Can you help me improve my cooking?

I’m sitting here starving and sick of my continuous pan-frying and microwaving. The problem is, most recipes I find online seem to be way to difficult to understand (6 oz of chicken breast?! Let me pull out my scale and counterweights and make everything a slimy salmonella mess) and use specific ingredients that I’d not be able to find another use for (as if I’m of legal age to buy any expensive, fancy-named wine anyway).
I want to get better at cooking, and I want to add more variety to my cooking. I suppose the latter won’t be possible without the former.
Please feel free to share any easy, specific recipes you have.
Also, I’m going to the grocery store soon, so I’d be interested in a list of basic kitchen cooking needs: spices, canned things, etc.
Thanks a lot!