E's World

This is a man who is VIOLENTLY aware that when it comes to conservatives, he is a Muslim first, a Brown Man second, an Immigrant third, a Socialist fourth, and a human a very distant fifth, if considered at all. He was also a young adult during the Obama Years and will have seen Republicans rip Obama to shreds for wearing a tan suit instead of a dark one and use literally ANY excuse they could to try and degrade his image.

but this is workable. sounds like 2 main issues are Choosing Foods and Cooking Process Sucks Too Much.

with that in mind i think you need a short rotation of foods that are high-reward and low-prep. If you will eat rice, a rice cooker helps a lot here, as does a slow cooker or instant pot, since they are set it and forget it tools, and are high enough capacity to make several meals worth at once. if you want recipe ideas i can give it a go with things that work for me but YMMV.

as for Cooking Process, some of the bits that i find are hardest are defeatable. trying to chop everything as other stuff was on the heat stresses me out, so I get all the ingredients out first, prep them all, and then start cooking. to save on dishes, I also review the recipe closely to see what things can go into the pot together, and I prep them together + they sit in the same bowl until its time to add them.

for the babysitting a pan or pot, which is boring, this is the time for slow cookers/instant pots/casserole dishes. no babysitting required.

another process thing is just. theres so much stuff about how food is better from scratch, and that isn't necessarily wrong, but food that you will prepare is better than food you won't prepare. so using pre-cut veg or meat, buying instant rice instead of the kind you have to actually cook, and buying premade sauces will lower the barrier to entry and it's literally more nutritious than not doing that and then not eating.

the only time/energy-saver i recommend NOT doing is microwaving veggies. a limp microwaved broccoli is awful. its unfortunately worth the time to roast or saute them instead.

The Rodeo Rule: you only have to do it for the first time once.

The Rohan Rule: if you are at a social function full of new people and you want to be liked, find someone doing important work like setup or food prep and offer to help.

The Tutorial Mode Rule: to navigate an unfamiliar situation where you fear you will mess up an interaction, preface the interaction by mentioning that you've never done this before, and let them know if you have a specific concern or question.

The Rocket Science Rule: most new things you want to try seem very complicated but are simple when taken step by step.

The [X] Will Remember That Rule: if you need to make small talk with the same person on a regular basis, try to save one fact or current event in their life from a given conversation and bring it up next time you talk.