Reluctant chef struggles to find recipes

DEAR HARRIETTE: When I was single, I never learned how to cook; my mom always took care of that for us. However, after getting married, I’ve been wanting to learn how to cook more than just fried foods and to try more varied meals. The problem is that I always feel intimidated by complicated recipes. I end up sticking to the same meals every week because I don’t know where to start or how to manage it. The idea of cooking something new often feels daunting, and I worry about wasting ingredients or not getting the recipe right. I genuinely want to improve my cooking skills and experiment with different dishes, but I’m concerned it will be too stressful or take too much time. At times, I feel discouraged before I even start. Should I try breaking down the cooking process into smaller steps and gradually work my way up to more complex recipes?