I often talk about all of the delicious recipes I find, and how easy they are, but have realized that not everyone has the desire to look at a cookbook for fun, or throw together a meal by the seat of their pants, although it doesn’t hurt to try. Believe it or not, cooking or baking is not constantly jumping through hoops and following difficult recipes with expensive ingredients. There are numerous shortcuts and easy options to some of your favorite food; it might just take an extra ten minutes. I have a few tips for every one of you out there that thinks you can’t cook:
- Cooking can be easy, you just have to try.
- It’s not that expensive, ingredients last a while.
- Pinterest will be your best friend, it’s all DIY.
- Just because you don’t think it will be good, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try
- Start with the basics, for example: how to boil water – put water and a little salt in a pot, and turn on the stove.
- Tasty videos have links to the recipes, so you make that triple cheddar mac n cheese. I have faith in you.
- Pro-tip: Tastemade has an app, so you can watch as many food videos as you want… and get the recipes.
- If you’re on a budget you could try making one meal (most recipes online feed a family) and eating leftovers for a few days.
- Smoothies make a good meal replacement as long as there’s protein.
- Don’t overestimate how much fresh food you need at the risk of half of it being thrown out.
- Pasta as well as jarred sauce makes a great option.
- You can roast almost any veggies in the oven at 350 degrees.
- You can throw spinach and avocado in almost anything, if you’re trying to get your nutrients (quesadillas, pasta, smoothies, eggs, etc.).
- When in doubt, you CAN have that giant scoop (or two) of peanut butter.
- When it comes to dessert, store bought cookie dough, and a tub of ice cream will suffice (Nicholas Sparks movie optional).
Smith’s offers a wide variety of foods outside of the freezer sections that are generally sold at a reasonable price. Hot pockets, a pint of ice cream, frozen pizza, or Chinese takeout doesn’t hurt once in a while but in 5-10 years, you will be grateful you learned more than just what you paid for in college; how to live, and making your own meals is a key component to adulting (or pretending to). Just remember, you’re not obligated to cook for anyone else, but yourself.