I can't cook! Why cant i cook!?!? Tonight was bad!

Don't feel bad. It takes work to master cooking. It took me some time to ready get it down also. I took baby steps to learn how to cook meals beyond hot dogs and burgers lol. I know when I got married last January I started doing my own meals at home, I burnt and overcooked food. My hubby was my taste tester and he would not sugarcoat it when I overspiced something. One time I seasoned fish with too much lemon pepper that it overpowered the fish. I used to get so upset but learned from each time I cook. My little sister and brother who are better cooks than me has helped me get better and would give me pointers on what to do next time. One time I surprised them and my husband when I made mexican pizzas. They were a hit. What also helped is learning what used what. Like the glass measuring cups are for liquids, the cute measuring cups are for dry stuff, etc. I am a visual learner so I checked out cooking clips on you tube and read stuff on ehow and wikihow. So again don't feel sad, you will not become iron chef over night but with practice you know how to get the basics down. A friend of mine is living by himself and he told me one time that he messed up boiling a hot dog and making Ramen noodles. The last time I saw a status on facebook, dude was making tacos.

Hi there! I am not a culinary expert, but I want to try to help you. Sometimes the cookbooks don't put everything in the recipe, in other words, it's up to you to guess. But let me give you some tips: If you are a one pot addict, I would suggest that you cook the meat first because it takes longest to cook (like pork, beef,and chicken). The principle here is that foods that take longer to cook should be placed first. To bring out the flavor of the meat,( example chicken) you can try to stir fry the chicken first with the garlic and the onions. Once the juice has come out, you can add some water. Then if you like to add vegetables, think of the principle again and add the vegetable that takes longer to cook. Vegetables with leaves cook faster. Season only when everything is almost cooked because the food will absorb the water and make it too salty (unless you are cooking adobo wherein the mixture of sour and salty makes it adobo). Actually for corn, ( especially Japanese corn) just put a level teaspoon of salt with water, let it boil and place the corn, and cook it for 25 minutes. Don't remove it immediately from the pot. Let it stay there until you are about to it. As for baking, you have to follow every instruction to the dot, because either too much or too little of an ingredient will make your baked product bad. For moist cakes, some add mayonnaise to keep it soft. or even olive oil.

I feel so badly for you because you had extra pressure by having additional people at the dinner table. First of all, don't stress. I have been cooking for years and when I try new things, some are real successes, some passable and some are garbage. We all try by experimenting, but I think the first step for a beginning cook is the slow cooker or crock pot. There are so many easy recipes online and in books that you can't overcook and are tender and juicy. When I was a working mom, I looked forward to the delightful smell as I opened the door at the end of the day and I knew supper would always taste great. As far as vegetables go, these new steam in the bag vegetables rival fresh and are so easy to prepare. They even have potatoes that steam in the bag. I believe in the "Semi Homemade" type of recipes that Sandra Lee does on the cooking channel. I've learned so many neat cooking ideas from watching the Food Network. Reading a recipe is one thing, but when you watch someone actually prepare those dishes, you can really learn a lot. There are also some great cooking videos online too. The best thing to do is to not be too hard on yourself. Cooking is a life skill and since we all eat every day, there is always tomorrow. You will get better with every meal. Just by adding a few different ingredients, you can take a simple recipe and make several different meals. GOOD LUCK!

i learned to cook back in high school i took home ect think that right to help me to learn to cook and then i would call my ex girlfriends moms up and ask them how to make things. but at least you are trying. try to start off with the easly things first, and ask maybe your mother in law or another person to teach you. yeah i burn lot of things when i started to cook. now i am a cooking fool. the thing with the mash potatoes if they are watery add more flakes to it. all i do. lol

If you are serious about wanting to learn to cook, call your local community college and see if they have some cooking classes available ..... For Roast beef, invest in a slow cooker , they are very inexpensive , $30 or under . You can put beef in it in the morning and let it slow cook all day and it will be great ....I usually put the meat in the slowcooker , sprinkle seasoned meat tenderizer over the meat , a pinch of salt and some Black pepper. just enough water to cover the meat and put the lid and let it do its thing ..............I cut an onion up in mine to..... If you want to learn how to cook something email me and I will see if I can help you through it .....cheryltippett@aol.com

I think you may need practice. It's like every other talent, some have it naturally and some have to work at it. Here's the key question, Do you like to cook? My grandmother was amazing in so many ways, but she hated to cook and boy was she lousy at it!! My grandfather did all the cooking and he was a cook in the Navy so very very good. As far as the roast goes, you might want to get a Meat thermometer and also check your oven temp. Ovens can run hot or cold depending on how well the elements are working. We just had to replace the electric burner elements in our oven since it was burning everything, I had to decrease both the temp and the time and I still burned some items. We got the new elements and I made a roast chicken the night my beloved installed the new units and it came out fantastic. So you may not be completely to blame. And how long have you been cooking? I was lucky to learn much of my cooking and baking skills from my Mom. She was a great cook and from the time I was about 7 I spend time learning and watching and helping. So by the time I grew up I already had most of the skills to make a very good meal. You might want to take a cooking class if you like to cook and need some help learning. It's like anything else we do, the more practice the better. I love to watch the cooking shows and Emeril is a favorite, he does everythign so fast and well that it seems effortless, BUT he's been doing it for over 20 years!! That's alot of time to get good. Cooking for the extended family can always be extra stressful so you might want to stick to things that you make best. Almost everyone loves a good italien meal like Spagetti with meat sauce and that's one of the easier meals to master. And GOOD for you for being such a good sport that you all ordered Pizza!

