that a non-cook can master fairly quickly. I'm a decent cook but my wife is far better and she enjoys it, so she cooks most of the time. Except using the barbeque, she's not good at that but it's my area of expertise.

But you don't have to always cook to help out. I often just fetch things, cut things, clean up behind her, and do the dishes. A little bit of help goes a long way.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

During covid we could not get into Thailand. Some of our local Thai restaurants were closed. I got the recipes on line and started making our favourite Thai foods starting with Penang Curry, Pad Thai, etc. It was very easy. Recipes were straight forward. The only challenge at first was sourcing Asian food products/produce but it did not take long to realize that these were readily available where we live.

Since then I have moved on to souvlaki, pork tenderloin, etc.

It takes me longer than DW. I have to follow the recipe to the letter. She just knows what to do.


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

My husband used this book a ton when he first started learning to cook, and swears by it. Dad's Own Cookbook


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## gardner (Feb 13, 2014)

jargey3000 said:


> Any suggestions where / how I might get some good instruction?


The first thing to do is to take the pre-mixed rice and shake-and-bake route -- do recipes that appear on mushroom soup cans and that sort of thing. These are important for building basic skills and lead to pretty good results with very little risk.

Next, YouTube: start with some dishes that you like to eat and you are familiar with. It helps a lot to have a goal in mind and a clear idea whether you are achieving the result you want. Look on YouTube to see people making that thing. There will be little old ladies, soccer moms, Paris chefs -- there will be lots of approaches with emphasis on different things. You get an idea what variation there is in ingredients and cooking, but you will see what the core requirements are. Put together your own plan how to make the thing from this info. Go practice making it and see if you like the results. Adapt your approach to get the results you want using ingredients and methods you are comfortable with. In this time you'll have made your whatever probably 4 times with varying results, but you'll wind up with a "recipe" that works for you. And you'll have learned a lot of basics.

Do not be afraid. Something has to be pretty f**ed up before it's inedible and a result that turns out not to be to your liking will help you a lot in deciding how to adjust things later and what direction to take in future cooking.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

sags said:


> Filleting fish is an art form I could never master no matter how much I tried.
> 
> My buddy could perfectly fillet 20 fish by the time I hacked one into little pieces.


 .. key is a very sharp knife, preferably with a flex blade but then I can fillet a fish with the blade of a scissor when there's no other sharpies around. Also, ensure you fillet on a "flat" surface and practice makes perfect! Do it often enough without cutting or jabbing yourself that often helps alot too.... lol.

Did you know you can scale a fish with the cap of your beer bottle if you don't have a knife round? Eg. at camp. Just takes a little longer.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

jargey3000 said:


> I guess I haven't found the right channels on youtube yet...
> Any suggestions where / how I might get some good instruction?....🤷‍♂️


Keep looking on youtube but be more specific in the search... there's no fee for keywords. If you aren't interested skip to the next.. this isn't cable TV you are in control

Highly recommend getting a pellet smoker next summer. Every guy should know how to smoke meat especially after a certain age. It's a great hobby and extremely satisfying


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## peterk (May 16, 2010)

When I looked into it over 10 years ago, this was the best cook book I could come up with from reviews: The New Best Recipe Cookbook

I found it to be excellent, and bought copies for family over the years too. It's an in-depth and large recipe book that has lengthy descriptions of recipe development and detailed instructions. It has practically every dish in it you could think of.

More important than ingredients and recipes though is the practical experience you need to develop in determining how to observe your cooking as it's going. Are you cutting things too big or too small? is the burner too high or low? Is the timing of everything on track or are you going to completely overcook something by the time the other thing is done? are you stirring too much or too little? These are all the tricky things that I have not figured out how best to "learn" from consuming content, only by trying.

There was a video series that I watched a long time ago call Rouxbe, and it was the best I ever saw as far as learning the details of the above tricky to nail down skills (is my pan too hot or cold?). But it used to be free and now it's a very expensive course, I believe.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

Mukhang pera said:


> I learned that, back then, the “Joy of Cooking” was regarded as the definitive work. Over time, I also came to realize that, if there was a hard way and an easy way to achieve the same result, Joy of Cooking would seek to teach you the hard way. So, in this respect, I part company with PA. Maybe I should open again one of my old copies of Joy of Cooking (I think we have 3, since it was a common gift for someone starting out, years ago. Maybe my assessment would be different now.


