How To Eat The Same Meals Every Day Without Getting Bored

Variety may be the spice of life for some people, but for others it's just an inconvenience. It's hard enough for many folks to actually eat three meals a day, let alone figure out and prepare unique recipes for each breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That's one reason some busy eaters opt to eat the same few dishes every day. Aside from simplifying meal prep, a repetitive diet can also be helpful if you're trying to establish healthier eating habits, since getting comfortable chowing on the same plate of peppers and hummus every day is easier than figuring out 20 different nutritious snacks. As long as you're getting the proper vitamins and minerals, the only downside to eating the same meals every day is getting bored with your food. Fortunately, that can be avoided with small, simple tweaks to your regular recipes, like using different spices or switching up how certain ingredients are prepared.

Perhaps the quickest way to mix up your daily meals is to swap out seasonings. You can give tuna salad more character with the right seasoning blend. Or, if your usual dinner is a chicken and rice bowl with Mexican-inspired spices like oregano, cayenne, and oregano, opting instead for garlic, ginger, and five-spice powder will transform into something more reminiscent of Asian cuisine. A well-stocked spice cabinet with plenty of seasoning blends is one of the most reliable ways to upgrade any dish, especially one that has gotten boring.

Every element of your usual meals can be prepared a little differently for a final result that is exciting without throwing a wrench into your usual routine. The ham from your daily sandwich can be swapped out for turkey, or you could make even smaller changes like using crusty sourdough bread instead of whole wheat. Changes like this also affect the texture. Let's look at our hypothetical chicken and rice bowl again: The rice can be replaced with a number of similar options like quinoa, farro, or orzo, depending on how chewy of an experience you're after. Exchanging vegetables, like using crunchy bell peppers instead of cooked zucchini, can also make a dish more interesting.

This poses an interesting question: How many small changes can you make to a dish before it's a new recipe? We don't have time to get into the philosophical implications of these hacks. All we know is that using pita bread instead of a tortilla for your lunchtime chicken caesar wrap takes very little effort but can make a tried and true meal taste like something new. If you're really committed to zhuzhing up your eating routine, consider using different methods to cook meat or veggies. Grilling, frying, and baking all have distinct effects on food, and using one technique over the other may lead you to permanently changing some of your daily meals. For a quick upgrade, make sure you're avoiding this mistake that ruins roasted vegetables.