Darya Rose PhD – Foodist Kitchen

What’s keeping you from cooking more?

“I enjoy cooking, but putting it into reality is a nightmare, and when no one wants to eat it, I feel like I’ve squandered time in my life that I’ll never get back.”

“Cooking takes me forever, it never turns out well, and it’s not particularly gratifying.”

“I’ve given up on the idea that I can prepare a decent supper. And how can I ever have a healthy connection with food and not be concerned about it if I’m dependent on processed meals and restaurants?”

“I so want to be the mom who cooks at home, but I don’t know where to begin…. It’s very overwhelming.”

“I live alone and am simply too weary to cook. It appears to be a significant effort to accomplish solely for myself.”

“Eating out all the time is expensive, but I despise cooking so much that I usually give in or miss the meal entirely.”

“I want to cry every time I see a recipe. When I try to prepare something and it fails, I become even more upset and think to myself, “This is why I detest cooking.”

Hello, my name is Darya Rose. I’m a Ph.D. in neurology and the developer of Summer Tomato, one of TIME’s 50 Best Websites.

Before I started cooking on a daily basis, there were few things that frightened me more than the kitchen.

I didn’t know how to wield a knife or operate a stove.

When I did attempt to prepare something, it was generally a disaster. With no flavor and a charred outside, but a raw inside. I know it sounds delicious.

As a result, the majority of my meals came from a box, a bag, or a restaurant.

And don’t even think of entertaining. Cooking for anyone else seemed ridiculous. Why would I do anything like that to someone I care about? (Let alone my own). Thank you, but no thank you.

If you had asked me why I didn’t cook more at the time, I would have responded that I didn’t know how. I don’t have the time or energy to do it anyhow.

Cooking felt like a lot of work for little pleasure. That it was.

I had no concept how much power cooking had to transform my life for the better at the moment. That it would have put a stop to my weight-loss struggles and transformed my relationship with food and my body.

I also didn’t realize that the problems I was having with cooking might be solved with a few simple changes to my method.

Cooking may be simple and stress-free if you make it a HABIT.

Cooking is difficult and time-consuming when it is not a habit. Every step, from planning, purchasing, and preparing to cooking and cleaning, requires more time and effort.

Even if you do manage to put anything together, chances are it won’t taste very good.

Cooking, on the other hand, is neither stressful or difficult when it becomes a habit. You become so efficient in the kitchen that cooking takes less time than going out to eat.

Even after a hard day at work, you can come in the door, open the fridge, and know precisely what to do to have a wonderful, healthy supper on the table in less than 30 minutes.

Because your brain does not have to work as hard when you have a habit, you can perform something easier and faster.

In reality, if you have a strong habit, doing it is simpler than not doing it.

That is why habits are so powerful.

When things are difficult, habits do not form.

I’ve spent years trying to figure out what keeps individuals from developing a cooking habit. I’ve conducted surveys, interviews, and examined hundreds of responses.

People provide many reasons for not cooking, but I observed a similar thread running through all of them:

The biggest reason people struggle with cooking is reliance on recipes.

Consider this. When you don’t cook on a daily basis and want to attempt a new dish, you go to the shop with a lengthy list of ingredients.

You spend 45 minutes wandering through the aisles looking for everything you need, which is frustrating.

What should you do if you can’t find what you’re looking for? Ugh. You must make an additional stop.

There’s a good possibility you already had an open package of cornstarch or some ground cumin at the back of your pantry when you got everything home. But you don’t know how old they were anyhow, so you toss them away.

You’re now squandering food.

You struggle through the recipe, which takes a long time since you have to continually read and double-check that you’re doing everything right.

When you’re through, the recipe may or may not have worked out. Surprisingly few recipes have been thoroughly tested.

Can you fix it if it doesn’t work out? Or are you stuck with a lousy meal?

What if your entire family dislikes it? Do you have to cook two or more separate recipes?

Cooking from a recipe also means you probably cooked too much food and will be stuck with unwanted leftovers. There will be even more food waste.

Don’t forget about the remaining carrots and the other half of the onion you didn’t use. You probably don’t have a strategy to use up everything you bought for the original meal if you cook from recipes.

