I recommend you take advantage of available benefits such as food stamps or a local pantry. Start small, pasta and some jar sauce, learn to cook rice, invest in some simple spices and learn what goes well with what, use salt, use olive oil, use butter. Find a food you really enjoy and watch a bunch of videos of people cooking that food. Good luck!
Hey OP. Learning something new when your body isn’t feeling well is going to be a struggle. That’s the biggest problem that stands out to me in your post. Try to cook before you get that hungry and if you are at that point eat a snack before you cook- it’s totally fine to snack before dinner, I do it all the time to help me focus on making decent food.
Start with pasta. Boil some noodles, pick whatever kind you like: it can be spaghetti, bow tie, macaroni, doesn’t matter. Noodles have directions on the box or bag that tell you how long to cook them. If you’re worried about messing up, take one noodle out of the pot with tongs and try eating it to see if it’s at the texture you like. If it tastes how you like then screw the directions, it’s done and you can strain the noodles.
Add some butter and Parmesan. Cheese can be shredded, it can be that powdered stuff, whatever will melt and blend into the noodles. Don’t stress about measurements. Start with a smaller amount of each ingredient, taste the dish, and keep adding more of each until you taste a difference and you like the flavor. If you want to razzle dazzle it up you can squeeze a lemon over everything to really bring up the flavor.
Bam there you have Noodles and cheese. Super easy beginner dish that is cheap and if you mess it up who cares a box of pasta is like $1 and you can try again.
Salmon is tricky to start learning to cook with. If you really want to cook meat start with ground beef. Can’t go wrong with ground beef and you can use it for premade boxed meals like hamburger helper!
You can also add ground beef to pasta sauce pretty easily. Add the beef to a pot and put the heat on medium. Break up the beef and keep stirring until you don’t see any more pink. Once the meat has browned, add a jar of red pasta sauce (any brand). Allow the sauce to warm up. When it is bubbling, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer (slightly bubble) for about 30 minutes. You can add herbs like oregano if you want to get fancy. Serve over pasta.
This will give you enough for 4-6 meals. You just have to make the pasta and reheat the sauce. Leftovers mean dinner can be ready pretty quickly after you get home.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. Cooking is a skill and it takes practice to get good at it.
Get a rice cooker. Some frozen veggies and a protien. I lived off this when I was poor. Pork, chicken thighs, etc. Google "how to bake ccken thighs" or if yoy have an air fryer "how to air fry pork chops" etc.
It can still be nutritious and filling even if it's basic. If you're low on grocery budget fill up on protien and carbs and add veggies when you can.
If you can afford or for a couple of weeks, or can get your hands on a discount code, try a food box. Goodfood. Hello Fresh. Chefs Plate. Etc... you can learn a lot of the basics and still eat balanced meals. There's lots of coupons out there to try a free box. Maybe ask around or Google discount codes.
Start with cooking-less food.
Cold meat sandwiches. Then, cook those in a pan. Cooked cold meat is probably the easiest food in the world. Toast the bread in the pan too if you want.
Then graduate to burgers. And then do something that combines that with something else, like Spaghetti Bolognese
- 250g spaghetti, add it to an already boiling pot of water. Boil it until 'aldente' (it's cooked when you can fish it out with a fork or serving spoon, bite into it and it is smooth), when cooked drain the water by either blocking the pasta with a serving spoon and tipping into the sink, or by using a colander.
While that is boiling:
- 500g-1kg/1-2lb beef mince, lean or fatty either works, 1 jar of italian sauce, like Dolmio. Fry the mince until it is a uniform brown, add the sauce in and stir for a few minutes. This timing should line up pretty well with the pasta finishing, if the pasta is not done, set the pan to low heat and put the cover on it, stirring occasionally.
Portion into 4-6 servings, Put the extra servings in the freezer and re-heat it with your microwave, or in an oven-safe bowl or dish, with alfoil over the top for ~10-20 minutes @180C/300F.
I cant eat it because i left it out for too long, I was just trying to thaw it so I left it out on the counter for an hour I didnt know you couldnt do that and i didnt know it comes frozen from the store
It's never safe to defrost anything on the counter, no matter how long for. It's especially risky for frozen vacuum sealed fish.
Promoting unsafe practices is dumb because you don't care about the science and disagree with food safety organisations is anti-science.
After an hour from frozen solid it would probably still have been a little solid ice in the middle. No one is going to die from eating fish that's been out of the safe zone for 20 minutes especially fish like that that's probably caught, processed and immediately flash frozen aboard the trawler (assuming wild salmon), that's just ridiculous.
Feel free to post a link to any government level food safety agency, from anywhere in the world, that says it's okay to defrost things on the counter.
The fact you don't understand the increased risk from vacuum sealed frozen fish means you really shouldn't be giving food safety advice, especially in a beginners sub.
The USDA states that food should not be left at room temperature for longer than 2 hours. [Source](https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/big-thaw-safe-defrosting-methods).
While it's not a good idea to thaw anything on the counter, there was no reason to throw it away because you let a frozen salmon on the counter for an hour. Why would you throw that away? Of you don't have like 50 degrees Celsius in the kitchen that probably didn't even do anything temperature wise to the salmon.
I suggest staying away from cooking animal proteins until you've got a better grasp of cooking and food safety. Meat is more expensive, anyway. Stick with cheap ingredients until you've got a few basic dishes down and then you can branch out more.
Go to the library and see if you can find a book titled How to Cook Everything: The Basics by Mark Bittman. It's a great primer for people in your position that will help you a lot more than random tidbits of information from internet strangers.
