Unfortunately a lot of online recipes and cookbooks are for people looking to make something different and special, not looking for an everyday meal. Being a h

Unfortunately a lot of online recipes and cookbooks are for people looking to make something different and special, not looking for an everyday meal. Being a home cook (as opposed to being a chef) is actually a lot like programming. Learn a few simple patterns and you can recombine them in different ways. Look for patterns in any recipes that you follow and then you can reuse them in other situations. I can give some examples. Basic cream sauce from fat (butter or pan grease), liquid (normally milk or stock), flour and seasoning. The many ways of cooking eggs. Basic grilled cheese Seasoning with salt and pepper tasting and adjusting as you go Pancake variations Biscuit variations Quick-breads Temperatures of doneness for meats (there are charts, get a good meat thermometer). Chopping (you really need at least one good knife). For example, I can make a very nice sandwich by combining white sauce, a fried egg, and a grilled cheese. (Put a fried egg and cheese and inside the sandwich, lightly coat with white sauce, fry as with grilled cheese. Season with salt and pepper. I make biscuits, boil pasta or veggies and cover them with a very similar white sauce. Boil macaroni and some broccoli, add cheese to the white sauce heating until it melts, combine both in a baking pan with some breadcrumbs on top, bake until it looks set (25-35 minutes at 350(f) is a good bet). Basically the idea is to learn a few basic recipes (each a different ‘sub process’ or function) and use or them combine them with other ingredients that you have. Taste every so often to ensure that you don’t make something inedible. Give it your full attention. Sometimes you’ll make something truly weird and other times you’ll make something amazing and different that no one’s ever had before. Just don’t burn your house down and don’t deep fry anything until you’ve got plenty of experience and know the dangers. Obviously the recipes I’m giving are very vague, thats kind of the point as it is all up to your taste, which is different from mine. The key is paying attention to what you think is good.