A reader left this comment and I thought it was a very good question and worthy of a blog post.
I am just wondering how you learned to cook? I don’t like to cook but might be mainly because I really don’t have good cooking skills. Any advice?
All of this is just my opinion and my experience but I really feel like . . either you have it or you don’t. I’m not talking about skill . . I’m talking about desire. I love to cook! I love to read through recipes and try new things. I love using ingredients I’ve never used before. But, on the other hand, I have not one bit of interest in decorating and even less in keeping a tidy house. I have friends who can walk into a house and in a heartbeat, come up with an entire decorating scheme that would rival any Home Decorating magazine image. When we bought this house six years ago, the sellers left the nails in the walls. I figured at least they knew were the studs were and I’d hang my pictures on their nails. No .. not one picture has been hung. Nails are still in the wall. Does not bother me one bit.
So, I’m not sure that everyone should love to cook. I do not see not loving to cook as a handicap. I see not loving to cook and trying to make yourself learn to love to cook as a problem.
Here’s my history with cooking. I had never even boiled water until I got married. My mom did all the cooking and I was busy and never had any desire to cook. I was probably a horrible cook. I had several recipes that I think I made over and over. We survived and that was at a time when we had no extra money for going out to eat so I guess I didn’t do too bad.
One thing for certain . . well, two things.
- We all have to eat.
- We all like different things.
Since I love trying new recipes, it’s pretty hard for me to make something mundane. There are so many recipes on the internet. Anything you want can be found online so if trying something new might interest you more than opening a can of beans and mixing it with a pound of ground beef . . start by looking on the internet.
I could be wrong but when someone tells me their husband won’t eat leftovers, my first thought is you need to get more creative. Vince is not a picky eater but I make leftovers all the time and he doesn’t even realize it’s leftovers. I have a problem with re-heated meat tasting like re-heated meat and I don’t like that so for me to eat leftover meat, I have to get creative.
If you really don’t like to cook, and get tired of going out to eat, there are so many things you can do that require just a little effort. Here are some recommendations:
Chicken:
Get a fairly large chicken and roast it. Use fresh herbs – whatever you have. Rosemary, or basil, or thyme. Stick some herbs up under the skin. Season the chicken inside the cavity and rub some olive oil on the skin and add lots of seasoning. Stuff quartered onions and lemon slices in the cavity. Roast it, bake it . . do whatever you want to do.
For the first meal, eat it fresh out of the oven. Take the leftover meat off the bone and stick it in the fridge. Put the carcass in a big pot, add onions, celery, peppercorns, carrots and a bay leaf or two. Boil, then cool enough to strain and safe. Along with the broth and the meat, you can use it in many ways without having to really cook again.
- Chicken Salad – Chop some celery, a little onion, a boiled egg or two, pickle relish, toasted walnuts, mayo, mustard – whatever you want to add. Serve it in an avocado half with fresh tomatoes and a little fresh mozzarella cheese.
- Chicken enchiladas – Use purchased flour tortillas. Add chopped chicken, chopped onions, jalapeno, grated cheese, roll up and heat. Serve with black beans (use a can or dry beans that you’ve cooked in the Instant Pot), and guacamole (mash an avocado, add a little chopped onion, cilantro, salt, pepper and lime juice).
- Chicken spaghetti – Saute chopped onions, bell pepper and garlic in a little butter or olive oil. Add chopped chicken. Add a can of cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup. Stir in a small can of green chilies if desired or you could add jalapeno pepper when sauteing the onions. Mix all this with cooked spaghetti noodles, top with grated cheese and bake for 30 minutes at 350°.
- Chicken Soup – Use the broth (thin with a little water if it’s too rich and thick), add any small pasta and cook til done, add some of the chicken meat. Check for seasonings. Serve with grated parmesan cheese, along with any kind of sandwich.
Roast Beef:
Cook a roast – I usually use a chuck roast in the pressure cooker. This is a good, basic recipe but I usually use Lipton Beefy Onion dry soup mix. When I cook a chuck roast, I cook it the day before we’re going to use it and stick it in the fridge. Then the fat comes to the top, gets hard and I can remove it before serving it. Here are a few ideas for the leftovers.
- Beef “Hash” – Cut potatoes into cubes, brown in a bit of oil, add onions, jalapeno peppers and garlic and cook til tender. Add a little chopped roast beef and gravy. Top with grated cheese if desired.
- Beef Stew – I save all my leftover veggies and if I know I’m going to soup or stew meat coming up, I’ll just combine the veggies in one container, adding whatever we have leftover. You can add beans, peas, okra, corn, squash, potatoes – whatever you have. Start with leftover roast beef and a little gravy. Add a can of crushed or diced tomatoes and enough water to cook til the tomatoes are blended into the gravy. You can cook it down to whatever thickness you desire. You can serve it as a soup, or over rice or cook it thick enough to be a stand alone dish. Once it’s as thick as you want it, add the already cooked veggies.
- Beef Stroganoff – Saute mushrooms (or not) in a little butter, add leftover roast beef and a can of cream of mushroom soup if desired, add sour cream and serve over noodles. You could even add a little red wine to the mix before serving.
