I love cooking. I learned basic cooking as a child, but I’ve gotten so much better in the recent years. Watching YouTube and Insta channels on cooking helped a lot to improve my skills. I cook daily since I mostly eat at home and have a very clean diet. I also love to bake, but I’m I don’t eat sugar so I do that only when we have guests or if I have to bring a dish to a party.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I enjoy cooking. However, there’s a difference between cooking and getting dinner on the table for a family seven nights a week for years on end. The latter is a chore.

+1

Sucked the fun right out of it.

A weekend cooking project is still fun. I enjoyed it far more before kids.

i think everyone gets to a point where it seems like a chore. One thing that has helped me, is my kids like to cook. As teenagers they have become very good at it and enjoy it as well. The other thing is to go out to eat once a week. you can also do breakfast for dinner.

Anonymous wrote:Not for the last almost two decades - I was never a good cook but tried, and then had to move to a home with VERY little counter space and a poorly laid-out kitchen, very final storage, no dishwasher, small oven, etc. So I don't like being in the kitchen. Growing up I had to cook dinner for the family once a week starting at age 7, and my weirdly passive-aggressive mother would always either claim to be too sick to eat, or eat what I made and then claim it made her sick. So that didn't really instill much confidence in me.

Now in my 40's, if I had a kitchen that worked well, I would love to make matzo ball soup. I could eat that every day. You can freeze portions of it (even the matzo ball) and just defrost as you want it.

you should watch ainsley durose on you tube. it may change your feelings about cooking.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I enjoy cooking. However, there’s a difference between cooking and getting dinner on the table for a family seven nights a week for years on end. The latter is a chore.

+1

Sucked the fun right out of it.

A weekend cooking project is still fun. I enjoyed it far more before kids.

I enjoy cooking. I’m a good cook. I learned initially from cooks illustrated. It’s essential to follow directions. I love cooking for my kids.

What items do you like making?

I like making foods that don’t have too many ingredients, have vegetables and meats in them, and are good for at least 2-3 days, so we benefit from leftovers, things like thick stews that can be eaten with a side of rice or potatoes or something else. Also like foods that can be prepared in oven like roasted meats, and then we change sides.

What are you good at making or you think you are good at making?

I am good at making meatballs. No bought meatball even comes close to the light moist fresh taste of the meatballs I make. I hate adding cheese though, so no Parmesan inside the meatballs I make.

Advice for the novice?
Watch food shows, it helps a lot to see. Also, both my parents cooked and getting recipes from them was simpler than getting from books or websites that sometimes over complicate the process and same thing can be done in an easier way.

How did you initially start cooking?
When I had to feed my kids once they had to be weaned. I did some cooking before, but it was minimal. Dh and I would either get take out, or sandwiches, so minimal cooking till we had kids.

Or do you find cooking as an unpleasant chore?
I enjoy that my kids eat the food I make and enjoy it. I don’t enjoy the process of cooking.

Despise it. Not having to think about dinner was the only thing I was excited about when the kids left for college.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I enjoy cooking. However, there’s a difference between cooking and getting dinner on the table for a family seven nights a week for years on end. The latter is a chore.

Yes. It is exhausting to have to feed growing people with their own specific food quirks every night for years. I started cooking as a young teen because I wanted more variety than my mom made. I thought I had really prepped my kids to be cooks themselves but they all hit teen years and have ZERO interest in cooking. I could give up but then they’d just eat pizza every night or burritos and I can’t quite resign myself to that. I keep hoping that when they are out and living as adults they wil remmeber home cooked dinnners and be inspired to start doing that instead of just picking up Panda Express or McDonald’s.

I love to cook, I love through feeding people, I learned from my grandmothers. I don't short order cook, though, I make a meal and you eat it or you don't.

A few tips for those who started cooking later
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1269841.page

As far as advice, I think learning how to make something you like to eat is the best start. IE, your favourite soup from XYZ restaurant - google it and see if there are copy cat recipes. Try it out. I also google "easy blahblah recipe" to find simpler recipes and ideas.

Also, get a thermometer. Knowing when meat is actually done rather than guessing is so invaluable.