Cooking For Engineers

[roofermike]

Your cooking advice for my home improvement advice. Im a moron in the kitchen, but I gained $50,000 in sweat equity on my home in a declining real estate market with ease and very little invested in only three months. I grew up in foster homes, moving from home to home my whole life so cooking and family weren't something I was exposed to. As I said in my first post, I can't even cook an egg. Problem is, I have two kids and eating out every night sucks up that $50,000 we made faster than you would believe. Not only do I need help with cooking, I need help with shopping and preparing. I need to be taught like I'm 8 years old.

[SusanHarper]

Don't worry!

In a little time you will be a great chef

Best regards

Susan

[roofermike]

thanks for your vote of confidence, I wish I was that confident in myself. Actually, I'm getting better already, I just never realized how much work things were that don't come in packages. Obviously, the cooking is easy and demands little attention, but the prep takes forever and I feel like I do a million dishes.

So far since these posts, I've made tuna casserole, stuffed peppers, Chinese beef and broccoli, and a pasta salad all with positive feedback and without all the sodium that packaged food usually has. I cant say it was cheaper than eating out though. Theres like a million different spices out there and these things run sometimes 8 bucks each, times 3 spices often, theyre like a mini investment!

[socal_chris]

My recommendation for a good start:

Food Network

30 Minute Meals with Rachel Ray
or
Semi Homemade with Sandra Lee

those are both awesome shows with super easy to make meals that usually taste pretty good and are healthy.

Alton Brown is my favorite, because his show is both entertaining and educational. I love learning the science behind food and cooking. His show is called "Good Eats".

I would say I've learned up to 50% of all my cooking ability from Food TV or other cooking shows.

***edit***
Also..look for your spices in the little plastic bags or go to a store with bulk spices and buy them in bags. I keep most of my spices in zip-locks with labels on them.

If you can get your hands on a TiVo or your cable company offers a DVR for a few extra bucks a month...that's an awesome way to watch a cooking show and pause while you prep something.

Good luck!

[Lintballoon]

Penzy's is a good source for fresh and affordable spices. You can get them in bags, saves on the cost. (online)
I admire your efforts here! To my mind the secret to good cooking is to pay attention. Experiment, fail, learn. I have made some great dishes, and some REALLY REALLY awful ones, so bad all I could do is laugh and throw it away. I am famous for my "fish frappe", a concoction I made trying to reproduce a tamara salata that we used to get at a greek restaurant. It was miserably vile, and I am still remembered for it. Though now I know how to make a good tamara salata.
It's not just about saving money on food, it's about teaching your kids to cook, to eat, and giving them good nutrition. It's also about teaching them to learn, and to tackle new tasks. And spending time with them.
Thats my Hallmark moment for today.