Cruise PV Any one else here like me? encouragement needed, please.

[xehorus]

Good morning everyone!

Well, first ! like to say that I have done my three days on attack and have lost the weight I needed to so I am quite happy about it.:happy036:

Now on to my little drama.

I don't have a lot of weight to lose but I joined the dukan diet nonetheless in the hopes that I can start eating more sensibly ( I eat terribly unhealthy ) and start cooking a bit more.

Here is where my problem lies... I can't cook to save my live! I am awful!!!
I live with a house mate and she cooks the majority of the times... I do the dishes. When she is not around I eat ready meals or go to restaurants. Also there is always my stack of sweets and cakes which I had had religiously every day untill now.

Of course Now that I have started the diet I could not ask my house mate to cook for her normally and for me diet ( she does not think dukan is healthy anyway )

So I am starting to cook and OMG you never ate anything worse than my cooking!

I am getting discouraged pretty quickly here!! I just try to follow recipes here but I don't have the touch or so it seems :cry:

Any one else not a cook goddess and struggling with their menus?
Am I the only one???:sigh:

 

[locket]

I'm not great! By the sounds of things most people on here are domestic goddesses.
I've managed quite well with a few essential items: a non-stick pan, a beer chicken rack (a stand you place your chicken on with a can of something up the chicken, it's virtually impossible to ruin the chicken. M&S sell them at times), loads of spices and the recipe threads on this site.
I try follow recipes cos I'm REALLY rubbish at doing my own stuff. I also get a lot of smoked fish and things like biltong to snack on.
You become more resourceful and get more ideas as you go along.

 

[stmcalee01]

I am by no means a domestic goddess but I do enjoy cooking.

What are planning on having for dinner tonight and we can see what suggestions people have. I keep things simple, if I don't like an ingredient I substitute it or leave it out.

 

[xehorus]

Thanks girls for your replies!

I am surviving on M&S's chicken, salmon etc ( I tried to make my own burgers and they were terrible! )... but as of today i start my PV so I am not a veggie person and don't really know what to do.

I have some Asparagus and spinach. Oh god if i don't get possessed by Nigella's spirit or something I can't see me lasting very long on my cooking endeavour!

 

[locket]

I'm doing ANOTHER roast chicken. Thank god my family likes chicken, when I'm not sure what to cook I cook chicken. I'll get some asparagus and cauliflower. Some jelly for afters.

 

[Atropos]

Dukan cooking is actually quite user friendly - more so than "normal cooking".

Dukan bread just involves mixing the right quantities of ingredients in a small bowl, pouring them into a plastic sandwich box and hitting start on a microwave (compare this with all the mixing, kneading, rising, proving, and baking needed to make "normal" bread).

So don't panic - and pick one or two favourite foods you would like to learn to cook for yourself, the Dukan way, and we'll take you through them, (step by step if necessary!) until you feel confident with the techniques.

Then - once you have one dish in your repetoire, it's amazing how quickly you can expand; mixing is mixing, whether its bread, meatloaf or frozen yogurt!

So - what do you fancy cooking first?

 

[xehorus]

Locket: Thank God I don't have a family to feed and it is only me...
I am buying lots of roasted chicken ( from the supermarket ) but there is so much chicken I can eat.

Thanks for the tip about the can roaster... I will def buy one and start on that..it sounds easy.

 

[xehorus]

Atropos, thank you also for your reply.. I might need that step by step you mention.

I read here about some savoury salmon muffins.. I would LOVE to make those.. but I have zero confidence in how good they would turn out after I cook them:cry:

 

[Atropos]

I've never made the savoury version - so I might not be the best mentor for this, but I have made sweet ones - so you can try that.

First things first - do you have access oatbran?
(I know quite a few new members are finding it hard to source)

 

[xehorus]

Yes, I bought it in my local health food store and have been mixing it with my 0% fat Greek yoghurt.

