Wanting to cook but anxiety holding me back

I really enjoyed playing Cooking Mama! Now you get to enjoy cooking with your mama too! I hope the soup went well. I've heard that it's good to be overly cautious, it means that you care about what you're doing. 

There are short cuts... steam all the veg together in one pan etc

Good luck with it.

Food safety does bother me. A LOT.. I'm always anxious about safety in every way though, like with driving I always triple check everything from the oil to the battery charge to the wheels to make sure the car isn't going to break down or catch fire or something.

I'm OTT cautious but I have always been like this. Safety first right? Remembering to check everything with cooking is a worry for me too because my memory isn't always great, no idea why, but for a 28 year old I feel it's terrible. Anyway I have so much to think about whilst cooking but I can at least make reminders and also see timers on my phone to help remind me of checking foods and remembering to clean surfaces.

So much to remember and it's so stressful but it's also very necessary. I can't rely on my parents to be there cooking for me forever so I want to try and nail this sooner rather than later before it's too late. 

Dawn said:

I'm a dreadful cook - I find the executive strain of co-ordinating more than one pan all a bit much.  Yet somehow I've managed to keep both myself and son alive for decades, lol.

Lol XD that's good, there's always a silver lining  good on you though! That's a great accomplishment, cooking, staying alive and parenting too. I would love to be a mum but I'm not sure it'll ever happen for me. 

I hope so, one day. I'll master cooking first then tackle that lol. 

dad1967 said:

each time you succeed the anxiety will diminish

This is what I'm hoping for... lol  it works for me that way sometimes but not always. Really it's a bit of a lottery with my anxiety, sometimes it gets better when I do things and other times it gets worse. 

Anxiety is a weird thing, like a constant battle which I can win a few times but never really defeat. Or not yet anyway.

Maybe one day though!  

I'm making a soup at the moment, nothing special, just a tomato soup and so far it's going ok.

Hi GuybrushThreepwood! Thank you for the book recommendation, that one looks like a really useful cookbook as it focuses on more than just the cooking: and that will be completely perfect for me, as I am a completely cooking beginner!

Thanks for the recommendations, I've actually got the money for that one today so have purchased it.

I'm currently attempting to make a soup  but it seems to be going ok, at the moment.

I'm a dreadful cook - I find the executive strain of co-ordinating more than one pan all a bit much.  Yet somehow I've managed to keep both myself and son alive for decades, lol.

A couple of your fears are about food safety - that's the easy part.  Just read up about proper food storage etc and stick to the rules; e.g. Cooked meat should always be place higher than raw meat or fish in the fridge - any falling bacteria on the raw meat will be destroyed when it's cooked.  Or, never refreeze anything once defrosted unless it's been cooked in between etc.  Or, you can exceed "best before" dates but NOT "use by" dates.  Don't chop meat or fish on a chopping board then chop up salad until you've thoroughly washed the chopping board.  Assimilating and rigidly sticking to these rules will ensure that you don't get food poisoning.

As for being a terrible cook - you might surprise yourself and discover a new talent and a new interest.  But I should think any one ought to expect a few disasters along the way.  The worst that can happen is you won't want to eat it and put it in the bin.  Never mind, it'll turn out OK next time.  On this point, I guess, just remind yourself it's OK to try and fail a time or three.  It'll come out palatable in the end.

start with something easy like beans on toast and then progress to say cheese on toast and then try say poached egg and then maybe combine a jar of bolognaise sauce with some mince and spaghetti and call it spaghetti bolognaise and then do the same thing with some chicken, rice and a jar of curry sauce and then ....

each time you succeed the anxiety will diminish. By succeeding in this way you might wonder what other things you can succeed  at and then the world is your oyster

When I went to university I had almost non existent cooking skills so I took this book with me . https://www.wob.com/en-gb/books/sheelagh-donovan/dairy-book-of-home-cookery/9781860194856?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADZzAIBOGEfAqLSpZUMmy9WQlNMYa&gclid=CjwKCAjw26KxBhBDEiwAu6KXtzHsXnB5COO9sg9tKSMGjBKapsbdqJ2-cF8BSZ3hmEr8afjUEUlqCxoCODAQAvD_BwE#GOR000787411

It has really basic stuff like different ways of cooking eggs up to full meals. The beginning also explains different things like measurements and different types of dairy and meat and that sort of thing. It also has microwave cooking options for some recipes

Ooh good shout with making toast. I can already do sandwiches, so off to a good start lol but toast is a good one to go up to. I'm hoping to do a soup tomorrow morning as my mum is going to be out most of the day so that's a great opportunity for me. 