You can get sick from that if you left it out all day, but an hour isn’t going to grow anything particularly harmful. If anything it probably just thawed and that’s why it looked different. If you ever aren’t sure about something going off, your nose is the best tool you have to make that judgement.
Your question, the intense rambling and quick deletion of your own sn kind of answers your own question…
I’m sorry if it makes you upset and for your anxiety but you have to start cooking somewhere and not as a madness inducing means to an end . We are not your psychologists
Start by not wasting food you just bought. Good cooking means being resourceful
Don't ever feel ashamed of getting food from banks/shelters. You'd be surprised how much healthy fresh food they give. I would definitely take advantage of it.
That being said, you don't have to be a great cook to get started. You can start with simple healthy recipes like using frozen vegetables that are already cut. Simply stick them in the microwave or steam/boil them, then season them with butter, salt, pepper. As far as proteins, start with simple ground meats like beef, chicken or pork. You can combine these with pasta which is simple to make. When ready, focus on one whole protein and watch videos on how to cook it. When you master it, move on to the next protein.
Even the best cooks mess up so don't beat yourself up. Also, tacos, quesadillas, burritos, sandwiches and salads are really easy to make. All of these can be made in a few minutes and with fresh whole foods.
I am not sure why you had to throw out salmon, except maybe you burned it to a black crisp. If this was the case, stay with the pan and watch it. Food does not have to been thrown out if it does not 100% look and turn out the way you expect it
It seems you have internet access. There are thousands of websites and YouTube videos about learning how to cook.
i have no clue why this sub gets these posts every. single. day. it's called cooking for BEGINNERS, not "cooking for people who don't want to put any effort into figuring things out for themselves and think they're entitled to have things explained to them while having their hand held".
use google. look up "easy homemade meals". but PLEASE, stop bothering this sub until you have a real question you wanna ask.
you didn't even ask a question in your post. "waa waa help me i can't cook!!" i don't know what to say, use google. your situation isn't as unique as you think, you can look for the hundreds of posts on this sub about this exact topic and find people just like you.
It may sound harsh but this is good advice. I had no idea how to cook either when I finally started at the age of 33 four years ago during lockdowns. I screwed up so many Salmon recipes and rice too. The best advice really is to keep watching YouTube videos and even if you mess up at first eventually something clicks and you start gaining experience.
I'm not sure if you can afford them but I started with meal kits during covid. Recipes are included in the box and give you step by step directions along with all the ingredients you need minus salt pepper oil and butter. Feeling overwhelmed is normal when starting cooking at least it was for me. The only solution is to keep working on it.
Serious suggestion - sign up for the free version of ChatGPT and ask the obnoxiously friendly robot all your questions.
All you need to do describe the problem with some details. Not - “salmon was bad” but “salmon was burnt on the outside and raw inside” or “salmon smelled fishy and tasted sour” and ask what went wrong, and it will tell you the problem and make suggestions for how to fix it.
This chatbot can 100% hold your hand through every cooking question and will happily answer extremely basic questions.
Here is a sample conversation I just had with it about salmon. Notice how anything confusing or not specific, I could just ask what it meant.
https://chatgpt.com/share/e225bad4-5c34-43ad-a1d2-3a294cb55a40
Well, if by ruin it, you mean you cooked it a bit too long, then there is a possible solution.
Shred it a mix it with diced onions and pickles. Mix in some mayo, a bit of mustard, and a touch of lemon juice. Now serve it as a sandwich with crisp lettuce and some tomato. Additionally, you could grill the bread after buttering the outside. Put a slice of cheese on both pieces and put the salmon salad on top of the cheese. Now you have a delicious salmon melt. For elevation, I think a few strips of crispy bacon on that melt would be insanely delicious.
They threw it away because they thought thawing it on a counter for an hour would mean it was ruined. They need more help than anyone here can give them (I feel like this is an anxiety issue even more than an "I've never learned to cook" issue).
I never really learned to cook either. I just bought a basic cookbook and followed the directions. It's not creative or anything (that came later), but it is enough to be able to feed yourself.
I think it’s helpful for every anxious cook to read through the servsafe course or at least the bullet points. Knowing how to “properly” defrost something can take away that anxiety about maybe doing it wrong.
Like in this case, defrost in the fridge 24hrs ahead of time, or under constantly running cold water day-of, or even microwave if you’re cooking immediately after defrosting. Stick to those three methods and you’re safe.
Even a failure can be considered a success, if you’ve learnt a little from that experience - it means your next salmon will be better for it :) embrace the errors - you are human after all, and you should take pride in having a healthy attitude and strong focus on your wellbeing :)
Watch YouTube videos on how to cook. Start easy, scramble some eggs, make a grilled cheese, make pancakes. When you learn to control the heat to cook those things, you can move on to other things. Don't be like my one grandma that cooked and burned everything on HIGH heat, there are other settings.
Begin with basic recipes that require minimal ingredients and steps. For examples: scrambled eggs, grilled cheese, pasta with marinara sauce, or a simple stir-fry.
Watch the YouTube channel Food Wishes by Chef John. He has thousands of videos. Think of something you want to cook, then find Chef John's video for it. Watch the video 4 or 5 times, go to the store to get the ingredients, then come back, watch it again, and get cookin. I promise you will succeed.
Play some cozy music when you’re in the kitchen. The Joy of Cooking has great, relatively easy recipes to follow. Take pics of your ingredients and the final result. Keep trying even after disaster! There’s tons of recipes online for meals on a budget. You’ll improve, be easy on yourself.