That's a good point. The Joy of Cooking does go after some of the more fundamentals but gives you more steps to do it the 'proper' way. I didn't read this book until after I was already pretty good in the kitchen and kind of had an idea of what worked and didn't. I did find this book to be good in helping me understand 'why', so I was able to skip the right steps.


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

Cooking is easy and fun. Suggest you start with some simple recipes and work on them. For example learn to make a Chinese stir fry. A few different vegetables, a few bits of meat chicken or fish, some boiled rice a voila you have a meal. Another versatile dish is the omelette, learn to make a basic omelette and you can experiment with all kinds of fillings. The first time you try a new recipe it may not work too well, that is all right, it is all part of learning. One of the hardest things for me to learn was to TURN DOWN THE HEAT. You don't need the burner going full blast, it is easier to turn it down even if it takes longer to cook something.

Here is a real good one. Spaghetti and meat balls. Get some Italian sausages, hot or mild your choice (I prefer mild). Cut them open and roll the meat into balls about the size of a loonie. Brown them in a frying pan in a little oil. When they are cooked pour in a jar or can of your favorite spaghetti sauce. Heat it up.
While you are doing this get a pot of water boiling, add a teaspoon of salt, and cook the spaghetti. A couple of tablespoons of oil will stop the pot from boiling over.
Now you have spaghetti and meat balls. Serve with a Caesar salad (you can get it in a bag at the supermarket) and garlic bread (from the supermarket too). Brown the garlic bread under the broiler for 5 or 10 minutes, you will smell it when it is done.
This makes a wonderful meal with a glass of red wine. Your wife will think you knocked yourself out lol.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

jlunfirst said:


> My partner taught his ex how to cook. Her mother died when she was a teen.
> So yes I am familiar with some key German dishes beyond apple strudel and pretzel, sausages. I can't say I learned to cook it much except my variation of apple strudel. I learned beyond northern German which you find at Oktoberfest in K-W. He was from Germany's famed wine southern region....more delicate French influence pastries, white asparagus,etc.


Europeans are something else when it comes to asparagus. My dutch family thought we were barbarians for eating green asparagus.


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## jlunfirst (1 mo ago)

andrewf said:


> Europeans are something else when it comes to asparagus. My dutch family thought we were barbarians for eating green asparagus.


On my lst trip to Germany, it coincided with white asparagus harvest and festival in June.This is in southern Germany, in the famous vineyard, wineries region by Black Forest. I had asparagus cream soup which was lovely, asparagus in crepes, there was even asparagus ice cream. Stands of white asparagus while biking along.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

If you want a couple super beginner meals:

tacos. Brown some ground beef, add a seasoning packet, and prep some veggies (lettuce, onion, tomato).
Spaghetti and meatballs. If you're not feeling up to making meatballs yourself (though it is easy), you can buy perfectly serviceable frozen meatballs in the meat section of grocery stores. Boil some pasta. I usually like to jazz up the tomato sauce with veggies (onions, garlic, celery), saute those first, add the sauce and simmer for 10-15 minutes. You can also brown some ground beef for a sorta bolognese sauce (instead of meatballs).
A roast chicken is actually pretty easy. I'd suggest having a meat thermometer to take some of the guess work out

Not sure what types of foods appeal to you.

I also echo Adam Ragusea and Chef Jon/Food Wishes as excellent youtube sources. America's Test Kitchen also is very good for explaining cooking, why certain things work, etc, but their recipes can be a little too fussy for weeknight meals, IMHO.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

Oh, and there are lots of recipes for soups. Soups are usually pretty easy, and pretty forgiving. So if you like soup, that would be a good place to start.


