Revamp Your Cooking Routine

If you are anything like me, your cooking routine can get burdensome and bland in a flash. Don’t put away those oven mits just yet. We can still save dinner!

Here are a few tips that I find helpful:

1. Add a new side to an old favorite meal. This helps me because I’m not creating and cooking an entirely new meal, I’m just adding some new flavors to spice up the dinner.

I love this Mexican Summer Salad to really jazz up taco night.

2. Visit the freezer aisle. You don’t always have to cook from scratch. Try some new flavors by combining a few items from the freezer section. I shop a lot at Trader Joe’s and they have a fabulous selection of meals, sides, and veggies in the freezer.

3. Have a weekly meal routine. We always do something super easy Sunday, such as breakfast for dinner. We always have pancakes on Saturday mornings. Tuesday is Taco Tuesday. Friday is family pizza night. These routines help focus my meal planning when I’m looking for recipes to cook for the week.

4. Have breakfast for dinner. I love breakfast, so breakfast any time is a treat, but it is also FUN to eat breakfast for dinner!

Our favorite is this hearty egg, meat, and potato dish.

5. Start a recipe swap. I’ve done this a few times with friends on Facebook. It is a great way to have new recipes at your fingertips that have been tried and tested by your friends.

6. Cook together. Plan a meal that your kids can help with. This will be a fun activity for the family, and often kids are more excited to eat something they have helped prepare.

Here are some tips for cooking with a toddler.

7. Use your crockpot. The crockpot is such a fabulous tool in the kitchen. I love that I can throw everything in and have little to no preparations right before it is time to eat.

Try this crock pot tortilla stack.

8. Find one website or blog to get recipes from for the week. I can get overwhelmed looking all over Pinterest for recipes, so sometimes I just stick with one website or cookbook to keep me focused. My favorite place to visit right now is the Trader Joe’s website recipe section.

9. Make your meal in a cupcake! Changing how the meal looks can spice up your routine and excite your family. I have really enjoyed pizza cupcakes and these Taco Cupcakes. YUM!

10. Have dessert. Sometimes it is nice to have a little something to look forward to after the dinner meal. Honestly, that would be nice all the time, right?!

You can’t go wrong with brownies, but these Blonde Brownies are to die for!

Remember, change happens slow! So my best advice would be to start small when you are incorporating new things in your routine. Even just changing one ingredient can add new flavors to an old dish or make a favorite dish even better. I really like to occasionally make my pizza sauce from scratch. It is one small change that has big flavor results.

How do you keep your cooking routine updated and fun?