Can’t cook, won’t cook? Here are the tips that saved me from a life of terrible meals

I used to survive on tinned lentils, microwaved eggs and the kindness of more gifted cooks. Then I learned to pull my weight in the kitchen - and if I can do it, so can anyone

For most of my life, I have been a terrible cook. Some people say they are terrible cooks then whip up a perfectly palatable meal for four. I have given myself food poisoning, twice.

My regular diet used to include microwaved scrambled eggs, children's lunchbox cheeses, tinned lentils mixed with tinned tomatoes, bowls of garden peas, and the complete food" powder Huel. I alternated between the same two dinners for nearly a year, and the same sad desk lunch for two years.