I did take a home ec class in high school, but mainly I learned because I often started dinner as a kid — though the style of cooking I grew up with was heavy on meat, potatoes and canned veggies and I moved away from that. Once I grew up, I actively worked at learning to cook healthier meals from scratch. It’s how I could afford to stay home with my kids for a few years. I used recipe books and interviewed older women who knew how to cook traditional meals, but today youtube etc could be helpful.