Best way to reverse cooking burnout?

Question

Hi all. Like many people I’ve always loved to cook, but after all the lockdowns it’s getting to feel more like a chore! What is everyone doing to find energy to have fun cooking again?

Answer

Is it the planning, shopping, cooking, or cleaning that's getting to you? It's the cleaning for me. So. Many. Dishes.

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I think cooking a wide variety of dishes helps motivate me. Also doing a lot of one-pot and sheet-pan meals for easier cleanup.

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Hey, Mike.

I'm going to 2nd Masha, and recommend the Weekly Menu Planning thread, as well as What's For Dinner, and What's In Your Oven. Sharing is fun and satisfying, and can add a lot of positivity to the process.

That said, having cooked or prepared 3-squares for close to two decades now, I can recommend a couple of things:

1. Make sure each week your cooking with some planned leftovers (cook once, eat twice...or thrice). Give yourself a break from both cooking and dishes (if you can't recruit a helper with the dishes).

2. Cook once or twice a week just for you - some fun project dish that includes maybe some new skills or new ingredients, which isn't dependent on having the meal delivered to everyone's satisfaction at a certain time sharp. I find that lunch (or a late lunch in some cases) often works well for me. I spend a morning doing something creative and satisfying and it's ready, well...when it's ready. If someone doesn't like that, they can go eat some cornflakes.

Answer

Do you live alone? Or cooking for a family?

We're just two adults. I set a few ground rules when spouse started working from home: I don't make lunches daily (and we rarely eat breakfast), so help yourself ... and freaking clean up after yourself!

I've been cooking dinner 6-7 nights a week. To make it less mentally taxing, I've been jotting down ideas built around whatever fresh produce is on hand, and finding a few new ideas to pepper throughout.

For instance, sheet pan aloo ghobi's a hit here (Indian-ish, Priya Krishna), but I also found a new-to-us recipe in Six Seasons (Josh McFadden) for a roasted potato, cauliflower, arugula, olive, and feta salad. I had time and energy on Thursday, so we had the fantastic salad that is now on my "repeat" list.

We're running the dishwasher roughly every other day v. the normal once a week. Basically, if it can go in the dishwasher it does.

Answer

A few nights a week I make something incredibly easy that involves minimal cleanup, often using leftover roast for the protein. Tomorrow night will be stacked enchiladas made with leftover pork roast, layered with cheese, Hatch green enchilada sauce, and corn tortillas. One baking dish, two plates, two forks, a knife to cube the meat and slice the cheese, and a spoon to serve it. The old clean out the fridge frittata is a similarly easy entree with minimal cleanup. So is stir fry, although making rice dirties another pot.

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Oh boy, good question. I’ll be following for ideas. This is the reason I originally joined CH and started participating. After a move and many, many months into distance learning with elementary school kids, I’m just starting to get back into cooking again. Just hanging out on these boards and reading the various threads is helpful to make it fun/inspirational. In addition to those mentioned above, the Cookbook of the Month is a good one. You can also look through old COTM threads. My personal favorite is Dinner by Melissa Clark. The way I’ve gotten through these past months is with meal kits. I use a local company that also does groceries, but they are similar to Blue Apron. You get a good meal without too much thought a few nights a week, which gives me the mental energy to put some work into our other meals. Also, my spouse is always in charge of lunch.

Answer

This is a really good honest thread you started here. 

I’ve been at home for almost 5 months out of the last 10 months now. 
I live with my wife, so we’re only two and she’s Thai so she prefers eating very spicy Asian inspired food, which my stomach unfortunately can’t take. So she often just taste the dishes I make and vice versa. 

I try to stay inspired in the kitchen by altering the dishes I make constantly. 
I don’t eat seafood nor very hot food, but I still enjoy using chilli and cayenne in many of the dishes I make. 

I stay inspired in the kitchen by reading and following a lot of amateur chefs and professional chefs online and on YouTube. 
They come up in my feed with new as well as older recipes and this keeps me motivated to try out new recipes as well as improving or worsen recipes I already know well. 

I visit my father once a week, cooking for him in his kitchen. He’s very much into food too, but not so much making it. This also inspires me to stay motivated to come up with new weekly recipes to make for him. 

But I also sometimes lose the motivation and on these days I’ll buy a whole roasted chicken or 4 cooked frikadeller (danish XL luxury meatballs) and eat that with a salad or my homemade sauce tartare. 

Yesterday for instance I ran out of inspiration and on my daily walk didn’t have a clue on what to make for dinner. 
In the last second I came up with a quite biting dish, but one I always feel can be improved by showing the dish some love and extra time. 
Ragout a la bolognese. It took me 5 hours to make it, slowly simmering away. No stress. 
And a bottle of magnum red wine, 3 large glasses for me and the rest in the bolognese. 
I have now food for three days. 
The last day I’ll add basmati rice to the bolognese and stuff the rice-bolognese sauce in some bell peppers and cook it in the oven, so I won’t get super tired of eating the same dish 3 days in a row. 

I own a heck of a lot of pots and pans, 45-50 pieces total from Mauviel, Falk, De Buyer, Demeyere, Le Creuset, Staub, Eva Trio, Lagostina and Fissler and I make a sport out of trying to use most of my pans and pots at least once every month and avoiding to use the same pans twice in a row. 
This also forces me to do a lot of different types of recipes. 

Cheers, Claus from Copenhagen, Denmark

Answer

If I start feeling like I'm in a rut, I'll start watching some cooking shows on TV for inspiration. Another thing that works for me sometimes is to rummage through my pile of recipes I've collected over the years, some of which I have yet to try, others may be former standbys that fell out of my rotation. Another trick I have yet to use during the pandemic but worked well in the Before Times was to ask Mrs. ricepad to do the grocery shopping and to bring home one or two things that were on sale or looked interesting/different to give me an Iron Chef-type challenge.

