Hmm. This one’s definitely a no-brainer for foodies like me. If you love your food like I do, then I’m almost certain that you’re no stranger to the idea of being creative with what you eat.
Growing up, some of my best memories were made around food. From shopping for them sometimes with my mom and siblings, to its preparation up to the point where we get to sit to enjoy our sumptuously prepared meal around the dinner table. Those exciting and fun moments I experienced then are probably some of the reasons I was later endeared towards food, cooking, recipes, and healthy eating generally. For us in my home, food was a big deal. It helped forge a bond between us as a family as it always provided us an opportunity to share cherished moments together as a family.
All of those experiences have helped shape my idea of looking at food differently in a fun and playful way without losing my consciousness of healthy eating. If I can get you into that zone where you’re excited about cooking again, then I would have achieved my purpose.
Firstly, I think I understand how easy it can be to get stuck with preparing the same set of meals every now and then. You find what you like, you make them as you like it, and then eventually, you find yourself rotating through the same four or five recipes week after week. Yeah, I get it; grocery shopping can be stressful, work and other pressures won’t afford you the time and having to cook different meals daily or every other day is not as easy as it sounds. So once you find what works, you’re tempted to want to stick with it, week after week.
But what if someone else could look at a meal you prepared and say; “that food really looks beautiful”, or “tastes wonderful”, or what if you could proudly put up pictures of meals you prepared and have others share their views about it? You’d be surprised at the new fond memories you would be able to create around your food just because you went the extra one mile.
Adopting a playful attitude with food and having food that is visually stimulating is good for everyone and you don’t have to be a trained chef to be able to pull it off. Hopefully by the end of this article, you will have learned one or two new tricks you can apply in the kitchen while preparing meals to make them look, feel and taste different all the time.
Here are five (5) simple ways to be more creative with what you eat
- Find Recipes that make you want to cook
This tip is so important if you’re ever looking to get out of the rut of preparing the same set of meals every week for months. For a start, you can decide to try to make one new recipe every single week for a month, then you see how that feels. You should remember not to let the recipes become rules, they should only act as a guide or inspiration in the kitchen.
You can choose to take what you like from a recipe and leave what you don’t like. The fact still remains that no one knows you better than yourself when it comes to your preferences, your lifestyle choices, and your health. Moreover, the whole idea is for you to get creative with your food and not to try to reproduce exactly someone else’s idea about a particular recipe.
Recipes are truly amazing. I believe that it is the most effective way to encourage people to be experimental with food and get more comfortable in the kitchen. With the ingredients and instructions right in front of you, you’d sure have the confidence to try out new menus with the hope that you might just come up with something remarkable and breathtaking.
- Fruit up your sandwiches.
Rather than stick to the usual peanut butter and jelly, why not try peanut butter or even almond or cashew butter with banana or strawberry slices for more new and exciting flavor combinations. I’m sure you’d want to know how that tastes, what a way to add real fruit to your meal and you can bet that it tastes really good.
- Be creative with your dressings
Homemade dressings and sauces help make meals feel and look more exciting. This is by far the most obvious way to show off your creativity with your meals. Get a salad dressing shaker and create your own dressings for your salads. Mix oils, some lemon or lime juice, and other spices and create for yourself each time a brand new and healthier dressing for your meals. By keeping most of your meals the same, but using a different dressing each day, you’ll end up feeling like you’re eating something different every day even though you’re not.
Make things even more interesting by adding fresh herbs like parsley, cilantro, or basil to your oil or adding chunks of garlic or ginger, and letting them all blend together.
- Turn up your flavor with new spices.
Spices are probably the easiest way to make any meal taste, feel or look different. By changing just one spice in your meal, you can completely transform the taste of that meal and make it feel like a portion of totally different food. If you’re not sure yet about a particular spice and don’t want to buy too much of it, you can check the bulk spice section at your health food stores so you can just get the little you need! Do you know the more spices you use in your meal the less salt you will be using in your meal?
- Create your own spice blends.
Why stick with what you got from the store when you can create your own stuff? Feel free to create spice blends for your meats, sauces, etc. Add them to your favorite veggies, pasta, or fries to get new flavors. You’d be amazed at what you could come up with by trying out different blends each time you want to cook. Remember to take note of the spices and the proportions for when something remarkable pops up from your cooking so that you can reproduce the same blend some other time. That’s how great recipes are born!
Are there other ways you use to stay creative in the kitchen?
Please let us know in the comments section below, we’d love to hear from you! If you have more tips for tricks to help us keep the excitement alive in the kitchen, please share.
The more ideas we have, the merrier the food party!
With Much Love and Respect as always! Xo!
You can also check out my recently released eBook; “How to Start from Zero” to discover new tips and tricks on how you can spice up your cooking and make every meal taste different. There are also special recipes included in the e-book which you can try out to test your creativity in the kitchen
This eBook offers you a proven framework for improving your health and wellness every day using your diet. No matter your health goals, this eBook distills in very practical terms; strategies that will teach you how to adopt healthy lifestyle habits and get rid of the bad ones.
“How to Start from Zero” provides its readers with a practical guide on how to set realistic and achievable goals as well as steps to take to make sure you’re not overwhelmed with the process. There are numerous ideas and examples to draw from to help you in your process.
I guarantee it would be of great help to you.
Disclaimer: Please note that I am not your doctor while I am a health coach by profession. This article is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice nor does it establish any kind of medical relationship between you and me. I will not be held liable for any damage resulting from or related to your use of this information.