Cooking is about convenience, health, and delight.

Equipment

  • Have a few nice tools that can be used across multiple recipes.
  • Minimize the amount of tools used to cook each recipe so there is less cleaning.

Recipes

  • Find recipes that are nutritious and delicious.
  • Follow a recipe the first time and then modify.
  • Use simple recipes so there is less chance of messing up a step.
  • Use forgiving recipes so if you forgot an ingredient it can be added in or if you mess up a step you can recover, or if you cook a little over it is fine.
  • Use the same units (teaspoons, tablespoons, cups, grams) for all measurements.
  • For convenience convert grams to cups, teaspoons, and tablespoons. For precision also include grams.

Ingredients

  • Use good fresh ingredients when possible.
  • Use freshly ground spices when possible.
  • Use real butter and never margarine.
  • Use ingredients with less change of contamination by heavy metals, arsenic, or other toxins. Where ingredients grow, how they are grown, and who grows them matters.
  • Be mindful of maximum daily intake of certain toxins, and their presence in certain foods. Example: cinnamon contains Coumarin which is toxic in certain concentrations. C. cassia cinnamon has a much higher concentration of Coumarin than C. verum cinnamon. Thus it's better to avoid C. cassia and opt for C. verum. Cinnamon Toxicity - Wikipedia Similarly certain varieties of fish have much higher concentrations of heavy metals like mercury Mercury in fish - wikipedia Checking specific foods for toxins and monitoring maximum daily intake is especially important for young children.
  • Avoid or reduce sugar in recipes that call for it.