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

The crock pot is your friend. Takes time but makes some easy, delicious dishes.
Here is the easiest recipe in the world, barbecued beans. Get a 900g bag of white beans from the supermarket. White kidney beans, Canneloni beans, Great Northern beans, what's the difference. You can use red beans if you like. Pick out any broken or discolored beans and throw them away. Soak the beans in water overnight. You will need a good sized container and about 3 times as much water as beans.
Next day drain and rinse the beans and put them in the crock pot. Add a half a bottle of barbecue sauce and enough water to cover the beans a half inch to an inch deep. Let it cook on high for 4 or 5 hours. You can add some ham or pork during the last hour. If it is raw pork it should go in for 2 or 3 hours. Longer won't hurt.
That's it. Serve with brown bread and butter or if you are ambitious make some cornbread.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

@jargey3000 Maybe list what kind of things you like to eat or that you would like to to learn to cook. That would be easier. Lots of great cooks here, I am sure many can jump in a give you tips on the specific dishes/cusines.

This reminds me of the food thread here. It was super fun and managed to stay politics free. (me mentioning politics is not an opening to talk about them here). I personally love food/frugal threads like this. Always something good tips I manage to pick up.


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## peterk (May 16, 2010)

Plugging Along said:


> This reminds me of the food thread here.


I'm back on the cheap butter again, FYI! - which now costs $5-6 for cheap butter! 

I thought I'd be onto the expensive groceries by now in life lol, but with cost of living and all these kids I am becoming more and more stingy with luxury items.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

I never cooked prior to covid.

My experience is that I can multiple versions of any recipe that I want on the internet. And most often a good utube to go with it. I have glanced at the occasional cookbook. Great pictures but the bottom line is that I was not about to buy a book that only contained two or three recipes that I was interested in.

DW, a long time cook, is of the same persuasion. She now gets most of her recipes on the web.


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## gardner (Feb 13, 2014)

Rusty O'Toole said:


> Get some Italian sausages, hot or mild your choice (I prefer mild). Cut them open and roll the meat into balls about the size of a loonie. Brown them in a frying pan in a little oil.


I love repurposing those sausages -- it is one of my go-to pasta sauces.

For me, I generally just cut open the sausages and break them up into bits. Fry with some chopped garlic, black pepper and a chopped onion. When that is cooked up, add one tin of pre-seasoned stewed tomatoes and one tin of tomato paste. The tomato paste makes the final sauce have a thicker consistency. Simmer it up for 20 minutes.

This one is great with dry pasta, gnocci, fresh or frozen tortellinis or raviolis.

The groceries around here have packs of 10 or 12 italian or garlic sausages that occasionally you see reduced to 50% due to sell-by dates. I pick those up and divvy the sausages into 3s and 4s to freeze. I also watch for packs of fresh tortelinis or raviolis to be 50% reduced and tuck them in the freezer. Then when needed out they come for this recipe.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

peterk said:


> I'm back on the cheap butter again, FYI! - which now costs $5-6 for cheap butter!
> 
> I thought I'd be onto the expensive groceries by now in life lol, but with cost of living and all these kids I am becoming more and more stingy with luxury items.


I feel the same. My costco has it for $5 a lb. They had a weekend sale a few weeks ago for $4, so I ended up buying 24 lbs and freezing. 

I even looked at margerine as cheaper alternative and that was almost the same price, a 1 Kg used to go on sale for $3, it was on sale for $6 for margarine. 

Whipping cream is a little more, but still cheaper if you use the butter milk for something else.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

ian said:


> I never cooked prior to covid.
> 
> My experience is that I can multiple versions of any recipe that I want on the internet. And most often a good utube to go with it. I have glanced at the occasional cookbook. Great pictures but the bottom line is that I was not about to buy a book that only contained two or three recipes that I was interested in.
> 
> DW, a long time cook, is of the same persuasion. She now gets most of her recipes on the web.


I don't buy cookbooks any more for this reason. I get most of my recipes off the web, however, this isn't always great for newer/less experienced cooks. There are some crappy recipes out there, or things omitted that the writer just assumes people know. We have had several big fails with my kids putting a recipe off the internet. Now, if it's a food or technique they haven't worked with, I quickly read over the recipe with them before they start or we buy the ingredients and help them adjust. 

