How anyone can learn to cook

While for some, cooking is a hobby to take pleasure from and enjoy – for others it is a chore that always gets put off. Not cooking may seem like the easier option, but it can become expensive and even unhealthy. When you cook for yourself, you choose the ingredients, giving you the chance to add flavour and nutritious extras as you see fit.

So – whether you ‘don’t have the time to cook’ or you ‘never learned how’, the following tips can help you get over any stumbling block and start cooking.

The excuse: I don’t have time to cook

This excuse is a common one and is used for many things besides cooking. Overcoming this problem simply involves a shift in mindset.

The solution: Prioritise

Saying that you don’t have time to cook simply means that you prioritise other things ahead of cooking. If learning to cook isn’t a priority – you are doomed from the get-go. If you are keen to change your habits however, it is time to reassess those priorities.

Start off by noting down exactly how you spend your time after work to see where you can trim the fat. Do you spend a couple of hours in front of the TV to wind-down? Or maybe you spend 30 minutes catching up on social media? Cutting non-essential activities like this down will offer more than enough time to start cooking an evening meal. Try it out for one week and see how you go.

The excuse: I never learnt how to cook

For some, learning to cook started and ended in food tech classes in school. With no help at home it can be easy to avoid cooking with the excuse ‘I don’t know how’. Overcome this by starting small.

The solution: Start small

Do one small step towards cooking every day and build yourself up. It may be something as simple as getting out a pan and putting it on the stove each day (without actually cooking anything). Build this up to add water, boil water and eventually cook some rice or pasta. Be realistic with your expectations and keep it simple to start with. More often than not it is a commitment to trying and establishing a routine that is the most important.

The excuse: I don’t know the proper techniques

If you don’t know the ‘correct’ way to cut meat or vegetables – the idea of cooking a dish can be intimidating. Overcome this with practice, practice, practice.

The solution: Just do it

There is a huge margin for error in cooking – so as long as you are being safe and not chopping off your fingertips, try techniques the way you want. Alternatively you can utilise the modern age and look something up on the Internet; there are hundreds of tutorials online. If you do make a mistake, remember it is not a failure – it is a lesson learned for next time.