I’ve learned to love cooking recently.
And to think, just a few short years ago, I couldn’t make instant oatmeal for myself. But things change, and I got a lot cooler. My cooking went into hyperdrive since I moved into my apartment in NYC last April. I looked up new recipes constantly, tried them out, cooked errday (see there’s that coolness I was talking about) and mastered my favorite dishes. I’m no iron chef, but believe me, I make some tasty-tasty stuff (at least I think so).
And all it took was looking up some recipes and cooking on a consistent basis. The most important thing I did was take action on a daily basis. Consistency is the key to success in anything. And it’s honestly been an enjoyable endeavor too.
Cooking is an awesome skill to have. It’s something that everyone does everyday, so it’s maybe-kinda-sorta useful, right?
Ghostface and Raekwon think so
Why cook?
Skill acquisition. It’s another skill to add to your arsenal. More skills make you more interesting. Skills make you more valuable. Skills make you more capable. Acquiring and honing skills = a more awesome life.
Independence. If you can cook, you can fend for yourself. It makes you less dependent on everyone else. So you’re doing everyone a favor.
Empowerment. Skill acquisition + Independence = Empowerment.
It’s useful. You gotta eat, right? It’s something we all do on a daily basis. You can cook for yourself. You can cook for a date. You can cook for a party. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. And you get to eat the gift too.
Gives you control of what you put into your body. You control every ingredient used. You can tweak the macronutrient ratio of the meal (protein/fat/carbs). You can use substitutes for (or eliminate) ingredients you don’t want to use. There are no hidden ingredients when you cook. When you go to a restaurant or eat a meal from a package, you don’t know how it’s prepared. You don’t know what hidden ingredients those meals contain. You only have a lot more control when you cook yourself.
Enhances your sense of taste. When you hone your cooking skills, your sense of taste goes from black and white to HD. Just working with the ingredients and experimenting works wonders for the ol taste buds. Just this benefit alone makes cooking worth it.
Builds resilience to heat. I used to not be able to touch anything even remotely hot until I started cooking. Now I’m pretty much fireproof.
“Put on my gasoline boots and walk through hell” -Method Man
Get more intuitive with your body and health. Along with sharpening your sense of taste, it also sharpens body intuition. In my experience, I’ve become a lot more conscious of my cravings and nutritional needs with cooking. I recognize when I need more salt (or less). I’ll crave rice if my muscle glycogen is depleted. I recognize that once my sense of thirst outweighs my hunger, it’s time to stop eating (mentioned in The Warrior Diet by Ori Hofmekler). That kinda stuff.
Cooking for others is a way to give. It’s way to contribute. It’s another way to show love. A way to share with others. Sharing is caring.
Peaceful, solo activity. Cooking can make for some great alone time and be almost meditative. It’s an active meditation with the end result being a delicious meal… Awesome.
Bonding activity with other people. Cooking can be something to do with other people. Instead of watching tv (the zombie box) with your roommate, cook a meal together. Instead of going out to eat, cook dinner with your significant other. People are always better looking with butter around.
Playing music, cooking, and dancing is one of the best things ever. 90’s music and cooking… Just do it.
Creating things with your hands is something we rarely do in this day and age. We don’t create anything these days. All we do is pound on keyboards and share other people’s ideas. Cooking is a hands-on activity. Creating something with your hands fulfills a deep, primal instinct that we’re neglecting in today’s society.
Can be done (almost) anywhere. Your kitchen. Your friend’s kitchen. Your neighbor’s kitchen. Yo momma’s kitchen. A grill. Over a fire in the woods. Whatever floats your boat.
You become more informed about food and the ingredients in everything. You realize what everything is actually made of, and how many sketchy ingredients are in everything that comes in a box. So hopefully you learn what to avoid for the most part, if you want to maintain vibrant health.
Builds a more intimate relationship with food. And it’s a damn good relationship. (See everything mentioned above)
So here’s my action proposition to you… Get to cookin’. It will enhance your life.
If you cook on the regular, find some new recipes and experiment. It’s always fun to expand your skill set and try something new. Every diet system has their own cookbook these days, so it’s easy to find delicious recipes that fit in with whatever you’re doing.
Also, Tim Ferriss’ 4 Hour Chef is a phenomenal resource for anyone interested in cooking or skill acquisition in general.
Eggs as an intro to cooking: If you never cook, start small. Eggs are a great intro to cooking. That’s how I got started. Eggs cook quickly, don’t require any complex prep work, and are pretty versatile. Start with basic eggs over easy, scrambled eggs, hard-boiled eggs..etc. After you get the hang of that (which shouldn’t take long), you can experiment with variations of everything, add more ingredients, and expand your repertoire.
Now let’s hear what you have to say.
- How did you start cooking?
- What are your favorite recipes?
Leave your 2 cents in the comments below.
And don’t forget to share this article too. Spread the love.
Invite me over for dinner.
-Stevie P!