Cheap Date Idea: Cook From Scratch (You Can Do It)

Two years ago I could go for days without setting foot in my kitchen. Work had taken over my life, and I didn't even make coffee for myself. I had lots of nice things—four sizes of pots, skillets, a stock pot, a wok, baking sheets, pie plates, a slow cooker, a rice cooker, a bread maker, a KitchenAid mixer—but they were just crowding my kitchen.

While fantasizing about a balanced life, I read the book Apartment Therapy by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan. To get the most out of your living space, it advises cooking at least one meal a week at home. So one evening I invited a friend over for dinner, thinking: How hard can it be to make pork chops? My friend, who was raised in Italy and can make gnocchi from scratch, said the pork chop was fine even though it tasted like shoe leather. I was mortified and vowed to change. Cooking For Two

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So I was lucky—when it became necessary to cut back on my expenses, I was already cooking a few basic dinners a week. Now I take lunch to work, do takeout even less and watch my ingredient costs. Right now a lot of people are considering cooking to save money, and I'm pretty sure many are in the same boat as I was: starting from scratch skills-wise and cursed with a rarefied palate from so much eating out. Here are ten tips I learned along the way:

1. Cooking is not necessarily time consuming. Lots of things, from quesadillas to pork chops, can be made in takeout time. I am always on the lookout for quick, easy meals. Mark Bittman, who writes a regular column for The New York Times, is one of my heroes. Gourmet magazine’s archive of fast recipes can be found on Epicurious.com under Quick & Easy Recipes. Or try my quick quesadilla: grate Monterey Jack cheese onto a flour tortilla, fold the tortilla in half and fry it in oil for two minutes on each side, then serve topped with mashed avocado.

2. It's good to know what's in the food you eat. A happy side effect of cooking is that you know exactly what's in your meals because you put it there. Over the winter I was craving chocolate and sweets, but there was no room in my budget for store-bought pastries. So I began making my own cakes and cookies, and was surprised at how few ingredients are needed: flour, sugar, eggs, milk, baking powder and spices. No preservatives, no trans fats. For the summer I've been making a chocolate granita with just cocoa, sugar and water.

3. You don't need fancy gear. Cooking is easier if you have the right tools, but almost everything I've done uses a pot or a frying pan, a good knife and a spoon. If you don't have a mixer, you can still mix by hand; it just takes longer and burns a few more calories. Get Your Guy Off the Sofa And Into the Kitchen

4. Music helps. When I got into cooking, I hated being in my kitchen—it was lonely and boring. So I bought an under-the-counter clock radio/DVD player and everything changed. I've read about people having a glass of wine or beer while they cook, but that will just make me clumsy. Figure out something that will let you enjoy waiting for the water to boil.