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We’ve all been there, walking through the grocery store on auto-pilot, putting the same list of things into our basket, returning home to cook the same rotation of meals until one day we realize, we’re so bored of what we’re cooking. With busy lives, it can be easy to get into a recipe rut but thankfully with the internet, it’s also easy to get out of, so here are 4 sources of recipe inspiration.
Recipe Bloggers
Cookbooks are all well and good but sometimes it can feel like they’re more about pretty pictures than practicality. Recipe bloggers, on the other hand, tend to show a more realistic selection of recipes including midweek treats, children’s lunchbox ideas, takeaway alternatives, and effort-free one-pot dinners and you can be sure that they’ve been tried and tested in a home kitchen. If you’re looking to try a specific cuisine or to branch out into global food then recipe bloggers can also transport you across the world with blogs such as themediterraneandish.com taking you to the sunny Mediterranean and my own blog here demonstrating some delicious African American delicacies. Recipe blogs are also far more interactive than recipe books allowing readers to post comments and suggestions.
YouTube
Believe it or not, the video streaming platform YouTube is another great source of recipe inspiration and culinary advice. Here you’ll find a lifetime supply of ‘what I eat in a day’ videos demonstrating meal plans to suit a range of lifestyles from weight loss to weight gain, school lunches to college savings. These quick videos don’t only provide inspiration but can also help with broadening your cookery knowledge too, demonstrating how certain dishes are cooked, which equipment to use and where to buy grocery products. Aside from home-made ‘what I eat in a day videos’ YouTube is also home to a number of dedicated food vloggers such as Binging With Babish who creates professional content aimed at teaching people how to make a range of famous dishes from all over the world. Videos are a fun and engaging way to learn new skills and with the platform both free and easily accessible there’s no excuse not to widen your recipe collection.
Recipe Boxes
Stuck in a rut but don’t have the time to research your way out? Then recipe boxes could be the answer to your prayers. Recipe boxes such as Blue Apron or Hello Fresh allow you to pick from a weekly menu of meals and then have all the ingredients needed to make the meal along with a recipe card delivered to your door. Recipe boxes have proven to be a great way to find new dishes, learn new recipes and experiment with new flavors and they can even teach less confident home cooks a number of valuable cooking skills. Once you’ve found some new favorites to add to your repertoire, there’s nothing stopping you from shopping for the ingredients and making them yourselves so do take advantage of introductory offers to try these innovative meal delivery services and remember that you can always cancel later.