Friday, February 26, 2010

A Taste for Something New

I had a crazy year last year. In the course of the craziness, I fell into certain routines. When I got to this year, I realized I was tired of wearing the same old clothes, doing the same old things, and eating the same old food.

As you can see from the rest of my blog, I am challenging myself to reach beyond to new things. I'm reading new books and doing new things with my house. I even started a new exercise plan and have the sore muscles to prove it. With all of that new stuff happening, I'm still eating the same old thrown together meals that I lived on last year out of necessity.

I began looking at my own cookbook shelf and the recipe files on my computer. I have a lot of great sounding recipes on there. I have a few websites bookmarked that have a plethora of wonderful sounding stuff, like The Pioneer Woman and A Year of Slowcooking. I have seen menu plans where a day a week or a day a month is dedicated to trying new recipes, but at that rate I would need to live until I'm 1000 to try them all if I quit collecting now. What to do?

My life is filled with crazy challenges of my own making, so why not add another? I'm currently making a menu plan with all new recipes on it. Breakfast, lunch, and supper are all recipes I've never tried before. Now I'm not saying there won't be any cold cereal mornings or pizza ordered, but as much as possible, I want to cook new things.

I'm having a lot of fun picking and choosing which ones to try. I'm reading reviews and whittling down my choices. I'm trying to find things that are reasonably family friendly, but some things might stretch some of them a bit. I've already warned my family that I expect them to try everything. Peanut butter will be available for those who don't like what's being prepared. This should be fun and hopefully will add some new recipes to my usual lineup.

What are you doing to shake up your routine?

I'm giving a special shout-out to all the Home Sanctuary Company Girls visiting today! Leave a comment and say "Hi".

5 comments:

SpitFire said...

I'm shaking up my routine by having a baby. :P Oh wait, that doesn't count? Okay, fine...after the baby gets here, I'm planning on having a more defined schedule..not crazy organized (I mean 2 small kids, what are the odds?), but at least some structure to it, so I know what I am and am not getting done.

Jhona O. said...

Thanks for visiting my blog and for your very kind words of encouragement! I like your blog a lot and am looking forward to digging in a little deeper as I'm snuggled up in my warm bed today. I bought new walking shoes and am feeling motivated to get moving again. Changing things up is good!! I hope you'll post about your recipe adventure:) I am sure it's going to be a delicious experience!

LydiaCate said...

I'm so in awe of your menu planning. I can't seem to get into a menu planning groove. I'll be interested to read what recipes you choose. We are a family of 7 and so good quick easy recipes are a must.
Have a great weekend!
LydiaCate

Anonymous said...

We always like trying new recipes. The Pioneer Woman has some great simple ones. I've been over there quite frequently. Hope the new meal planning works out.

the.bain.family. said...

I love trying out new recipes. I am like you.. I have so many saved up. The end of last year and beginning of this year I have been using SO many new recipes. Most have turned out really good.