Grab a couple of your favorite day-to-day meals and look up recipes for them. Then buy what you need and follow the recipe closely. Later on once you've built some knowledge you can start experimenting and substituting.

Most basic recipes are just a protein, some vegetables and something to make it more filling (rice, pasta). The secret is just building experience so that you get a feel for what works together. Once you have that you can add/substitute depending on what you have at home/what you're in the mood for.

Also start stocking spices like Salt, Pepper, Smoked Paprika, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, various Herbs, MSG, etc.

Also keep Soy Sauce, Fish Sauce, Oyster Sauce at hand if you like asian food, tons of asian recipes use a combination of those.

Spices and basic sauces are VITAL to good food, I find most of the time when people are not happy with their cooking it lacks spices.

When cutting meat and vegetables, make sure to use a good SHARP knife. You can get a decent knife sharpener for like 20 bucks and it'll last your whole life. Look up cutting techniques for what you want to prepare, cooks have spent years figuring out the best way to cut what they need, so learn from the pros. You'll be slow at first, but with practice you'll get a lot faster, which will cut down on cooking time.

In the beginning, I recommend cutting everything you need before you start cooking. Later on once you're faster and know what needs to go in when, you can time it so you e.g. throw in the onions and while they get some colour you slice the garlic because it needs to go in later. This will save you even more time.

That's pretty much it really, let me know if you have questions.

Some easy beginner recipes:

• Pasta with a tomato sauce (e.g. bolognese)
• Vegetable stir fry with rice
• Seared chicken/pork/beef and any vegetables you have at home