Wow you make Christmas dinner now too? Well done that's such an amazing accomplishment. You should be so proud of yourself. I hope I'll be at that level of cooking eventually, I would really love that! 

Thanks so much for your advice here. I appreciate you taking time out to help me with this

OMG yes I forgot Cooking Mama!!!! I did used to play it on my DS as well lol back when the DS was new and the coolest thing ever lol. Mine was a turquoise colour, I used to play it every day for hours. 

I have been looking at videos on YouTube, a lot of members here suggested this as well and there's lots of beginner videos on there and they look easy enough to follow so fingers crossed I'll be ok. 

My mum is out tomorrow so I'm going to try and make a soup when she's gone. So long as I don't fatally burn myself and set the kitchen on fire it should all be good lol.

Thank you so much for this ^  really so good of you to write this out and I hope you know I am very very grateful! I've print screened this so I can refer back to it when I am ready to.

You could play a cooking game called Cooking Mama. I used to play it on my DS a while back. It makes the cooking process easy to understand, there's lively music, and nice graphics. It's fun to chop and peel vegetables.

Also there's likely many videos to teach beginners the basics of cooking. If you're afraid to cook by yourself, hopefully you can get some help from your parents as well. 

That's really positive. I think it's also an executive dysfunction thing. 

I agree with the cat woman start off with the basics make cold food like a sandwich or salads then start to improve on those then try to move on to something simple like beans on toast if you burn the toast don’t worry about it. If it’s not cooked enough you won’t get food poisoning same with the beans if their still cold heat them up some more eventually you will start to feel more confident. I used to only have basic foods in the beginning like pot noodles and microwave meals now I can cook all sorts and I have been making Christmas dinners for me and my dad after my died and they couldn’t have been more perfect. 

Soup is really easy and a good one to start with, try this out.

Carrot soup

1 large onion topped, tailed, peeled and roughly chopped

1kg carrots, topped, tailed, peeled, cut into quaters then chopped into thumbnail sized pieces

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon of thyme

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

1 heaped tsp of vegetable stock powder or one chicken stock cube.

approx 2 litres of water.

Put the oil and veg in a very large pan, something about the size of a pressure cooker pan, set over a medium heat on the hob and add the vegetables, salt and herbs.

Give it good stir every 2 or 3 minutes until the onions become sort of transparent.

Add 3/4's of the water and stock powder or cube, give it good stir, bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to a gentle simmer for about 30-40 mins, or until the carrots are soft.

Remove the bay leaves, leave to cool a bit, then either whizz it up until smooth with a whizzy up stick or in a food processor until smooth. Pour into to clean pan, check to see if it needs more salt, reheat and serve. This freezes really well and is a good way to use up carrots that are a bit past their best or that are being sold off cheaply/

Thank you and when the time comes I hope you can as well. Just remember to go at your own pace and do what you feel. I'm taking this approach now and I am much happier and feeling less pressured.

It's a difficult balance. I hope you'll be able to find what works for you.

Thank you for your great suggestions and for the book suggestion. I just found it on eBay and will order it when I can. Thanks for suggesting it! It sounds like it will be really useful for a total beginner like me. Hopefully :/ 

I'll get me some aloe vera gel too. I'll definitely need it for sure. I'm so clumsy I know I'll burn myself at some point. Best to be prepared! 

I love soup so I'm thinking maybe I can try and make my own homemade soup first of, if it's not too difficult to do. I've always loved soup and am really ambitious to make it and see if it's any good.

Thank you for your helpful reply and suggestions. I greatly appreciate it. 

I've taught many people to cook and it's something I really enjoy doing, as others have said start with something simple like scrambled egg, or a salad. I'd suggest getting Delia Smith's How To Cook, its an older series of books, but is aimed at people who want to cook, but have no idea of the basics, it was a staple of every student kitchen I've ever been in. It's also a good resourse book as it gives you the recipes for things that you might not cook often, but become a regular part of you repetoire when you become more confident, like puff pastry for example.

If you're afraid of burning yourself get a tube of aloe vera gel and keep it handy for minor burns.

Think about what foods you like to eat and try making them, for example if you like lasagne have a go at that, theres a few proceses involved, but whilst time consuming, fairly basic and easy as well as hugely satifying.

I didn't know that r.e. the washing vegetables but I'll make sure it's something I don't forget about. Getting food poisoning is one of my biggest fears, I have emetophobia and that exasperates the fear. I'd read that about meat and you have to be careful, so to be honest I expect I will likely never cook meat just to be on the safe side.