When you're new, starting new seeds can be intimidating to a degree and a lot of people forget that as they grow for a number of years. Having the seed in a towel let's you see that there's something going on and it makes you feel better I think. Getting Solo cups full of moist soil and just poking holes in the bottom should be as much as work as it takes for fresh seeds.
I do a 12 hour peroxide soak on my old seeds that have been in the freezer for years with a recipe I got from Rurumo on here and it seems to help but I haven't done any real testing on it. I use 30 ml of hydrogen peroxide and 500 ml of water and soak for 12 hours at most. Then I just plant about 1/4" deep and keep the soil moist and warm. Usually they pop in 2-3 days and if it's longer than 5, I'm going digging. I don't have the patience to wait for weak plants, I'd rather just plant another seed.