If you’re like me, you spent much of your life foraging through the food aisle looking for easy-to-cook bagged meals that you can toss in a skillet or the dreaded microwave dinners. You may browse through a cookbook only to be bombarded with ingredients and utensils that you’ve never heard of and some that you can’t even pronounce. I’ve been there, and it’s a dark place. I’m going to share the techniques, tips, and tools that I used to help escape the depths of fast food and burnt toast hell.
Invest in High-Quality Cookware
If you want to become a better painter, you’re going to go to a craft shop and get the tools you need to get the job done. The same goes for cooking. You need a long lasting cookware set that doesn’t stick and allows you to cook a variety of meals. They can be costly, but if you find a hot cookware sets sale, you can save yourself money and still be fitted out like a pro.
Stop Eating Out
This is a tip that will help your cooking skills and your wallet. You’re probably eating out way too much right now. Whether it’s a weekend out with your friends or daily lunch at the office, those meals are adding up—fast. If you order out for lunch every work day of the year and spend $8 on average, that’s $2,088 right there. That’s pretty costly! Do yourself a favor and commit to bringing lunch to work, and keep dining out for an occasional treat. Practice makes perfect, and soon your cooking skills will begin to flourish alongside your bank balance.
Keep it Simple
You may be trying to eat healthier or impress a certain someone, but that doesn’t mean you need to make a three-course meal or a twenty ingredient Asian extravaganza. Stick to meals with fewer than five ingredients, and you’re less likely to mess something up. Look for recipes that let you cook all of the ingredients in one pot or skillet, or better yet, use a crockpot to set it and forget it. When it comes to cooking as a beginner, less is more, and you want to perfect the basics before tackling more complex skills.
Fire Up The Grill
There’s nothing manlier than donning your grilling apron, flipping a steel spatula in the air, and letting it fall effortlessly into the side pocket. If you want to improve your cooking but feel intimidated by the kitchen, then the great outdoors is calling your name. Practice makes perfect on the grill, too, so make sure to keep a meat thermometer and your best seasonings handy. You can cook pretty much anything on the grill (steaks, seared vegetables, corn still in the husk) making it an incredibly versatile skill to have.
Use High Quality Ingredients
Great food is made with top quality ingredients. However, not everyone can afford to shop at high-end organic groceries or buy grass-fed Kobe Beef from a fancy butcher. So, you’re going to need to learn how to pick out the best produce from your local grocery store by using freshness factors unique to each ingredient. You’ll need to combine smell, sight, and feel to determine which items you want to take home and which to leave on the shelf.
After a few months of home cooking, you’ll soon find yourself becoming more confident in your craft. Eventually you’ll even move on from the basics, and before you know it, you’ll be ready to entertain guests and family—at the very least you’ll be able to boil an egg and avoid burning your toast—that’s always been good enough for me!
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