Well...buy those boxed dinners like hamburger helper and the home style bakes. Follow the directions exactly.
Then there is always sandwiches. Bread, meat and cheese. You won't starve.
Frozen or fresh vegetables, canned tuna, sardines.
You can bake chicken or pork chops at 350 for 80 mins. Season both sides lightly with salt, pepper, and garlic salt.
Baked potatoes 350 for 2 hrs, rinse off potatoes and wrap in foil
The oven is going to be the safest way when beginning. you can bake just about anything at 350.
Oatmeal in the mornings bc it's simple and has fiber. You can add a little spoon of butter and sugar or honey if want. It's not the most flavorful thing but its easy and a classic.
On the stove you can cook just about anything at medium or low medium heat in a skillet. My oven tops go to 10 for high so I set it at 4. Be patient. Simple salt and pepper for seasoning.
Don't start with salmon! I cook everyday and salmon is on my "never again" list. I love it but I CANNOT cook it well and that's ok.
I didn't learn how to cook until COVID. Honestly, I started with the "home chef" boxes u can buy at Kroger. YES, they're pricey but it comes with the exact amount of ingredients and exact details. After I had a couple of those I liked, I took a pic of the recipe and instructions and bought the things separately, not in the easy box. That builds confidence.
There's also an app I love called emeals. Easy recipes, builds a shopping list for you and gives step by step instructions.
You really just have to GO for it and be confident. It does take time but just try to do one meal a day. You WILL learn. I'm now considered the best cook in our family and I'm VERY proud of it bc I used to be EMBARRASSED I couldn't make a thing.
I am sorry to hear things are so tough for you. What kind of situation are you working with? Do you have access to a kitchen? What kind of kitchen equipment do you have? Can you buy food, or do you have to make do with food pantry items? I would start with learning to cook eggs, since they are fairly affordable. You can find tutorials on Youtube on how to make scrambled eggs, fried eggs, or omelettes.
First, tell us how you ruined that salmon? From there, we can advise you what you may have done wrong during the process. Don't bring yourself down. I ruin a dish I cook often every now and then, usually from overcooking, though it's still flavoursome. Cooking doesn't need to be perfect or look good, as long as it tastes ok.
Here are a few ideas to improve your odds of success:
**Mis en place**, which is what professionally trained chefs do. Before you cook anything or mix anything, get out ALL of your ingredients and prepare them. Set up your ingredients so you can easily grab them, and tidy up/put away the jars, bottles, that half of an onion, etc., before starting to cook. This keeps you organized, lets you identify missing ingredients before it's too late to help, and allows you to focus on the actual cooking instead of trying to alternate between watching a pan and doing prep on your cutting board. It also allows you to clean as you go, which is incredibly useful.
**Take it one element at a time.** If you're trying to make a new entree for the first time, it's maybe a good idea to have side dishes that you're already familiar with so you're not trying to master multiple new recipes at the same time. Bonus if you can prepare the other elements of your meal ahead of time or in a way that they don't have to be monitored constantly while you're making the new dish (like putting potatoes in the oven and letting them slowly bake while you figure out how to make a great protein on your stovetop, or creating a new and amazing stir fry with incredible sauce but just using microwave instant rice).
**Buy prepped ingredients.** Frozen vegetables are fabulous because they can be cheaper, they're often of good quality, and they come diced or cut in specific shapes. You can also get diced onions or mirepoix this way. You may need to cook them down a bit due to water content, but you can't beat ease of use or longevity. Your produce section or the deli section also may have fresh produce that's already chopped and ready for use, like sliced baby portabella mushrooms or shredded carrots or pineapple cubes.
**Have a backup plan.** Sometimes, you do your best and still accidentally scorch the soup or discover the recipe was actually terrible and you hate the end result. Having leftovers, a can of soup, or sandwich fixings gives you a quick meal so you're not frustrated AND starving.
**Some appliances can help streamline cooking.** If you find it hard to stay organized and focused using traditional cooking methods with multiple dishes, you might consider looking for one-pot meals or sheet pan meal recipes. Another option would be to use a crockpot or Instant Pot because you can prep your ingredients, put them inside the device, turn it on and then it takes care of cooking and you can just do whatever you want while you wait for the timer. There are also amazing recipes online and subreddits dedicated to using these appliances.
Chili is easy. Brown and drain a pound of ground beef or turkey. Add 1 can drained beans, 1 can diced tomatoes with juice and a package of seasoning. Add hot sauce, heat and eat.
Start by learning how to make sandwiches first. Then move to hot dogs. Boil them. Dont microwave them. Boil them. Really. Buy hotdog buns. Buy chili. Add keychup, mustard, onions. Etc.. Learn to cook eggs. Scrambled, fried, boiled. Make egg salad. Learn how yo make canned soup. Again no. Microwave..just medium.low heat in a small pot on the stove. Watch it. When it starts getting warm with a small bit of steam rising, it's ready. Pour it into a bowl. Eat with saltine crackers.
Learn how to make grilled cheese . It's not hard. You just need to use medium low heat. 2 slices of sliced cheese between 2 pcs of bread. Here's a secret. Spread the outside of the bread with mayo. It's the fat in it that helps to grill the bread. Put the bread in the pan mayo side down. Let it grill for a few mins. Lift it up carefully. Look at the bottom. If it's brown enough to your liking, smear the top with mayo and flip it over to brown the other side. You'll get it. Just remember, temperature control. It's always medium or medium low heat. You really don't need really high heat for anything.