There is a lot of waste.

Each of these factors adds stress and annoyance to the cooking process, not to mention a significant amount of time, work, and money.

It’s no surprise you don’t do this very often.

Learn how to cook without using recipes.

The key to developing a cooking habit is to learn to cook without using recipes. This may appear to be a magic trick, but it isn’t as difficult as you think.

Imagine being able to go grocery shopping at your leisure, wandering through the vegetable and butcher aisles and picking what to prepare for the week based on what looks nice.

You select three main meals and then consider what tastes and side dishes may complement them. You’re used to cooking with a variety of ingredients, so this comes effortlessly to you.

You know how to cook almost anything in the produce section, so all you have to do now is decide what ingredients you’ll need to make the recipes you’ve imagined. You also know just where to look for anything.

Buying the right amount of food is instinctive since you know your family’s eating patterns. That reminds you, your kids raved about the squash dish last week, so stock up today.

You already have all of the necessities at home, so you pick up everything and leave the store in under 20 minutes.

Each evening, you determine what you’re “in the mood for” depending on what you’ve bought, and you have the knife and cooking abilities to put it together quickly.

When the dinner is almost done, you take a bite and decide it’s a little bland. You tweak the spices and add a few herbs until it’s perfect. You make a mental point to remember this for the next time.

You already know you created something excellent, but your friends and family compliment your culinary abilities. They want to know what your secret is and whether they can get the recipe.

“Oh, it’s just something I made up; I didn’t exactly stick to a recipe.”

“Wow! You’re a fantastic cook.”

“No, I simply know what tastes nice.”

Because you’re not frantically following a recipe, most of the cleanup is done before the food is finished cooking.

So after you eat you just need to rinse the pans and put the dirty plates in the dishwasher. It takes less than 10 minutes.

There’s just enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow, since that’s what you planned for.

And when you treat yourself to a nice restaurant meal on Friday night, you’ve earned it.

Removing the burden of following a recipe frees you from all the stress, frustration and waste that comes from not having an intuitive sense in the kitchen.

It is the ultimate foodist freedom.

Without recipes, anyone can learn to cook.

Because I accomplished it, I know that anyone can learn to cook without using recipes.

I used to be such a bad chef in college that I actually burnt water (no joke, I was trying to make pasta and forgot about it). And it took me an afternoon to figure out how to cook eggs.

(I’m still humiliated).

Making great, wholesome meals at home has become as normal to me as getting dressed or walking my dog. I don’t give it much thought; I simply do it.

Cooking is often seen to be a natural ability. However, no one is born a chef, and anybody with enough experience can learn to cook.

It’s not that you can’t cook or that you can’t. It’s either you cook or you don’t.

The first step is to stop considering cooking as a singular ability. Consider it a set of habits and abilities that make it simple for you to put home-cooked meals on the table.

This means you may divide cooking into smaller chores and handle them one at a time. Because cooking abilities build on one another, you must learn them in the correct order.

Learning a variety of habits may appear to be more work, but it is actually MUCH simpler than trying a wild new dish every day.

And once you’ve mastered it, you’re set for life.

Foodist Kitchen is a 30-day curriculum that will teach you to cook without using recipes.

Because I understand how important cooking is to being a foodist, I devised a 30-day online course to teach you how to cook without recipes.

I spent over five years stumbling my way through various culinary techniques, gradually developing the confidence and intuition I have now in the kitchen. I now see that if I had a method to guide me through the necessary procedures, I could have finished this much faster.

Foodist Kitchen is meant to teach you the habits and abilities you need to cook without recipes in a fraction of the time it took me.

It will guide you through each step and turn you from someone who struggles with recipes to someone who is completely confident in the kitchen.

After 30 days, you’ll be able to come home from work, open the fridge, and quickly prepare something nutritious and tasty.

You’ll know what to create, how much to cook, and how to make it taste excellent instinctively.

Unlike other cooking programs, which focus on teaching techniques (though you will learn them as well), Foodist Kitchen focuses on developing the core habits required to make frequent cooking a natural part of your day.

