Help! I can’t cook any more!

Cabbie21 I’m with you on Guardian Feast, sometimes I find the ingredients needed laughable.
A well known cookerywriter once described the seasons mangos arriving in their green grocer - fragrant in their wooden box, wrapped individually in tissue paper and sprinkled with tinsel.
? as if, in Lancashire.

I have almost forgotten how to cook, as my Husband has completely taken over that roll.He cooks things he has heard about, some are good some not, I often think if I was cooking I would make different things, but he isnt keen on giving up his "job", he tends to stck to the same things, which arent always nice but he likes them.Sometimes I long for a good old fashioned English dish, simple, like Macaroni cheese. We dont live in the UK and things are so different,I often think how nice a meat pie would be, but they dont excist here, I am looking forward to being in the UK in two weeks,and then I will eat pies galore!

Adding a little hot chilli powder to all stews and casseroles makes them so tasty. Also, stir frying is one of the best ways to eat vegetables and you can add almost anything to give it flavour, and even add a stir in sauce at the end of cooking.
Adding a teaspoon of mustard to cheese sauce makes it so much tastier.

Here is our weekly menu. Very old fashioned.
Sunday roast ( beef, lamb, chicken, pork)
Monday cold meat
Tuesday fish, cooked in microwave, veg, mash
Weds any leftovers from roast, or corned beef, or something from the freezer( previous leftovers, as we need a quick meal).
Thus. Cauliflower cheese
Friday fish, mash, veg
Saturday. Free choice,eg stir fry, kedgeree, toad in the hole
DH has trouble chewing and swallowing so food needs to be soft. I often cook my veg separately.

Anxiousgran, I am the same as DH has decided to do most of the shopping. He likes going to the independent butcher, baker, greengrocer. Great! I pop over to Aldi, or do a big stock up every 6 weeks as Morrison’s. The trouble with recipes is we haven’t got all the ingredients, so unless I plan ahead we are limited.
The Guardian Feast someone mentioned upthread includes things I have never heard of and unlikely to find.

I agree colour is a great way to brighten dishes. Try buying an ingredient, especially a vegetable or spice you’ve never tried before, and look up a recipe that uses it.

To add, DH has mainly taken over the cooking because of caring commitment I have. After cooking meals for a family for 40 years, I’ve lost confidence. Add to that, all our local independent food shops have closed, so I have to rely on DH to do supermarket shop, so I feel I’ve lost a bit of control.

Bought the Phil Vickery diabetic cookbook, some really nice ways to eat well but still tasty

I brought my HbA1c down from 44 to 40 in two months but had to cut out pasta, bread, potatoes and rice.( I have ryvita for roughage) What I do do is lot of stir fry’s in a big deep frying pan/wok. Spray oil then prawns, or salmon, or beef, or chicken, or lamb, with mange tout, peppers, brocolli, carrot ( I use potato peeler to make thin slivers) , peas, sweetcorn, courgette, or other veg and a few blobs of stir fry sauce and a pkt each of straight to wok noodles. Takes 10 mins max and healthy! I’m not into cooking but I’m into tasty food ! Another easy one is a big tray of roasted veg , spray oil , red onions, parsnips, carrots, squash, and bit of salmon or chicken. Chicken and 10 veg soup is another favourite, fry onions, garlic , add peas, sweet corn, frozen beans, broccoli, parsnip, squash, carrot, pepper. If my body gets lots of veg it doesn’t notice it didn’t get potatoes. I don’t get hungry but I do have to eat on time like 12:30 lunch not a minute later! 6 pm dinner on the dot if I don’t eat many carbs. I’m working on bringing my levels down to 35 well away from the borderline because I’m quite scared of diabetes.

If you've modified your diet and are having the right nutrients then maybe you could try a couple of low fat/low sugar sauces for adding extra interest and flavour to some of your dishes. And trying a new recipe every couple of weeks will give you new dishes to use regularly if you like them enough.

If I'd put a pound away for every time I cried over a meal or thrown food in the bin I would be v rich and employing my own chef by now! It says it all when son (over 40) said a few weeks ago that's the best meal you've ever made (hotpot). The secret to my success has been sainsbury's sweet chilli sauce which I add to everything now makes a world of difference.

