Guy teaches himself to cook after a lifetime of frozen dinners, spending 2 years honing his culinary skills and turning his life around: ‘Went from microwave slop to daily chops'

He lived on frozen dinners for decades… Until now. 

Motivation comes in many forms, but for a lot of us who are rooted in our ways, busy at work, and juggling all of life's little responsibilities, taking on a new challenge feels monumental, like it requires every ounce of motivation we have left. When a person is busy, it seems like the first necessity to slip through the cracks is their food schedule. Although eating is a mandatory part of survival, this daily preservation of meals is a daunting chore, and it's hard to muster up the motivation to cook, especially if you're tired from a long day. 

Even moreso, when you don't even know how to cook in the first place, adventurous culinary undertakings, even the seemingly simplest recipes like fried eggs or instant ramen, are impossible. It's for this reason that the man in this next story is so inspiring. 

After a lifetime of consuming random, premade meals and frozen TV dinners, he decided he wanted to make a change in his life for the better, no matter how much time, energy, or dignity it cost him. Consulting strangers online, the man put aside the shame of never learning to cook and decided to empower himself, taking their advice and starting with small, simple recipes at first. Motivated by small successes in the kitchen, this man spent 2 years honing his culinary skills. 

Now, he's proud to report that he not only has given up on frozen meals, but he's healthier, happier, and cooks something fresh every single day. 

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  • Young chef in the kitchen making a new sauce.
    via Aleksandar Nakic

    Young chef in the kitchen making a new sauce. 

    (Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.)

  • Thank you, 2 years later Hello all, I doubt anyone remembers me but about 2 years ago I made a post asking what people ate for dinner on a day to day basis. I won't recap my whole post but I grew up in a freezer food household and only knew how to put frozen food on a tray and call it a meal,
    via HanieZom
  • sometimes I'd eat a salad with it and call it healthy but I knew it was not a sustainable way to live and really wanted to eat better and feel better about myself and
    via HanieZom
  • my way of life. I'm happy to say in the past 2 years I've done that! I took the advice on my first post and signed up to Hello Fresh initially, following the recipe cards and learning the
    via HanieZom
  • Young man cooking an elaborate recipe in the kitchen.
    via Aleksandar Nakic

    Young man cooking an elaborate recipe in the kitchen. 

    (Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.)

  • basics and once it became too expensive and I had some basic recipes I did them on my own, buying my own ingredients and doing my own takes on the recipes. I then began following some content creators who posted simple weeknight meals
    via HanieZom
  • and actually made the recipes from the videos I saved! I also bought some cookbooks with very simple recipes recommended to me by a colleague. I feel so so much better than I did back then and I
    via HanieZom
  • am so proud of myself and so grateful to everyone who saw and commented on my post, your encouragement and lack of judgement helped me immensely and I wish for anyone
    via HanieZom
  • else who was in my situation to take that step and try and make even just one recipe, it seems scary at first and you'll probably mess up a pasta sauce or 2 like I did, but I promise you it will be worth it to make food you can
    via HanieZom
  • enjoy and feel so much healthier in yourself. I never realized how much shame I was carrying until it was gone and I'm really glad I felt brave enough to ask for help. Thank you all, you gave me the kick I needed to sort things out.
    via HanieZom

  • Not only did he find a new, inspiring hobby, he also completely turned around his life. Shame led to passion, and his culinary journey has inspired many others to leap into the unknown. Because when you don't have parents or grandparents to teach you about the ways of the kitchen, how will you ever learn arpart from deciding yourself you want a change? Life is funny that way, because oftentimes a person's greatest obstacle is themselves. The fear of failure or the fear of falling short stops many people from pursuing a better life, but for some, all it takes is a tablespoon of motivation, 2 cups of determination, and a pinch of positivity to keep going. 

