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Most people are aware that home cooking is one of the best ways to feed yourself. It’s considered cheaper and healthier than buying takeout or getting frozen food. You can control what you put in your food far better and there’s something about a home-cooked meal that’s hard to replicate.

However, home cooking isn’t always as easy as we’d like it to be. While it’s cheaper and healthier, it can also be messier, more tiring, and not necessarily as tasty as something you can get in a restaurant. Some people prefer the convenience of takeout or frozen meals, and some people just don’t feel confident when cooking.

This post should hopefully change that by giving some tips to improve the home cooking experience.

Learn a Few Recipes

Sometimes the hardest thing about cooking is working out what to cook and how to use the ingredients you have. This kind of mental load can add up at the end of a long day.

Then, you have to find a recipe and figure out your way through it. All of this takes even more time and can lead to mistakes.

One way to avoid this is by learning a few simple recipes that you can lean on after a long day. A lot of basic dishes are quick and tasty and, if you know what you’re doing, mindless. Pasta dishes and one-pot recipes are great for this, especially if they only include a few ingredients.

Meal Prepping

Another way to save yourself after a busy day is to cook in advance. Some people struggle with the idea of meal prepping, but it doesn’t have to mean you only eat one meal for the whole week. 

Double up a casserole and freeze half of it for another day. Marinade a lot of meat so you have something you can cook quickly for a tasty and easy meal. Prepare ingredients and change the seasonings to alter the flavor. All of this is easy and gives you some variety.

Smart Ingredients

One mistake that home cooks make is that they try to prepare every little thing from scratch. While this is great to do if you have the time and inclination, it’s not practical for a busy family or working person.

Instead, get ingredients that cut out the hard work. For example, the best corn bread mix can give you a great corn bread with very little effort. This is a wonderful addition to a BBQ or another meal.

Get Help

If you’re not alone in your household, try to get someone else to help with a few tasks. If you’re cooking, someone else can wash up. If you’re chopping vegetables, they can peel potatoes or marinade some meat.

Cooking doesn’t have to be a solo project. In fact, cooking as a couple can bring you closer together as you have time to catch up. Or you can get your children to help, teaching them as you cook.

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This is a contributed post