One thing I have had a lot of difficulty getting into the habit of since moving back from Australia is cooking. I've never been overly interested in learning to cook - I was usually more focused on school, books, tv shows or the internet, in my formative years. I had really only just started to cook the occasional meal when I trotted off to vet school in Australia. For the first two years there, I more or less cooked for myself almost daily; it was the cheapest option and I was trying my best to live within a budget. The next two years I shared cooking duties with my housemates, and we would occasionally just get takeout to make our lives a bit easier in the whirlwind of our final year. But while it was easier to shop for one when I lived near a local market, and then easier to cook for three when shopping at a supermarket, cooking for one with supermarket sizes has been more difficult. Moving back in with my parents my first year back also didn't help, it was very easy to fall back into the habit of having my meals made for me, and my dad always kept the fridge and freezer so full that there was no earthly way I could Tetris anything in that wasn't already there. 

Since moving out, I've cooked full meals maybe five times a year, and have mostly subsisted on takeout and frozen foods - not the healthiest of lifestyles. But today, I finally broke out the Instant Pot I had bought a few months ago, picked a recipe (beef stroganoff), and went grocery shopping after having brunch with my mom. And it was really not too difficult, nor was it a hugely time-consuming process! Of course, since I was cooking for one, I'd assumed I'd make enough to last me at least four meals. But when my friend came over (with his PS4 for me to play some more Kingdom Hearts III) and then my mom expressed interest in taking some home for my dad, I was left with just one portion left for my lunch tomorrow. Alas!

This definitely feels like a step in the right direction though, even if my bewildered cat hated it because it meant my attention was directed away from her for a longer period of time than normal. Here's hoping she'll learn to accept it so I don't have to keep chasing her off the counters and the top of the fridge!