Do you ever get in a food rut?

[Pierre.Suave]

I realized a bit ago that I have been eating the same things for too long and it needs to change.

At least it is warm enough now I can grill things as well as cook indoors.

Does anyone really cook fancy meals every single night? I find it to be too much work to make some complicated and time consuming meal every single night. So I make simple things instead.

What do the rest of you do? My Fiance and I decided that on the way to our mothers day celebrations this weekend, we will stop and buy some cookbooks to expand our range of dishes we can make. We are also going to go to some cooking classes together.

Any other ideas?

[Xipe Totec]

1. Well, this requires a bit more equipment...

But I have tried them and it works.

http://www.lacrawfish.com/index.html

[Pierre.Suave]

10. What do they taste like?

I am not a fan of seafood either, but I will try almost anything once.

[Xipe Totec]

15. Spicy!

Zatarains is a crawfish boil with plenty of cayenne.

Crawfish taste like a cross between lobster and shrimp.

You can buy boiled frozen crawfish, but nothing beats cooking them live and kicking.

[Pierre.Suave]

18. How do you cook them?

and then, how do you eat them?

[Xipe Totec]

19. Ha! Ha! Ha!

Good questions, both!

You cook them in a crawfish pot, which is a 10 gallon pot over a gas burner.

http://www.boilcrawfish.com/

And you eat them with your fingers. Cajun style is to spread them on newspapers over a pic-knick table.

If you're a real cajun, you don't just eat the tails; you suck the heads!

http://livecrawfish.com/howtopeel.htm

[Pierre.Suave]

22. Suck the heads?

that sounds so gross.

You have officially grossed out my Fiance too, lol. She is no longer interested, HAHA!

But I am, I think I will give it a try. Thanks for the information.

[Xipe Totec]

26. Well, to get out of a rut, you need to loose your inhibitions

you need to be willing to try new things and realize that, if others have tried it, and are still alive,

it is safe to eat, and probably delicious!

[Pierre.Suave]

28. Good point.

Does cooking them over a gas burner on a stove top work? Or would you recommend outside only?

[Xipe Totec]

31. Depends on the quantity

The gas burner is needed for party sized amounts; the stovetop burners are too wimpie.

But, for a small amount, you could do it on a stovetop.

The lacrawfish website should have all the info you need, regardless of scale.

Plus, you can get some of their pre cooked stuff to get a feel first.

Gulf shrimp is also great.

[Fleshdancer]

2. we host casual themed pot lucks to get out of our rut

We've only done this three times but we're trying to make it a regular thing. The first party was Italian, the second was Peruvian, and the last one was Mexican. It forces us to try new recipes and gives us a reason to throw a party with our neighbors. The next potluck is comfort food...I'm really looking foward to this one because we have neighbors from the UK and Peru so it will be fun to see what they bring.

[Pierre.Suave]

3. That is an interesting idea

I did something like that in College.

maybe it is time to start it up again.

Thanks.

[lost-in-nj]

4. I use to cook

awesome meals


now it's

what can I do to kick up my salad or microwave dinner


:hi:



lost

[Pierre.Suave]

11. If I had my way

I would live on pizza delivery and chinese take out.

LOL

I like cooking sometimes, but not every single night.

[auntAgonist]

5. I really get into a rut

when it comes to meals. I have to eat a very high protein diet and I get so frustrated trying to think of things to make.

I've been exploring some things like soy beans and tofu and lentils etc to try to come up with high protein recipes. I need to eat roughly 15-20 grams per meal 4-5x per day. I do supplement however with protein shakes if I can't get it any other way.

aA

[Pierre.Suave]

7. That sounds rough

are you a vegan as well?

[auntAgonist]

13. no .. I'm not sure that I could

get enough protein if I was. :shrug: I'd give it a try if I knew how. I think I should get some cook books too, or .. check online for recipes.

I used to cook really big tasty meals when I had children at home. 4 boys at one time (fostered 3 long term and one bio). Casseroles and roasts were the order of the day. Now it's just me and my husband and it's really hard to cook for 2. He shouldn't eat as much as me or he'll gain and that's not good. LOL

:)

[Pierre.Suave]

17. Cookiung for two I dont think is our problem...

Coming up with ideas of what to cook is.

I think we just need to get out of the rut and do things different.

[malta blue]

6. Since I started dieting it has been salads at night,

but Mr MB loves to cook an elaborate meal every night.

