Tired of Food Delivery? Try These 6 Simple Tricks To Enjoy Cooking Again

We all want good, healthy food that’s easy to get our hands on. Hence the popularity of food delivery, not to mention the wide variety available at just a click of a button. But it’s no secret that home-cooked food is definitely healthier and better for you, as you totally control the amount of salt, fat, oil, and portion sizes.

If you’ve fallen off the cooking wagon, check out these simple tricks to start again:

1. Start small

As with anything new, start small and plan making one meal for the day or even the week, rather than cooking all three meals at home straightaway, otherwise you’re probably setting yourself up for failure. As you get more comfortable and start enjoying time in the kitchen, increase the cooking to a meal a day perhaps or even two meals a week.

2. Make breakfast for dinner

There’s something very fun (and rebellious) about having breakfast for dinner, especially if it’s comfort food like French toast, pancakes or waffles. Make what makes you happy and you might not even notice the effort you’re putting into it. Breakfast is the best meal of the day, after all—why limit yourself to making it a morning meal?

3. Start with simple, one-dish meals

Cooking can get very frustrating when you’re slaving over the stove for hours, only for the meal to be gobbled up within minutes, with nothing to show for your effort. As with starting small, start slow with simple, fuss-free recipes instead of cooking up an entire three course menu with sides. Grilled cheese and salad is easy to do anywhere, anytime, as is pasta with sauce from a bottle. It all counts towards cooking by yourself. Better yet, understand what you like to eat and then make those, even if it’s on repeat. It’s so liberating and motivating to know you can satisfy yourself with your own cooking.

4. It’s ok to take shortcuts

Sometimes the hardest part about cooking is deciding what to make because you don’t have the right ingredients on hand or a well-stocked pantry. Help yourself succeed by doing online groceries (seriously, you can do this anytime from anywhere and it’s so much more efficient and less tiring than physically doing groceries) and stock up with healthy conveniences such as pre-cut or frozen fruits and veggies, bottled sauces and herbs and spices. Making sure your fridge and cabinets are stocked with a variety of fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, eggs, your preferred milk and flour options, and olive oil. Whatever helps to get you into the kitchen is a win.

5. Cook once for two meals

You’re putting in so much effort for one meal, why not double the recipe and make enough for an extra portion? Freeze the leftovers so that you have a healthy meal ready for whenever you want it. Before you know it, you might be eating homemade meals two days in a week without having to cook twice. Some people like doing the cooking or most of the meal prep on Sundays when they are less rushed, but do what works for you. Maybe over time, you’ll even want to triple the recipe for your favourite dishes that freeze well, so you have food to last you most of the week.

6. Cooking takes time

Patience is a virtue, especially when it comes to cooking. Taking your time to do things slowly and right, and be in the moment. You might surprise yourself and enjoy cooking so much that you might even start cooking for others too.

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