Family Food: Making Your Menu More Exciting

When planning meals for the family, I find myself getting stuck in a rut. Some families end up having a certain meal for each day of the week, and they just repeat the same menu every seven days. While this might be a convenient way to eat, it's not very exciting. If you're bored of having the same things again and again, it's easy to start mixing things up. And it doesn't have to take up a lot of your time or energy. When it's time for a change, consider the tips below to make your family meals more interesting.

Look for Recipe Inspiration

Your first step if you want to mix up your family meals should be to look for some inspiration. There are lots of places to find it, depending on whether you want to concentrate or just get some quick ideas in a spare couple of minutes. If you turn on the TV or look on YouTube, you can watch someone make a dish, so you know exactly what to do. But you can also have a quick look on recipe websites or in magazines if you don't have that much time. You can even find recipe inspiration on food packaging.

Pick Up Some New Ingredients

Sometimes, picking up an ingredient you don't usually cook with can be a great way to do something different. Maybe you don't even know how you're supposed to eat it. But if you buy something that's not usually on your menu, you can use it as a starting point to find recipes. If you're planning a special meal, maybe you can order some blue crabs to try. Perhaps you've spotted some pak choi in the supermarket, and you want to see what you can do with it. Take the kids shopping with you so they can join in too.

Let the Kids Pick

Getting the kids to try new things can be hard, but it's a little easier if they have a choice. Of course, letting the kids choose what to eat could get you in trouble if you're not careful. You don't want to end up eating chicken nuggets for a week. But you can have success if you provide them with guidance and maybe suggest a few things. Let them select some ingredients when you go shopping or browse recipes with you. They might suggest something you wouldn't have considered.

Replicate Something You Had at a Restaurant

Eating out as a family is fun, but you can't do it all the time. However, when you do go out to eat, it can inspire you to try cooking something new. You might not be able to replicate what you had exactly, but you can create something that closely resembles it. Of course, it's a little easier if it's a well-known dish with lots of recipes to choose from.

If you're bored of cooking and eating the same things all the time, why not mix it up and try something different? There are so many new dishes you can try.