I break down the procedures of buying, meal planning, taste pairing, cooking, and cleaning into simple concepts that you’ll remember for the rest of your life. You will never have to rely on recipes again.

Foodist Kitchen guarantees that you learn and practice each skill at the appropriate time and in the appropriate order, eliminating all guesswork from the habit-building process.

When you join Foodist Kitchen, you’ll get an email every day with a short, enjoyable lesson.

It takes less than ten minutes to read and only has one assignment. All you do on the first day is go into your kitchen and fetch a knife.

Foodist Kitchen assures that you will employ both your head and your kitchen, as this is how habits are formed.

The courses and activities begin slowly and progress to make you a culinary ninja by the conclusion of the program.

This one-of-a-kind strategy will gradually reduce your nervousness about buying, cooking, and cleaning, leaving you with perfect kitchen confidence.

“Thanks to Foodist Kitchen I’m feeling less apprehensive about the whole procedure. Historically, it’s been overwhelming since I have to go through the entire decide on meals – grocery shop – (clean dishes) – cook – clean dishes cycle every time. “I think I might be looking forward to cooking tomorrow!” Jenifer P.

Does this sound familiar?

Foodist Kitchen began as a program called Feast Bootcamp. Men’s Fitness, Mashable, Greatist, and even Summer Tomato lauded it as a groundbreaking new culinary school.

“Feast’s approach is unique: it focuses on developing drive and confidence rather than learning to create really elaborate, intricate dishes.”

–Greatist

I fell in love with Feast and had so much positive feedback from readers that I decided to take over and give it a foodist makeover. (Many thanks to David and Nadia!)

The original software was based on hundreds of studies undertaken by psychologists and specialists who investigated the human brain and how it builds habits.

The same ideas that have helped habit-changing programs like CrossFit become so popular and effective.

I took the original program and improved it by adding in the foodist philosophy and all I know about utilizing food and your brain to improve your life and forever transform your connection with food.

It is the perfect starting place for anyone interested in becoming a foodie.

“Foodist Kitchen assisted me in systematizing the process of bringing food into the house and cooking it in such a way that it became almost natural… I can now buy a week’s worth of food and prepare it without any effort.” -Ms. Carol S.

Everything changes as you cook.

The amount of time you spend in the kitchen is only the beginning of how learning to cook without a recipe can transform your life.

The Foodist Kitchen ideology is upon health.

Although I now like cooking for the purpose of cooking and the sense of warmth and connection it provides to my household, eating more Real Food and avoiding manufactured foods remains my primary incentive for cooking.

It’s just hard to make the finest meal choices on a consistent basis unless you know how to cook and prepare Real Food. Foodist Kitchen will assist you in this aim by assisting you in creating meals based on the Foodist Plate.

“Now, instead of grabbing my keys when I’m hungry, I walk to the kitchen to look. By default, I’m eating healthier. Based on that, I believe this money was wisely spent.” Jennifer P.

Cooking saves money.

One of the unexpected benefits I received when I began cooking as a graduate student was the amount of money I saved. Restaurants in San Francisco are quite costly, and I had really gone into debt from dining out so frequently.

Not going out or depending on pricey, bad-tasting frozen meals saved me hundreds of dollars every month, which I used to pay off my debt and start Summer Tomato.

I also stopped wasting food when learning to cook without recipes removed the guesswork out of grocery shopping. The total savings were enormous.

Cooking brings you closer to the people you care about.

The relationships you build with family, friends, and your community are one of the most wonderful aspects of cooking more.

Dinnertime at home is one of my husband and my favorite routines, and we really miss it when we miss it too many days in a row.

My culinary habits have spread to the rest of my family. My father’s diet has shifted from all-fast food to all-healthy home-cooked meals.

He was despondent, had a stroke, and didn’t want to live before this. He is now 40 pounds lighter and happy than he has been in two decades.

His ability to cook saved his life.

After a history of being finicky eaters, my sister-in-law and niece now like squash, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts, thanks to recipes I make at home.

Few simple things may have such huge effects.

“Before Foodist Kitchen, I didn’t even know how to handle a knife properly, let alone prepare a dinner. Now I’m constantly in the kitchen preparing excellent Real Food for myself and my family.” -Adam H.

