Good morning all. Hope this finds everyone well. It is a lovely morning. Around 50* and dry! There is a lot of dew on the grass right now, but I plan on mowing after it dries. Been outside and fed everyone. I woke to this, this morning.
Every day on FB I see someone make a post similar to - 'I have chicken (or whatever), give me some ideas. I am tired of fixing it the same old way.'
That magazine I got last week is all about chicken.
Soups and stews, sandwiches and tacos, dinner salads, skillet meals, pasta & grains, grilled, baked........
The thing that got me, was it listed none of the basic recipes that we might all make. Chicken and noodles or dumplings, chicken pot pie, or just plain old chicken and noodle or rice soup! Guess they figure we all have those down pat.
Now the thing that is neat, in my thoughts, all of these could be made with any meat! Turkey, pork, or beef, not just chicken. That would equal 500 meals, each a little different than the other.
Now this is just one recipe book. There are hundreds of magazines and cookbooks available online or in book form - the variations of meals are astounding. Boy, do we get in a rut!
Then you think about all the different types of sides that can be served with meat dishes - my goodness. Why is anyone stumped? This magazine shows 32 different 'sides', many that never entered my head!
Some of the things they list as a side, makes a meal for me.
So the next time, you think 'I am so tired of the same old thing' - checkout your cookbooks or look online and get a lot of inspiration! There are many, many dishes that are quite simple - just different. Add a different spice/herb or sauce and you can change things all up.
Get inspired - get creative - and never be bored. It doesn't have to take a lot of time.
Have fun and play with your food!
Have a wonderful day to all.
Inspiration in this kitchen comes from favorite cookbooks, a monthly magazine, cooking programs, talking with friends, & then there are the usual standbys. When you think about it, there's a limited number of animal protein & only so many combinations. Dwight Yoakam said that about the musical scale when an interviewer said country music all sounded the same - there are only so many musical notes & there's only so many ways to combine them. And yet, just like recipes, it's all so different.
ReplyDeleteI get inspiration from many places as well. I agree there are only so many animal proteins - but I don't think we can possibly know all the combos. So many herbs, spices, veggies, fruits, pastas and grains - shoot I see ingredients people use every day that I have never heard of.
DeleteI just know that we should never get bored when cooking!
As I continue trying to empty the freezer (yikes, CSA starts this week and I still have 10 vac sealed bags of veg from last year!!!)........
ReplyDeleteAsparagus and spinach for the next 2 days alongside salmon and Rice Pilaf your recipe for homemade 😊
Ham chunks (I bought a post-Easter spiral ham for $1.77/#), frozen mix veg and cauliflower rice will be made for hubster's lunches for W/Th/Fri.
Must plant less in the garden and eat faster 🤣 Empty garden beds this year to be certain.
It is a fun game isn't it? Let's see what we got and how we can use it. I try to mix things up a lot - I get bored easily. I do have basics that are favorites, but it is fun playing the game. Yours sounds so good!
DeletePoppies are so beautiful, but sadly, just like lilacs and peonies, don't last as long as we would like.
ReplyDeleteThat is a wonderful cookbook you found at the thrift store. I love cookbooks and used to read them like novels. Pinterest is a good source of recipes.
It is a pretty day so I hope to go out and work in the gardens for a while. I have been fighting a sinus/cold thing for several days and it has been zapping my energy. It will pass but I'm ready for it to be gone.
Enjoy this day! I bet Bits is lying in a sun puddle.
Yes, so many of the spring lovelies just don't last long.
DeleteI still do that with some cookbooks - especially if they have little stories in them.
It is gorgeous - I just came in from mowing. Whew!! Hope you feel better.
Yes, Bits keeps going from window to window.
That's a pretty cool magazine and I like your observation that you could sub in other meat. And I bet you could use beans in some instead of any meat.
ReplyDeleteI read an article by a dr once who said most people tend to eat the same 10 meals most of the time.
I'm taking my grandson to the botanic garden today. He absolutely loves going to see the flowers and water features.
You sure could. Heck, all a recipe is, is something someone thought up in their brain. I really see no rules to anything. I love trying new things.
DeleteI bet that is true for most of us.
Oh have fun - that sounds wonderful. What an adventure.
plus all the ethnic recipes!
ReplyDeleteExactly - we should never, ever be bored with food!
DeleteI love looking through cookbooks and recipes! It’s one of my favorite things to do.
ReplyDeleteThat is about all I read anymore! So many good ideas.
DeleteI like to look through cookbooks, but I don't want to have any more. I have more than enough now, in fact I weeded them some years ago because I wasn't using many of them at all. It was different when I had a family of 4 plus guests, but now it's just me. :)
ReplyDeleteOnline recipes are amazing. I wanted to see how to make biscuits on the stove top, just one or two biscuits for me in summer. There were a number of recipes there! Not exactly like oven biscuits but close enough and ever so good. :) No cookbook I ever had covered that kind of thing.
Blackberry winter is still with us - it was in the 40s this morning. Brrr!
MaryB
I have always collected cookbooks - and have started getting rid of several over recent years.
DeleteThat is cool on the biscuits. Yes, it is like home econ. classes online! You can find a recipe for about anything and instructions!
We have had some cool mornings - but it is getting better.
I am weeding out cookbooks very slowly. Of course I am copying some of the recipes that really interest me out. I have been trying a few new recipes out and if Harvey likes them they are keepers.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Good idea to copy recipes that you want to keep. No need for the entire book. Glad you found some keepers - that is always fun.
DeleteI used to use Allrecipes. com as they had an ingredient search bar. I could add three or four ingredients to the search and voila I'd have a few recipes to consider. But they've done away with that search option. :(
ReplyDeleteLiving with my daughter also adds a few more ideas to the mix. She is more likely to come up with something different, or something I haven't made in a long time. Otherwise, I tend to make the same things over and over again.
You might try MyFridgeFood.com for recipe ideas - they do the search as well, if you give them what you have. I did not know All recipes stopped that.
DeleteIt is always nice to have another person to give ideas. I think we can all get in a rut easily. We do what we know.
Your new flower is beautiful. My peonies were gorgeous and then it rained. They are all kissing the ground now. I need to remember to stake them up before they bloom. I search Pinterest for recipes , but tend to cook the same ole things. The chicken recipe book looks interesting.
ReplyDeleteI love poppies they are such a breath of sunshine.
DeletePeonies seem to have that happen a lot. They get all pretty and bloomed - then hard rain hits. Seems like it happens almost every year.
Lots of good recipes in it. I tend to do a lot of the same - but love to try new things.