Time to start learning to cook??

Question

I am going to be a first time mom in January and I feel like I should start learning how to cook for my b/f of four years and child. I know how to cook basic things like, spaghetti but that is about it. My boyfriend does all the cooking and so I am wondering where and what are some good easy recipes for a beginner?

Answer 1

Check out http://www.allrecipes.com it's my favorite for recipes. Since you state your a beginner try making semi-homemade meals. Check out those seasoning packets at the grocery store -- they'll have the seasonings and complete instructions for things like chili, meatloaf, stroganoff, tacos, roast etc. I'm also a big fan of Zatarain's (boxed Creole pasta meals you just add the meat). Crock pot/slow cooker meals are also great (you can search for them at the site I listed).

Good Luck!

Answer 2

I'd round out the basics--learn to cook all of the basics. Advanced cooking is for people who enjoy it and have time for it. A mom needs to know how to make something tasty, fast, and with easy clean-up. You could turn cooking into a hobby, but if you have other hobbies or think cooking is a chore, keep it simple.

Start with all the ways you can make chicken. Start out with boneless breasts, but once you are good with them do any kind of chicken. Lets see, there is baked and grilled--same thing, different heat. You can do a rub of lemon pepper, rosemary, and black pepper, or buy a bottle of barbecue or marinade sauce. Then there is fried--use bread crumbs for the breading, and get it to stick to the chicken by dipping the chicken in raw eggs, and then the crumbs. You can either deep fry, or put a little oil in a frying pan and fry it that way.

The key to cooking meats (and a lot of things) is to watch the heat level. Most beginners have the heat too high, which gives them that raw on the inside, burnt on the outside result. Just take your time and experiment.

Answer 3

I learned how to cook as a child by making cookies. Buy a bag of chocolate chips and follow the recipe on the bag.
You could ask your boyfriend to teach you too.
My other suggestion is to watch cooking shows on TV. The best one for a beginner is probably Good Eats with Alton Brown on the Food Network. He not only shows recipes but explains how they work.

Answer 4

Cooking is a matter of experimenting. And a lot of learning how to cook is thinking about what you like and dislike. Start watching cooking shows. Rachel Ray and Sandra Lee on the food network generally cook easy things.

Answer 5

I can totally understand. When I lost my parents I was totally clueless in the kitchen. My first cookbook was the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. Tons of recipes, tips, tricks, nutritional stuff, it totally changed me into a good cook. Good Housekeeping has an excellent cookbook too. Both have everything from simple to hard. After all these years, I still haven't attempted souffle!

Answer 6

Foodnetwork is a great source and they list levels of difficulty. I just browse recipes in magazines or cookbooks I have around the house. If the ingredients sound good I go for it.
Campbells has really easy tasty recipes on their site also.

Answer 7

Tuna Casserole, Tacos, Soups and Stews, my suggestion would be for you to go out and buy yourself a nice beginners cookbook, Betty Crocker has a really good one out with lots of easy recipes , pictures and illustrations.....there are also a lot of them online...

Answer 8

You could enrole in a local cooking for beginners class?

Answer 9

just go online and look for some receipes or go to a book store and but some receipe books, cooking is really easy it's just that you have to know how to prepare it