Help! I can’t cook any more!

Can you look up some new recipes and endeavour to try one once or twice a week? It is easy to get in a rut.

Go on line and Google the main ingredient eg: chicken. Loads of recipes will pop up. Most of them quick, simple and above all tasty.

Experiment by adding different herbs and spices to your meals. Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury's all have recipes online, and you can alter them to suit your own tastes.

You do not have to exclude red meat, pies and fatty food, just eat less. I batch cook and add extra vegetables to casseroles and stews and as a result Ilb of meat will stretch to four meals for 2, rather than 2.

Adding bright coloured vegetables to casseroles and stews will make them look more interesting on a plate. Add vegetables like peppers and tomatoes about 10 minutes or so before the meal is cooked so they do not cook away and hold their shape and colour. Colour compose your meals. Yes, really. If you poach fish serve it with carrots and greens. Stir lightly cooked colourful vegetables into pasta. It is surprising how our appetite is stimulated by being given visually attractive meals.

Look for recipes in newspapers and magazines, pick up cookery cards in supermarkets and pick up or buy their magazines, they will be full of recipes.

And as others have said; go online, although I find that works best when you have something specific in mind. For example I had a pheasant last week and wanted to casserole it, so I googled 'recipe pheasant casserole' And got a page full of specifically pheasant casseroles and was able to choose one that appealed to me and printed out the recipe. It was delicious.

Recipe cards available free in many supermarkets are a good start.
Try a new recipe a week and go from there.
Here’s one to start you off.
Boil some floury potatoes, drain and mash well add a dollop of mayonnaise and a good squeeze of lemon now add chopped fresh or frozen dill and finely chopped smoked salmon. Cool the mixture in fridge and when chilled make in to patties, dip in egg then breadcrumbs, fry in a little oil for 2 mins either side then transfer to an oven for 8 mins.
Delicious with salad and or asparagus/green veg.
The quantities are easy just use enough potatoes for two people and 85/100gms of salmon. Keep the mixture as dry as possible no butter or milk to mash.
I hope you fall in love with cooking again.

Get serious about trying out new herbs and seasoning.....so much flavor. Squeeze a bit of lemon juice (do not use bottled kind) will brighten many dishes without being lemony tasting. Fresh herbs are so much tastier than dried. Plant a few pots and grow your own. Roast veggies instead of boiling. Just toss them in a bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and dried thyme. Salt if you like. Bake on cookie sheet in oven until done...bits of brown is bits of flavor. Enjoy

I feel a bit the same as the OP. We tend to eat very boring meals, though that’s the way DH likes them. He is very traditional and will not eat all sorts of things which would make meals more interesting. He is diabetic which affects our menus.

Why not sit down together and make a list of all the things you actually like to eat ...and those you absolutely hate (just to be sure)

An omelette for instance can quickly become a colourful frittata. Or even a sweet main-meal or dessert with the addition of mashed banana, blueberries or other soft fruits.

Using a wholemeal pita bread as a pizza base allows you to choose any number of toppings to ring the changes.

I love gluten free pita bread filled with salad: lettuce, tomato, cucumber, boiled egg, spring onion, beetroot - divine. My son would add meat or chicken to his.

Once you have the list of Like and Dislike foods, it's easier to be a bit creative.

Confession: I used to love raw apples and carrots but have lost an essential grinding tooth so now have to content myself with stewed apple or carrot soup (or finely grate it into coleslaw)

Have a look in the BBC food website and get some inspiration. I am sure we all get bored with the same thing. Yesterday I made a roasted Mediterranean lasagna. Made a large dish as we had visitors and there's just enough for today so although a bit of a faff it's an easy meal later.

Put a dash of wine in soups and stews? Use pepper? Use more butter or olive oil in souls sauces and stews?

I have similar problem since trying to be as vegan as I can bear to be. Supermarket vegan preparations are pretty bad.

soups

Try some ready meals. They are quite acceptable these days and you won't have any ingredients left over. When you find something you like, have a go at making your own.

I think it happens to all of us. Im struggling to meal plan at the moment and we just seem to eat the same stuff all the time.

Go on Pinterest they have lovely, simple recipes ...

DH is on a diet at the moment, I’m not, so I cook either different food from him, or I add bits to mine that he can’t eat.

Maybe I should suffer along with him?

Pinterest is a good source of meals.

Oops coconut crossed posts

I find there are lots of really interesting recipes online, on sites such as www.Pinterest.com You can select recipes by ingredients, or dietary preferences (such as diabetic, Slimming World, fat free, etc.)

It's also a mine of information on all sorts of other topics, like interior decorating, gardening, pets - you name it.

Seek new recipes on Diabetes UK website. If you’re not part of this online community I’d suggest registering. Their forum is very informative.

I’ve never been particularly interested in cooking but do try and eat healthily. I’ve cut back on red meat and eat a lot more fish and vegetarian meals. My husband and I recently bought a cookery book called Roasting Tin. I love it. Simple but delicious meals that can be cooked in one tray in the oven so easy, also, Jamie Oliver’s 5 ingredients has some delicious recipes. Both books have got me cooking a lot more! PS I’m not on any commission for these books, a genuine recommendation.

If you still have a library go and look at the selection of Health books, many good books out these days that are Health based with lots of ideas.
And of course the cookery section.

A lot of Health based cookery books are out there, good ones with lots of photographs that are inspiring.
Also they might well mention foods you haven't yet tried and are relatively easy to use.
Michael Mosely (sp) has books out on helping people to not be diabetic and these include recipe books which you probably will find in the Library.

Katharine Whitehorn, Cooking in a Bedsitter. Lots of easy dishes, some one pot, minimal ingredients. Tasty. The Dish, can vary can be with meat or beans. Liver Josephine. Stir fry?
Now and then buy a ready-cooked BBQ chicken?or half? Buy coleslaw and potato salad? i like that kind of treat. In summer we sometimes have various cheeses, nice bread, ham, other sausage.

Take the easy way out. Put what you have for the day in a pot, cover with water and then some, and cook,. Take the "stuff" out, add lentils or barley or pasta shapes to the liquid, simmer, and you have soup. Then, you can do what you like with the rest - char the bell peppers, mash the potatoes, dip the cauliflower in egg and pan-fry, sauté the onions, chop up the cabbage and make bubble-and-squeak... grill the chicken... etc, etc... and you have different meals every day.

I always admired my friend who, when she retired from paid work and her family had left she declared to her husband that she was no longer going to cook. Instead they would have good bread/cheese/wine. If course she didnt stick to it but I did applaud her thinking. I hope he cooked too!

Spend a morning in the library looking at cookery books. Photocopy all recipes of interest to you and make them into a scrapbook. Then list all the ingredients you would need to buy.