You really don't need a microwave. Start small.get a 5 ingredient cookbook. They're on Amazon. Pack your lunches. Eat at work. You can do this. Good luck.
A stir-fry was one of the first things I learned. It’s stupidly easy.
Preheat pan, add oil of choice then throw in chopped aromatics. Add any chopped veggies (you can boil them first if you want). Stir and toss until it looks and tastes cooked.
Get sandwich ingredients and things you don't have to cook like hummus/pita chips/carrots/peanut butter/apples/yogurt. You could survive just off of those and it would be cheap and easy. Have a friend or family member come over and teach you how to cook a protein such as chicken and just master that.
YouTube is a great resource for people learning how to cook. You can find everything there from knife basics, to required hardware, to simple recipes. There’s almost always a recipe link so you can have the ingredients in a list. As it’s video format they essentially walk you through the steps, telling you what you should see/smell, and rough times. Alton Brown was basically my surrogate parent when I was growing up because he explained cooking in such a way that I picked up on it pretty easily.
The secret to success - from beginner home cooks to restaurant chefs - have your prep done before you actually start to cook.
Trying to get things out of the fridge or pantry, opening packaging, washing vegetables, cutting ingredients, etc. while something is on the heat is hard to do. And that's how things get burned or ruined.
Slow down, take your time, have a plan then execute it. No one was born a good cook - getting better is all about keeping at it, gaining experience and learning from your mistakes.
Salmon is tricky!! I struggle cooking it at the right temperature. I think cooking chicken is a lot easier and affordable. Just get yourself a meat thermometer. Shrimp is pretty easy too! When I was starting out I made a lot of pastas.
I also really like Sohla El Wayley’s cooking 101 videos on YouTube. She has one of fish that may be helpful for your salmon endeavors. And I used her spatchcocked chicken recipe recently and it turned out really good.
Hey friend! I’m a terrible cook. Now that I’ve moved into my first apartment at 20, I have to learn to cook after not even knowing how to boil pasta. It’s not so bad! It’s time consuming when you’re first trying to find your feet. But it gets better.
1. A food thermometer for meat will be your best friend. I’m real bad with over/undercooking so this helps loads.
2. A cheap kitchen scale and a measuring cup are amazing at helping you figure out portions so you waste less. Just Google a single portion of xyz and measure it out!
3. Try to make meals that stretch, stuff like stews or just double up on portions and put the rest in the fridge for tomorrow. Works out cheaper too
4. The longer you cook at home, the cheaper it gets. You’ll find you’ve got lots of random scraps and veg and things in the pantry to use up overtime so you won’t have to keep buying new ones. Frozen is also super cheap and keeps forever.
Something I do is look up easy recipes that I love. Stuff like baked chicken, macaroni, tacos, quesadillas, rice. I find *easy* recipes for *beginners* and try to make it at home for myself. So far, it’s been going pretty good! And I’m saving lots.
dont be too hard on yourself, here are some simple recipes that have worked out for me. i’d suggest straying away from meats that aren’t chicken or prawn because they may be a little more difficult when it comes to cooking.
thai basil fried rice recipe - super quick and easy and flavourful, hard to screw up - https://seonkyounglongest.com/thai-basil-fried-rice/
almost any salad works, vegetarian recipes are usually easier. baked ones too like baked pasta etc. start off with more beginner-friendly recipes!
As someone who also sucks at cooking, I understand! I’ve been cooking for my family for 15 years and still can’t get it right a lot of days.
My suggestions are to start with buying some food basics that are low in cost and easy to use. Don’t try and get fancy until you are comfortable with the basics. Basic meals can still be semi healthy and comforting. Use “cheat” items like microwave rice pouches, jarred sauces, tinned veg etc. There is no shame in using these items and they can often be very cheap (here in UK microwave rice can be bought for 35p). Once you are comfortable you can move onto cooking your own sauces, prepping meats and veg, getting more adventurous with recipes.
I cook a lot of dishes like jacket potato with beans and cheese, rice with chicken and veg (and some sort of sauce), spaghetti bol (with jarred sauce) and sausage with mash potato. I try to only have three elements to my meals - a protein, a carb and a vegetable. Any more than that is when things get a bit sketchy for me. You can add elements to your dishes that don’t need cooking too - I put bowls of sides like tortilla chips or poppadoms out on night when we have chilli or curry dishes, a side bowl of salad is always a good way to get some veg in too.
I’d avoid overpriced items like salmon and chicken - if you are trying to gain weight back these two proteins are not the best choice for you right now anyway.
You might find “one pot recipes” easier to handle, if it’s the coordination that is throwing you off. Freezer foods can be good too - especially if you can find items that have similar cooking times so you can whack multiple things in the oven on the same tray and the same time.
Don’t let it stress you out - some days your dinner might be a bit funky but you’ll improve over time. As long as it’s safe to eat, who cares if it looks or tastes a little weird from time to time haha.
I recommend you take advantage of available benefits such as food stamps or a local pantry. Start small, pasta and some jar sauce, learn to cook rice, invest in some simple spices and learn what goes well with what, use salt, use olive oil, use butter. Find a food you really enjoy and watch a bunch of videos of people cooking that food. Good luck!
