LIFESTYLE & TRAVELBUDGETING

Cooking: The Tastiest Art

Everybody eats. One way or another, we all need food to survive. But we like our food to taste good too, which means it can get pricey. Between all the pre-packaged snacks and convenient delivery services we all enjoy, it can be easy to merely eat by the rule of our wallets, but there is a better way. Learning to cook can be enormously beneficial for both your finances and your health! Here are some tips to help you get started.

Tip #1- Trial and error

There’s something important to get out of the way: chances are, you’re going to make mistakes. It might be something small or it might be the entire dish burnt to a crisp. But either way, it’s no reason to get discouraged. Cooking takes practice and the more you practice the better you’ll become. Don’t let mistakes get you down, just keep trying and eventually it’ll work out. Who knows, maybe your mistakes will be pretty tasty too!

Tip #2 - Try new things

Cooking has the benefit of being one of the cheapest ways to take a vacation. Cultures of the world can be experienced through their foods and a lot of new techniques can be learned from world cuisines. Don’t be afraid to be adventurous; let cooking be as fun and educational as it is filling.

Tip #3- Plan ahead

Cooking can go from very cheap to very expensive if you let too much food go to waste. You can prevent waste by planning properly. Have your week set out in advance and work ingredients into multiple dishes. That way, you can buy less and have less to waste. Planning also has the benefit of saving you time and the headache of having to decide what to eat.

Tip #4- The spice of life

On the topic of planning and reusing, one of the easiest ways to do both is through using spices. A good collection of spices is not terribly expensive, and most can last for months if not years. Spices can be used in all manner of ways to improve a dish, so it’s worth having several on hand in your kitchen. Standard spices like cinnamon, allspice, and cayenne pepper are a good place to start.

Tip #5 - Work with what you’ve got

Part of the art factor of cooking comes from creativity. Turning simple ingredients into something amazing is the goal of any true chef. This can be translated into your cooking as well. By using a little creativity, and maybe some help from the internet, you can transform the ingredients you have on hand and spare yourself a trip to the store.