My Time At Portia

As you progress in the game, you'll start to notice two things.

1. Mining frequently earns you data disks. You even get a quest the first you get, directing you, to;
2. Petra, at the research center in Central Plaza, whom accepts data disks for new assembly station blueprints. First 5, then 10, finally 20, until she runs out.

One of the earlier bluebrints is the cooking set, which, game timeframe wise, requires an iron pot, crafted from iron bars, so you'll need to progress just a bit (copper first, bronze after, then iron)

After making it, you need food items equiped to your item bar. You put ingredients in one after the other with the X button, all the while with an in game time limit of 30 min, so make sure you slow down game speed as later recipes take 4-5 ingredients.

To "fail", simply put in a few random ingredients and press A to cook. 2 meat and a catfish, for example. Your reward is "wasted food", an item regaining a phenomenal one stamina.

While some recipes are unlocked from the get go, with more available to buy from Django, the owner of the Round Table restaurant / gameroom located in Peach Plaza, the game wants you to do the time consuming bit of experimenting looking up on the wiki the best recipes for either stats or gifts is an incredible way to save both time and money.

Happy hunting (>*_*)>