Reddit reviews How to Boil Water

• Basic tools (screwdriver, hammer, pliers, channel lock, adjustable wrench)
  
• LED flashlight
  
• Dinnerware for at least four
  
• A good set of kitchen knives
  
• A pot, at least one saucepan, and at least one frying pan
  
• A cookbook
  
• Wooden spoons
  
• Basic herbs and spices (salt, pepper, parsley, sage, oregano, basil, thyme, paprika, rosemary)
  
• A pair of dress shoes
  
• A pair of sneakers
  
• A pair of comfortable boots
  
• A suit (navy or charcoal gray; black is for servants and undertakers)
  
• A bookshelf filled at least halfway with books, preferably books you've read.
  
• A bed with room for two
  
• A set of cotton sheets
  
• A set of flannel sheets
  
• Blankets
  
• A nightstand
  
• Condoms
  
• Water-based lube
  
• A plunger
  
• A garbage bin in the kitchen and bathroom
  
• First-aid kit
  
• A glass or metal water bottle to fill from the tap and refrigerate (never buy bottled water).
  
• Jumper cables, unless you live in a city where car ownership isn't necessary

Cooking totally isn't a hobby. It's basic survival. You just need a few dedicated items to make practically anything. My kitchen is wee and generally always has been. Even with a hot plate, one pan, and a spatula, I could turn out an incredible number of easy recipes.

It's easy, I promise! You'll mess up sometimes, but it's so worth the effort.

Try a cookbook like these (you can check many out from the library, too):

Cooking Basics

Cooking 101

How to Boil Water

I Hate to Cook Book

There’s a funny cookbook my boss got for a coworker called something like “How to Boil Water” with just the basics. Might not be a bad idea to pick that up for him and have him cook 1-2 times/week with your supervision.

And this makes me so glad my DH can cook! He keeps me fed and happy with healthy meals.

ETA here’s the link https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0696226863/ref=cm_cr_othr_mb_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8#cm_cr_carousel_images_section

I bought How to Boil Water for a friend needing to learn to cook. It assumes you're a beginner, so explains not only the steps, but the reasoning behind them.

I was like that about a year ago. I was really intimidated and had zero skills, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be.

Anyway, I hear How to Boil Water is a good cookbook for absolute beginners.

Also, there's a couple of terms that are the basic to a lot of recipes, and once you learn those, it makes everything easier.

One of those is sautee. It comes up often with onions at the beginning of recipes.

Here's a primer to cook many different types of vegetables: Put a little bit of oil on the pan (enough to coat the bottom). Any oil will do, but olive oil is better for many things (and healthier). Heat the oil. Add some garlic. Garlic is most flavourfull when the cell walls are broken, so chop it up finely, smash it down with the blunt side of the knife, or use a garlic press. Alternatively you can use garlic power, but it's not as good as fresh. Let the garlic turn golden brown. Now the oil is infused with delicous garlic-y flavour which you can add to whatever other vegetables you have on hand. Throw fresh chopped vegetables in or some pre-chopped frozen ones and add salt and pepper to taste. Every once in a while pick one up and see if it's the consistency you'd like by biting into it. The best thing about cooking vegetables is that if you undercook it, it's just extra crunchy.

Extra tips on specific types of vegetables for this process:
Onions - usually you can put them in with the garlic, and all subsequent vegetables will gain it's delicious flavour too. Usually you cook them until they're kind of translucent, or they're golden brown (for a milder, slightly sweet taste)
Bok choy - cook them till they're kind of mushy and soaked with oil (so good!)
Asparagus - break off the ends because they're tough to chew
Brocolli - It'll turn a brighter shade of green when done

You can also do this to cooked pasta, for when flavourless pasta is becoming old.


Also, chili is a good beginner recipe (and hard to screw up if you make it vegetarian). I recommend you use a recipe for the first couple of times, but after that, you'll know that you can just throw any chili type things you have. Sautee onions (with or without garlic). Throw in a bunch of cans of beans (whatever kind you prefer or a mixture), throw in cans of diced tomatoes (bonus points if you have fresh), any vegetables you want to get rid of, some cumin, some chili powder, some Italian seasoning (it's a mixture of oregano, basil, and rosemary and other herbs that go well with a lot of things), salt, pepper if you feel like it, and whatever spices you feel like. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat so it's simmering for a while. The longer you simmer, the more time the spices have to infuse, some people do it for hours, but sometimes there isn't time for that so you can do it for about half an hour.

