Inexperienced cook needing help!

HelzBelz

HelzBelz

Full Member
Ok, so this is a bit sad but I'm a 34yr old single mum of an 8 yr old and am really not a good cook at all. I started sw in jan and have lost 15.5lbs so far but we're kinda eating the same thing week after week. I've spent ages looking through the recipes on here and the sw website but to be honest half of it scares me to death! Yes I know that's a silly thing to say but I don't have a load of cash to waste so I can't afford to get things wrong by them not turning out the way they are supposed to. My daughter and I eat pretty much anything, the only problem being that she wont eat tomatoes or mushrooms (although if I cut them up small enough she doesn't know!)

So basically I'm asking if anyone can recommend some good, tasty, filling but uncomplicated recipes for a semi novice cook? Thanks in advance xxx
 
What about shepherds pie, that's relatively simple to make, or just plain chicken, veggies & SW chips, maybe cowboy pie.

What have you been making?
 
Well we've been having the sw chips a fair bit so I've got them sorted lol. We normally eat fairly simple things, jacket potatoes, salads, chicken and chips, and I do make quite a nice veggie soup. I do know how to do things like shepherds pie and spag bol but not the sw way and the recipes I've found seem to need a million ingredients and take forever to prepare (I should add I do work part time as well plus my daughter has a million after school clubs to be taken to and from so I really dont want overly time consuming recipes. I'd love to get a good curry recipe as well as we both like quite spicy food.
 
I made some pizza topped chicken tonight, all it was was some chicken breasts flattened (I used a rolling pin!) and they were the cheap frozen ones, about £3 and you get about 6 in a bag. Mozzarella was 44p from tesco, and whatever pizza toppings you want I had ham red onion and mushrooms. Cook the chicken then top it with the toppings and cheese and then melt it, I had with slimming world chips. It was lovely.
 
You could do a batch cook on a weekend and freeze some of the meals then you have SW friendly meals just to defrost. It would save time during the week and you would know its all either Free or low syn stuff your eating, it reduces the risk of grabbing whatevers handy just because your hungry.

Shepherds pie, soups, curries, if you have an aldi nearby they do lots of herbs and spices to keep in as cupboard staples and theyre about 39p. Like oregano, italian herbs, turmeric etc. If you keep these staples in and have veggies ( also cheap at aldi) you can make a meal out of pretty much anything. Pasta Bakes, roast veg with a chicken breast, spaghetti bolognese, sticky chicken i made this tonight with rice and it was lovely also simple to make, diced chicken marinated in 3 tbsps honey, 3 tbsps dark soy sauce, 3 tbsps balsamic vinegar. Pan fry while the rice is cooking and voila its done. I did sweet potato chips with mine and a little salad
 
Texty_F said:
You could do a batch cook on a weekend and freeze some of the meals then you have SW friendly meals just to defrost. It would save time during the week and you would know its all either Free or low syn stuff your eating, it reduces the risk of grabbing whatevers handy just because your hungry.

Shepherds pie, soups, curries, if you have an aldi nearby they do lots of herbs and spices to keep in as cupboard staples and theyre about 39p. Like oregano, italian herbs, turmeric etc. If you keep these staples in and have veggies ( also cheap at aldi) you can make a meal out of pretty much anything. Pasta Bakes, roast veg with a chicken breast, spaghetti bolognese, sticky chicken i made this tonight with rice and it was lovely also simple to make, diced chicken marinated in 3 tbsps honey, 3 tbsps dark soy sauce, 3 tbsps balsamic vinegar. Pan fry while the rice is cooking and voila its done. I did sweet potato chips with mine and a little salad
Click to expand...

I love sticky chicken :D
 
Mmm I just had a scrumptious spaghetti Bolognese. It's so easy to make and the only difference for both my shepherds pie and Bolognese from my normal way to slimming world is that I change oil to frylight. Bar the pasta is prob takes 5 mins to make, onions,garlic (lots) mushrooms then mince and tom puree, couple if oxo and chopped tinned toms. All you need extra is herbs, I have a cupboard full but all you need us some basic mixed herbs, they're cheap. I made a syn free curry and it was only passata, stock ( I bought bagged liquid stock) and spices but it tasted lovely. Like you on not the best cook and I like quick fixes!

Other quick things with basic ingredients are stir-fry, chilli (good in jackets and with rice). I recently bought the sauces book for 4.95 and its great as you can make pretty much anything.from store cupboard ingredients. Try buying done herbs and spices like someone else Saud they're quite cheap and can transform a tin of chopped tomatoes and stock into virtually anything!!
 
I make a basic pasta sauce, its so versatile. Fry off an onion in fry lite until translucent, add whatever veg you fancy (my family likes peppers, mushrooms, courgette and sweetcorn) add some garlic and 2 tins of tomatoes. Let it simmer until its a nice thick sauce, takes about 10 mins. Season with salt and pepper and some dried oregano.
Really cheap and I use it for pasta bake with some chicken, or a spag bol sauce. Tonight I am making meatballs with it.

