How to get my cooking passion back?

[auntdot]

Dina, don't sweat it.

I have many things I like to do. And will become very engaged in something and then lose interest in it for a while. Sometimes our minds just want to take a break.

Have no idea why, but they do.

Have heard, and don't hold me to a source, that Michelangelo, after painting half of the Sistine Chapel, cartooned on the other half for two months. And I am told that everything he drew looked like the Simpsons. And frankly I believe it.

And did you know that Leonardo d'Vinchi once took off six months. During that time, so I am told, he came up with the designs for a pocket fishing rod, a Veg-a-Matic, and Mr. Microphone? Frankly, I believe it.

Our lives and interests change. For some reason your mind is telling you it does not want to spend a whole lot of time thinking about cooking, at least right now. OK.

How about doing easy grilling recipes, it is gettint to the warm season.

Or cooking stuff in the slow cooker?

The casserole, heck, I don't need to tell you this. You can put out a fine meal. At the moment you just don't feel you have the spark you used to have.

Only advice I have, and I hate to give any, is chill. Relax, and go with your guts.

They got you this far.

God bless.

 

[Hoot]

Lotsa good advice here!!!
Here at Casa de Hoot, we take turns planning and cooking meals.
As for the cleanup, many hands make light work, as they say, so everybody pitches in to help.
You might suggest that to your folks...in a firm but nice way, of course, that you need some help in the kitchen!

 

[MexicoKaren]

Dina, assuming that there are not other things going on in your life that might be causing you to feel depressed, I think that your friends here at DC have run the gamut of excellent advice. I especially like Buckytom's advice - when I run out of inspiration, getting out of the kitchen seems to help. Or find some really interesting foodie blogs to look at...here are a few:

Cookie Madness
101 Cookbooks - Recipe Journal
Mom's Cafe Home Cooking: Bagels

And this one, from one of our own members, is wonderful.
Kitchen Scrapbook

Maybe some of their enthusiasm will rub off on you. Works for me!

 

[suziquzie]

I'm there now too. I dont want to do anything. Well I WANT to just go in my kitchen and be left alone to cook. But my kids wont eat half of what I want to make.
I love knitting too. I dont want to do that either.
But I'm not really sitting aroung doing nothing. I'm up ALL DAY cleaning. hanging with kids, more cleaning.
I think it's more cabin fever than anything. I am so sick of being inside. I dont like cold (yeah I know I'm livin in the wrong place.). I cannot sit still lately.
This is not all bad, since when you dont sit all day and you dont want to cook much, you lose a couple poounds!
I'm figuring I'll be ok once I can get my garden going, get back to walking after dinner every night, being outside a bit. Maybe it's a vitamin D deficiency???

 

[Dina]

Thank you all for your advise. I know I have a low dificiency of vitamin D as well as I don't get out much. The weather here is great, around the 80s and 90s but I just fell into a rut lately that I didn't want to do much. Things will get better I know. DH took me out to dinner Friday and Saturday so it was nice to eat out and be served instead of serving everyone all the time. I needed the break. I'll stick to easy meals or even prepared stuff for a while until my passion comes back to me. Thanks you all.

 

[Fisher's Mom]

I'm so glad to hear it, Dina. Hubby sounds like a very good guy! And you may be right about the sunlight thing. Lots of folks have their moods affected by lack of direct sunshine (which we convert to vitamin D). Good luck in your passion quest!

 

[LEFSElover]

we all go through similar situations, I am pretty sure I have felt like this along the way also. don't be too hard on yourself, just hang loose and it'll come back, when it's supposed to.

 

[quicksilver]

Dina, glad to hear you got the weekend off for good behavior. In addition to D vitamins, google St John's Wart - an herb, and B complex.
It was good to see you get so much support and commiseration.
My best advise - no charge - eat watermelon. It will make you feel like a kid again!!!!!!


When in doubt, make a fool of yourself - Cynthia Heimel

 

[auntdot]

Dina I am no one to give advice believe me. But maybe it is time to start smelling the roses. Taking a walk, go for a row in a lake, go with a friend for lunch. Heck, I don't know but we all get depressed every so often. Just take some time for yourself.

