New and very inexperienced :(

[Moo116]

Hello! I have had a membership with discuss cooking for quite a while but never really used it much. Just had it under bookmarks just in case kind of thing. This is my story. My fiance has just moved out of his parents house for the first time and we are living a distance away from each other. He has never had to cook for himself and i have only had a short period of experience with cooking, but alot more ambition than him to do it and willingness to experiment. I can only help him cook when i visit him once a week, but the rest of the time he is on his own. I will be looking for suggestions and ideas to help him make his lunches for work, easy recipes for him to make himself, things that i can make for him and be frozen for meals during the week and ways he can make alot healthier choices than going for instant foods. If anyone can help me out or point me in the right direction on this forum of where i would find the best info for my situation, it would be greatly appreciated. I also wouldn't mind any suggestions of good recipe books for the beginner. Thank You!

[Andy M.]

Welcome aboard!

[MarionW]

Welcome Moo!

[lulu]

Welcome!
I would get him to cook with you when you visit him. My husband I love cooking together, and you might as well get him used to helping you now! I suggest looking in the "freezing section" for meal ideas and there is a recent thread for packed lunches, equally applicable to adult packed lunches as kids!

[MJ]

Welcome to DC!

[cjs]

Welcome to the forums, Moo!! Tough situation you and your fiance are living in at the moment, eh?? I have a couple of suggestions for you -

After doing a search on this forum for recipes with ingredients that sound good to you, you might check out Better Homes and Gardens website - bhg.com - there are wonderful an easy recipes in their files.

A book that I like for casseroles is "The Big Book of Casseroles" - you might look in your library for it or check on Amazon.com and see if they offer used copies for next to nothing, dollar wise.

My last suggestion, I know they will have in your library - look for any of Rachel Ray's cookbooks, 30 Minute Meals, etc. These are all easy and fast.

No, this is my last suggestion - Sandra Lee's books. They are all called Semi-Homemade, another good source for ease and quickness.

Good luck and let us know how you both fare.

Oh, lunches - like tuna? How about mixing tuna, hard cooked eggs, mayonnaise/miracle whip, pickles (chopped) for a filling. If he wraps his lettuce separately and adds to his sandwich at lunchtime, it won't be soggy.

There are all kinds of convenience foods in the market aisles now, pudding and/or fruit cups, little bags of chips, big bags of cookies, etc.