There are many quick, easy, and healthy recipes for beginners online. Cooking is like anything else. It might be slow going at first, but with practice, soon you will be a pro around the kitchen. If you can read, you can follow a recipe. If you are unfamiliar with a cooking term, call your local Cooperative Extension agent.

Cooking foods on top of a kitchen range can lead to a variety of meals. If you can boil water, you can cook grains (oatmeal, rice, macaroni, noodles, and pasta), hard-cooked eggs, and most vegetables. Once food and water start to boil, turn down the heat so it barely boils (called simmering), and put a lid on the pan to keep the heat inside.

Rice can take as little as 20 minutes to cook and pastas around 8 to 10 minutes. Read the cooking instructions on the package. Vegetables usually cook quickly if cut into small pieces and cooked in water to cover. If you're heating canned vegetables, just heat them to the simmering point. Use a kitchen timer to remind you to check foods.

If you have a microwave oven, it is simple to steam most vegetables (fresh or frozen) in less than 10 minutes. You can microwave-bake a sweet potato or a white potato in just a few minutes. A microwave oven is also great for reheating leftovers and frozen entrees.

Add some dairy foods (like low-fat milk and cheese) and fresh or canned fruits to your meals.

Variety is healthy. Mix it up!

For more information, visit the US Department of Agriculture's Nutrition.gov - Shopping, Cooking & Meal Planning website.