Can't cook/don't cook?

[madmaggot]

I'm always intrigued when people, on tv etc, say 'oh I can't cook' or 'I don't cook'; what on earth do these people eat?

[daffy654]

Ready meals and take away.

[B00]

or eat out

[Robinia]

From what I see in supermarkets you don't need to be able to cook these days...hundreds of ready meals or fresh food already prepared with very little cooking left to do.

[tiggerblue10]

Sandwiches, cereals....

[gness]

Salad, prick and ping, take-aways, barter with friends who like to cook and eat out lots.

[sunny-dave]

Cake ... ?

< evening Miss B00 >

[madmaggot]

So basically you're saying they have:
a, plenty of money to waste
b, a large freezer
c, a microwave
and d, a very low opinion of themself?

[tiggerblue10]

Some people just don't enjoy cooking Madmaggot. I love cooking but I don't get the time to do it often.

[madmaggot]

Oh Tigger, for a while I had forgotten that these days people are not supposed to do anything just because it needs doing; everything has to be fun!
I don't particularly enjoy making everyday meals but having a family in the supposedly affluent 80's I couldn't afford not to cook for them.

[JonnyBoy12]

Salads or cereals, perhaps?

[sherrardk]

Get out of bed the wrong side MM?

[woofgang]

Why should I have to do something i don't enjoy if there is a way around it?
Shock horror I dont do my own ironing.....I take it to a nice lady I have been going to for 16 years, she does my ironing and takes super holidays abroad on the strength of her business. I prefer staying at home and not doing my ironing....same with cooking. I cook when I want to and don't when i don't....
When we had no money I did it all myself but I would have given it up then like a shot.

[gness]

Hey! What`s with the low opinion? I`m a really good cook but don`t enjoy cooking. I spend my time NOW doing things I enjoy. What I won`t do is make a martyr of myself! To hell with what needs doing....I`m having fun.

[ummmm]

I don't think it's so much that people can't cook a meal. It's more to do with fancier stuff or knowing what goes well together.

[emmie]

going on the amount of people who were sloshing around Marks and Spencer the other morning, trolleys laden with ready meals, i would say they don't cook, or very little.

[gness]

Please tell me what is so virtuous about cooking a meal?

[sherrardk]

We rarely have a ready meal but I would class most of what I prepare as 'making tea' rather than 'cooking'. To me cooking conjures up something fancier than family favourites. When it was just me and himself we had loads of ready meals or ate out.

[woofgang]

no idea gness.

[mikey4444]

I realise that people are busy these days and don't always have time to cook. And there are those that can't or won't cook.

But the trouble with eating all those ready meals from supermarkets is that most of them are disapointing, and some of them are down right horrid !

I have tried some of Tescos ready meals and they just don't taste as good as if you made them yourself. The currys, for instance, are so lacking in, say chicken, that they risk being at odds with the trade description act !

Its not difficult to make a simple chicken curry. You can use those excellent Pataks sauces ( the ones in cans are better than the ones in jars by the way), a couple of pieces of chicken, and bobs your uncle ! I put a can of pineapple chunks in as well, as I like the sweetness. It takes about 10 mins to prepare and 30 mins in the microwave.

I tried a Mousakka from M+S earlier this year. To be honest it was one of those £10 meal offers and the wine choice was good. But the Mousakka was simply inedible. I took it back and had a refund. The chap I saw looked a bit taken back, to say the least. Well, I suppose M+S don't get many people like me !

They should stick to making underpants !

[shaneystar2]

I can cook and have been feeding a family for nearly forty years and have cooked for a living but to be quite frank if I can get away with short cuts these days I do .It's a chore for me these days unless it's a family meal when I enjoy pushing the boat out . But for two people these days it's boring .

I have no low opinion of myself whatsoever .
Bungs ding dinner in the micro :))