 

[claire21]

easy PV things

griddle pan with a steak, asparagus, toms, mushrooms

oven cook - chicken breast or salmon fillets plus butternut squash cubes roasted

grill and non stick frying pan - turkey bacon, fried eggs, mushrooms, toms

non stick frying pan - omlette with prawns or anything else plus a salad

 

[xehorus]

Claire... thank you for the ideas! how do you season them?

Sorry if it is a stupid question I really am bad at cooking and don't do it at all.

Also in the oven what temperature should I use?

Thanks a million.

P.S I am so embarrassed I don't even know what temperatures to use :ashamed0005:

 

[Atropos]

Savory Oat Bran Muffin - step by step.

First of all - make sure you have all the things you need.

Equipment
(if your roomie normally cooks you should have most of these, and forgive me if I overexplain anything)

1. A bowl to mix in
doesn't have to be enormous.

2. A mixing spoon
- wood is best, but an ordinary spoon will do

3. A table spoon for measuring
if you aren't sure of the size of your spoons, 1 table spoon = 3 tea spoons. You can buy sets of measuring spoons for cooking which can make life much easier.

4. Something to cook your muffins in
A silicon muffin tray is the best for this, but if you don't want to buy one straight away, you can try paper cupcake cases placed in a metal try. Just be careful not to knock them over!

5. An oven!

Ingredients

1 Oatbran

2. An egg

3. fat free fromage frais OR quark OR greek yogurt

4. Baking Powder (make sure it is "baking powder" rather than "Bicarbonate of soda", which is often next to it on the shelf.

5. Some slices of smoked salmon or some crab sticks.

6. If you want to be fancy (and why not!) some chives or spring onions.

Let me know when you have all the above - or if you can't find them and need advice on what will work instead.

 

[claire21]

I just use ground black pepper.

oven I cook most stuff at gas mark 6 - butternut squash peel the skin off and chunk it, may take 40 mins to cook depending on how big your chunks are - it's lovely and sweet so no seasoning needed. A chicken breast takes about 25 mins just check not pink inside. Salmon fillets take about 20 mins just squeeze a bit of lemon on them.


asparagus only takes about 2 mins in the griddle pan so start the steak off first you will get lovely BBQ lines on it. I use big flat mushrooms whole. I like a bit of mustard with my steak.

turkey bacon - dont over cook as it goes like leather under the grill.

 

[claire21]

roasted veg is also nice an easy and can go with anything.
cut peppers into medium size pieces - stand the pepper up and cut the cheeks off , this leaves the seedy bits behind. cut a courgette into 2 cm slices, cut a red onion into decent size chunks, add some baby tomatoes. Put it all into a bking tray and cook at gas mark 6 for about 30 mins - just check it's not all going black after about 20 mins. Cook your meat or fish in the oven at the same time.

if you want you can put a few garlic cloves in with the veg and some herbs.

toss the veg around after half way through - the red onions do tend to get a bit of black on them.

 

[xehorus]

Thank you, thank you ladies very much!!!!!!!!!!!!

Atropos... no you are not over explaining that is EXACTLY what I need you are GOD SENT!!!! I'm off to buy the Silicon muffing tray!! I have all the rest!!!


Claire... that is great thank you for your answers and you input.

You both have made me feel much better today!
YES I can do it ..lol ( cooking, that is! )

 

[xehorus]

Claire just saw the veg answer now... thank you you are an angel!!!!

 

[redbooties]

I bought a George foreman and that's been a lifesaver for me I just throw everything I need on it. It's so easy to cook steaks on etc

 

[Atropos]

Oooo yes - It's almost impossible to get cooking on a George Forman wrong!

(Although - I find them difficult to clean and I HATE that silly plastic fat collector which is so easy to knock off the counter)

 

[xehorus]

My house mate has the equivalent to the foreman grill... the jamie Oliver one.. I would ask if she doesn't mind me using it.. it is her baby!!