Hi Jennifer, It took me a while to learn to cook well too. When I first got married, I knew next to nothing about cooking a meal. My mom was one that did not want me in the kitchen other than to do dishes. I learned how to bake in 4-h so I was pretty good at that but to cook a real meal...not so good. I scouted the help of my grandmother who taught me so so much. If I ate at a friends house, I got the recipe of foods that I liked. I did not give up and eventually I got pretty good at it. If you don't have someone who can help you learn then maybe you could take a cooking class. If you really want to be a cook, you can do it. It takes a little practice and a lot of trial and error but if you are determined then I'm sure you will succeed. Heck...I could not even make mashed potatoes when I started out.

Recipies are good but it actually makes a big difference what you cook in! The pan you use....I like to buy those foil pans because it is so convenient after you cook you can just toss the pan but every time i cook a roast in one...doesnt matter if its beef pork or chicken...it always comes out tough and chewey and overcooked....but if i use my big aluminum stock pot ..put the roast inside and put the lid on and cook on 325 for 3 hours ...it comes out perfect and falling off the bone every time!!

Start out small and work your way up is the best advice I can give. Don't even try to tackle a huge meal until you've mastered the basics, and don't fret about not being an instant expert in the kitchen. I have still never cooked a big family meal. Find some nice, basic recipes, focus on perfecting the basic things for just the two of you and then start working your way up to more complicated stuff. And also, get a crock pot. No matter how little skill you have in the kitchen anyone can throw ingredients in a crock pot and come back in 8 hours to a wonderful meal, even roast beef.

I also can not cook, but I continue to learn. I often try the recipes. I sometimes cook a dish that tastes good, sometimes it's too bad. you just need to continue to practice cooking.

If you've done every bit of instruction from a cook book and still the dish turns out exactly opposite of what you hoped it would be then there must be something wrong with your food ingredient. Sometimes the quality of an ingredient can greatly affect the outcome of the recipe. Maybe the beef that you used was an old one (it came from an old cow).

Hi there! I think you're not a bad cook.. I think you just have to learn a few basics in cooking. You don't really need to follow every procedure in a recipe. With the roast beef, which part did you use? It's better to ask your butcher for a part that is specially used for roasts. Maybe try using a meat thermometer? Just so you don't have to guess if it's raw or done already.

that was really a bad night... I can't cook too... I tried one but it turned out badly and I've never tried cooking again...One time my boyfriend invited me to his house and he cooked for me, I was so impressed and somehow I got motivation to try again..then I did, but nothing improved, I guess cooking is not for me...So my boyfriend decided that since I can't cook then I just have to help prepare things like slicing carrots, potatoes, etc...In your case, I think just practice makes perfect, You're the wife and you really have to be the one to cook for the family. I have nothing much to say 'cause I'm not in your shoes..^^... You can do it! next time will be better.^^

there are some that can't get the handle with cooking. lucky me, cooking runs in my family. my aunt was a cook and from watching her i got the ideas of how to cook. just pay close attention on what you are doing. practice makes perfect. try simple recipes first then move a step higher. you will learn. just persevere.

Hello, I am good with cooking, different kinds of food... well, you over do. I mean you did too much at once time. if you want to make your meal taste better then you have to practice... and not all at once. you have to learn how to EACH one at a time. when it become right then you can do all... and im sure it will turn out good. Direction is important so you have to have follow it and dont loose or skip any point at all. So, when your free time then try Road Beef again... and this time, do it slow and dont be rush

hey it's not that big a deal, and it's not that hard. i am 19, and i have known how to cook for the past 3 years at least. in the beginning, instructions are all you have. maybe you should ask someone for help, be your guide... and then, it just takes a little practice... after some time, you'll leave people licking their fingers. and remember one thing, everybody has their own different style and talent. you might cook something differently than others, but that doesn't mean it's wrong or that it won't taste good. it's always good to experiment in the kitchen, i always do it. just make sure you're not having guests over when you are doing it...

Yes, cooking is a really hard thing to do. I am not a really good cook myself. I try to become better with practice because that's what people keep telling me. With time will come experience. So I keep on trying to get better at cooking by learning from the many cooking errors that I make.

practice makes perfect~ come on~ I cook for myself everyday,though my cooking skill is not great, but not bad,the food I cook can be put in mouth,haha~ I learned to cook when I started to work,it's not too difficult~

I feel for you. When i first started cooking a tried all sorts of complex recipes and they just turned out horrible. I quickly realized that the best way for me to cook was without a recipe because then i only cook with the things i know how to cook. However, sometimes i try new recipes to mix things and i find it easier to make the recipes that come with a video or to choose one that i saw on the food network.

dont worry. cooking is not easy thing.you need practice just.