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Making the switch to cooking more at home is more than just a New Year’s resolution – it’s a lifestyle shift that can improve your general well-being, boost creativity, and benefit your physical health and budget.

However, if you’re not much of a home cook, it can be a daunting journey to embark on. Here is some of the information and motivation you’ll need to go on a successful culinary adventure in 2024.

Photo by cottonbro studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-white-sweater-baking-cake-3992206/

Get Inspired

If you don’t have much cooking experience, you likely won’t even know where to begin. Before you go shopping for groceries, explore a variety of sources for inspiration to enhance your culinary creativity.

Read cookbooks from different cultures, watch cooking shows, and subscribe to food blogs. For example, Aya from OneReCP provides delicious and healthy meal ideas as well as other useful kitchen tips that will help you get started.

If you need an extra push to get creative, visit specialty shops, food festivals and farmers' markets to fully immerse yourself in the local culinary culture. If this doesn’t get you in the mood, nothing will!

Plan Your Meals Ahead

There's more to meal planning well than simply writing down some recipes. To add variation to your weeks, consider organizing dinners around weekly specials, in-season food, or even themed evenings.

To make your weekly food shopping easier, compile a master list of pantry essentials and fridge staples that you love to cook with, and make sure you’re always stocked up. You can even look to this list for inspo when you’re stuck on what to make!

You can also make batch preparing a regular part of your routine to boost your meal planning. Set aside a specific day every week to prepare your grains, marinate proteins, and chop your veggies. This will shorten your cooking time every evening and also help prevent you from resorting to delivery.

Start with Simple Recipes

To make things feel a little less overwhelming, start with simple recipes like stir-fries, sheet pan meals, or one-pan dishes. You can find quick and simple recipes on social media that will give you step-by-step instructions on a video, making things as easy as pie.

As you go on, you can start to introduce increasingly complicated recipes as you feel your confidence growing. When you have a few basics down, you can start experimenting with various cooking styles, methods, and cuisines which will keep your culinary adventure interesting and prevent you from dropping the habit out of boredom.

Invest in Quality Kitchen Tools

Cooking with shoddy tools can be tedious and borderline nightmarish. To avoid any unnecessary frustration, invest in tools and gadgets that will enhance your cooking experience beyond even just the necessities.

An excellent food processor, a sturdy non-stick pan, and a top-notch chef's knife are essential additions to any kitchen. You can also look into some additional kitchen tools based on your own needs and tastes.

Your cooking equipment will also last longer if you give them proper care and attention. To keep appliances in optimal condition, learn how to sharpen knives, pay attention to cookware care instructions, and clean your equipment on a regular basis.

Experiment with New Ingredients

To keep things interesting, you’ll need to experiment with using new and exciting ingredients from other cultures. By doing this, you’ll be learning a lot and be able to expand your culinary horizons.

Go to farmers' markets, check out ethnic grocery stores in your area, and familiarize yourself with different herbs and spices that will give your food a special touch. Think about adding locally and sustainably sourced ingredients to your meals, too. This can improve the flavor and freshness of your food, while also helping out local farmers.

Embrace Batch Cooking

Batch-cooking doesn’t mean that you have to eat the same meal every day! You can batch-prep a few adaptable ingredients that you can switch up throughout the week, such as cooked grains, grilled proteins, and roasted veggies. However, you’ll need to invest in high-quality storage containers to preserve the freshness of your food.

If you do want to batch cook a large meal, but don’t want to eat it all week, you can also freeze the extra portions to eat at a later stage! This is a great alternative to takeout for days when you don’t have the time or energy to cook a meal from scratch. For this, make sure you learn the right freezing procedures to preserve the flavor and texture of your batch-cooked dishes.

Create a Cooking Playlist

The right kind of music has the power to make cooking into a task you actually look forward to every evening. Make playlists according to the food you're cooking or your current state of mind. Think about slow, romantic jazz, energetic pop, or punchy rock music to get you in the right mood and serve as a source of inspiration.

Alternatively, you can put on a podcast or an audiobook, and use your cooking time as a chance to learn, grow, or simply be entertained as you mindlessly chop ingredients. 

Join a Cooking Class or Club

If you’re really unsure or just looking to make the experience more fun, consider taking some cooking lessons in your area or enrolling in online courses. While virtual programs allow you to learn at your own speed, in-person classes give practical experience, so both options have their unique benefits.

Whether local or virtual, joining a cooking group can promote a feeling of community. You can talk about your accomplishments, ask for guidance on difficulties, and even trade recipes with like-minded people.

Document Your Culinary Adventures

There’s nothing quite as motivating as being able to see your progress, so documenting your journey is a great way to inspire you to keep cooking. To document your culinary adventures, you could keep a cooking journal. Add information such as taste profiles, personal reflections, recipe adjustments, and even a printed pic of your creation! Over time, this might become a beloved family recipe book to pass on to new generations.

Alternatively, creating a social media account is a great way to document your journey, share your accomplishments and struggles, and engage with online foodies! The visual nature of social media is great because it will encourage you to create not only delicious, but beautiful meals.