“Some people might think this is trivial stuff, but for me it is a plethora of information I had no clue about. Foodist Kitchen has transformed something difficult (for me) into something simple and, dare I say, enjoyable! Thank you very much!” -Beth S.

Foodist Kitchen will…
Get easy daily lessons that will walk you through all of the habits you’ll need to cook without using recipes.
Learn how to simplify your shopping experience in order to save time and money.
Learn fundamental cooking methods such as chopping, sautéing, and roasting.
Improve your flavor intuition so you can “season to taste” and “fix” a meal that isn’t working for you.
Develop your culinary intuition so that you understand what it means to cook “till done.”
Learn how to make nutritious, tasty meals out of nearly anything.
Discover tasty and imaginative ways to “util up” everything in your fridge.
Reduce waste and save money by avoiding restaurants and packaged goods.
Learn how to persuade family members to try (and like) new dishes.
Impress your friends and dates with your fancy new cooking abilities.
Join a community of new cooks and share your experiences and advice.

“My favorite part of Foodist Kitchen was learning how to match tastes. Now that I’ve learned the fundamentals, I can read a recipe or watch a culinary program and understand why certain items are used. My foods’ flavor has substantially increased.” -Joan K.

The most difficult aspect of learning to cook is getting started. Allow Foodist Kitchen to walk you through the process of learning to cook without recipes, step by step.

The Foodist Kitchen

Who should join Foodist Kitchen?

Foodist Kitchen is for anyone who is ready to make a real, tangible improvement in their life through cooking.

Anyone who….

• Has ever thought cooking was too hard or takes too much time
• Feels overwhelmed by cooking and doesn’t know where to start
• Lacks confidence in their ability to make food taste delicious
• Wants to build a foundation of healthy eating for their family and loved ones
• Is tired of throwing away money on restaurants and packaged foods
• Likes to cook from recipes, but wishes it was easier and turned out better
• Hates wasting food
• Wants to save money on their monthly food bill
• Loves good food and sharing it with people

Foodist Kitchen teaches you the concepts and principles behind cooking, but I never tell you exactly what ingredients to buy.

That means it is easy to adapt the program to vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free or other alternative eating plans.

“You guys are doing a great job, this is a really good method to force people to actually think about the basics. You have clearly tackled the underlying problem, and this little formula works to overcome the barriers.” –Ernest C.

Who should NOT join?

Foodist Kitchen isn’t for you if you aren’t serious about learning to cook.

The program is specifically designed NOT to be overwhelming and isn’t a huge time commitment.

But it does require regular action and follow through, because that is how habits form.

It doesn’t matter if you aren’t a natural or if you have a small kitchen. The whole point is practicing, so the habits actually stick.

If you can commit to that, I’m committed to turning you into someone who cooks without recipes in just 30 days.

Foodist Kitchen starts at the very beginning with things like grocery shopping and basic knife skills, and eventually moves up to more advanced lessons on flavor, creativity and experimentation.

That is, it shows you how to grow and build your cooking skills once the program ends.

If you already roast, braise, and sous vide on a regular basis, Foodist Kitchen will be too basic for you.

But if you never got past salads and stir fries, it will certainly help you take your skills to the next level.

Sign up for Foodist Kitchen today

You’re ALWAYS going to be crazy busy.

But the sooner you learn to cook without recipes, the sooner you’ll eliminate the stress and anxiety that comes from having to feed yourself every day without the necessary skill set.

Learning to cook without recipes will also start saving you money immediately.

Foodist Kitchen will easily pay for itself many, many times over. The sooner you start cooking, the more you’ll save.

Also, cooking at home is the single most important step you can take to improve the health of yourself and your family. This may be the best money you’ll ever spend.

By signing up now you’ll lock in the incredibly low price of $99.

This one-time payment will get you lifetime access to the course material and access to the private Facebook group, where you can share your adventures and get support along the way.

Sound too good to be true?

I’m so confident that you’ll love Foodist Kitchen that I’m offering a 60-day money back guarantee. Longer than the length of the entire program!

That gives you plenty of time to try the course at your own leisure and decide if it’s right for you.

Ready to change your life?