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how to cook
more
... and
avoid takeout temptation by
Yee-Fan Sun | 1
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got the
goods, need motivation
When it comes to
getting yourself to cook more, one thing is key: Know yourself.
Different people have different reasons for choosing not to cook, and
the best way to figure out how to get yourself out of the take-out mode
and into the kitchen is to figure out why you’re making excuses in the
first place. Maybe you don’t cook because you think you don’t know
how. Maybe you love to cook to impress a crowd, but just don’t see the
point in going to all that trouble when it’s just about staving off
the hunger pangs for little ol’ you. Maybe you think cooking’s
boring. Or maybe you just have misguided notions about what it means to
cook, and think that “real” cooking necessarily means slaving over a
dish.
So you’re pantry is stocked
and you know that in theory, at least, you’re perfectly able to cook
up an edible meal. Now what can you do to get yourself into the cooking
mood? A few tips:
If you hate
to cook for just one:
Invite a couple of good pals over if the reason you can’t get yourself
to cook is that there just doesn’t seem to be any point in cooking for
just yourself.
If you
think you can’t cook:
Buy a good basic cookbook. The Joy of Cooking is the classic; my
favorite is Mark Bittman’s How
to Cook Everything. If the notion of having to leaf through all
those recipes and pick just one to try overwhelms you, ask your favorite
fab home cook for a couple of their favorite easy recipes. The key here
is to just get yourself cooking: you’ll be amazed at how quickly
you’ll start to feel like you really do know your way around the
kitchen.
If you
think cooking’s a chore:
As with all chores, a little music to distract you from the tedium is
key. Pop in your favorite CD to keep you company while you prep your
meals. A little TV background noise or talk radio work well too – one
of my favorite things to do while I’m getting dinner ready at night is
to listen to NPR.
If
the notion that you’re not doing “real” cooking keeps you from
cooking at all:
Cooking doesn’t have to be gourmet in order to be good cooking.
There’s nothing wrong with occasionally indulging in a homey tuna melt
or simple grilled cheese sandwich for a meal (provided that isn’t all
you’re subsisting on of course). If it tastes good, it is
good: get over the guilt. And get into the kitchen.
o
check
out these related
articles:
kitchen timesavers | myth
of the bad cook | lazy
shopper's kitchen |
cooking without cookbooks
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