I recently found myself in a food rut. I just don't get it. I poke around a ton of food blogs from decadent to vegan to everything in between always looking for ideas and yet I found myself in a food rut. I will see something and think it looks okay but not necessarily good enough for me to buy everything I need to try it or it has so many ingredients that it's a turn off for my lazy rump. I find I've only tried a few whether out of laziness or intimidation.
I would sit there looking at my freezer full of fish, chicken, turkey, faux turkey, lean ground beef and just go...blank. I reverted to old favorites but was kind of tired of those. So yesterday I scoured some more food blogs to see if I could get an idea for today's menu. I ended up changing what I had planned for dinner last night and made an awesome chicken dish that I did myself. Apparently I just needed to look at other recipes to get my creative juices flowing and remember some ingredients I already had on hand. (Hello almond meal that I bought "just in case" but totally forgot about!)
How do you deal with food ruts? Suggest some of your favorite food blogs you follow of any genre or if you have a favorite quick recipe, feel free to share it in the comments or link it if it's online.
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I love the 'interweb' as a source of inspiration. Often if I don't feel like shopping but can't come up with a meal using ingredients on hand, I'll just google a few ingredients and see what comes up. Sometimes I'll combine two recipes, maybe a baking technique from one with the spice palate of another. Or I'll prepare tofu based on a chicken recipe. The real trick is taking the time to make the effort, rather than eating something blah just because I'm hungry.
ReplyDeleteI'm so in a food rut too. I have quite a few decent (I hope) recipes on file waiting to be tried, but I just can't seem to be bothered. When I do make the effort, I'm always glad I did. Lately though I just have a serious case of "don't wannas". Maybe it's the heat, I'm hoping once it cools down a bit I'll feel more like experimenting. I'm also somewhat limited by the fact that I have to compromise with hubby as far menu planning. He's not picky exactly, but he does have a pretty set in stone idea of what supper should be.
ReplyDeleteEML- It is a great resource! Sometimes I don't even read the whole recipe, just the first few ingredients can spark something yummy! Tonight we're trying these tofu noodles. I'm scared. Anything that tells me I need to parboil it and pat it dry to get rid of it's "natural aroma" or something like that, doesn't promote confidence!
ReplyDeleteAL- I think the heat can make it so you don't feel like cooking but I'm trying to pre-prepare (??) things so that when the workout is over we can cut the cooking time down. Tell the hubby if he's "selective" about what should be for dinner, HE can make it! HA!
There are tons of great recipes online where you can get all sorts of ideas. Don't forget to also think outside the box. For example what type of ingredients do you like? Try putting those together into a new and creative dish. If you can't think of one ask me. I will come up with something for you.
ReplyDeleteOne last thing which all of us who blog are guilty of. We can spend hours online searching the web. Try taking one of those hours and take a walk, go to the gym, swim or whatever aerobic activity you like. You will reach your desired weight a lot sooner. Take it from one who knows. Spending hours sitting online only gets the waistline thicker. Please know this isn't a lecture or criticism I know this to be true from my own experience.
If you need help with a recipe check out my blog or throw some ingredients at me and I will come up with one for you.
Thanks for the offer Vicki. If I get really stuck I may just take you up on that. (Honestly, if I ever get *that* stuck, I'm in trouble! I hope my culinary creativity isn't an empty vessel yet!)
ReplyDeleteYep, I'm up and doing something at the top of the hour in addition to my hour workouts (see workout schedule tab). I don't get close to 200 lbs off this bod by being on the boo-tay all day. :) Thanks for the reminder though.
Normally I'd go along with the "if he doesn't like it, he can cook" line of thought, but my hubby is the exception. It's actually largely his cooking that has gotten us to this point. He enjoys cooking, and is really really good at it - but the concept of low fat/low cal just totally escapes him.
ReplyDeleteHe learned to cook watching and helping his mom who was cooking for a large-ish family on a tiny budget. He makes huge batches of stuff and does amazing things with spices to cheap ingredients. He'll eat what I put in front of him, but if there's no meat involved it's not "really" supper. He prefers to not eat rice or oatmeal (too much as a kid) and his idea of appropriate sides for the same meal are mac & cheese and stuffing.
I started losing weight as soon as I took over the cooking, if I hand it back to him I'll start gaining again tomorrow.
Oh my goodness I hope you didn't take what I said the wrong way. In fact I just simply came across your blog from another site. If I came off negatively it wasn't meant to. I just read that you've lost 180 pounds. That's incredible and takes dedication. You must feel incredible! I will have to read more of your blog to hear how you did this.
ReplyDeletePlease accept my apologies if I said anything at all that offended you.
AL- Ahh, hubby likes to cook the old fashioned comfort food eh? Have you guys seen Rocco DiSpirito's Now Eat This? It's got some pretty good remakes of comfort food classics in there. I'll be honest, some cut back a little more on the fat than I like just because I feel there is a little taste sacrificed because of that. But they're good base recipes or if you ever want to challenge the hubs to redo one of his comfort classics, that could actually be fun!
ReplyDeleteVicki- No, no! Not at all! It's a good reminder for bloggers/people who work from home to not get sucked into being sedentary all day. The "office spread" doesn't just happen at the office! ;)
I find I get just sick of food. But I still eat, hahahaha. No I really am tire of everything. It doesn't help that I train at night so by the time I'm done I don't feel like eating anything let alone cook. Usually hubby makes something for the kiddos but that is sometimes limited. On the weekends is when I cook the most. But even those meals are getting boring.......
ReplyDelete