When it comes to cooking, it's important to remember that everyone starts somewhere. I don't know a person who was born with a wooden cooking spoon and is ready to go. There is a lot to learn to be a good chef and there is always room for improvement. Not only do you have to start with the basics when it comes to cooking, but you almost have to start over when learning to cook a new dish like Chinese, Thai or Indian cuisine.
This means that at any point in your learning cycle, there's a good chance someone somewhere cooks better and/or worse than you. Rest assured, even the best days have bad days when it comes to cooking. There are many people who cook for different reasons. Some cook to eat and survive while others cook because they really enjoy the cooking process. Some cook during times of emotional upheaval and others out of boredom. Whatever your reason for cooking or learning to cook, you should always start with the basics.
The first thing you need to find out is what the various terms you will find in the formulas actually mean. There are many new and sometimes foreign terms that you will find in common recipes. These terms can make the difference between the success or failure of a recipe. You should be able to find a good section in any general cookbook explaining the various definitions of unfamiliar terms. If you're not entirely sure what "egg stacking" means, you should research it.
Another great tip when it comes to cooking basics is to try out simpler recipes for a while and then expand your horizons to more complex recipes that abound. Most recipes will have a little rating on how difficult they are, and you can read the recipe to see if it's something you want to do or are confident you can do it. Remember that Rome was not built in a day, and it will take some time to create a reliable "book of recipes" to fit your meal planning cycle.
The good news is that once you've learned the basics of cooking, you don't need to learn them again. This means you can constantly grow and develop your culinary skills. As you learn new recipes and improve your culinary skills and talents, you'll find that it's far more rewarding to prepare your own meals from scratch than to prepare your own meals. pre-packaged packages purchased off the shelves of local supermarkets.
You'll also find that as your experience and confidence grows, you'll find yourself more and more often improvising when it comes to making and adapting recipes to your personal taste. If you like more or less ingredients or want to make the recipe taste a little more or less spicy, you can make simple adjustments in the making to achieve this goal. In other words, you will start creating your own recipes in time. And that's something you won't necessarily learn when it comes to basic beginner cooking skills, but you'll never learn if you don't master these basic cooking skills.