One recipe my kid found had 'bake until done' - no temperate, no time. Little missing pieces of information can be quite a problem for someone learning. We have had some pretty funny ones. For a no bake mouse pie with a graham cracker crust, it said to empty all the ingredients together and mix togehter. The instructions didn't specific seperating the crust ingredients from the filling ingredients. That was a very strangely texture dessert.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

We have an Alexa Echo mounted in the kitchen and I have used it to watch Youtube videos to make a new dish.

You can pause the video and cook along with the video. It makes it a lot easier than reading from a cookbook.

You can just ask the Alexa.......Alexa, show some cooking spaghetti videos..........and they come up to pick from to watch.


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## Eclectic21 (Jun 25, 2021)

Rusty O'Toole said:


> The crock pot is your friend. Takes time but makes some easy, delicious dishes ...


Plus it is harder to over cook something in a slow cooker.

I will have to find the two ingredient, sauerkraut and pork roast slow cooker recipe again.
This one is a three ingredient version.




__





Loading…






www.thisfarmgirlcooks.com





Cheers


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## cainvest (May 1, 2013)

I think the responses overwhelmed jargey and he went the Skip the Dishes route. 

Honestly, if you've been living with someone that's been cooking for you for 40+ years it shouldn't be difficult to pick up on a few dishes to make. Some people just don't get the motivation to learn to cook and that's ok.


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## jlunfirst (1 mo ago)

I'm waiting for jargey's response here....


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

sags said:


> We have an Alexa Echo mounted in the kitchen and I have used it to watch Youtube videos to make a new dish.
> 
> You can pause the video and cook along with the video. It makes it a lot easier than reading from a cookbook.
> 
> You can just ask the Alexa.......Alexa, show some cooking spaghetti videos..........and they come up to pick from to watch.


 ... it's funny that you mentioned this. I know a friend of a friend of a friend who has Alexa set up at home and it's so funny when he/she calls Alexa "brew the coffee" ... instead, it starts up the washing machine. And when he/she asks Alexa to start the washing machine, it starts up the car in his/her garage and on and on .... lololololol.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

jlunfirst said:


> I'm waiting for jargey's response here....


 ... you could be waiting awhile since he said he's a world class procrastinator ... and I'm not that far behind him on that aspect.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

cainvest said:


> I think the responses overwhelmed jargey and he went the Skip the Dishes route.
> 
> Honestly, if you've been living with someone that's been cooking for you for 40+ years it shouldn't be difficult to pick up on a few dishes to make. Some people just don't get the motivation to learn to cook and that's ok.


A soft boiled egg (well perhaps hard boiled) with soldiers should be easy enough to conjure up in a pinch. Or a toasted cheese.

I did souvlaki yesterday. Will make a Pad Thai on Saturday.


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

Grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup, the old favorite, one of the first things young people learn how to cook. My secret ingredient, stir a spoonful of salsa into the soup for a little extra kick.

Grilled cheese sandwich. Butter 2 slices of bread. Lay one slice, butter side down, in a hot frying pan. Put a slice of American cheese on it. Use 1 slice thick cut or 2 of the thin ones. Don't forget to remove the plastic lol. Cover with the other slice of bread, butter side up. Smush gently with the spatula. Brown the bread, on medium heat, about 5 minutes. Flip over and brown the other side. Serve on a plate, sliced diagonally.

If you have a George Forman grille or a sandwich press it is even easier. Pre heat the grille to medium, put in the sandwich fully assembled as described, it's done when the bread is brown and the cheese melted.

Tomato soup, open a can of tomato soup, any brand. Put in a pot. Add a can of water. Mix thoroughly, use a whisk or a fork. Do this before you start heating it up to avoid lumps. Now put the pot on medium heat and heat it up. Stir it occasionally. Stir in a heaping tablespoon full of salsa if you want a spicier flavor. Serve in a bowl with crackers on the side. Or in a mug. I have some special cups like a king size coffee cup with handle that are excellent for this.


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## HappilyRetired (Nov 14, 2021)

Rusty O'Toole said:


> Grilled cheese sandwich. Butter 2 slices of bread. Lay one slice, butter side down, in a hot frying pan. Put a slice of American cheese on it. Use 1 slice thick cut or 2 of the thin ones.