Thank you for your kind response i will keep trying
Hey OP. Learning something new when your body isn’t feeling well is going to be a struggle. That’s the biggest problem that stands out to me in your post. Try to cook before you get that hungry and if you are at that point eat a snack before you cook- it’s totally fine to snack before dinner, I do it all the time to help me focus on making decent food. Start with pasta. Boil some noodles, pick whatever kind you like: it can be spaghetti, bow tie, macaroni, doesn’t matter. Noodles have directions on the box or bag that tell you how long to cook them. If you’re worried about messing up, take one noodle out of the pot with tongs and try eating it to see if it’s at the texture you like. If it tastes how you like then screw the directions, it’s done and you can strain the noodles. Add some butter and Parmesan. Cheese can be shredded, it can be that powdered stuff, whatever will melt and blend into the noodles. Don’t stress about measurements. Start with a smaller amount of each ingredient, taste the dish, and keep adding more of each until you taste a difference and you like the flavor. If you want to razzle dazzle it up you can squeeze a lemon over everything to really bring up the flavor. Bam there you have Noodles and cheese. Super easy beginner dish that is cheap and if you mess it up who cares a box of pasta is like $1 and you can try again. Salmon is tricky to start learning to cook with. If you really want to cook meat start with ground beef. Can’t go wrong with ground beef and you can use it for premade boxed meals like hamburger helper!
You can also add ground beef to pasta sauce pretty easily. Add the beef to a pot and put the heat on medium. Break up the beef and keep stirring until you don’t see any more pink. Once the meat has browned, add a jar of red pasta sauce (any brand). Allow the sauce to warm up. When it is bubbling, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer (slightly bubble) for about 30 minutes. You can add herbs like oregano if you want to get fancy. Serve over pasta. This will give you enough for 4-6 meals. You just have to make the pasta and reheat the sauce. Leftovers mean dinner can be ready pretty quickly after you get home. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Cooking is a skill and it takes practice to get good at it.
Get a rice cooker. Some frozen veggies and a protien. I lived off this when I was poor. Pork, chicken thighs, etc. Google "how to bake ccken thighs" or if yoy have an air fryer "how to air fry pork chops" etc. It can still be nutritious and filling even if it's basic. If you're low on grocery budget fill up on protien and carbs and add veggies when you can. If you can afford or for a couple of weeks, or can get your hands on a discount code, try a food box. Goodfood. Hello Fresh. Chefs Plate. Etc... you can learn a lot of the basics and still eat balanced meals. There's lots of coupons out there to try a free box. Maybe ask around or Google discount codes.
Why did you through out your salmon? Always try to salvage your mistakes.
Start with cooking-less food. Cold meat sandwiches. Then, cook those in a pan. Cooked cold meat is probably the easiest food in the world. Toast the bread in the pan too if you want. Then graduate to burgers. And then do something that combines that with something else, like Spaghetti Bolognese - 250g spaghetti, add it to an already boiling pot of water. Boil it until 'aldente' (it's cooked when you can fish it out with a fork or serving spoon, bite into it and it is smooth), when cooked drain the water by either blocking the pasta with a serving spoon and tipping into the sink, or by using a colander. While that is boiling: - 500g-1kg/1-2lb beef mince, lean or fatty either works, 1 jar of italian sauce, like Dolmio. Fry the mince until it is a uniform brown, add the sauce in and stir for a few minutes. This timing should line up pretty well with the pasta finishing, if the pasta is not done, set the pan to low heat and put the cover on it, stirring occasionally. Portion into 4-6 servings, Put the extra servings in the freezer and re-heat it with your microwave, or in an oven-safe bowl or dish, with alfoil over the top for ~10-20 minutes @180C/300F.
Poor and starving, but you bought salmon and are throwing it away? Come on now, at least make it believable.
Exactly!
And buying takeaways?
I'm sure someone struggling with cooking anxiety needs to be shamed for the poor financial outcomes it leads to! that's very helpful /s
I cant eat it because i left it out for too long, I was just trying to thaw it so I left it out on the counter for an hour I didnt know you couldnt do that and i didnt know it comes frozen from the store
That would have been fine to eat after you cooked it.
No, it would not.
Yes it would. There's only a risk after the food reaches 40F. There's no way a frozen fish has reached that temperature after an hour.
It's never safe to defrost anything on the counter, no matter how long for. It's especially risky for frozen vacuum sealed fish. Promoting unsafe practices is dumb because you don't care about the science and disagree with food safety organisations is anti-science.
After an hour from frozen solid it would probably still have been a little solid ice in the middle. No one is going to die from eating fish that's been out of the safe zone for 20 minutes especially fish like that that's probably caught, processed and immediately flash frozen aboard the trawler (assuming wild salmon), that's just ridiculous.
Ya still not true dude.
Feel free to post a link to any government level food safety agency, from anywhere in the world, that says it's okay to defrost things on the counter. The fact you don't understand the increased risk from vacuum sealed frozen fish means you really shouldn't be giving food safety advice, especially in a beginners sub.
An hour on the counter does not ruin a fish. You are fear mongering.
The USDA states that food should not be left at room temperature for longer than 2 hours. [Source](https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/big-thaw-safe-defrosting-methods).
Food can stay in the danger zone for up to 4 hours. 1 hour is nothing. Stop fearmongering.
1 hour? Ya, it was perfectly fine, *especially* if it started frozen.
While it's not a good idea to thaw anything on the counter, there was no reason to throw it away because you let a frozen salmon on the counter for an hour. Why would you throw that away? Of you don't have like 50 degrees Celsius in the kitchen that probably didn't even do anything temperature wise to the salmon.
i read on line that if you do that it gets food borne illnesses in it and i got scared and it started looking not right
I suggest staying away from cooking animal proteins until you've got a better grasp of cooking and food safety. Meat is more expensive, anyway. Stick with cheap ingredients until you've got a few basic dishes down and then you can branch out more. Go to the library and see if you can find a book titled How to Cook Everything: The Basics by Mark Bittman. It's a great primer for people in your position that will help you a lot more than random tidbits of information from internet strangers.
