How do you become a cook
#313563 - 08/20/07 08:36 AM
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Christian Bale
Reged: 01/17/07
Posts: 20
Loc: Staffordshire, United Kingdom
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Hello everyone
"By cooking food" I hear you say. That's the problem I don't know where to start. I've been on Heather's diet since the start of the year and it has reduced my IBS symptoms significantly (severe abdominal pain) but it has been a result of cutting out all those foods that make life worth living.
I have both Heather's books and the recipies look amazing. The problem is that I've never been a cook before. I did a bit while at University but now that I'm living with my parent's again I tend to rely on my Mum for the evening meal (why not?) but as for everything else I never seem to be able to have a snack. My breakfast, lunch and snacks consist of rice krispies with soya milk, white bread with jam (although I've reduced the jam because it seemed to be having an affect on gas...great), soya yogurt and soya custard...beautiful.
If anyone is interested in travelling to Britain to become my own personal chef that would be fantastic but alternatively it would be great if someone would give me a few tips on some basic recipies to liven up my diet and also some ideas to get over the inertia of actually "getting my hands dirty" regarding cooking.
Thank you in advance
Kind regards as always
Tim
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I started cooking in steps. While I did some baking already, I had never been good at throwing together a meal.
The first thing I started with was soups. It's pretty easy to make soups and gets you used to chopping vegetables. Pick your favorite vegetables and a low fat chicken or veggie broth. I also usually add shrimp, tofu or chopped chicken (leftover chicken works great) to the pot.
Another thing to start with is stir-fry. Try two or three vegetables of your choice, again chicken or shrimp or tofu, and pick a sauce. When first starting out it's probably easiest to buy a sauce, try looking for a teriyaki or honey garlic sauce. Put all ingredients in a pan and cook until the meat is done and the veggies are soft. Serve with some rice (getting a rice cooker really helps make this easier).
One stir-fry I make a lot of is chicken, mushrooms, and carrots in a teriyaki sauce. Cut the chicken into small pieces, slice the mushrooms and carrots. Put it into a pan and pour teriyaki sauce over it, cook until the chicken is done and carrots are soft.
Once you get used to cooking like this, you can start making your own sauces, marinades etc. If you want your own home-made teriyaki sauce check out Heather's Eating For IBS Wok-steamed teriyaki salmon, and just take the sauce from that recipe. Making your own sauces will help get you used to spices and other ingredients. Once you're comfortable with that then most recipes should look less scary to try.
Hope this helps, and if you want specific recipes or tips just ask.
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Kat
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A lot of Heather's recipes just had too many moving parts for me when I first started her diet. I could cook but I liked to stick to recipes that had no more than five ingredients including the salt and pepper. So my advice would be to start with simple recipes. You can try browsing through the Recipe Index and see if something looks good and doable.
A good way to overcome inertia, though, might be for you to post what you'd *like* to have for breakfast, lunch, snack, or even dinner, and we'll see if can find a similar safe substitute.
For breakfast, I ate a lot of the Baked Bluberry Pecan French Toast with Maple Blueberry Syrup from Heather's EFI Cookbook when I first started out. I never made the syrup - I just used store-bought maple - and if you just want French toast you can skip all the stuff about sprinkling pecans and blueberries and so on over the top. Just get the bread in the pan and pour the egg mixture over it.
You can also try some of the breads from Heather's EFI Cookbook. The Brown Sugar Banana Bread, Simple Sweet Cornbread, and Gingerbread are all relatively simple. There are lots of muffin recipes in the Recipe Index so you might take a look at those.
For lunch, I agree with K2 that soups are always a good idea. You can also have a simple chicken sandwich with sliced chicken breast on white bread and either low/non fat mayonnaise or non-dairy margarine.
For snacks, I ate a lot of sweets when I first started out. Again a cruise through the Recipe Index would be helpful. I'm not sure what cereals you can get there but the Honey Glazed Snack Mix from Heather's EFI cookbook is wonderful.
You can also do a Search on the Recipe Board for words like:
lunch
snack
breakfast
and you'll hit some posts about what to have for those meals.
Here are some links you can check out for simple recipes and food that doesn't need cooking:
Chicken Chutney Mustard - dinner; ridiculously simple and very good
15 Minute Tomato Bean Soup - lunch; quick, delicious, makes a lot
Hybrid Salmon - dinner; I'm terrified of poaching fish on top of the stove so this let's me do it in the oven
Anti-Depressant Brownies - everybody's favorite
IBS-free without cooking (Part 1)
IBS-free without cooking (Part 2)
And don't forget smoothies
HTH.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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I'm not much of a cook either, but I've been able to find some recipes that are easy to follow and hard to mess up. It's also helpful to have the right cooking tools. Since I've gotten a rice cooker, mini-food chopper, and a good blender, it's made it easier and faster to prepare meals.
Black Bean Soup (Shell's version)
Easy Chicken and Veg Roast
Pumpkin Pie Smoothies
Linguine w/ Clams & Parsley
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Hey! so best way to become a cook is to cook, I never cooked till I got ibs, in fact a set a very small kitchen fire in my home ec class in high school, I'm serious! my parents spent years paying damages, anyway, I started small, angel cake from a mix, bought a rice cooker and just added stuff to rice. just take the plunge, I'd start with some of the desserts because they are fun, easy, will help you feel like you are getting something decadent, which new Ibs dieters always feel is missing. I make pumpkin bread alot, and angel cake from a mix, but with mint and coco powder added.
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ibc a but c predominent doing hypnotherapy and taking it one day at a time
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Thanks for the tips, it's appreciated. I've just had bruschetta for my tea; that should keep the vampiers away!
I'll keep you updated on my progress.
Regards
Tim
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