If I have learned anything through the process of writing the first draft of the upcoming book, “Making Food Fun Again,” it’s  like Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. said all along: you don’t have to a be star, baby. 

When it comes to nourishing and feeding yourself, you don’t need fancy training, kitchen tools, or a degree in culinary science. You don’t need to pay attention to the latest food trends in Bon Appetite or laboriously scroll through the Instagram food accounts that have the highest number of followers. 

What you may need is a mindset shift away from what I believe the food industry has groomed us to believe: that we can’t cook good food for ourselves without a lot of their help, pre-packaged foods, chemically-inspired shortcuts, or legendary professional chefs plating it for us. 

For the longest time, I believed those very things. Eating outside my home was the treat. And I find that idea such a strange reflection, since some of the best meals I have ever had in my life were ones that were made at home with fresh ingredients and plenty of love. 

As I search for an editor, I have already been eating in such a way that the best food for me — the safest and cleanest for my medical conditions — are cooked in the safety and careful attention of my own home. I am not a professional chef, my kitchen is modest in size, and I don’t own a complete set of chef knives nor a chef’s toque. 

You don’t have to be a kitchen star. Just hungry, and curious.