1. To save money and to eat more healthily. Also, my girlfriend realy appreciates home/cooked meals. 2. We plan out 4 dinners per week. I'm responsible for two

1. To save money and to eat more healthily. Also, my girlfriend realy appreciates home/cooked meals. 2. We plan out 4 dinners per week. I'm responsible for two of them. I get her two preferences, make a shopping list, and go grocery shopping every Sunday or Monday. We now have a fairly well established list of recipes, and I use Anylist to construct my shopping list easily. 3. I prefer to cook meals where I can easily make big portions for leftovers. My favorites are: pad thai, tempeh + veggie stir fry over rice, black beans + veggies + guac over rice, african vegetable curry. 4. Vegetarian. 5. Buy pre-peeled garliC. You only beed one actually good chef's knife: buy a Dexter. Buy a rice cooker. Wok's are awesome - you can cook more food than in a standard pan, and you can cook it better. An actual cooking tip: when cooking with veggies, sear them to make them crunchy and not soggy. Too often people stir fry them in oil, and they get gross.