- Shred the leftover meat and scrape away as much gravy as possible and use it in tacos or enchiladas.
Another thing that might help you is to make a menu plan for the entire week. Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t follow the plan but at least make it. Make a shopping list. Get what you need for at least the first three meals so you’re not having to run back and forth to the grocery store. Before you start to make any dish, get everything out and sit it in plain sight. I hate it when I’m cooking and have to stop and search for something that I know I have but cannot find.
The worst thing for me is when I’m sitting here, knowing I have to have a meal on the table in two hours and don’t have a clue what I’m going to fix. The menu plan really helps that but I also keep “heat and eat” meals in the freezer – things I can grab and defrost fairly quickly and make it look like I spent all morning cooking!
Some of these items are:
- Cabbage Rolls – I want to eat these every day when they’re in the freezer. I love them!
- Tamales – These are more of a winter meal for us and when I make them, I make lots of them and have them in the freezer and can open a jar of homemade chili, serve it over the tamales with chopped red onions, black olives and sour cream.
- Stuffed Bell Peppers – These are so good and when I make them, I make plenty for the freezer.
- Meatballs – When I make meatballs, I make plenty and flash freeze them, then vacuum seal them. If Vince is happy with Ragu, I am too. Open a jar of Ragu, open a bag of frozen meatballs — boil noodles or make a meatball sub.
- We like kibbeh and arancini so I make those and keep them in the freezer.
Finally, keep things you can defrost and cook quickly for those days when you just cannot come up with anything else. I keep steak, individually frozen chicken breasts, and fish in the freezer. I can defrost those quickly, cook a steak or chicken on the grill, or cut the chicken breast into strips, pan fry it or add onions and bell peppers and make something like fajitas. Most any fish I can season and stick in the air fryer.
I know that not everyone (or everyone’s husband) is going to like all these ideas but hopefully it will get you to thinking of some things you can do. For most of us, putting food on the table is a big part of our daily activity and if I’m going to do it, I want to do the best I can. I’d much rather serve a meal that has Vince going to work telling everyone what he had for lunch, than just getting some “not so yummy” meal on the table.
Hope this helps someone.
Dottie says
I just finished dinner, but, after reading this column, I’m getting hungry again, LOL….Some really good hints/ideas, Judy!
Sherrill says
I guess that’s another problem with me..I hate leftovers. DH would eat them but me? Rarely! I do make soup and freeze in individual quantities so I can heat up whenever but that’s pretty much the extent of cooking for me. When I do try to make something, it turns out awful!
Laura Deaver says
I cook almost every day, and love it. Eating out more than once or twice a week just doesn’t work for us. We both love leftovers. I can reheat some meat, add a salad and a veggie or two, and all is well at my house.
Donna says
I enjoy cooking but I get tired of coming up with something to cook. My husband likes the same thing over and over but that’s so boring to me. You gave some great ideas in this posts when there are days I just can’t figure out what I want to fix. Thanks!
Sandy says
Cooking for one is a challenge, but I’m always happy when I have leftovers in the refrigerator or freezer, so I usually make enough of something to have several meals. A big pot of soup, a casserole, chicken (whole or parts), beef stew, roast pork or beef can all be divided into individual servings for the future. I rarely eat out! Thanks for your ideas, Judy!
dezertsuz says
Other than the fact that I don’t enjoy cooking much, if I ever did, you sound a lot like me. When I was living alone, I made a big casserole or a crock pot something and grazed all week on it, and was happy. If I like something enough to cook it, then I like enough to eat leftovers of it for a week. I’ve also been known to freeze some. LOL I’m not picky at all, except I don’t like fish, blueberries or mushrooms. Otherwise, I’ll eat pretty much anything Americans put on the table. Love Mexican, Chinese, Italian and Indian, too. Fortunately, there are good restaurants for all of those within 5 miles of my house! You had some great ideas here and I may use one or two of them from time to time. The menu planning is a must for cooking efficiently! I can always find something better to do than clean the house. If anyone is offended by my rain-splattered windows, they don’t have to come visit. I enjoyed your post, Judy.
Linda says
Thank you so much for the ideas! I plan to try every one of them as soon as we get a little cooler weather. We just seem to BBQ a lot so as not to heat up the house too much. Luckily my husband loves leftovers too so I usually only cook something if I can get at least a couple more nights meals out of it. We are a huge fan of your butter chicken recipe. I really appreciate your advice and love to read your blog! Again thank you so much.
Jill In Ohio says
I signed up for a meal delivery service in January – Home Chef. I have not done every single week, but I have done enough and have become fairly confident in my skills. And my cholesterol has dropped! I eat a serving at home fresh and then bring a meal to work for lunch. I am more confident with my cooking and even bought an Instant Pot last month to continue learning new things and expanding my skills and the ease of cooking. I have really enjoyed trying new flavors and new foods and it made me realize how much I love steak and pork chops!. I have not cooked so much in the past 15 years in my place than I have this year so far!
April R says
Love this! I’m going to print it out. I think having a list of options to browse when I can’t decide is key. I definitely need to stock pile my freezer with some meals. However, cooking the meat one day and then getting creative to transform it thru the week sounds fun. I