I'm 19, and... I don't know how to cook. I know how to make eggs, and boil water, thats about it.
I'm also broke and in college so I just live on quick easy to make things, or canned food.
This is basically how I eat:
Breakfast- cream of wheat 1 serving w/ some brown sugar
Lunch-hot dog with bun and yogurt or a tuna sandwich instead of hotdog (with mayo)
Snack-Olives, Peanuts, or a banana sometimes all three oh and sunflowerseeds
dinner-TV Dinner, or hot pockets, or microwave pizzas or microwave burritos, usually with a side of instant mash potatoes
yep... but I've been fat my whole life, shockingly I started losing weight when I got out of high school cause I stopped eating school lunch food...... yep...
There was a discussion about this yesterday, there was a lot of good advice given, so I'll point you there if you haven't seen it yet: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/weig...e-me-sick.html
Do you have the opportunity to take a cooking class or cook with someone who knows how? I would say find just one recipe that appeals to you and isn't overwhleming, give yourself the time to work through it slowly and you'll be fine. Cooking isn't difficult and any thrown together thing will be an improvement over frozen or canned foods!
Be brave. It will be fine!
Hey! I used to be much the same, I had no idea where to even start cooking! But now I love to cook...all it took was to throw caution aside and start trying to throw things together! I started by looking up healthy recipes online..and often you can find budget healthy recipes too!
At first my fiance was scared to eat a lot of the things I tried but now he loves it!
It's easy to cut up some peppers and broccoli etc and make a stirfry
Check out your local library. Not only are there decent books on cooking, but whole series of vids, too, for those of us lacking confidence in the kitchen. Decide to have some fun with it! Think of it this way, what college class would you use everyday for the rest of your life? Why put off enjoying it?
I'm not a great cook either... but I've found some EASY things that work. I suggest you look around ... baby steps!
For example, if you like having quick things throughout the week, buy a couple of chicken breasts, marinade them in different marinades to keep it interesting (I like Mrs. Dash's marinades because of the low sodium) then just toss them in the oven and use them in your lunches all week!
Another easy healthy thing I love to use are portabella mushrooms! I throw like three caps in the oven for about 25 minutes (at like 350 or 375 or something) then top them with something yummy --- egg whites and spinach and tobasco sauce, or top it with some diced tomatoes and lowfat cheese for a portabella pizza!
In sum, there are some yummy healthy things that are really simple to make.
I look at HungryGirl's website for easy recipes... but watch out for the sodium on some of the recipes.
if you are doing microwave stuff, check out the steamers in the veggie section, lots of good veggies with sauces that are Weight Watcher approved.
and they are relatively cheap.
The things you listed sounds like microwaveable things, does that mean you do not have access to a stove/oven? If so, that sort of limits your choices. Definitely go for microwave steamer meals type of stuff but be careful of sodium though.
Well, Ummm I have a problem, I live in a mobile home (Not a trailer... It's diff...) and My dad is soooo paranoid to let me cook (he thinks the home will catch on fire) that he wont even let me cook in my own house!!! Which I say is BULL BEEEEEEEEP >=[ So what I want to do is learn something healthy and new to cook, go to my best friends house, cook it with her and show him that I am capable of using the stove! Imma make of video of me cooking to show him I'm not a half wit. I GET STRAIGHT As!!! I think I can handle this . =[
Stir fry is always eat... just add some vegetables (anything really... squash, zuchinni, peppers, mushrooms, or whatever you like) in a pan with some water (or maybe a little bit of butter if you prefer) throw some pepper and seasonings on it and that's it. You can add tofu or chicken if you want. If you can fry an egg then you can make stir fry. It's REALLY easy and tasty.
I would serve youtube...theres videos on everything you can imagine. I'm sure there are simple healthy meal videos on there and you could follow along.
Stir fry is great. There's a whole lot of yummy meals you can make just by stir-frying vegetables and meat together. Also, practice makes perfect in cooking, just like with everything else.
Can you save up and purchase a george forman grill? They are about $20 online. I have one and it's made cooking soooo easy, and no open flame, so maybe your dad would be cool with it.
You just plug it in, turn it on to heat up and then throw any kind of lean meat, or veggies on it for about 6 minutes and you're done!
Get a crockpot! It is my new best friend and its a good simple way to start expanding your choices. Plus, I think it's pretty much impossible to burn down the house with a crockpot.
My favorite thing right now is to put some raw chicken, one can of reduced fat cream of mushroom soup, one can water, and on packet onion soup mix (what you make onion dip from). i also add some sliced mushrooms. Turn it on low and voila 6 hours later you have a great chicken/gravy thing that goes great over brown rice (which you can get the boil in a bag kind...so easy) or a small baked potato (microwaved).
Other people have great ideas as well, I just thought I'd share my recommendation of using a crockpot.
I Don't Know How To Cook!!!!