Ergo - DIET x(

[Pierre.Suave]

9. I am trying to eat healthier as well

at the moment, perhaps I need to buy different things when at the grocery store/farmers markets/co-ops...

[malta blue]

14. we found a great short-grained brown rice in the

bulk section of our grocery store that even Little MB likes :wow:

We are definitely a carb-addicted house, and with the diabetes scare that I had last week, we tried really hard to find "brown" foods.

One of my best frieds in from Spain, and her theory on my weight/health has always been "you eat too much white" (now say this with a very thick spanish accent and you get the idea). She told me to look at my plate like an artist's palate...

Good luck Jason!

[Pierre.Suave]

16. Interesting idea

That ought to make dinners more interesting.

Thanks!

[grasswire]

53. brown carbs are carbs too

As a recently diagnosed type 2 diabetic, I learned in the first couple of weeks of checking my blood sugar that carbs are my enemy. I could never eat the amount that diabetic educators allow. And brown carbs convert into sugar, too -- they just take a little longer. The diet that inspires me allows only 24 carbs per day. I can't get that low, but I work hard to keep them down.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming......

[Fox Mulder]

8. Yeah, I'm in a rut too.

That's why I just purchased the book How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. There's a lot of great recipes in there and I can't wait to try them.

[Pierre.Suave]

12. I will add it to the list

and see if I can find it in the store tomorrow.

[DarkTirade]

20. Try to find things that are easy to make, but easy to modify on the fly.

I.E., a dish that you might use basil and oregano in one night, and another night go with garlic and rosemary, so that even though it's pretty much the same thing it tastes different.

[Pierre.Suave]

23. I had not thought of that

but thats a good idea.

[DarkTirade]

24. And different spices/glazes on meats work well too.

Honey garlic chicken tastes nothing like barbecue chicken. :)

[Pierre.Suave]

25. That is another good idea

I am glad you replied.

I have ideas already!

[DarkTirade]

27. Just speaking from past experiences with food ruts/too poor to buy the things I wanted. :P

[Pierre.Suave]

29. your poor was better than mine apparently, you had meat with glaze!

:P

I ate a LOT of spaghetti in college, and I will never again eat ramen noodles.

[DarkTirade]

32. I made it all myself

through lots of experimenting, and lots of burned chicken. :)

[Pierre.Suave]

33. Sounds fun

I guess that is where I am about to go.

[DarkTirade]

34. I'll give you a hint ahead of time... with your basic chicken drumsticks and thighs

you'll want to wait to add the sauce or glaze or whatever until it's about halfway done. And you can add a second or third coat every few minutes or so. But if you put it on right away, it'll probably just get horribly burned. :)

[Pierre.Suave]

35. Thanks for the tip

I am positive I would have made that mistake.

[NJmaverick]

21. all the time

[YankeyMCC]

30. Since I started living alone

I'm pretty much eating the same stuff with only slight variations when it's just me. When I have my son I do a bunch of cooking on Sunday for the week and even then much of it is the same but usually I make at least one new (or something I haven't made in a while at least) thing for the week. Then if we don't have a birthday or other celebration to go to we cook something special together on the weekend.

But yeah when it's just me it's hard to get out of the rut.

[Pharlo]

36. Yep, and when the need for variety becomes overpowering,

I break down and change the flavor of the jelly on my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It works too.

Good luck on your cuisine quest.

[Pierre.Suave]

37. Thats what I do TOO!!!

I luvz me some PB&J!

:P

[crimsonblue]

38. I use the crock pot quite a bit..

and it couldn't be simpler. For example, take a 4-5 quart crock pot (or slow cooker or whatever you call it) and put 3-4 pieces of frozen chicken breast (or however many you want or think you can fit). dump in: a can of cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 cup white wine, 2 tbs italian dressing, seasoning to taste, wait 4-5 hours, and it's ready.

Also, we're a bit obsessed with the "A man, a can, a plan" cookbook series. We swear by them. :D

[Pierre.Suave]

41. Crock pot, what a great idea

why did I not think of that!

[crimsonblue]

46. we've even done things like tuna tetrazini

in crock pots. it takes a little experimenting, but it's a quick learn.

[Canuckistanian]

39. I went a month straight

Eating nothing but Cantonese noodles, Choi Sum (Chinese flowering cabbage) and eggs.

All cooked in the same pot.

It was heavenly with oyster sauce and copious amounts of beer.

My student days.

