Here are 10 ways for you to start cooking if you hate it.
1. Look at what you eat already then improve on that.
If you are the culinary-shy type but are curious about how the hell foodies do it, ask, "What am I eating now - say, pizza, takeaways and easy meals - and how can I improve on that?"
2. Cultivate an interest in food.
The French talk about food when they eat. They breathe it, talk it and eventually, do it. Short of moving to France; start an interest in food - growing from there. A lively knowledge spares toil drawing delicious, new cooking ideas to you.
Cultivate an interest; read up on food.
3. Pizza and coke a la mode.
Instead of ordering pizza from the ordinary parlour, order it from a new place that offers good pizza; you know the wood-fired type. Find a better, more gourmet pizza and live it up.
4. Baked beans on amazing crusty toast.
Again, take the ordinary, make it extraordinary. I choose a quality baked bean first. I grab some thick, crusty bread and beautiful butter. After heating the beans I have the toast ready with some vegemite ( Australian yeast spread ) or peanut butter ( fresh ground from the health store ) on the warm, country-style toast garnishing the beans with parsley or parmesan. Just make your familiar better, don't change the rules.
From this...
To this!
5. Frozen meal art.
Why not jazz up a frozen, supermarket dinner by removing the plastic and alfoil and presenting it beautifully on fine crockery with crystal ware and silver? It's all about look. All food is immediately yummy if it is presented well, yes, even to you. Heat the plates, garnish well and serve piping hot and you will never need to cook.
6. Match boring food with great wine.
Make any meal special with a nice wine. If you don't drink, then serve the food with a refreshing, "mocktail," ( Fake, low-alcohol cocktail ) drink. You may consider starting with a tin of soup then progressing to take-away all served on nice plates matched with an expensive wine, shining in beautiful glasses.
Take away...
To tantalizing!
7. Create for your first, "non-cook's dinner party."
When confidence is high turn your, “non-chef’s,” skills to creating a culinary experience. Amaze your friends with a dinner party composed of your favorite take away, frozen dinners and tinned food followed with fruit or a simple crème caramel from the supermarket. Don't be ashamed, as it's all in the presentation and they will be non-the-wiser.
8. Heat well, eat well.
Hot food tastes best. Food improves in flavour as it cools from hot to warm. Take a time with preparing your food and serve it as hot as you can as the flavours in food respond to the extra attention and nice temperatures.
9. Relax and have fun.
Get your funny bone happnin' If you have kids get them in on the act. All food is good when prepared with love. You can make it all the joke of the century and have fun with it. It will improve the overall mood, which stimulates the appetite. If you are single - take your clothes off, wear a silly apron and dance semi-nude as you unpack the pizza making it look and taste great
10. Get your friends to watch you grow.
Your friend, family and pets will wonder in awe at your new found confidence with humble food. In short, use what you have, lighten up and present it all well. Then you will never call yourself a bad cook again.
And making your own...wow so easy and you get what you want. Only mistake I have made was to be too greedy and put too much on. I did not realise until then you can have too much of a good thing as the base was swamped with the topping. But hey, life and cooking is about learning.]
Look after yourself
Shaun