Do you cook?

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I find cooking overwhelming. I keep wanting to learn but every time we go to try to teach me I get so hanged up that we don't make it very far.

I am able to follow a recipe, but I get completely overwhelmed if I have to deviate from a recipe. I need to be told specific amounts of things to be put in, specific order to do so, and specific cooking time. I'm able to eventually remember the basic amounts and not need to be given precise amounts, but that's only through large amounts of repetition.

Basically, give me instructions and I can follow them. Expect me to be able to figure out how to deal if I'm missing an instruction, am given an instruction in reference to how to make something else, or don't have what's needed for an instruction and I have no idea what to do.

Basically this means that all I make is pasta with a few sauces that I've been taught how to make, though I'm trying to learn how to make falafel as well.

My boyfriend cooks for me usually.

I'm a lot like this. I can cook quite a few things, but all of them are fairly simple.

I love cooking especially baking. I like making rice, pasta, carb like dishes in particular. I like to create my own simple dishes where you just throw things into a pan and see how it turns out.

I avoid cooking unless it is absolutely necessary - i.e. my wife isn't home and my children need cooked food.

I don't like to cook. My fiance works until about 11pm every night so I just eat at my moms. She cooks. I am afraid of boiling water and ovens. I am afraid I will start a fire.

Last edited by psayles56 on 15 Nov 2011, 4:11 am, edited 1 time in total.

I bake better than I cook. Whenever I've tried to cook something on the stovetop, it doesn't turn out. I usually stick to microwave meals and when I do cook, it's something simple like meatless tacos or some sort of wrap. I can also make spaghetti but lately I haven't had a taste for it.

I want to reply to three of the replies but I can't remember their usernames, and at the moment after just getting out of bed, I am having a severe caffiene and nicotine deficiency so I'm a bit fuzzled. I will reference them by their comments.

To the person who likes the slow cooker; I have three absolutely wonderful recipes for that. I rarely use mine except for these three, but they are the best! I have a macaroni and cheese recipe for it that is the creamiest and cheesiest I've ever had. You use cooked macaroni, hand shredded block cheddar cheese, onions and evaporated milk. The next is Ro-Tel dip. It's a dip but can be used as a topping also. I put it on baked potatoes. You cut up a big block of Velveeta "cheese" and put that in, put in two cans of Ro-Tel brand tomatoes with chili's (they come in hot, original, and mild) and for an extra kick you can do what I do, which is brown a pound of hamburger meat, ground veal, or cut open and mashed up Italian sausage, drain and add that. The third is been burgundy. I would have to look up this recipe, but I know it's browned beef tips, cream of mushroom soup, a can of mushroom ends and pieces, and a package of Lipton Onion Soup mix. I think that's all but I would have to check. I serve it over rice.

To the person who is overwhelmed by the cleanup after; Yes, I hate that to, but I have a system for it. I keep dish water in the sink and as I use something I put it in the water. As soon as I can, ie' while something is heating or simmering or baking, I wash up what I used and put it in the drainer. I put it away during the next break. I also wipe off the counters and stove after every time I use them. Clean as you go and it's much easier. Last night, after I made the roast, I had the huge roasting pan and rack that was covered in pork roast grease on the inside. As soon as I put the roast on the platter, and the potatoes and onions in the bowl, I washed the pan and rack and dried and put them away. It's easier when they are still warm. In fact, it was hot, but I ran cold water on it first. If you have a dishwasher, that makes things even easier.

To the person who wants to make falafal; I have made it in a mix before and it's really easy. Just add water, shape and fry. I have no idea what is in falafal, but I think it might be chick peas? It's good though. We have nought the mix at a health food store before. I went on an exotic food kick years ago and that is where I found it. I also learned to make Tabouli (mix) and Baba Ganoush (scratch) and that's when I discovered Tahini. Tahini is my new peanut butter! Try a tahini and jelly sandwich sometime. You will never go back to peanut butter.

I have no idea what I will be cooking tonight. I have to go look in the freezer and take something out and thaw it. I made bread yesterday so I don't have to today and we still have cookies from when my daughter made four dozen after I went to bed.

We should have a recipe thread somewhere. In fact, why not do what a lot of churches and clubs do and have people contribute recipes, the site owners could have them printed and bound fairly cheaply, and sell them to raise money for the site or an org.

Frances

You can use it like regular ground beef, hamburgers, spagetti sauce, tacos, whatever... We used paprika to season bbq burgers. It has a stronger flavor than beef.

I don't like to cook in real life but ironically in video games with multiple skills the first one I train up high is cooking so my character can feed themself.

I'd rather just eat things I can pick up and eat without all the hassle of cooking them and when I do "cook" it's never anything complicated and it's mostly just heating things up, like cooking a can of soup.

Also some things I like such as grilled cheese or fried eggs I have a lot of trouble making myself because I'm bad at flipping things over. My sandwiches want to fall apart and my egg yolk breaks. When I have fried eggs the yolk must be runny or I don't want it.

I also get overwhelmed by having to do the clean-up afterwards. You can use my little formula: I clean while I cook. That way when I finish cooking everything is clean and I do not have to face a big amount of work, I can just seat and enjoy my meal.

Falafel is in fact made from chick peas. However, we won't use a mix for multiple reasons (price, I can tell the difference in quality, and such, also, homemade falafel is almost as easy if you have a food processor). However, the frying is half of what I'm needing to learn. Telling me "just fry" is meaningless. I need to be told how much oil needs to be in the pan at the beginning, what temperature it needs to be at, at what points I need to add oil if its running low, and various details like that.

I don't mind cooking but I really don't like to cook huge dinners or suppers for just myself. When I have family or friends around, I will cook unless of course we all go out to eat. I have been cooking more lately these past couple of months because I needed to start eating a more balanced diet and I feel better for it too.

I think cooking can be very therapeutic. I like to make everything with fresh ingredients. I like Italian mostly but I resort to buying tinned tomatoes because when I tried to make my own with fresh tomatos I ended up using so many it was more costly, and it came out wrong.

I hate microwave food and going to restaurants.

I have a good falafel recipe:

Ingredients
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons olive oil

Directions
1. Wrap onion in cheese cloth and squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Set aside. Place garbanzo beans, parsley, garlic, cumin, coriander, salt, and baking soda in a food processor. Process until the mixture is coarsely pureed (about 2 minutes, remember to clean the sides). Mix garbanzo bean mixture and onion together in a bowl. Stir in the flour and egg. Shape mixture into four large patties and let stand for 15 minutes.
2. Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
3. Heat the olive oil in a large, oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Place the patties in the skillet; cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes on each side.
4. Transfer skillet to the preheated oven and bake until heated through, about 10 minutes.

Nope. I do not cook at all. I'm not good at it, it is overwhelming, and I feels like a waste of time to me.
I can't even remember the last time turned on a stove.

So much work... preparing ingredients, the anxiety of constantly tending the meal on the stove, all those extra dishes to wash. All that time and energy for something that will be gobbled up within 5 minutes.
And honestly, I just find eating to be a necessary chore, not much pleasure in it for me beyond satisfying an empty stomach. I have about half a dozen things I eat out of the microwave, or get in a drive thru.

What would be great is a simple little pill I could take once a day that would give me all my nutritional requirements.
I wouldn't miss eating at all.

And to me, thanksgiving is just another Thursday, it's a pointless holiday.

I cook lots. I do Italian food mostly.