Can you cook? Do you feel you should be able to?

Black Swan

I'm COOKING! Oh, I thought you were talking about something else...;)

Yes, I love to cook thanks to Gran. She started me young and I acquired a taste for it (excuse the pun... it's one of those days!).

Red Hand

You've always got a pot simmering, Blue Lagoon.:)

Trinity

North&South wrote: »

Well, to start with - WHY frozen cooked chicken?
A fresh chicken fillet takes minutes to cook if it's cut into chunks... and then at least you know HOW it's been cooked & what it's been cooked in.

I had a spare few minutes one night last year & was trawling thru some sites....
I found a site that showed graphs from the 70's & 80's of obesity increase in the US.... the graph rose & almost perfectly matched the graph that showed the increase in popularity of processed foods.... coincidence?

I don't think so.

I cook - sometimes simple meats & veggies, sometimes chinese, indian, I make a mean spag bog..... and I bake too - I make bread, we grow some of our own veg, and if you ask my 4 yr old granddaughter what makes yorkshire puddings, she'll tell you - amounts & all (it's her regular sunday job!)

It's not because I'm a woman - it's because I'm at home & have the time... although I also have to say that even when I worked full time, I still took charge of the kitchen, because I cared about what my kids ate & I cared about their inner health.

To those of you that eat nothing but zapped meals, or processed gunk - good luck to you - but I know who has the tastiest plate contents each night!

As an experiment, why don't you try & replicate one of those processed dinners.... just make a list of the ingredients & head off to the plastic shop to buy them first! :eek:

Just saying....

Well I'm pretty scared of leaving fresh meat lying in a fridge for a day or 2 and i dont always get to the supermarket everyday. They just looked handy so i picked them up!

Although i did end up chucking the frozen stuff and getting himself to pick up chicken fillets on the way home.

My lack of cooking skills is not for the want of trying. It just alway tastes yuck. I over cook everything as i am terrified of food poisoning and i dont trust my oven one bit!! It takes 15 mins to make toast in the grill and its one of those integrated things. I have cooked whole chickens and stuffed them and wouldnt let anyon eat them i threw them in the bin out of paranoia

BTW the chow mein went down ok but i thought it was horrible, am starving now

I'm 33 and i reckon my father has cooked approx 5 times in my lifetime. Hes a good cook too. Never done any housework and hes not ancient or old fashioned in fact he even has a bebo page the bollixt its there purely to embarrass myself and my cousins with photos of us as kids and picking our noses and the likes

LivingDeadGirl

Yeah I can cook pretty good, make my own pasta sauces, curries, soups, chilli etc from scratch. Anyone who's tried them hasn't complained so I must be doing alright! My OH however literally can't boil an egg!

Cooking/eating is the most important part of my day. It makes me happy.

I don't get "lazy" people who really on processed food and eating out.
When you take into account the trek and the waiting time, it is quicker and less hassle to do it yourself. ~shrug~

I wouldn't be impressed by anyone who didn't bother to learn. The same way I wouldn't be impressed by someone, who didn't go to the effort to learn to brush their teeth. It is basic maintance.

My ex couldn't cook, because men that can feed themselves have less incentive to stay with Mamie.

Morgase

I made this last night with himself: http://tast.ie/2008/07/18/easy-week-night-chicken/

OP, what you could do in future is buy a whole heap of chicken fillets from the butchers / supermarket and freeze them in portions of 1 or 2 fillets. Then just take them out the night before and defrost them in the fridge. They will be perfectly safe! (I've been doing this for years and am still alive!)

When you are frying them up for a stirfry / whatever, just make sure to chop them up into very small chunks. This will help them to be cooked all the way through.

I heartily agree with rainbow kirby:

I don't feel that it's my responsibility as a woman to know how to cook, but I do feel that it is my responsibility as an independent adult to be able to cook good, healthy food for myself (and others if needed).

