If you live alone, do you still do basic cooking

[MrPants]

I tend to do basics during the work week but I love to get a little more fancy (and expensive) on weekends. Usually on Saturday as I have all day to prepare & cook then the next day to clean up and recover (with left-overs )


Did a med-rare rack of lamb a couple of weeks ago with cauliflower/white sauce and roasted spuds! Was delicious

 

[Butterfly]

If you can read, you can cook.

I agree. Just get a basic cookbook at first, follow the directions, and voila! you are cooking. Basic cooking isn't all that complicated.

One of my young assistants at work was despairing of ever being able to cook. I asked her what she was trying to do, and she was trying exotic recipes that would have required a lot of knowledge and skill. I presented her with a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (the one with the red checked cover -- they've been around forever) and pretty soon she was happily having great success and even bringing in things to share. You have to start with simple things, liking baking a chicken, making a stew, etc., which anyone can do if they can read and follow instructions, before you venture into trickier stuff.

 

[Pinky]

Some good recipes on this link .. especially for diabetics (I am Type 2 borderline).
https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/april-diabetic-meal-plan/

 

[bilzin]

I do all my own cooking. It's a pleasure.

As an ex Barnsley bloke I believe the old saying that " if God invented anything finer than mushy peas, he kept em for himself"

 

[StarSong]

I agree. Just get a basic cookbook at first, follow the directions, and voila! you are cooking. Basic cooking isn't all that complicated.

One of my young assistants at work was despairing of ever being able to cook. I asked her what she was trying to do, and she was trying exotic recipes that would have required a lot of knowledge and skill. I presented her with a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (the one with the red checked cover -- they've been around forever) and pretty soon she was happily having great success and even bringing in things to share. You have to start with simple things, liking baking a chicken, making a stew, etc., which anyone can do if they can read and follow instructions, before you venture into trickier stuff.

This brought me back to my early twenties. I couldn't cook worth a darn, no joke. At workplace potlucks I was assigned beverages or paper goods. I could make spaghetti sauce, eggs and a few other things, but mostly ate take-out or relied on roommates to cook and I'd clean up.

At my bridal shower (age 27) an honorary auntie gifted me with two cookbooks: Betty Crocker and BH & G. I learned to cook just as you described above - simple foods, simple spices, simple preparations. Those books presumed you had no skills and explained every step in detail.

My mother was a fabulous cook, but she didn't teach any of her kids how to cook - food prep was her break from the five kids running around the house. Can't blame her.

 

[Jules]

a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (the one with the red checked cover -- they've been around forever)

This was my go-to cookbook too. My kids gave me a new version to replace my splattered one and one of them got the old one. I still pull it out for some recipes that always work.