If you like spicy food, my two boys go mad for Chicken and Bacon Rice.
Boil some rice in a pot. In the meantime, roast some veg (pretty much anything works, but we really like red onion, courgette and red peppers) and fry off some chicken and bacon in fry lite. Once the meat is cooked, sprinkle on some chili powder. Drain the rice and mix the veg and the meat all together. The juices from the meat and the chili powder make a kind of coating for the rice, its really nice.
 
Burgers would go down well with your daughter again good old extra lean mince add some chopped onion salt pepper I also add one egg and some garlic granules and herbs
Then just mix well with your hand shape into balls and pat them down firmly (gan use a cutter)& hey presto burgers then place in oven with SW chips and it's always a lovely meal
Can also make some with baby bell or laughing cow in the centre
Or alternatively leave as meatballs and place in the basic pasta sauce someone has added in here
If you buy fresh ex l mince can use the whole lot to make a variety and freeze in batches I always make up at least 9-12 burgers at a time as they're so easy then ready made in freezer (I just place them in oven from frozen same with meatballs)
 
I recommend searching 'slimming world recipes' on youtube. It's easier to follow if you can actually see someone making them.

Also every time you master a recipe try making variations on it, some you will like more than others. For example you've conquered sw chips so try herby sw chips by adding mixed herbs before you put them in the oven. Bbq chips by adding smoked paprika before you put them in the oven. Try using sweet potatoes or butter nut squash instead of potatoes.

Once you can make a basic omelette you can make a cheese omelette, spanish omelette,ham omelette etc.

Add something different to your veg soup. Try blending half of it and keeping half chunky. Throw in a tin of kidney beans or tomatoes.

Don't be afraid to try things out. You might even discover a new hobby.
 
Welcome to SW!
When I started SW I could cook, beans on toast or a egg!
After complaining to the wife on how her food was not SW friendly she told me to do it myself!
Since then I have took over the kitchen and have a page on this forum with over 200,000 hits for my recipes. (follow link below, Index on page 60)
You can cook anything, do as the others have said, try and adapt to suit what you have in stock or like, if you are happy with it, take pics and show us! If it's NOT nice tell us so that we can try it & see what's wrong....
Best of luck.
Pete
 
Pete yours is the thread I've visited most often! Tbh there's just too much choice!! lmao! Loving the idea of the burgers, especially if I can freeze them once they're made, also great for getting my daughter involved. Don't think I've ever had meatballs so will definitely give that one a go (I know its basically the same as burgers but never had them in sauce!) My daughter and I have agreed that we will try one or two recipes every week and build up our own homemade recipe book - that way if either of us fancy something we can grab it and flick through.
My latest find is paprika, never had it before a couple of weeks ago and now I keep adding it to everything! Had a pasta n sauce pack last night and added that right at the end to give it a smoky bbq taste - was really nice so maybe I just need to be bolder with my ideas.
 
Building a family recipe book is a great idea.

Pete your thread is awesome.

Here is one of my favourite, and really simple desserts.

frozen grapes
vanilla yoghurt
1xmeringue nest 2.5 syns

break meringue into pieces and mix with grapes and yoghurt. It's quite ice creamy and easy for your daughter to make.
 
I'm also a bit of a novice cook and have found that I tend to do the same things over and over again. I'm trying to branch out and learn to make some new dishes.

I'm also a lazy cook. I can't be bothered to prepare and cook dinner when I get hom so I batch cook at the weekend so that I in effect have healthy, homemade ready meals for the week.

Chilli con carne and shepherds pie have become a bit of a staple. I don't make these the SW way though. I just buy a packet mix as it makes it a lot easier to make. So to make the chilli you just need to brown off the meat, add chopped tomatoes, kidney beans and the mix and you're done. I'll have it with some potato and frozen veg.

Burgers are great. They're surprisingly easy to make and you can freeze what you don't use. It seems like such a treat to have a burger, bacon and cheese (HEA) in a wholemeal bun (HEB) with some SW chips and a side salad.

I made SW quiche for the first time last night and it was easy peasy and really yummy. You could have that with SW chips for dinner or have some with salad for lunch.

Thanks for posting the question as I'm finding the responses you're getting quite useful too :D
 
Well I've just cooked a sw shepherds pie and wow it took me ages! It didn't help that I kept getting interrupted by an 8 yr old who wants to help! I think I've spent about 2hrs prepping and cooking it its now in the oven just waiting on people's verdicts shortly!

Have convinced my daughter and other half that we will be having one new recipe a week so all new ideas gratefully received, keep em coming!
 
Happy Holidays said:
Ahhhhhhhh that's really nice, lets hope it tastes ok. Have you looked in the receipe thread for ideas or other peoples diaries.
Click to expand...

I'm constantly looking in those threads lol. Well it seems it went down well although i'll admit I'm not too sure how often I'll have enough time to do that!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
Dukan Diet the Caribbean way
Replies
1
Views
1K
AliGal
AliGal
B
First weigh in tomo don’t think I’ve lost 😭
Replies
10
Views
2K
Butterbee
B
V
Keto recipes
Replies
4
Views
2K
MrsTea
MrsTea
goose
Goose's final road to goal
Replies
15
Views
2K
goose
goose
F
Getting fit for 40! My diary (feel free to join me)
Replies
13
Views
2K
AliGal
AliGal
Back
Top