Other easy recipes you can look up: eggs (omelets, hard boiled, stirred with rice and leftovers, fried eggs), stir fry, quesidillas, curry, crepes. Frozen salmon (throw it in the oven for however long the package says, with maybe a bit of salt, and it'll flavour itself).

Oh, and rice: I recommend a rice cooker. There's a couple of ways to make rice, and it's dependant on culture/type of rice you want to make. Easiest way: throw in some rice in the rice cooker, add 1 to 2 times the ratio of water, throw in some salt if you feel like it. Plug in the machine and it'll beep and turn itself off when you're done.
For less starchy rice, wash the rice first. (It's not that it's dirty, there's just starch around it). The number of times you throw in some water, swish it around, and throw it out during the cooking process is again, dependent on culture. Do it more for softer, fluffy rice, and more for firmer rice. For brazilian style rice, do the garlic thing in the rice cooker before you add the rice. For Japanese style rice (like sticky rice), buy short grained rice, wash it several times, and add more water (between 1:2 to 1:2.5 rice to water ratio). To make it sushi rice, add sushi vinegar (you can find it in asian grocery stores). With a little soy sauce and some smoked salmon on top, it makes really easy sushi.
(Sorry for such a long rice section. I'm brazilian and japanese. Rice is an institution at my house).

Also, big tip: never serve things until you've tasted it. I think one of the main skills of cooking is tasting what something needs (e.g. more spicy, more salty, more oregano, etc.). It takes some practice, but it means you can make things how you want to taste rather than the person who wrote the recipe likes it to taste.


Cooking websites:
www.supercook.com - tells you a list of possible recipes based on what ingredients you have
www.cookingforengineers.com

How to Boil Water I think is perfect for what you're looking for. It covers a lot of basic stuff that really helps when it comes to approaching new recipes and being comfortable.

I'm not a pro by any stretch, but my parents never taught me how to cook growing up (as well as other common household things) I've made an effort to learn well enough to teach my daughters.

Make all my Thanksgiving from scratch on Thursday, wish me luck!

EDIT: Personal tip, stock up on seasonings when you can, they tend to go a long way. And make sure to taste them and smell them individually from time to time. It helps get a feel for what it contributes to what you're cooking, and what flavor you want.

Cheap fast good is a great book.

https://www.amazon.com/Super-Easy-Cookbook-Beginners-5-Ingredient-ebook/dp/B07FB2Q1RG/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?

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https://www.amazon.com/Boil-Water-Food-Network-Kitchens/dp/0696226863/ref=sr_1_16?

This cookbook would be really helpful for "them." It's got all the basics easily laid out. After mastering these, other recipes should be much easier to tackle.

Referring to this book.

I found this book to be useful.

Ok, a few things that I hope can help:

1. What kind of recipes have you tried in the past? It might help to start with meals that are easy, individual things like: baked chicken, asparagus, and a salad. So, if you mess up the asparagus you still have chicken and a salad to be proud of. Also, they require really minimal skills. There are some really great beginner cookbooks and food blogs. How to Boil Water comes to mind. Also, if you feel comfortable, ask your boyfriend for pointers, or suggest that you cook a few meals a week together so that you can learn in a fun, low-pressure way. Don't get discouraged - everyone has to start somewhere!
   
   
2. Some basic cooking tips that may help: I've found that it really helps to set up a "mise en place" before I start to cook. That's basically a fancy French word for saying prep everything first. Anything that needs to be chopped: chop it. Anything that needs to be peeled: peel it. Measure all your spices out. Read the recipe through once twice before you do ANYTHING so that you can see what each step is and what sort of timing you'll be working with. That way you don't get to the end of the recipe like "Wait, why didn't I use these chopped onions yet? Oh shit, they were supposed to go in FIRST."
   
