For a teen or young adult, cooking can be intimidating. It looks pretty complex, and the potential accidents that can occur act as a significant barrier of entry. If you screw things up, you can waste food, burn yourself or even set the kitchen on fire!

Many young athletes have little to no experience in the kitchen, aside from using the toaster or microwave. I know I found the kitchen rather scary when I was a teenager, and I didn’t really learn how to do any kind of cooking until I was in college.

But knowing how to cook a few simple dishes can be a gigantic help to both you and your parents. It allows you to cook quality food when your parents aren’t around, and it also allows you to have greater control over exactly what you put in your body—a big plus for any athlete.

In the interest of convenience, independence and nutrition, STACK will show you how to cook some simple and healthy foods that will fill you up the right way.

Let’s start with one of the most diverse, well-balanced and affordable foods out there—eggs. Great for athletes, eggs are high in protein, healthy fats and several key nutrients such as vitamin D and vitamin B-12. You also should be eating the yolk—contrary to popular belief—as it’s high in protein, iodine and zinc.

Glenn Lyman, a personal chef who’s helped fuel elite athletes like LeBron James, Steve Smith and Ryan Lochte, loves making eggs for his clients. “Eggs are one of my favorite sources of lean, high-quality protein, and they can be served any time of the day,” he says. With Lyman’s help, here’s how to cook three different styles of eggs.

Scrambled Eggs

Scrambled eggs are a fun and simple way to prepare eggs. They’re great on their own, but they can also be mixed in with a wide variety of other foods.

1. Gently crack two large eggs into a bowl. Two eggs is one serving, so if you’re making eggs for two people, you’ll need four. Crack them carefully, but if any of the shell gets into the bowl, just pick it out.
2. Whisk the eggs to break up the yolks. Whisking means stirring lightly and rapidly. This can be done with either a fork or a tool called a whisk, which you might have in your kitchen. A whisk looks like this.
3. Once you’ve broken up the yolks, add a small splash of water to the bowl—only about a spoonful. Continue whisking to blend in the water. This will thin the eggs slightly and keep them from becoming too dry.
4. Get out a clean nonstick pan. Nonstick pans are typically a shade of darkish grey and are shinier than cast iron pans. Lyman prefers to use something like the Calphalon nonstick omelet pan.
5. Place the pan on the stove top and turn it to a medium-low heat setting, which is between 3 and 4 on a typical stove dial. Your stove top likely has four cooking platforms—rear left, rear right, front left and front right. Place the pan on one of these platforms, and use the corresponding dial to control the heat of that platform. The dials will typically be numbered 1 through 10, with 1 indicating the lowest heat and 10 the highest.
6. Allow the pan to heat up for two to three minutes. Next, pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil into the pan and allow it to heat up for roughly 45 seconds.
7. Carefully pour the eggs from the bowl into the pan. Don’t touch the eggs until they are set around the edges, meaning they’re no longer in liquid form and have a firmness on their general outline. This should take roughly 1 minute.
8. Using a rubber spatula, begin to push the eggs toward the center of the pan. Tilt the pan slightly so any uncooked egg flows towards the center of the pan. Stir the eggs only occasionally, as constant stirring will leave your eggs flat and tough. If you don’t have a rubber spatula, you can carefully use a normal spatula or other similar utensil that won’t melt or burn.
9. Continue to keep the eggs in the middle of the pan via tilting and light stirring. After about 2-3 minutes, transfer the eggs to a plate.
10. Turn off the stove top heat and enjoy your scrambled eggs.

Fried Eggs

Frying an egg is how you give it that distinct “sunny side up” look. A fried egg tastes great on its own and can also be easily placed in a breakfast sandwich to kick up the protein content.

1. Gently crack two large eggs into a bowl. Two eggs is one serving, so if you’re making eggs for two people, you’ll need four. Crack them carefully, but if any of the shell gets into the bowl, just pick it out.
2. Place a nonstick pan on the stove top and turn the dial to medium heat, which is between 4 and 5 on a typical stove dial. Allow the pan to heat up for two to three minutes.
3. Next, pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil into the pan and allow it to heat up for roughly 45 seconds.
4. Next, carefully pour the eggs from the bowl into the pan. Don’t touch the eggs until they are set around the edges, which should take roughly 1 minute. You can add a small amount of salt and pepper while you wait for the edges to set.
5. Add a spoonful of water to the pan (but not on top of the eggs). Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid, and let the eggs cook for 2-3 minutes. The steam helps fried eggs hold their shape. The longer you cook the egg, the firmer it will be. The shorter you cook the egg, the runnier it will be.
6. Carefully remove the lid—the steam will be hot—and transfer the eggs to a plate. Turn off the stove top heat and enjoy your fried eggs.

Hard-Boiled Eggs

Hard-boiled eggs are a great portable source of protein, which makes them a perfect on-the-go snack for athletes. They also go great in salads.

1. Place two large eggs into a sauce pan. Two eggs is one serving, so if you’re making eggs for two people, you’ll need four. Sauce pans are pans with high sides, such as this.
2. Fill the sauce pan with cold water until the water covers the eggs by about one to two inches.
3. Place the sauce pan on the stove top and turn the dial to high heat, which is between 9 and 10 on a typical stove top dial. Wait until the water reaches a full boil, which should take about 15 minutes. Boiling water is characterized by large bubbles flowing to the surface rapidly and consistently, as is shown here.
4. Once the water is boiling, cover the saucepan with a tight-fitting lid and turn off the heat. Be careful, as the steam will be hot. Remove the covered saucepan from the hot stove platform and place it on a neutral stove platform. Allow the eggs to sit  for 12 minutes.
5. Carefully drain the water from the pan and use a long slotted spoon to transfer the eggs to a large bowl filled with ice water. This will stop the cooking process and make the eggs easy to peel. If you don’t have a slotted spoon, you can carefully use a long spoon or another similar utensil that won’t melt or burn.
6. If you’d like to eat the eggs immediately, peel them and enjoy. If you want to store them, simply put them in a sealed container in your fridge. Hard-boiled eggs are good for up to one week after you cook them.

Additional Tips

•  Add a handful of spinach or arugula to the hot oil just before you add the eggs. Spinach and arugula are packed with useful nutrients such as fiber, which helps you feel fuller longer. If you add spinach or arugula to your eggs, cook them an extra minute.
• Sliced green onions are another great addition—both nutritionally and in terms of taste.
• If you don’t have olive oil, you can use nonstick cooking spray, but it lacks the good fat and extra flavor olive oil provides.