Crumble Froo

Jeremiah 16:1 wrote: »

Everybody should be able to cook basic dinners for themselves-meat, two veg, potatos etc. Like, how do people who don't cook/can't cook fend for themselves?

toasters and microwaves. also the kettle. after that, sandwiches, yogurts and fresh fruit. :cool:

Aisling(",)

i can do the basics thank to home ec in school.so if left to my own devices i wouldnt starve but it wouldnt be the best like.

at home my dad would mainly be the one who cooks.hes much better and more adventurous then my mam

pretty*monster

I can cook a mean chilli con carne. Other than that I'm not the best at remembering recipies so I tend to be overly reliant on sauces out of a jar.

minidazzler

I would consider myself at 19 to be an above average cook for a male. I have done Turkey Dinners, Chicken, All manner of Mexican food, Pork, Stuffed Pork.

However, I can't Fry an egg!!!! I am just terrible at it!!!

And I do think women should be able to cook a proper meal from scratch, but then again I think the same of men. It's not that difficult people were doing it for thousands of years before processed food came along and made everyone a fat-body.

Toto Wolfcastle

I think everyone should be able to cook simple things from scratch. There are people who live on frozen processed food and I think that's weird.

Cooking and baking are pretty much my only talents. I love cooking and baking for men, I'm all old-fashioned like that! Although I like when people cook for me too!

My parents are brilliant cooks and I've been cooking and baking since I was really young so I suppose it's to be expected. I've been asked to cater parties before so I guess I'm pretty good. My sister can make stir fries and my brother is useless and couldn't even make toast.

Nightwish

I was so bad in Home Economics I was asked to leave. I could never be depended upon to start the dinner at home. I once set fish on fire...thats how bad I am. When I moved out to go to Dublin my mother froze 4 dinners for me to have during the week. I did start learning to cook for myself in 4th year of college though. Now I'm getting better year on year. I still dont have a notion of how to cook vegetables but the rest I'm doing ok at. An aside however, I dont see how my sex has anything to do with my ability to feed myself. An adult should be able to prepare meals for themselves without having to rely on their partner/parents. I know I was slow to get started on the whole cooking thing, but I am putting a lot of effort into it now!

Twee.

I adore cooking and baking. My mam used to be a chef and my dad's a great cook so it's in the family! I prefer baking and I do a lot of it.
I agree that everyone should be able to cook. A lot of my mates wouldn't have a clue what to do in a kitchen or how to make a basic meal. I'm very grateful that I can look after myself!

paperclip2

I cook all the time. Its my favorite thing to do. I love baking and making jams and chutneys.

I can be a bit of an obsessive though. At Christmas I make my own mincemeat but I also make the candied peel to go into it, much to the derision of the rest of my family.

mollybird

i can cook and my OH is def a gordan rampsey. i never feel that i should be able to cook it just comes naturally. i can only cook homey dinners never anything fancy. but it's always really nice. while my OH can always cook fancy stuff. and make boring things like chops yummy. i guess it helps that he has italian blood in him.

Dragan

Trinity1 wrote: »

Men would it put you off a woman if she couldnt cook and do you share the cooking chores or leave her to it cos its her job?

Personally i love cooking. My Mum was a chef so i learned the basics at a very young age and then continued to learn from my own interest. It wouldn't put me off if a lass couldn't cook at all, once there was some sort of compromise.

I hate cleaning for example.

john_aero

i find we both share the cooking, i am bit more used to it as do a lot fo cooking but we share it, if i cook my partner usualy cleans up after or washing and vice versa.

stovelid

I'm afraid I don't do much of the cooking in our house. Usually welch out on it and treat us to take-out. I usually just clean up and do dishes. I've never really had the interest in being one of those people who spends all day thinking about the nice meals they'll cook when they get home. So I really can't 'cook', but am quite happy to cobble very simple stuff together to eat.

Monkey61

I presume I can cook, but I never really have reason to. I could probably count the amount of hot meals I've had in the last seven years on two hands (not including baked beans heated in the microwave).

My girlfriend cooks for herself but we don't like the same foods. As long as I have yoghurt, bananas, peanut butter, tuna and a selection of vegetables, I'm happy enough.

Yes. I am horrendously lazy. I'll start cooking when I have kids to feed.

