With these steps you can work your way up to cooking delicious and nutritious meals.
Start with Foods you Like
Think about what meats, grains, vegetables, fruits and spices you like and start there. If you try something different your first couple of times you may not like it and get discouraged.
Use a Kit Meal
For those that use the microwave as their main appliance a kit meal is good start. Buy a meal that comes in a box with the directions on the back. Try something that actually requires a little mixing, layering and baking, not just something you throw in a skillet. This will get you on you way to using that scary oven and stovetop.
Follow Soup Recipes
Buy a book or find Campbell's Soup recipes online. These have great flavor and are slightly more challenging but still very easy.
- Budget Tip: Buy store brand soups, you'll still like the dish.
- Healthy Tip: Buy low fat and low sodium soups.
Move on to 5-ingredient Recipes
A short ingredient list makes a meal a lot less complicated to make and will help to build your cooking confidence.
- Recipe Tip: You can often find 5-ingredient recipe books in the checkout line at your local grocery store, or again, just search the Internet.
- Recipe Search Tip: Try different recipes from different food sites. You'll discover that you like recipes from some sites more than others. After you've experimented, stick with the sites you like. Also, most sites rate their recipes' skill level. Start with the easy ones.
Go for Recipes That Take 30 Minutes or Less
If you start off by slaving in the kitchen for five hours you're probably not going to be too excited about cooking again the next night. Go easy on yourself and you'll enjoy it more.
Use a Slow Cooker
Busy day, throw everything in the slow cooker in the morning and come home to a delicious dinner. You can even find 5-ingredient, easy recipes, and slow-cooker kit meals.
After you've built your confidence a bit with these tips you can move on and try new things. Try different flavors and expand your pallet. Who knows where you'll go from here. Maybe soon you'll be cooking a gourmet meal or be just as happy with your easy 5-ingredient recipes.
