"Can't Cook, Won't Cook"

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Comment: The spine or cover may be slightly worn but the book is otherwise in good condition and will provide thought provoking read!

My regular diet used to include microwaved scrambled eggs, children’s lunchbox cheeses, tinned lentils mixed with tinned tomatoes, bowls of garden peas, and the “complete food” powder Huel.I can say with confidence, thinking of the microwaved egg and lentil tomatoes, that this would not have always been true of my food. I alternated between the same two dinners for nearly a year, and the same sad desk lunch for two years. Indeed, for the beginner, even the easiest recipes are full of subjective or unclear language, such as “desired consistency”.

You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. As long as you haven’t got a really dodgy oven, there’s very little you can mess up here,” says Iyer. It is the same for tools and equipment: I can’t be without a blender; I don’t think my flatmate ever used one. Ainsly Harriot is in a whole different language when it came to mastering the kitchen, he sung (DANCE DERICK), he danced (YOUR A MONKEY DERICK), and he shaked his hips! According to a 2014 YouGov survey of 10,000 Britons, one of the largest ever conducted about food, 10% of us cannot cook a thing – equating to 5 million people.Ainsley (or other resident chef) showed what they were going to be cooking and then proceeded to cook it, adding mock anger. The joke however was on the friends of the cooks who then had to eat the food that had been lovingly prepared for them. Seeing my staples, when I look in the fridge or cupboard, means I feel more capable and inspired – and I would not have known what they were had I not been forced to find out. In setting up my own pantry, I quickly discovered that my flatmate’s essentials – pickled things, salty fish, hard cheeses, hot sauces – were completely different from mine.

And when I did cook, once every week or two, I did not dare deviate from the basics for fear of presenting him with an inedible dinner. Then once the winner has been decided the walls of the studio open up to reveal a prize (usually a food blender or set of saucepans).Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Hands on …Elle Hunt preparing a meal in her kitchen. Iyer tells me that she developed the traybake concept when her own enthusiasm for cooking was at an all-time low, after a bad breakup. Part of the reason I have been able to go so long without knowing how to cook is that for several years I lived with a friend who enjoyed taking charge in the kitchen. That is certainly my fallback when I don’t feel like cooking, but it doesn’t mean that it can’t be delicious and nutritious,” she says. My advice is to concentrate on a handful of dishes you know you like until you can make them well, and gradually adapt them to make them your own.

After four months of living alone, I have learned that I cannot be without Greek yoghurt, kale, cannellini beans, peanut butter, sour cream, chilli flakes, spinach and frozen chapati breads. Whenever I tried to motivate myself to cook, I’d find a recipe that excited me, then mess it up and be discouraged from trying again.To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.