I love cooking! It’s one of my biggest joys in life, and so is eating. But there are those days when, food-wise, it seems that nothing goes your way. The food tastes bland, you’re not in the mood to cook and when you do, you don’t like it.
Are you running out of cooking ideas? The foods that you used to like don’t seem all that appealing to you and the thought of eating the same thing again brings nothing but desperation. Even the restaurants which you used to love don’t thrill you anymore. You, my friend, are in a food rut! I’ve been there, too many times than I care to admit.
I’ve got 10 tips that will pluck you out of your unpleasant food rut and get your food groove back!
Try New Restaurants
New restaurants are my salvation! They give me life… and food. Whenever I find myself in a funk, I take to Google and begin my search for new and exciting restaurants. I say search because, as a vegan, it’s a bit harder to find a place that serves cruelty-free food.
That said, when I do happen to find one, it really gives my taste buds everything they need to call themselves satisfied, and that really ends my food rut!
Go On A Culinary Vacation
Most times, when you’re tired of the food you’re eating on a daily basis, you’re tired of pretty much everything else. I know that my food rut often coincides with a work rut, or any other type of rut that seems to be killing me slowly. So, what is there to do?
Find a wonderful destination that you’ve been meaning to visit and go on a culinary vacation! Immerse yourself in a whole new culinary adventure and things will fall into place!
Food Bloggers
When it comes to new foods, delicious recipes, and stunning food photos, the Internet is a never-ending source of inspiration for me. Whenever I feel uninspired, I check to see what my favorite food bloggers are up to and, trust me, they never disappoint!
Oh She Glows is simply amazing and filled with some of the most awesome vegan recipes on the whole wide web. I also highly recommend Minimalist Baker and the lovely No Meat Athlete.
Eat At A Friend’s House
If you’re lucky to have a friend who cooks, then whenever you’re feeling down about the contents of your pantry and fridge, pay them a visit and raid their pantry and fridge! I have a friend who loves to cook and we often compare recipes, share photos of food, and inspire each other.
However, her cooking style is so different from mine, as I tend to use too many spices and ingredients, and her style is on the simpler side, which I adore. And because I get to eat something so different than what I’m used to, it’s as if I hit refresh on my taste buds!
Visit Your Family
Whether it’s your mom, dad, sister, brother, grandma, granddad, or any other family member, chances are, they have yummy, delicious food they can’t wait to lovingly shove down your throat. I know that whenever I go home, my mom cooks mounds of delicious food for me, and I eat like there’s no tomorrow.
Nobody cooks better than my mom and visiting her always refreshes my taste buds and puts my entire food perspective into a whole new light.
Introduce New Foods Into Your Cooking
You know what is in the image above? It’s a plantain. They are extremely hard to find where I live, but one time, when I had a major case of food rut, I stumbled upon it in a store. I bought a few, went home and cooked something quite plain.
It was spectacular! Even if the dish itself was simple, I was blown away, simply because I only had eaten plantains one time before. Find your elusive vegetable, and introduce it into your cooking and sparks will fly, I assure you!
Go Shopping
Food shopping is the perfect occasion to stumble upon rare vegetables, interesting ingredients and cool dishes. Even if you don’t plan to buy anything, if you have half an hour to kill, I recommend you visit a food store and just browse to see if anything jumps at you.
Nine out of ten cases, it will and you will get home with some goodies in your bag, excited about your food again. Yummy!
Leaf through Cookbooks
I have so many cookbooks in my library, but unfortunately, they are mostly ignored. I get so excited when I get them, then a few weeks go by and I abandon them on a shelf. But when you’re in a food rut, a leaf through your cookbooks will provide valuable inspiration, either to cook something yourself or to go out and buy it!
Even if you don’t have all the ingredients, just wing it. As long as you’re inspired, you’re good to go!
Do A Juice Cleanse
A quick juice cleanse will jump-start your digestive system and cleanse your palate. Sometimes, after eating lots of unhealthy foods, or even too much of one healthy thing, my taste buds feel overwhelmed or flat-out bored.
Especially after the holidays, when you eat so many delicious, but quite unhealthy foods, you just need a one or two-day juice cleanse to restart your system. It’s also a great way to get back into healthy eating!
Work Out
This one may seem a bit strange, but for me, one way to pluck myself out of a food rut is to go to the gym and do some vigorous exercise. This way, I’ll take my mind off the food, and work up a real appetite, so by the time I get back home, I could eat a horse.
Well, I’m a vegan, so I guess I could say I could eat a horse made of tofu. The reason this works so well is that a food rut is just boredom, and when you take the boredom away, you’re left with a healthy appetite. Try it!
By Cristina, contributor at BookCulinaryVacations.com. She is a vegan who loves not only to eat delicious food, but to cook it too! She is also a passionate traveler, a cat aficionado, and a novice writer.
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