If you live alone, do you still do basic cooking

I agree. Just get a basic cookbook at first, follow the directions, and voila! you are cooking. Basic cooking isn't all that complicated.

One of my young assistants at work was despairing of ever being able to cook. I asked her what she was trying to do, and she was trying exotic recipes that would have required a lot of knowledge and skill. I presented her with a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (the one with the red checked cover -- they've been around forever) and pretty soon she was happily having great success and even bringing in things to share. You have to start with simple things, liking baking a chicken, making a stew, etc., which anyone can do if they can read and follow instructions, before you venture into trickier stuff.
This brought me back to my early twenties. I couldn't cook worth a darn, no joke. At workplace potlucks I was assigned beverages or paper goods. I could make spaghetti sauce, eggs and a few other things, but mostly ate take-out or relied on roommates to cook and I'd clean up.

At my bridal shower (age 27) an honorary auntie gifted me with two cookbooks: Betty Crocker and BH & G. I learned to cook just as you described above - simple foods, simple spices, simple preparations. Those books presumed you had no skills and explained every step in detail.

My mother was a fabulous cook, but she didn't teach any of her kids how to cook - food prep was her break from the five kids running around the house. Can't blame her.
 

I cook simple meals. Chicken or pork and vegies. I do have some prepared foods that I cook sometimes. But I prefer to eat healthier these days. I made a big batch of chicken soup a couple weeks back, and froze some containers.
Along same lines, I was going through my freezer, and realized I really have a lot of food stocked up. Starting to eat more from it.
 
Since I bought my Instant Pot, I've thrown my slow cooker into a spare cupboard in the garage, I used to buy ready meals from the s/mkt but now buy all fresh meat/veggies and can cook up a great tasting stew/soup/curry very quickly and know exactly what's in it, I also use my pie maker to make then freeze beef pies from leftovers

Can cook meat from frozen too so if I forget to defrost or not sure what I want to eat, there's no hassle

So easy to reheat stuff in micro or air fryer too :)
 
what is basic cooking? open a can of chili and heat? I bake bread occasionally just for something to do. I mix chili with mac and cheese. I use smoked ham and beans with corn bread. french toast or pancakes. chicken, tomato sauce/paste, green beans,potatoes and onion in crock pot.(brunswick stew)
 
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I can follow a recipe and, quite often after so many years, modify it to simplify prep or adjust ingredients to match my diet. But I have always hated cooking - it's so damned daily! I like to do things that stay done for a while.

Even so, I've done pretty well since DH is gone. It's easier with only one person's preferences and tastes to take into account and completely fluid schedules and time tables, and so forth. And I like having leftovers and really need to make more to stock up some "ready-made" meals for my freezer. They're very handy to have. Some of my recent very quick faves are Private Selection Angus Beef patties I can cook in minutes on the stovetop and then make a quick hamburger sandwich, or chicken thighs in the air fryer. Tomorrow I'm going to throw together a meatloaf and hope some of it reaches the freezer for future.
 
I am male, and my beloved wife passed away due to cancer. My wife looked after me, I am not ashamed to say that. Our life together was great, we did so much. We WERE joined at the hips. Since her passing I have had to learn so much about living, let alone living alone. I found a web site that was cooking for one. That gave me a kick in the butt to use some recipes that did not leave left overs. The fact that I did not have to eat the same dinner for three days improved my outlook on life. But you are right, meals from the grocery store, M&M Meats, and the like begin to taste like restaurants -- all the same. Have you tried any of the meals that are delivered and you have to prepare them?
 
I usually cook enough so I have 2 or 3 days to eat on. My wife was a great cook, she did teach me how to cook some of her great things. I do go out to either a sit-down restaurant or F.F. takeout once in a while. She has been gone now for almost 7 years & I sure miss her cooking.
 
I am male, and my beloved wife passed away due to cancer. My wife looked after me, I am not ashamed to say that. Our life together was great, we did so much. We WERE joined at the hips. Since her passing I have had to learn so much about living, let alone living alone. I found a web site that was cooking for one. That gave me a kick in the butt to use some recipes that did not leave left overs. The fact that I did not have to eat the same dinner for three days improved my outlook on life. But you are right, meals from the grocery store, M&M Meats, and the like begin to taste like restaurants -- all the same. Have you tried any of the meals that are delivered and you have to prepare them?
I usually cook all my own meals, or pick something up once in a while.

I've never tried Hello Fresh, or any of those other delivered meals that you prepare. But, I know folks who have, and they like them. Say they're really good.

In fact, my masseuse does this a lot...cause she works so much, she doesn't feel like cooking at the end of her day.
 
As a diabetic I cook at home almost exclusively, mostly basic low carb meals. The carbs I eat are of the complex variety, not quick carbs, so talking real meat, vegetable, and salad type meals primarily.

I enjoy cooking and will adapt a recipe eliminating or substituting ingredients to keep my blood sugar in check. Like most things, the more you do it the easier and better it gets.

Restaurant eating is a occasional treat, but I am still selective what I eat there.
 
I tried a meal service (Hello Fresh?) that supplied the ingredients and one had to prep and cook. It was way more work than I preferred plus you wanted to eat your meal while it was hot so that meant you had all the kitchen mess to clean up afterwards. I then tried some meals that came ready to microwave and eat. Quite good but when the price went up to $12 plus per meal I cancelled that. I tried some others but it seemed any offering that I felt was reasonably priced was not very tasty. I went back to making things I can eat some and freeze the rest. Also pick up some fast food on occasion.
 
You bet your bottom dollar I live alone and do my own basic cooking. I sure as hack not going to order food in with those "Johnny come lately" people like "Skip the Dishes." If I can't warm some pizza or make coffee or a sandwich with tea then they might as well put me in some assisted living place. Gee, are people getting lazy or what. Each to their own but to me ordering food in all the time, unless of course, you have a very serious medical problem, is a sign that you just don't want to live anymore. Maybe I have figured this out wrong? Let me know!

If you check your grocery store, in the freezer areas, there is so much prepared food there. All you have to do is take it home, zap it in the microwave or toaster oven and bingo, you have a nice meal. Furthermore, how hard is it to warm up a can of soup? Not hard at all for me! Watch for sales to get a good price. As far as I'm concerned there will never be any of those "skipping dishes" fellas hanging around my door!
 

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