You can get sick from that if you left it out all day, but an hour isn’t going to grow anything particularly harmful. If anything it probably just thawed and that’s why it looked different. If you ever aren’t sure about something going off, your nose is the best tool you have to make that judgement.
Your question, the intense rambling and quick deletion of your own sn kind of answers your own question… I’m sorry if it makes you upset and for your anxiety but you have to start cooking somewhere and not as a madness inducing means to an end . We are not your psychologists Start by not wasting food you just bought. Good cooking means being resourceful
How did you ruin the salmon?
Don't ever feel ashamed of getting food from banks/shelters. You'd be surprised how much healthy fresh food they give. I would definitely take advantage of it. That being said, you don't have to be a great cook to get started. You can start with simple healthy recipes like using frozen vegetables that are already cut. Simply stick them in the microwave or steam/boil them, then season them with butter, salt, pepper. As far as proteins, start with simple ground meats like beef, chicken or pork. You can combine these with pasta which is simple to make. When ready, focus on one whole protein and watch videos on how to cook it. When you master it, move on to the next protein. Even the best cooks mess up so don't beat yourself up. Also, tacos, quesadillas, burritos, sandwiches and salads are really easy to make. All of these can be made in a few minutes and with fresh whole foods.
I am not sure why you had to throw out salmon, except maybe you burned it to a black crisp. If this was the case, stay with the pan and watch it. Food does not have to been thrown out if it does not 100% look and turn out the way you expect it It seems you have internet access. There are thousands of websites and YouTube videos about learning how to cook.
i have no clue why this sub gets these posts every. single. day. it's called cooking for BEGINNERS, not "cooking for people who don't want to put any effort into figuring things out for themselves and think they're entitled to have things explained to them while having their hand held". use google. look up "easy homemade meals". but PLEASE, stop bothering this sub until you have a real question you wanna ask.
Thanks for your rude response, was very helpful 10/10
you didn't even ask a question in your post. "waa waa help me i can't cook!!" i don't know what to say, use google. your situation isn't as unique as you think, you can look for the hundreds of posts on this sub about this exact topic and find people just like you.
And it didn't even have anything to do with cooking. He just left the salmon out and got paranoid, then threw it away. Didn't even attempt to cook it.
It may sound harsh but this is good advice. I had no idea how to cook either when I finally started at the age of 33 four years ago during lockdowns. I screwed up so many Salmon recipes and rice too. The best advice really is to keep watching YouTube videos and even if you mess up at first eventually something clicks and you start gaining experience. I'm not sure if you can afford them but I started with meal kits during covid. Recipes are included in the box and give you step by step directions along with all the ingredients you need minus salt pepper oil and butter. Feeling overwhelmed is normal when starting cooking at least it was for me. The only solution is to keep working on it.
Believe it or not, I learned a lot about the nuances of cooking from watching Food Network. I suggest starting with Worst Cooks In America.
This is how I learned the right way to dice an onion!
Great idea!
Serious suggestion - sign up for the free version of ChatGPT and ask the obnoxiously friendly robot all your questions. All you need to do describe the problem with some details. Not - “salmon was bad” but “salmon was burnt on the outside and raw inside” or “salmon smelled fishy and tasted sour” and ask what went wrong, and it will tell you the problem and make suggestions for how to fix it. This chatbot can 100% hold your hand through every cooking question and will happily answer extremely basic questions. Here is a sample conversation I just had with it about salmon. Notice how anything confusing or not specific, I could just ask what it meant. https://chatgpt.com/share/e225bad4-5c34-43ad-a1d2-3a294cb55a40
Thanks! i will try it
Salads, yo.
Well, if by ruin it, you mean you cooked it a bit too long, then there is a possible solution. Shred it a mix it with diced onions and pickles. Mix in some mayo, a bit of mustard, and a touch of lemon juice. Now serve it as a sandwich with crisp lettuce and some tomato. Additionally, you could grill the bread after buttering the outside. Put a slice of cheese on both pieces and put the salmon salad on top of the cheese. Now you have a delicious salmon melt. For elevation, I think a few strips of crispy bacon on that melt would be insanely delicious.
They threw it away because they thought thawing it on a counter for an hour would mean it was ruined. They need more help than anyone here can give them (I feel like this is an anxiety issue even more than an "I've never learned to cook" issue). I never really learned to cook either. I just bought a basic cookbook and followed the directions. It's not creative or anything (that came later), but it is enough to be able to feed yourself.
Oh, well that is crazy. I thaw mine in a bowl of water, but an hour on the counter isn't something to fear.
I think it’s helpful for every anxious cook to read through the servsafe course or at least the bullet points. Knowing how to “properly” defrost something can take away that anxiety about maybe doing it wrong. Like in this case, defrost in the fridge 24hrs ahead of time, or under constantly running cold water day-of, or even microwave if you’re cooking immediately after defrosting. Stick to those three methods and you’re safe.
Even a failure can be considered a success, if you’ve learnt a little from that experience - it means your next salmon will be better for it :) embrace the errors - you are human after all, and you should take pride in having a healthy attitude and strong focus on your wellbeing :)
Watch YouTube videos on how to cook. Start easy, scramble some eggs, make a grilled cheese, make pancakes. When you learn to control the heat to cook those things, you can move on to other things. Don't be like my one grandma that cooked and burned everything on HIGH heat, there are other settings.