Add ham to the grill cheese. Or bacon, although you have to cook the bacon first.


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

One more thing to add, possibly the most important. Clean up the kitchen after yourself! This is most important. Learn to leave the kitchen clean and put everything back where it belongs. Not doing this, drives people nuts.

I could go on with some more super easy recipes but there is plenty to go thru in this thread now. Will wait till Jargey weighs in with some comments. Did we hit the nail on the head or get everything wrong? Are there any meals here you like and any you don't like? Any questions? Give us some questions, I am sure someone has the answers.


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

HappilyRetired said:


> Add ham to the grill cheese. Or bacon, although you have to cook the bacon first.


Now you are getting fancy lol.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

HappilyRetired said:


> Add ham to the grill cheese. Or bacon, although you have to cook the bacon first.


The trick to bacon is precook a whole bunch in the oven, and freeze it in a ziplock bag. You always have just the amount you want,

I enjoy a good BLT with cheddar, though it’s been more minue the little e due to the shortages.


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

One last suggestion for no cook cooking. If your wife wants a break from cooking dinner and you don't want to cook, stop at the grocery store for a roast chicken or rotisserie chicken. Pick up some potato salad, cole slaw or your favorite side or salads. Get a pie while you are at it. Now you have a nice chicken dinner with dessert and no cooking.
I used to do this every Sunday before my mother died. We wanted her to stay in her home even though she had alzheimers. Her care giver appreciated a break and she had cold chicken for salads and sandwiches thru the week.
Another way to approach this would be to buy the rotisserie chicken and a package of instant mashed potatoes and some frozen vegetables. Prepare the potatoes according to the package instructions, very easy. Heat up the vegetables with a little water or steam them. Dinner for two with minimal cooking.


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## Dilbert (Nov 20, 2016)

Oh yes, hard to beat a Costco rotisserie chicken. I whip up a pot of Swiss Chalet dipping sauce mix to go with it. Together with some air fried potatoes, it’s a cheap and cheerful meal!


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

Another plus one for the Costco rotisserie chicken. It has to be Costco though, I find other grocery store chickens are to dry. I debone the whole chicken when I get home, freeze the carcass (with my other veggie trimmings) untill I have a few for bone stock. Frozen veggies, if don't have another fresh fast cooking on hand, and mashed potatoes. I do have instant, but will usually just make a really large of pot mash potatoes, and then freeze the leftovers in a muffin tin. I microwave the little pucks as needed. It's all about speed at our house. The remaining chicken just gets eaten in sandwiches and maybe fried rice.


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## cainvest (May 1, 2013)

Add another one to the list for Costco chicken.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

Had to add another one for @jargey3000 (where are you), we like to cook here .

I like doing very quick 'modular' meals as I usually give my kids a hot lunch and only have minutes in the morning. Some quick and easy ones

Carb - left over rice (not fresh) any asian noodle either fresh or pantry): some options are udon, chow mein, ramen, rice, shanghai, I have a whole bunch in both my fridge and pantry
Veggies - frozen, I have had an abnormal amount of cabbage given to me because of the lack of lettuce, any veggies that are washed and cut
Protein - Firm tofu, thinly slice meat (beef, chicken, lamb, pork) (I buy it like this from the asian grocer), shrimp
Sauce - pre jarred - terriyaki, Korean, what ever they have in the ethnic section as Loblaws

Pick one from each category, cook each item quickly in a hot pan, the throw everything cooked into the pan again with sauce. It takes me about 10 minutes start to finish.


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

In addition to the rotisserie chicken recipe - for the deluxe version get a box of stove top stuffing, a can of cranberry sauce and some dinner rolls. In addition to the mashed spuds and canned or frozen vegetables. And ice cream or whipped cream for the pie.

Wow now we are talking a complete dinner for 4 or 5 people.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Rusty O'Toole said:


> Put a slice of American cheese on it. Use 1 slice thick cut or 2 of the thin ones. Don't forget to remove the plastic lol. Cover with the other slice of bread, butter side up.


No need to remove the plastic

American cheese slices are plastic


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