I still consider myself a "n00b" and I learn something new with every gathering I have with fellow vegans. Going into this experience I knew that I was going to learn to cook. Something I had not done well in the past, I must admit, the first few attempts were definitely a learning experience for me. But now I have a favorite dish which I make, its a cooked Kale with a Peanut Butter sauce that I make. The PB Sauce is a recipe similar to a Sudanese dish my mother used to me when I were lived back in Sudan, it gets better every time.
Not everyone has that "spark" to cook, some flat out don't enjoy it. I cooked out of necessity when I needed, either I cooked a can of whatever, or I would be hungry that evening. So when I spoke with fellow Vegans before I joined the Vegan Living Program, "cooking" was pretty much "Step 2", after deciding to be a vegan.
For a while, that alone kind of scared me of making the switch. I couldn't cook rice in a rice cooker, and that actually happened. So in my mind, if I had to cook for my self, then being a vegan is basically culinary suicide for me. Needless to say, I was not a fan of "cooking", it just wasn't a talent I possessed. But I had to find a way to make it enjoyable, and I don't care who you are, "music" can make any task enjoyable.
Now, one of the main ingredient of any complicated dish I make, is a killer playlist. I have little speaker in the kitchen, so all I do is plug them into my phone, choose an album, an artist, a playlist, or put the whole damn thing on shuffle, and hit play.
I would recommend choosing a particular album you like, or create a playlist of tunes you really enjoy.
This helps in two ways in my opinion:
1- Time will seems to slip by as you are cutting up your vegetables, or boiling your water. A little hip shaking can go a long way :)
2- Since you are listening to music you enjoy, your brain will associate that joy with your activity. There fore positively enforcing "happy" with "cooking", voila.
I am no scientist, but I have done this myself, I now look forward to choosing an album and making my dishes, it really works.
Try it out some time, the worst thats going to happen is that you will have a good time making your dinner :)
I'll blog you later.
Much Love
Mosno Al-Moseeki
www.mosno.net | Insta/Tweet: @mosno_music