Begin with basic recipes that require minimal ingredients and steps. For examples: scrambled eggs, grilled cheese, pasta with marinara sauce, or a simple stir-fry.
Watch the YouTube channel Food Wishes by Chef John. He has thousands of videos. Think of something you want to cook, then find Chef John's video for it. Watch the video 4 or 5 times, go to the store to get the ingredients, then come back, watch it again, and get cookin. I promise you will succeed.
Play some cozy music when you’re in the kitchen. The Joy of Cooking has great, relatively easy recipes to follow. Take pics of your ingredients and the final result. Keep trying even after disaster! There’s tons of recipes online for meals on a budget. You’ll improve, be easy on yourself.
Well...buy those boxed dinners like hamburger helper and the home style bakes. Follow the directions exactly. Then there is always sandwiches. Bread, meat and cheese. You won't starve. Frozen or fresh vegetables, canned tuna, sardines. You can bake chicken or pork chops at 350 for 80 mins. Season both sides lightly with salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Baked potatoes 350 for 2 hrs, rinse off potatoes and wrap in foil The oven is going to be the safest way when beginning. you can bake just about anything at 350. Oatmeal in the mornings bc it's simple and has fiber. You can add a little spoon of butter and sugar or honey if want. It's not the most flavorful thing but its easy and a classic. On the stove you can cook just about anything at medium or low medium heat in a skillet. My oven tops go to 10 for high so I set it at 4. Be patient. Simple salt and pepper for seasoning.
Don't start with salmon! I cook everyday and salmon is on my "never again" list. I love it but I CANNOT cook it well and that's ok. I didn't learn how to cook until COVID. Honestly, I started with the "home chef" boxes u can buy at Kroger. YES, they're pricey but it comes with the exact amount of ingredients and exact details. After I had a couple of those I liked, I took a pic of the recipe and instructions and bought the things separately, not in the easy box. That builds confidence. There's also an app I love called emeals. Easy recipes, builds a shopping list for you and gives step by step instructions. You really just have to GO for it and be confident. It does take time but just try to do one meal a day. You WILL learn. I'm now considered the best cook in our family and I'm VERY proud of it bc I used to be EMBARRASSED I couldn't make a thing.
I am sorry to hear things are so tough for you. What kind of situation are you working with? Do you have access to a kitchen? What kind of kitchen equipment do you have? Can you buy food, or do you have to make do with food pantry items? I would start with learning to cook eggs, since they are fairly affordable. You can find tutorials on Youtube on how to make scrambled eggs, fried eggs, or omelettes.
First, tell us how you ruined that salmon? From there, we can advise you what you may have done wrong during the process. Don't bring yourself down. I ruin a dish I cook often every now and then, usually from overcooking, though it's still flavoursome. Cooking doesn't need to be perfect or look good, as long as it tastes ok.
Here are a few ideas to improve your odds of success: **Mis en place**, which is what professionally trained chefs do. Before you cook anything or mix anything, get out ALL of your ingredients and prepare them. Set up your ingredients so you can easily grab them, and tidy up/put away the jars, bottles, that half of an onion, etc., before starting to cook. This keeps you organized, lets you identify missing ingredients before it's too late to help, and allows you to focus on the actual cooking instead of trying to alternate between watching a pan and doing prep on your cutting board. It also allows you to clean as you go, which is incredibly useful. **Take it one element at a time.** If you're trying to make a new entree for the first time, it's maybe a good idea to have side dishes that you're already familiar with so you're not trying to master multiple new recipes at the same time. Bonus if you can prepare the other elements of your meal ahead of time or in a way that they don't have to be monitored constantly while you're making the new dish (like putting potatoes in the oven and letting them slowly bake while you figure out how to make a great protein on your stovetop, or creating a new and amazing stir fry with incredible sauce but just using microwave instant rice). **Buy prepped ingredients.** Frozen vegetables are fabulous because they can be cheaper, they're often of good quality, and they come diced or cut in specific shapes. You can also get diced onions or mirepoix this way. You may need to cook them down a bit due to water content, but you can't beat ease of use or longevity. Your produce section or the deli section also may have fresh produce that's already chopped and ready for use, like sliced baby portabella mushrooms or shredded carrots or pineapple cubes. **Have a backup plan.** Sometimes, you do your best and still accidentally scorch the soup or discover the recipe was actually terrible and you hate the end result. Having leftovers, a can of soup, or sandwich fixings gives you a quick meal so you're not frustrated AND starving. **Some appliances can help streamline cooking.** If you find it hard to stay organized and focused using traditional cooking methods with multiple dishes, you might consider looking for one-pot meals or sheet pan meal recipes. Another option would be to use a crockpot or Instant Pot because you can prep your ingredients, put them inside the device, turn it on and then it takes care of cooking and you can just do whatever you want while you wait for the timer. There are also amazing recipes online and subreddits dedicated to using these appliances.
Chili is easy. Brown and drain a pound of ground beef or turkey. Add 1 can drained beans, 1 can diced tomatoes with juice and a package of seasoning. Add hot sauce, heat and eat.
