Here’s how I knew last week that I was in a rut: it was just as easy, in my thinking, to just get up and put on the same clothes I wore yesterday. Not good!
The same thing happens to me occasionally with regard to meals. No inspiration. The antidote? Get off the computer and go work in the kitchen. Start somewhere and work until I care again.
So I figure there are two possible approaches to resolving wardrobe ennui: go out and buy an entire new wardrobe or get into the closet and get to work. And one option is obviously more doable than the other. It may be rainy and 40 degrees, but it’s past time for me to switch over to my spring wardrobe.
But back to the food thing: what’s a favorite food option of yours for breaking out of a rut? Tonight I’m making stuffing.
Mine is to go exotic, I get out one of Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid’s cookbooks like Hot Sour Salty Sweet, head over to Little India for some ingredients like lime leaves and make something I’ve never made before. Plan B is to make a really sumptuous dessert like a Pavlova.
I go the other direction and make something as basic as possible with few ingredients but just how I like it. Maybe mother’s potato soup from childhood that I used to ask for as “butter soup.”
Maybe a super duper breakfast with eggs AND bacon AND home fries AND rye toast AND fresh squeezed orange juice. IOW, what I wish someone would cook for me.
Soup! Generally my knock off Panera broccoli cheese soup. Actually, it’s not really a knock off because I got the basic cheese soup recipe from their website years ago. (The recipe in the link is not the same, but similar. The original was vegetarian, I think. And I skip the mushrooms because we find they detract from the flavor. I also get a loaf of crusty sour dough to dip instead. YUM!) I add broccoli, carrot shreds and anything else that strikes my fancy. When I taste it, I remember what amazing food tastes like and it kicks me to start making real food again.
We’ve had a lot of cheese soup in the last couple months. lol
And for the rutty closet, I did some summer blouse shopping at GW yesterday. I snagged three sleeveless blouses that will make me like what I have in the rest of my closet again. 😉 I still need to find a white or cream sweater. I realized Sunday that’s a big piece of what I’m missing. Oh and I got a new pair of sneakers. I will need them for PT.
Rut be banished!
I’m heading to the thrift store this morning to look for items on my spring list: silk scarves in cheery colors, short-sleeved blouses, a teal/turquoise top or sweater, a knee-length A-line skirt, and a bright-colored purse. I also need a new pair of sneakers! Wish me luck . . .
I still don’t know what to do with the spring/summer wardrobe. My clothing purchases so far this year:
Faux wrap tank w/built in bra for yoga
Running shoes
I don’t know that I’m in a rut exactly, but I’m not terribly excited about clothing right now – my closet and what I’m seeing in the store.) The things which inspire me right now (vintage dresses) are way out of my price/comfort zone. I’ll have to get off my rear soon. There are a few items which should not be put through another summer – unless worn while gardening.
For the food, I’m with Duchesse. Pull out a cookbook or look up a recipe from a far-away place, and try something completely new. The decadent dessert gets a thumbs up, too.
I get out my cookbooks and find something new (that’s not too complicated that I can make in 20 minutes!)
I have three solutions to food ruts:
1. Find a new recipe and give it a whirl (did this Saturday — I now have a great recipe for bread pudding)
2. Look in the kitchen and find new ways to combine what I have on hand (did this tonight: fish, black beans, bok choy, leftover rice, all seasoned and cooked together in a big skillet)
3. Ask my husband, who will usually remind me of some great dish I used to make all the time but haven’t served in ages (puttanesca, for example)