[Pierre.Suave]

42. LOL

Oyster sauce sounds gross too.

LOL

[Canuckistanian]

44. Oyster sauce is amazing

I still love it. A little salty, but it goes with virtually ANYTHING.

[Pierre.Suave]

50. I will have to experiment

and have the local pizzeria on standby, just incase.

:rofl:

[grasswire]

54. I watched them make oyster sauce on TV

God almighty. I'll never eat anything again with oyster sauce or fish sauce.

[Pierre.Suave]

55. Care to clue me in...

on the particulars?

[grasswire]

56. I don't think so.

Your first instinct was correct.

[drmeow]

40. We have a spreadsheet

of dishes we like (we're both picky eaters). Periodically we look for new recipes to add. We plan a menu for the week before we go shopping. Make a point to mix things up so that even though we have lots of slightly similar recipes, by not putting them next to each other on the list we make it seem like there is more variety. Right now we have about 50 dishes on the list (although some we've stopped making). Every now and then I get bored with the list but there is enough variety on it to keep us from getting too bored. We try to make at least one dish that provides leftovers each week - sometimes more (eat it either for lunch or another dinner later in the week). We make fancier dishes on the weekends and have a couple of really simple dishes (a favorite, cut up chicken and saute it with lemon juice, white wine, and some herb or spice - minimal prep and minimal cooking). We try to make sure neither cooks more than 1/2 the meals in a week (we have different cooking preferences so that contributes to different tasting dishes).

[Pierre.Suave]

43. Wow, that is awesome...

and just uber geek enough for us to try. :P

thanks!

[drmeow]

47. You inspired me

to update our list. It really does help because we sit together and go down the list and will say, "hey, we haven't had that for a while - lets make it this week" or "we shouldn't have this dish cause it is too similar to another dish we're having this week." I also include a note for items which are very labor intensive or have to marinade for a long time and (for items we don't have often) a brief description.

One thing we like to do is to make a Turkey breast (neither of us likes dark meat) one weekend and have a turkey dinner. I then make the leftovers into batches of hash for pot pies which we freeze. Great for an emergency "we have nothing in the house" meal. A couple of hours of in the kitchen time usually yields 7 or 8 meals (10 minutes to prep the pies for the next meal). And talk about comfort food!

The problems I have with cookbooks are that 1) they are either too fancy/complicated for my taste (i.e., recipes that require me to roast and seed peppers aren't gonna fly unless they tell me how to substitute something I can buy) or too simple (meaning using processed food too much) and 2) the recipes can't always be scaled for 2 people.

Another thing we do is try to include a number of ethnic dishes (Asian, Mexican, Italian) and mix it up. You get really different tastes with chicken prepared in an Asian style than an Italian style.

Glad to be of aid to a fellow geek :)

[Pierre.Suave]

49. You make some good points about the cookbooks

Most I have seen are just like you describe.

Do you know of any good ones?

[drmeow]

51. Unfortunately no

The two that we've had the best success with have significant flaws and both appear to be out of print. And we've still only found about 8 or 10 recipes we really like in either. However we _really_ are picky eaters and our pickyness doesn't match (except mushrooms - we both hate mushrooms). He's into spicy dishes with lots of peppers and onions, I'm into lemony or tomato dishes with herbs.

Of course, the ultimate cooking bible used to be the Joy of Cooking (great for answering how to and what do they mean by cooking questions as well as providing key basic recipes like cream sauce or gravy ... they even have a "recipe" for how to bake a potato) but I know it was significantly revised and I don't know about the revised version (they did remove the information on how to skin a rabbit :)) Unlike a lot of cookbooks, it is designed for people who don't have a lot of experience cooking (they have a whole "know your ingredients" section, they tell you about cuts of meat, etc.) - but it still has a bias towards people who have all the time in the world to make everything from scratch. It would be worth it to check it out, especially if you don't have a lot of cooking experience.

[Pierre.Suave]

52. Thanks

I will add that book to the list.

J

[Inchworm]

45. Ever seen a grown man nekkid?

:shrug:

[Pierre.Suave]

48. Uhhhmmm

Why?

:shrug:

[applegrove]

57. I nibble on ready made food like cheese and smoothies. I rarely cook these days.

And yes I am in a rut.

[Raven]

58. Very strange. I've passed this thread title twice and both times I

thought it said "Do you ever get in the cat food?" Must be other thread titles getting in the way or I'm losing it. :-)