Troll post? I dunno if I should send this to shitpost sub or facepalm sub lmao
Start by learning how to make sandwiches first. Then move to hot dogs. Boil them. Dont microwave them. Boil them. Really. Buy hotdog buns. Buy chili. Add keychup, mustard, onions. Etc.. Learn to cook eggs. Scrambled, fried, boiled. Make egg salad. Learn how yo make canned soup. Again no. Microwave..just medium.low heat in a small pot on the stove. Watch it. When it starts getting warm with a small bit of steam rising, it's ready. Pour it into a bowl. Eat with saltine crackers. Learn how to make grilled cheese . It's not hard. You just need to use medium low heat. 2 slices of sliced cheese between 2 pcs of bread. Here's a secret. Spread the outside of the bread with mayo. It's the fat in it that helps to grill the bread. Put the bread in the pan mayo side down. Let it grill for a few mins. Lift it up carefully. Look at the bottom. If it's brown enough to your liking, smear the top with mayo and flip it over to brown the other side. You'll get it. Just remember, temperature control. It's always medium or medium low heat. You really don't need really high heat for anything. You really don't need a microwave. Start small.get a 5 ingredient cookbook. They're on Amazon. Pack your lunches. Eat at work. You can do this. Good luck.
A stir-fry was one of the first things I learned. It’s stupidly easy. Preheat pan, add oil of choice then throw in chopped aromatics. Add any chopped veggies (you can boil them first if you want). Stir and toss until it looks and tastes cooked.
Get sandwich ingredients and things you don't have to cook like hummus/pita chips/carrots/peanut butter/apples/yogurt. You could survive just off of those and it would be cheap and easy. Have a friend or family member come over and teach you how to cook a protein such as chicken and just master that.
YouTube is a great resource for people learning how to cook. You can find everything there from knife basics, to required hardware, to simple recipes. There’s almost always a recipe link so you can have the ingredients in a list. As it’s video format they essentially walk you through the steps, telling you what you should see/smell, and rough times. Alton Brown was basically my surrogate parent when I was growing up because he explained cooking in such a way that I picked up on it pretty easily.
The secret to success - from beginner home cooks to restaurant chefs - have your prep done before you actually start to cook. Trying to get things out of the fridge or pantry, opening packaging, washing vegetables, cutting ingredients, etc. while something is on the heat is hard to do. And that's how things get burned or ruined. Slow down, take your time, have a plan then execute it. No one was born a good cook - getting better is all about keeping at it, gaining experience and learning from your mistakes.
Salmon is tricky!! I struggle cooking it at the right temperature. I think cooking chicken is a lot easier and affordable. Just get yourself a meat thermometer. Shrimp is pretty easy too! When I was starting out I made a lot of pastas. I also really like Sohla El Wayley’s cooking 101 videos on YouTube. She has one of fish that may be helpful for your salmon endeavors. And I used her spatchcocked chicken recipe recently and it turned out really good.
Hey friend! I’m a terrible cook. Now that I’ve moved into my first apartment at 20, I have to learn to cook after not even knowing how to boil pasta. It’s not so bad! It’s time consuming when you’re first trying to find your feet. But it gets better. 1. A food thermometer for meat will be your best friend. I’m real bad with over/undercooking so this helps loads. 2. A cheap kitchen scale and a measuring cup are amazing at helping you figure out portions so you waste less. Just Google a single portion of xyz and measure it out! 3. Try to make meals that stretch, stuff like stews or just double up on portions and put the rest in the fridge for tomorrow. Works out cheaper too 4. The longer you cook at home, the cheaper it gets. You’ll find you’ve got lots of random scraps and veg and things in the pantry to use up overtime so you won’t have to keep buying new ones. Frozen is also super cheap and keeps forever. Something I do is look up easy recipes that I love. Stuff like baked chicken, macaroni, tacos, quesadillas, rice. I find *easy* recipes for *beginners* and try to make it at home for myself. So far, it’s been going pretty good! And I’m saving lots.
dont be too hard on yourself, here are some simple recipes that have worked out for me. i’d suggest straying away from meats that aren’t chicken or prawn because they may be a little more difficult when it comes to cooking. thai basil fried rice recipe - super quick and easy and flavourful, hard to screw up - https://seonkyounglongest.com/thai-basil-fried-rice/ almost any salad works, vegetarian recipes are usually easier. baked ones too like baked pasta etc. start off with more beginner-friendly recipes!
As someone who also sucks at cooking, I understand! I’ve been cooking for my family for 15 years and still can’t get it right a lot of days. My suggestions are to start with buying some food basics that are low in cost and easy to use. Don’t try and get fancy until you are comfortable with the basics. Basic meals can still be semi healthy and comforting. Use “cheat” items like microwave rice pouches, jarred sauces, tinned veg etc. There is no shame in using these items and they can often be very cheap (here in UK microwave rice can be bought for 35p). Once you are comfortable you can move onto cooking your own sauces, prepping meats and veg, getting more adventurous with recipes. I cook a lot of dishes like jacket potato with beans and cheese, rice with chicken and veg (and some sort of sauce), spaghetti bol (with jarred sauce) and sausage with mash potato. I try to only have three elements to my meals - a protein, a carb and a vegetable. Any more than that is when things get a bit sketchy for me. You can add elements to your dishes that don’t need cooking too - I put bowls of sides like tortilla chips or poppadoms out on night when we have chilli or curry dishes, a side bowl of salad is always a good way to get some veg in too. I’d avoid overpriced items like salmon and chicken - if you are trying to gain weight back these two proteins are not the best choice for you right now anyway. You might find “one pot recipes” easier to handle, if it’s the coordination that is throwing you off. Freezer foods can be good too - especially if you can find items that have similar cooking times so you can whack multiple things in the oven on the same tray and the same time. Don’t let it stress you out - some days your dinner might be a bit funky but you’ll improve over time. As long as it’s safe to eat, who cares if it looks or tastes a little weird from time to time haha.