And at least for me the focus of depression is on what I am tethered to, such as my job.

And then I need to get away from it, at least mentally. So at work I put myself into low gear, do my job but just don't do the extras, and try to find my focus again.

Sounds like you need to have some fun, and we all deserve it.

And you always have folks you can talk to.

God bless.

 

[~emz~]

I'm the youngest in my family,but I cook a lot. Don't know how it turned out like that, but I do love to cook. We make a Menu Plan and then go grocery shopping for what we need. So when it's my night to cook, I have to cook, because I said I would and picked out the recipe. And when I don't feel like cooking, or have a lot to do but still have to cook, it really doesn't feel great. So what I do is look through my cookbooks (I now own 5 all to myself) and try to get some inspiration to tweak my recipes so it will be "mine". Then it feels like my own recipe and I will want to make it more. Good Luck!

 

[Fisher's Mom]

Dina, St. John's Wort is like nature's Prozac! OK, really it's just a nice, calming herb and works great when you're under stress. But please note - if you are also taking an oral contraceptive - it can negate it's contraceptive properties just like antibiotics can. (Can you guess how I know this?)

 

[BigDog]

As others have said, I think desire and passion are two different things. I lose my desire to cook all the time, particularly the later it gets. I have lost my passion, though that is far more rare to occur.

I'm kind of on a high as of recent because I met a colleague that is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Twin Cities. He and I get talking about food and recipes and it's all over. The spark is ignited and the creative juices flowing. He talks about throwing down on his off days with a leg of lamb and a bunch of fresh herbs, or an event he is "catering" coming up. We'll talk about the quality of meat available at different vendors, the personalities on FN, and a host of other things. That is what rekindles my passion, almost on a daily basis (usually at least twice a week depending on scheduling).

 

[sattie]

My desire to cook or inspiration is always renewed when I watch FN's Diner's Drive-In's, and Dive's, Iron Chef, or this other show I came across Kylie Kwong, they all give me whatever it is to want to cook. But I know where you are coming from Dina, I go through those spells where my cooking just does not come out right. (And this happens when I'm cooking for folks other than my DH.)

The other night, I over-cooked a T-bone. This bummed me out to no end!!! I hate mucking up a good steak!

Anyhow, I do hope you find the fire that will help you to make awesome food!

 

[expatgirl]

mine gets a real boost when I invite friends over and cook for them

 

[quicksilver]

Fisher's mom, How are the kids?

 

[Fisher's Mom]

Fisher's mom, How are the kids?

They are wonderful, quicksilver - all seven of them!

 

[quicksilver]

Geez,no wondered you feel un-inspired. More expired!
God bless ya!

 

[Fisher's Mom]

Geez,no wondered you feel un-inspired. More expired!
God bless ya!

Thanks, quicksilver! Luckily, they are spread out over a 29 year period so I've had some breathing room. But it does make for a lot of repetitive and boring chores that I must do day after day. Sometimes it's very hard to work up any real enthusiasm for cooking, etc. I know Dina has a 5 year old too so my heart really goes out to her. It's just another thing to live through.

At least when I'm feeling uninspired, at least the kids are very entertaining.

 

[suziquzie]

yeah, entertaining. stick with that.

 

[Dina]

Dina, St. John's Wort is like nature's Prozac! OK, really it's just a nice, calming herb and works great when you're under stress. But please note - if you are also taking an oral contraceptive - it can negate it's contraceptive properties just like antibiotics can. (Can you guess how I know this?)

No oral contraceptives here thankfully. Those things will ... well that's another story.
I've managed to cook something this week. Sunday was store bought chicken parmesan. I only cooked the whole wheat spaghetti and tossed it with some Prego sauce. I was totally cheating but don't care. LOL My daughter helped make dessert; some Krusteaz cream cheese lemon bars. Monday was peppered flank steak with broccoli and Chinese egg noodles with a garlic, ginger soy sauce tossed with carrots, peppers and onions. It was okay for me; my kids ate it all though so I guess that was a good thing. Tonight, I'm making the usual enchiladas with a side salad. Friday is just around the corner so I won't have to cook dinner. Woohoo!