  • As for today, I'm going to get the ingredients to make chicken alfredo for my partner and I tonight (we pick a meal from the recipe book together) it'll be my third time making it so fingers crossed it goes well!
    via HanieZom
  • Guy cooking. new recipe for the first time.
    via Aleksandar Nakic

    Guy cooking. new recipe for the first time. 

    (Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.)

  • These are the kinds of positive stories that are a welcome reminder to celebrate the seemingly small victories in life. Because if you've ever struggled to boil an egg or flip a burger patty, you probably understand how braising, steaming, and stir-frying can be intimidating. But without a zest for adventure and pushing personal limits, how is anyone supposed to get better? 

  • nkondratyk93 this is honestly one of the best kinds of posts on here. going from frozen food to actually cooking your own stuff is such a huge shift and most people never even try. the hello fresh -> doing it yourself pipeline is legit too, thats basically how I got into it. started following recipes exactly, then you just naturally start going off script and thats when it gets fun. whats been your favorite thing to make so far?
    via nkondratyk93
  • OP HanieZom I think rice dishes have to be my favorite to cook overall, I didn't realize how simple it was. I made buffalo chicken rice yesterday and it's definitely going to be a new regular in our house :) and it's definitely crazy how much less intimidating it is having all of the ingredients pre portioned and delivered to your door it made it so I had no more excuses but to try and I did! I have a few pasta recipes and such I still use from HF that have kept me going and now I use mostly fro
    via HanieZom
  • Njdevils 11 I actually DO remember your post. I'm so happy to hear you've been cooking! Being able to give people enjoyable food is genuinely one of the things that makes me happiest in life. Being able to eat that food myself is a close second. Congrats!
    via Njd*vils
  • OP HanieZom That's really heartwarming to hear, I don't really use reddit but I was thinking today about how crazy it is that I'm able to do all the things I'm doing now with cooking and how much better | feel and wanted to thank the people who took the time and let them know that they helped and on the off chance anyone felt the way I did that they would have a bit of hope. It seems like such a small thing in the grand scheme of things (not being able to cook) but the shame about not being able
    via HanieZom
  • Ready-Will-7042 How did you mess up a pasta sauce? Kidding, my first few pasta sauces came out bland. It feels so gratifying when the dish comes out right, doesnt it?
    via Ready-Will-7042
  • OP HanieZom I think I added the cream when the pan was too hot and it separated ☺
    via HanieZom
  • loomfy Love this for you, congratulations hope you have many years of happy cooking.
    via loomfy
  • UncleNedisDe_d Awesome job! We all have to start somewhere. Luckily we now have the internet to share knowledge and learn from pros and each other. Previous generations learned from their parents/grandparents, and of they didn't have knowledge to pass down, you were kind of stuck with cookbooks and recipes on the back of boxes and cans.
    via UncleNedisD**d
  • CatfromLongIsland What a wonderful update! I am trying to bring my cooking journey back to where I was a couple years ago. At age 621 decided I was done cooking. So for the last two years I have relied on take out/delivery and supermarket prepared meals. Even premade salad bowls (Lidl has four options for $2.97 each. ). And let me not forget to mention sandwiches. Lots and lots of sandwiches. These last couple months I have the goal of cooking at least one meal a week- ideally with leftovers for
    via CatfromLongIsland
  • angelin 1978 this is the kind of post that makes this sub worth it. going from freezer food to cooking daily in two years is no joke. congrats
    via angelin
  • karigan_g this is so good to hear that's awesome! ps enjoy the alfredo!
    via karigan_g
  • Reapr Congrats! 20 or so years ago I wanted to know how to make a boiled egg, I had no idea how long to boil it for - no google or youtube, and I stumbled across a book called "How to cook everything" - and indeed it had instructions on how to boil an egg And so the journey started - and yep, I still have that book - well, a later edition.
    via Reapr
  • Figuring|tOutAsWeGo Congrats! Starting is the hardest part. It just snowballs from there!
    via FiguringitOutAsWeGo

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