I’ve never enjoyed being in the kitchen. I hate the heat of the stove. I always seem to mess up recipes. And on the rare occasions I make a meal, it’s often sadly seasoned and overcooked.

If you’re like me and just not that into cooking, there’s a way to make it less of a chore. Change the way you think of what it means to prepare food, says Margaret Eby, a food writer and the author of You Gotta Eat: Real Life Strategies for Feeding Yourself When Cooking Feels Impossible.

Your time in the kitchen doesn’t have to be taxing, time consuming or even involve heat to count as cooking, she says. “Your habits and the way that you feed yourself aren’t less valid because they aren’t professional kitchen habits.”

Here are three mindsets to help you gain confidence in the kitchen.

Mindset No. 1: Assembly counts as cooking

If you can make a sandwich, use a can opener or throw a few ingredients in a slow cooker, go on and give yourself a pat on the back. You’re cooking!

Assembled meals you can try at home: 

 Bean salad: For a Greek-inspired salad, toss together chickpeas, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and tzatziki. For an Italian-inspired salad, toss together cannellini beans, pesto and parmesan, says Eby.

🥪 “Anything salad sandwich”: Combine canned meat, leftover proteins like rotisserie chicken, hard-boiled eggs or even deli meat with mayonnaise, salt and pepper and a little mustard for an “easy, excellent sandwich,” writes Eby in her book You Gotta Eat.

🍲 Dump recipe: Use slow cookers and pressure cookers to your advantage. Grab your ingredients, throw it into a pot and press the on button. The Kitchn has ideas for 5-ingredient dump dinners.

Mindset No. 2: Expand your idea of dinner

If dinner is a constant source of stress or disappointment, it might be time to think outside the box, says Eby. “Anything that liberates you to treat your dinner as the light snacks you’d eat at a party, that’s a good day.”