And you’ll find that you can cook. You may even start to enjoy it!


 One of my passions is cooking. It’s a stress reliever for me, I love the process of chopping, sautéing, baking etc., and my family gets to enjoy the fruits of my labor. But often when I’m talking among friends and acquaintances, I hear I can’t cook--we eat out a lot or I’m clueless in the kitchen—we eat a lot of frozen entrees or prepared food.


Start cooking today!">Start cooking today!


 I’m going to dispel that myth that some people just can’t cook. Everyone can cook. Is everyone able to cook amazing, exotic meals with ethnically diverse flavors that might land you a show on The Food Network?


 No. But everyone is capable of cooking nutritious and delicious meals while working within any budget. The key to tackling this task is to start out slow. Don’t make a sudden declaration that you are going to start cooking seven nights a week.


 Start by committing to making one recipe per week. Stock up on your other standby prepared meals, or plan on eating out the other nights. But cook one meal a week. The first place to start is by scouring the Internet or a cookbook for a relatively simple recipe.


 Websites like All Recipes rank the level of difficulty of the recipes on their site. Start with one that is ranked easy. Gather all of you ingredients and follow the recipe. Now, how did it turn out? If it was amazing, you’re on the right track.


 If it wasn’t so great, look back at the recipe, and see where you went wrong. And do not give up! Try another easy recipe until it turns out well. Now you’re cooking! Once you’ve mastered one recipe, make it another time or two, and then move on to another easy recipe.


 When you’ve perfected that recipe, move on to another easy one. You could stick with easy recipes and have thousands of meals to prepare at this level, but if you’re feeling confident, move on to a recipe that’s ranked medium.


You’ll start to increase your level of confidence, and you’ll feel a certain sense of pride and accomplishment knowing that you’ve cooked something from scratch—especially if it turns out well.


 Once you reach a level of comfort, you may start to become excited about trying a new recipe. You may even be daring enough to try to tweak a recipe or even create your own meal without using a recipe. And you’ll find that you can cook. You may even start to enjoy it!