I hardly cook at all. I want to, but think it's impossible. Prove me wrong.

In My Humble Opinion
41

Hi Leaper, I share your pain. Couple of things that helped me: Peg Braken’s I Hate to Cook Book and Appendix to the I Hate to Cook Book. The Appendix has a chapter called “Alone, Eating If” that has some fun ideas centered around baked potatoes and English Muffins.

Second, I’d suggest starting really really really small and working up. Pandora’s suggestion to start with something you already use and like is a good one. For example:

Kraft Macaroni & Cheese–chop up some onion, cook it in a frying pan in butter on low heat until the onion is cooked enough for you. Set it aside in a bowl. Fry up some hamburger, season it with salt, pepper. When it’s cooked, put the onion back in. Make your macaroni & cheese. Mix in the hamburger. You can try adding seasonings such as Italian Seasoning to this too. You can even take the mixture and put it in a dish in the microwave and melt some more cheese on top.

Canned baked beans–Get some hot dogs, cut them up. Cut up some onions. Fry the onions and hot dogs just like you did in “recipe” above. Add them to the baked beans. You can add catsup, mustard, brown sugar, chili, etc. It’s scarey at first–when I was first starting I’d take a cup of the beans and add just a teeny bit of something to it to see if it worked for me.

If you like omelets, learn to make them through trial and error. Put different stuff in them–worst problem is wasting a few eggs if it’s icky.

Ramen Noodles–you can add things to these. I like to add canned corn, cooked chicken, vegetables. You can get the cooked chicken from KFC leftovers.

Jello. Make some. When it’s cool but not solid, add sliced bananas. Add fruit cocktail. Add cool whip. Again, if it’s yucky, you haven’t lost much.

Pudding. Make some. Add stuff to it–cool whip, vanilla wafers, bananas.

Try interim steps like Shake and Bake Chicken, Hamburger Helper, etc.

I guess what I’m saying in this overly long post is to take baby steps. I wouldn’t leap all the way to homemade soup or bread. Just move beyond where you are now.

42

Okay, so you don’t like peanut sauce, although none of the ingredients are on your “I don’t like it” list. No biggie. Tonight you’re going to make a chicken pot pie. (If you say you don’t like chicken pot pie, so help me…where’s the slapping smiley?)

Put on a pot of water to boil, and throw in a piece or two of chicken, depending on the size of the pieces. Use dark meat, it’ll give a better flavor than white meat. Throw in some salt, pepper, garlic (you can use minced, or dried, or substitute garlic salt for the salt if you don’t want to fool with fresh garlic), and Italian seasoning. Exact proportions aren’t important, just keep throwing stuff in till it tastes good.

When the chicken is thoroughly cooked, pull it out and let it cool while you open some canned veggies. You can use premixed, or open cans of stuff you like. There is no wrong way to make a pot pie. Toss the veggies into your broth along with a dollop of butter or margarine, and let them cook for a while. Debone the chicken, then toss the meat back in with the broth and veggies.

While your veggies are soaking up the chickeny goodness in the broth, preheat the oven to 325 and make your crust. You can use the premake pie crusts if you want: just pour you filling into one crust, then turn the other upside down over it. I prefer a more biscuity crust top crust and no bottom crust, though, so I make my own. Make a batch of biscuit dough (from scratch or Bisquick or whatever) or use canned biscuits. If you want a bottom crust, line the bottom of a small baking dish with dough, then pour in the filling. Cover the filling with a sheet of dough, then pop into the oven till golden brown.

If you’ve made too much filling, freeze the excess. If you throw in some lengths of fettucine, it makes great chicken soup.