After visiting youngest for the last week and watching and sampling her cooking I bought a knob of ginger today for the first time ! I also made homemade oven chips for the first time , so I think I am getting my cooking mojo back

My PH still needs meat in her diet, and has stated to refuse dog food. She now expects her dog food to be warmed and sprinkled with a little grated chees

Theres no need to eat boring food. DH and I are trying to eat healthily and have cut our portion sizes. We try to be adventurous with cooking and ingredients. Last week DH brought home three diakon or mooli. I had no idea what to do with them, but found a chinese dish from an online site. They were very nice, bit like a mild radish.
Try using venison and goat meat instead of lamb and beef for stews, much less fat and very tasty, I make a goat curry which my DH and son both love.
There are more recipes online and on YouTube than you can shake a stick at.

Ready meals. You've been cooking quite long enough.

Gino D'campo does some lovely low gi foods if you want more inspiration. Very scrummy too. X

Try adding some colour with different beans and pulses. There's a mixed tin available to buy with sweetcorn, kidney beans., canallini beans, chic peas, black eye beans etc. Very hearty and delicious with fish or chicken. They can be added to salad too and are a good source of protein and fibre, low gi too.
I understand what you mean though. I'm suffering with gestational diabetes, lots of food do look bland but with a dab of sauce, different colour veg or salad leaves or salad accompaniments colour and flavour are all yours and still low gi.

Good luck, go crazy and experiment! X

I know what you mean as I have been cooking since I was 14 as my mum left!! I am now 69!
However, I find what helps is trying a new recipe once a week to keep my interest. I also try to plan our meals for the week so shop only once. As we are both retired, the other half us roped in for chopping and stirring. He did start to cook once a week but has got out of the habit.
Plus, I think it is important, if financially possible, to eat out occasionally. Good luck with refiring your enthusiasm

I know how you feel! My husband is not fussed about vegetables and I am becoming increasingly unable to eat them due to IBS and diverticulitis. Many things I used to be able to eat triggers one or the other. Made a lovely pot of soup yesterday using the stock from the xmas turkey. Suffering today. Back to plain meat and potatoes. ☹️

If you still eat chicken and turkey you can use recipes for stews, bolognese etc using turkey meat or mince and/or chicken meat as an alternative. I have been doing this for years as my DD decided she was not eating red meat as a teenager. She is in her early forties now and I still mainly cook with chicken and turkey for myself and DH. Stews, stir fry, meatloaf, the list is endless.

Add Smoked Mackerel Pate to your regular menu. Very nutritious, really easy to make, minimal ingredients.
Great on sourdough or any old toast or oatcakes.
Tasty !

Try Nigel Slater's cookery books - he has the most wonderful ideas and delicious, simple recipes.

No you haven't been cooking too long, I think you're just getting bored with making the same old meals. It's hard coping with dietary restrictions. How about investigating some other nationalities' cuisines? Many will use vegetables in much more interesting ways than we do. My mum used to love trying new recipes, and introduced us to avocadoes long before anyone else we knew had tried them!

Thanks for all your kind and interesting ideas to get me out of the rut! I will give some of them a try out.... the results can’t be worse than the meals at the moment.

Try looking at these there are on Amazon but should be able to get from bookshop
Good Food, meals for two.
Cooking for two.
DH has health issues, so I have to restrict some things we made a deal he has bacon once a week 3rashers grilled , pie once a fortnight, oven chips 150g once a week

DH does most of the cooking whilst I make a pot of (variable) soup once a week. However, I was shocked when staying with a sick relative recently at my loss of skill in the culinary department. We have stopped eating meat now, more gradually than intentionally, but still enjoy fish. I rediscovered my mojo through recipes in a recent edition of the 'Feast' section of the Guardian. Most but not all of the recipes were by Yotam Ottholenghi. My renewed enthusiasm has been enhanced by the purchase of an A4 ring binder with pockets and index holders - from Tesco's. Each recipe I try out which actually works (or almost and was interesting to do) I cut out and stick in with double sided sticky tape. Old fashioned I know but I really enjoy the process even though I live in a house with wall to wall cookery books including 2 Readers Digest cookery compendiums which I replaced when the ones I had used as a young wife became too insanitary....

We are generally very environmentally friendly in our practice so please don't attach me for the sticky tape and the ring binder. I will pass it all on my granddaughter and she will ensure their appropriate reuse in due course...