One last piece of advice: when cooking starts to feel like *work* for me, I'll make some comfort food from my childhood. Just the anticipation of the emotions tied to the food can snap me out of my culinary doldrums.

Answer

I've found that, over the months, hunger has more effect than anything else. 

But then, it always does and we're not cooking any more than in pre-Covid times. Its one of several aspects where our lives are unchanged.

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I enjoy cooking all the time. I get inspired at the stores and farmers markets. If I see a veg that looks great, I’ll think how I’d like to prepare it in a non conventional way. For proteins choices, I lean towards fresh seafood and game style meats availability, just to challenge myself to prep something differently.

Another choice is to make soups that I would typically not make.

As for inspiration from cook shows, lately I’ve enjoyed Milk Street for some different ideas.

Answer

I feel you! 

Hubby and I work full time (from home) & now our very young kids are home doing virtual school which has added yet ANOTHER wrench is productivity. It has been tough and some days I honestly do not even think about lunch until until it creeps up on me or dinner until 4PM (and we usually eat at 5:30). Breakfasts are simple, cereal, toast, waffles, boiled eggs etc. 

- Take out is your friend, we don't do it too often but on days where my head is about to explode - we do not hesitate. We also always order more so we will eat it the next day for lunch. If you do it 2x in a row, so be it. It's nice to have the break! We have a regional facebook group with SO MANY fantastic local recommendations. 
- Meal plan - easier said that done but since we are only visiting the grocery store once a week I try to buy 2 fresh meats and plan around it with whatever veggies are on sale. Our freezer is also well stocked with veggies for a quick side. 
- Load the pantry with great pre made spices or marinades (you probably already do) but a few months ago I found a whole lunch of spices from a Canadian site that carries unique and fun spices / flavours I wouldn't normally buy. This has made my life 100x easier for a quick dinner and also add some fun so we are not eating the same thing OVER and OVER again 
- Nothing is wrong with buying frozen food when you need it. We bought an air fryer at the beginning of the pandemic and it has 100% enhanced our frozen food adventure (wings, anything breaded etc.). Also, homemade french fries are EASY and quick....you can't get them as crispy in the oven.

Answer

I'm going through that now. Fortunately, I don't have to feed a family, just my wife and I. For me it's just a cycle and it passes. Nothing appeals to me now except decadence, like I only want to eat "Carnival Eats". I made fried shrimp two days ago and skirt steak fajitas yesterday. I have a boneless section of pork loin that needs cooking but I'll probably turn that into dog food, just not inspired. Our main meal today will be takeout Asian or Indian or pizza. Sometimes watching cooking shows like Cook's Country, Jacques Pepin, Nick Stellino, Lidia get me inspired.

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i've been giving myself projects, like learn to cook some Indian dishes I've never made before, or master the Japanese comfort foods that I like (since I can't go out). Also, since I'm home all day, I try to do the prep in the mid-afternoon so the cooking goes quickly at dinnertime. I do try to keep things varied by looking at websites like NYT Cooking and Smitten Kitchen so I always make something new every week.

I also don't worry about what anyone else in the house likes. Husband will eat anything and the kids are teens, so they know if they don't like it they can make themselves something else. If you just feel like you're cooking for yourself it's more fun.

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Conversely, the lock-downs have increased my pleasure in cooking and baking. I live in Los Angeles, CA, so I can't do much of anything else. This means that I am embracing all day cooking projects.

I've been reading my favorite cooking blogs for inspiration.

davidlebovitz.com
smittenkitchen.com
seriouseats.com
cooking/nytimes.com
technicolorkitcheninenglish.blogspot.com
whiteonricecouple.com (For the record, I dislike the name of their blog, but the recipes are great.)

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I just transformed some left over bolognese into a real spicy chili.

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So many good and helpful comments here. If it is possible for you, I'd recommend getting carry out once or twice a week. It has really helped me a lot. Good luck.

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Instagram gives me a lot of inspiration and really helps me want to create a lot dishes I would never think to make myself. I also youtube everything for visual guide. Instagram can send you down a rabbit hole.

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I grew up with the "meat and three veg" tradition. I gave it up long ago (too much of a pain in the neck, plus I rarely eat meat). A panini press or cast iron pan with cast iron lid can help make all sorts of dinners and lunches. There's nothing wrong with a great grilled cheese sandwich for dinner. (I'm not talking about processed cheese, mayonnaise and wonder bread!) I just googled best grilled cheese sandwiches, and it looks as though Delish has some good ideas.

And green salad.

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When I feel burned out on cooking it helps to make fast and easy meals for awhile, raid the pantry and freezer, something as simple as canned soup and sandwiches. Reading menu plans and recipe ideas on this site and paging through my cookbooks and food blogs generally reignites my interest. Challenging myself with something I've never cooked before or trying a new ingredient also helps.

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So much wonderful advice here! We started a Friday charcuterie-plate-for-dinner tradition this fall. Friday's just when I'm sort of done by the end of the work day and want to have a cocktail, not cook. We no longer do it each week but that helped me get through some low spots! It's also a good way to use up bits and bobs of cheese and salami and pickle things that seem to accumulate in my fridge before I do a weekend grocery shop.

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Circling back to add something else that worked for me - getting a new kitchen gadget. For me, the Instant Pot has been a biggie. I get inspired by looking up ways to use it and recipes for it. The keep warm function and hands off nature of the cooking make the meals feel easy to cook.

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Best way to reverse cooking burnout?

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