   
3. A lot of your foods are carb/sugar heavy. I don't believe in cutting out one category of food and I'm not a nutritionist, but you will feel fuller, longer if you focus on getting more protein. Pizza bagels are super yummy but pretty lacking in nutrition. Really focus on eating whole foods, like fruits, vegetables, lean protein, etc. I saw some of your posts that you snack on FiberOne bars and Nature Valley bars. That's totally fine if you're starving and in a jam with not much else to eat. If it's every day though, try and think about what you're aiming for with those snacks. They're both really full of sugar, and personally, the fiber in FiberOne bars gives me a stomach ache. A better option would be something like an apple with almond or real peanut butter (aka a natural brand with ground-up peanuts and salt, not Jiff). That gives you natural fiber, protein from the peanuts, a bit of sugar for your sweet tooth, and is about the same amount of calories. I think it might help to focus on nutrition first, and calorie count once you've got nutrition under control. So, for example, focus on getting a healthy amount of protein (~.8g protein per lb of your body weight), fiber, more vitamins, and less added sugar. Then once you feel like you're eating fairly healthy, shift your focus to getting the proper amount of calories. Just my two cents, but obviously, do what works for you and feels right!
   
   Edit: Whoops, just saw you said protein hurts your stomach. Do the hard boiled eggs and tuna hurt your stomach too? If not, maybe focus on getting protein via eggs and tuna, but increasing the quantity of those two things gradually. There's a great, easy recipe for eggs that's basically "Simmer tomato sauce in a large pan, crack eggs into it, cover pan with a lid, cook for ~8 mins until the eggs are firm." Super yummy and would give you protein.

For just starting out I really like How to Boil Water by the Food Network. It's not huge, but has lots of good tips and photos for beginners and the recipes are quick and easy to follow. However if they really get into cooking they'll outgrow it pretty quick!

https://www.amazon.ca/Boil-Water-Food-Network-Kitchens/dp/0696226863/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485447936&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+boil+water

There's a cookbook for people like you:

https://www.amazon.com/Boil-Water-Food-Network-Kitchens/dp/0696226863

How to boil water has a lot of good tips and the basics, along with some staples. I liked it.

If you're just starting out, How to Boil Water may be a good read. I've recommended it to a lot of college age friends trying to expand beyond easy mac and they've said that a lot of the recipes have been great

The only cookbook I've used multiple times has been How to Boil Water. It has a lot of basic recipes, but the best part about it is that it also gives you lots of great instructions on how to prepare and store different foods. It's a great book that I refer back to often. :)

Along the same lines as that cookbook, I get a lot of use out of this cook book. It has a lot of information on the basics of cooking, ideas for every meal and each recipe gives ideas on how to change it up. On top of that, I've never made a recipe from it that didn't come out delicious.

Best of luck in your new job

http://www.amazon.ca/Boil-Water-Food-Network-Kitchens/dp/0696226863

One of the best books I've ever ran across for beginners. https://www.amazon.com/Boil-Water-Food-Network-Kitchens/dp/0696226863

Buy this book: How to Boil Water

how to boil water

i got this cookbook as a gift a few years ago, and have found it very helpful. this coming from someone who can absolutely ruin anything in the kitchen!

There's a book from the Food Network called How To Boil water that is supposed to be very good for beginners
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0696226863/

They have a show with the same name (I haven't seen it) that sounds like it might help you.

If you're just starting out there's no shame in using pre-made sauces and stuff to help you get started. There's nothing wring with popping open a jar of spaghetti sauce and using frozen meatballs when you make spaghetti and meatballs for the first time. :) The important thing is that you're doing it.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/how-to-boil-water.html

For learning to cook, I highly recommend How to Boil Water. It got me going on the basics, has uncomplicated (and delicious) recipes--and now I love cooking. Plus, making my own food made me open up my tastes more, and I eat a lot more foods now than I did prior.

And I echo everyone else saying that along with yoga and biking (which are both great, for flexibility and endurance respectively) you should definitely get advice from your boyfriend on how to start an exercise program. Having someone knowledgable to help you get started is invaluable and will give you the confidence and knowledge base to do it on your own. At the very least, he can teach you bodyweight exercises and weight training lifts (squats, rows, presses, deadlifts) to add muscle and strength, and the proper form with which to do them. Good luck!

This was the first cookbook I owned and it is how I learned to cook. Now I make much more advanced recipes and I can just whip things up from whatever is around the house.

The very first lesson in cooking is knowing that you need to read the entire recipe before starting.

Also, Sur La Table offers Knife Skills classes. Basic knife skills are an important part of cooking. The New School of Cooking offers basic courses, but they are pretty pricey.

You need this book:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0696226863