I am quite the baker though. But I can never be bothered except for Christmas and birthdays.

Malari

stovelid wrote: »

I'm afraid I don't do much of the cooking in our house. Usually welch out on it and treat us to take-out. I usually just clean up and do dishes. I've never really had the interest in being one of those people who spends all day thinking about the nice meals they'll cook when they get home. So I really can't 'cook', but am quite happy to cobble very simple stuff together to eat.

I think I'm the opposite of this! I love cooking and baking and get a real kick out of making dinner when I go home. My boy can cook - the basics...like meat and veg and spuds. He just doesn't have a lot of imagination! I'll cook loads of different things from scratch, new recipes, etc. but I'm useless when it comes to the traditional roast!

justsomebloke

apparently I'm not half bad at making scrambled eggs. Other then that I'm actually not tha bad a cook I can get through.

As for women that can't cook nah it doesn't put me once they make up for it in other ways

PurpleBerry

I can cook some things. If it involves eggs then I'm yer woman. Omelette, French Toast, fried eggs, pancakes. My speciality. I know, it's not a lot to brag about.

lostinnappies

Everyone should be able to cook the basics, men wemon teens and eve tweenies. I mean what happens when a teenager moves out and moves on with thier lives ... seriously its the basic necessities which allow us as humans to survive. It should be one of the most important things you teach any child is how to have a healthy and safe meal. Im already teaching my 3 year old, he can (completly on his own) make toast, a chees and ham sandwitch, make fruit salad and knows that raw meat will give him a sick tummy. By the time he is 10 i expect him to be able to cook a meal for everyone once a week.

Nevyn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqqO_KvqLAY

Yes everyone should be able to cook, I am teaching my kids, gave on on their father being able to to more then sandwiches and things chucked in the deep fat fryer years ago.

Yes there are more guys who like to cook and are more then happy to take on that role but for the most part it still falls to the women in the house and a lot of young women don't want to learn how to cook or be domesticated and trapped into cooking as a default.

Trinity1 you can get fresh meat and freeze it youself to use as you need, that tends to be what I do and cooking like everything else just takes practice and confidence.

Curlypinkie

manukahoney wrote: »

can cook but am lazy.

Its a lot of work when you live alone and a lot of the time I cant be arsed with all the hassle.

I'd cook for somebody no bother though, and will admit to owning, and using a few cookbooks!!!

Actually find it quite satisfying cooking for a man and seeing them clear the plate..... it must be my old fashioned man serving gene kicking in!!

OMG it's like reading what I would have written myself:eek:

Also, I was told by my parents i couldn't cook while I was living at home so was never allowed to. In fairness it was after a lamb mince-banana stew debacle, but now I can say I can whip any intricate dish up. As long as I have a recipe. Sometimes, however I don't really need that either. I'm actually a great cook. But lazy

Ginny

Well I'm no Nigella, but I'll never starve to death, tbh I actually can't wait till I have my kitchen back to myself.
I do have a problem with mammified men though, after meeting men who could mess up the simplest of meals I will not be going down that road again...:D

quinevere

i love cooking i'm always looking for receipes

however in my last relationship i cooked all the time, and resented at the end because it felt like i had rather than i wanted to but now i dont cook no point in cooking for one person

Zzippy

I love cooking. Live alone and sometimes have too many plans to get time to cook properly, but you can easily knock together something tasty and nutritious in 10/15 mins. Much more fun cooking for two, or for friends though. An empty plate is a great compliment!

Wouldn't bother me if a girlfriend couldn't cook - I've had a few - long as she didn't mind washing the dishes!

DenMan

I really enjoy cooking. Dabbled a little bit when I was younger and just kept it up. It's very therapeutic. It does take time of course and the more you do it, the better you become. Here is a link I found a while back and it really helps people who want to develop their culinary skills.

www.videojug.com

Go to the Food and Drink section and hopefully you can find a few dishes to dazzle your friends and family with. (Just don't tell them about it!!!)

Zaph

If you mention your George Foreman you're barred from here!