Weird advice but what worked for me is making it harder or gameifying it a bit. It was easier when I wasn’t working and had more time but less money. I have MCAS along for the ride with autism so I flip between what foods(and environmental triggers)I have allergic reactions to. I developed a pretty severe aversion to eating because of the puking and pooping. I needed something to make me eat more than cook.

I do fortunately have the privilege of space for good gardens and a decent little kitchen. And my autistic mum often found 6 children overwhelming so I started cooking at 7 years old.

The one that really worked the best was focusing on how far you can ‘from scratch’. Great way to learn about making sauces. Adding in the aspect of a time challenge makes you think about shortcuts and how to get to a desired flavor in a different way than the recipe calls for. Making different kinds of pasta is fun. Or wanting donuts so you learn to make donuts.

I have space for gardens and I’ve found making meals that come to me through a 3 month project(or 3 years for my thyme) is a good incentive to use the products of my labor and then actually eat the thing too. I’m not going to let 9 tomato plants go to waste and I’m going to make something delicious too. I grew my own onions, tomatoes, oregano etc and made some awesome pasta sauce that took 25 minutes, 3 days, 4 months or 2 years to make depending on how you split it.

Getting a little deeper into the process also adds in a data collection and manipulation layer than can tweak my brain in a fun way. Kitchen scale, precise temps, durations, shopping lists, costs etc etc.