"Tasty alternative to frozen foods!"
How I did it: I've had multiple cookbooks detailing cooking from the middle east and asia. Recently with our vow to not eat out more than once every two weeks we've had to get creative to keep from eating frozen foods constantly as a matter of convenience.
With the challenge of wanting to keep things interesting I dug through one of several cookbooks and found quick and tasty recipes to make. We've had tagines, couscous, soba noodles in soup, onigiri, and any other number of Chinese, Japanese, Indian and Moroccan dishes. My husband has never once been bored with it, and often requests we make them over again.
Given that I made a tagine with fish on Monday, a snack of soba noodles with dipping soup Wednesday, and this weekend we'll be having beef sukiyaki, I consider our transition to using more exotic recipes in our daily diet complete.
Lessons & tips: ~if you don't already have several cookbooks, there are at least a hundred websites out there to help you out. Just google whatever you're trying to do or whatever you're curious about and begin reading. Check multiple sites for the same type of food to see what most people suggest trying.
~if you don't have the special equipment they talk about for some type of ethnic food, just keep researching. Someone somewhere will have a work-around to use standard Western pots and pans to work with it.
~be willing to experiment! It might sound daunting or crazy, but you'll learn a lot about different ways to cook your standard ingredients and add new tricks to your palette and chef's repertoire! If you're nervous about trying a new technique, read the recipe through several times until you're sure of what they're talking about, then go to it!
~if after reading how to do something you're STILL not quite sure how to do it, check YouTube. I guarantee you there's a video on there somewhere demonstrating the technique. Just do a search and watch away. In no time you'll be a pro!
Resources: ~allrecipes.com
~foodnetwork.com
~recipezaar.com
~epicurious.com
(Just do a google search. There are specialty sites for EVERYTHING out there.)
~Amazon.com - for any books if you're the kind of person that likes to have a physical book on hand. cookbooks can be really expensive, so Amazon's New and Used function can help save a bundle sometimes!
It took me 4 months.
It made me excited to cook! 
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