Something that has helped me add more variety to my meals
So I have only been cooking my own meals regularly (more than twice a month) for a little under a year now. When I was starting out, I was only able to make two recipes and have them turn out good. They both hinged on a homemade sauce, and I really enjoyed doing them so I just continued to find more and more recipes with sauces.
I believe this has helped me tremendously to learn how things work in the kitchen. There’s a lot of science behind the ingredients in a good sauce, and I would be learning how different things change the texture and taste of what I was cooking.
Now I’m able to pretty much throw things into a skillet and it’ll turn out good 9/10. I could even meal prep like a protein, some veg, and a pasta or rice all together and still make something different every night just because I can throw together random sauces without much effort.
In conclusion, as a beginner cook, I think everyone should start out with homemade sauce and glaze.
(Sorry if this was the wrong flair/sub btw)