I'm answering you because geeks and cooking are a great combo - everyone should give it a serious try at some point.
1) I love cooking. I'm (mostly) vegan, and I get a better diversity of food by doing it myself. It's more cost effective. My food is more healthy, and I'm a far better cook than the average food you get at a cheap restaurant (and the expensive ones are just that. :). Add to that that my kid has some digestive allergies -- but I cooked when I was a single omnivore, too, but only 5 days/week instead of 6-7.
2) Half and half. Big meal components get planned on weekends so that I only have to shop once per week. Sides, veggies, salads I replan dynamically based upon what's in the fridge and what looked good at the store.
3) If you read through Veganomicon, World Vegetarian, Vegan Eats World, and some random Chinese and Indian cookbooks, plus a little bit of Julia Child, you'll have it nailed! :)
4) I'm vegan, family's not, but no - just no meat/dairy.
5) Practice. Force yourself to accept restrictions on how and what you cook with -- try cooking vegetarian, vegan, every cuisine of the world. Read the food science texts, too, because understanding why things work gives you room to experiment. Experiment. You'll f- it up. That's ok, it's still edible.
Learn to chop efficiently and get a really sharp, appropriate-weight (for you) chef's knife or santoku. You'll love yourself for it for the time it saves doing prep.
The stuff about mise en place? IT's RIGHT. Unless you're in a crazy hurry, prep first. Buy some little prep containers to hold things after you prep them. It'll cut your mistake rate in half. Have everything assembled and then start. (Note: I violate this rule at least once per week, but it's when I know what I'm doing already and am in a rush and don't mind if I skip something minor.)
1) I love cooking. I'm (mostly) vegan, and I get a better diversity of food by doing it myself. It's more cost effective. My food is more healthy, and I'm a far better cook than the average food you get at a cheap restaurant (and the expensive ones are just that. :). Add to that that my kid has some digestive allergies -- but I cooked when I was a single omnivore, too, but only 5 days/week instead of 6-7.
2) Half and half. Big meal components get planned on weekends so that I only have to shop once per week. Sides, veggies, salads I replan dynamically based upon what's in the fridge and what looked good at the store.
3) If you read through Veganomicon, World Vegetarian, Vegan Eats World, and some random Chinese and Indian cookbooks, plus a little bit of Julia Child, you'll have it nailed! :)
4) I'm vegan, family's not, but no - just no meat/dairy.
5) Practice. Force yourself to accept restrictions on how and what you cook with -- try cooking vegetarian, vegan, every cuisine of the world. Read the food science texts, too, because understanding why things work gives you room to experiment. Experiment. You'll f- it up. That's ok, it's still edible.
Learn to chop efficiently and get a really sharp, appropriate-weight (for you) chef's knife or santoku. You'll love yourself for it for the time it saves doing prep.
The stuff about mise en place? IT's RIGHT. Unless you're in a crazy hurry, prep first. Buy some little prep containers to hold things after you prep them. It'll cut your mistake rate in half. Have everything assembled and then start. (Note: I violate this rule at least once per week, but it's when I know what I'm doing already and am in a rush and don't mind if I skip something minor.)