I get asked all the time where I find the recipes that I cook. My answer is always the same. I find almost all of my recipes online or in magazines, but I almost always put my own spin on them, usually taking out anything processed and making them as natural as possible. I love food and this makes it easy for me to become inspired to cook and want to cook.

7 Ways to Become Inspired to Cook:

#1  A clean organized kitchen

Believe me when I say a clean organized kitchen makes you want to cook! It does. If your kitchen is a room that makes you feel irritated, then it’s time to take control over it. I cannot stand having dirty dishes in the sink or clutter all over the kitchen counter, it hurts my soul…lol! If everything is clean and organized, I am ready to cook! Cooking is relaxing and fun when you don’t have to deal with anything, but the food at hand.

Decluttering doesn’t happen in a matter of minutes. It takes time, so put some thought and energy into it. Start organizing with a clear deck and the tools you’ll use to do the job. Organize your kitchen into stations and then make sure you have everything you need for that particular station within an arm’s reach. I find that is also important to put the more useful dishes, gadgets, and appliances in the front or in lower cabinets while putting those dishes, gadgets, and appliances that are not used on a daily basis on a top shelf or in the back of a cabinet to save time trying to access it.

Once you have the kitchen the way you want it, keep it that way. Don’t laugh, it can be done with just a few minutes a day. The key to keeping a clean organized kitchen is figuring out a routine and sticking to it. It’s important to clean as you go and make sure to clean the dishes immediately after using them. Try to start each recipe with a clean dishwasher, so you can get rid of most of the dishes and utensils as you go. Designate certain days for cleaning certain areas more than usual, like the stove top, oven or the inside of the fridge or microwave. Doing smaller tasks along the way can keep your kitchen clean and organized at all times, making it more enjoyable useful space.

#2  The recipe search

We are so lucky to live in a day and age of food media. Recipes can be found practically anywhere these days. If there is an ingredient you have never heard of you can pull it up on the phone and learn more about it than you ever wanted to. You can watch videos on how to chop something and read in-depth articles related to cooking all just a finger’s tap away.

I use the internet to find recipes the most. I like being able to type in some ingredients I have on hand into a Google search to see what comes up. I also like reading food blogs and watching food shows on television to find recipes or learn new techniques. I sometimes glance at cookbooks, but when it comes to print, I mostly pull recipes from magazines. I’ve listed tips for searching below:

Books and Magazines: Buy a new recipe magazine, one with lots of bright beautiful pictures.  I currently subscribe to FoodNetwork Magazine. I also have tons of other magazines my mother saves for me to draw inspiration from. You may feel some of those food magazines are pricey, but remember there are still libraries out there. Go check something out or flip through a cookbook you haven’t looked at in a while. Cookbooks are a great way to get inspired in the kitchen.

I keep a recipe binder full of recipes I have torn out of magazines that I want to try. I reference them a lot when trying to figure out what to make for dinner.

Cooking Shows: Food television has changed dramatically over the years. I’ve said it before, I miss days of watching someone cook.  I remember long weekends when you could turn on Food Network or Cooking Channel TV and watch people cook for hours. There are only a handful of shows where you feel like you’re sitting at the kitchen counter watching someone cook. Most shows that come on are reality-based or challenge shows, that come on back to back and seem to repeat NONSTOP! I don’t like those shows very much; I miss honest to goodness cooking one on one and bow down to the ones such as Ina Garten, Ree Drummond and Trisha Yearwoodwho still give you that one-on-one recipe share. Watch people cook, even if you would never make the recipe. Over the years, I have learned that even if you don’t like what a chef is making, you can always learn a new technique or about an ingredient you’ve never used. There’s at least one thing per thirty-minute show you can learn.

Websites: There are so many recipe websites available. It’s a little overwhelming, but Pinterest and Yummly are two of my favorite recipe search tools, because of their simplicity to use. It’s a place where I like to share my recipes and draw inspiration from others. There are search criteria you can enter for more specific recipes and ones for special dietary needs.

Social Media: Following your favorite blogger on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or your favorite social media platform, is a very simple way to stay in the loop with new recipes being shared, without signing up for pesky emails for recipes you don’t even like.

Food Blogs: Follow several food blogs that inspire you to cook. I follow several for inspiration. There are so many talented food bloggers out there, with great writing and beautiful pictures. Here are some of the many I love:

#3  Challenge yourself

When I got caught in that cycle, one of the ways I started coming up with new ideas was challenging myself with going meatless once a week. When you take meat out of the equation things get a little more interesting. Different types of cuisines can make things a lot more interesting. Challenging yourself to find one new recipe from a different cuisine a week, can help you get out of the rut and make being in the kitchen more enjoyable.

How about this?… What is the oldest and most favorite recipe that you and the whole family love? Try to revisit that recipe and see if you can somehow change it to make it even better. The change can be finding ways to eliminate steps or using recreating an ingredient or two to take out any processed food. I did this to my old favorite Curry Chicken Broccoli Casserole. I took out processed ingredients. It made a HUGE difference in the way the casserole tastes. I will never use those processed ingredients again!

You could also pick an old restaurant favorite and see if you can recreate it at home. I did this with our favorite Spinach Feta Pizza. Who knows, you might actually make it better than the restaurant!

#4  Plan your weekly meals

Although it happens more than I like, I really don’t like trying to figure out meals on the fly during a work week. This is when we usually end up going out to eat, getting takeout, get food delivered, or worse we end up eating something not worth mentioning.

I do really well in the kitchen when I plan out the meals for the week on the weekend and actually leave the house to go grocery shopping. I like to spend some time in the morning going over new recipes and verifying what ingredients I already have on hand. Make a list, and shop accordingly. When I pick out the meals for the week, I plan on having leftovers for lunch the next day, if at all possible. I also try to figure out ways to use any of the leftover ingredients again or figure out how to utilize a hot grill or oven for the next meal. This all comes with practice, but it isn’t always practical based on the meals you plan.

#5  A well stocked pantry

Life gets in the way sometimes and there are times when you cannot plan meals. Coming up with meals on the fly is not easy, but having a well-stocked pantry, makes throwing together delicious meals a lot easier.

#6  Practice makes perfect

If you don’t cook, you’ll never like to cook or be good at it and that my friend is the honest truth. The only way you can get better at cooking is to cook food daily, or as often as time allows. It’s the only way you will become a better home cook. If you love food, you can learn to fall in love with cooking it. Ease into cooking. Start with simple recipes and learn by doing. Don’t be afraid to screw something up.  There is nothing wrong with a failed recipe, that’s the best way to learn. The outcome of any recipe is guaranteed; nor will you get the same result each time.

The more you practice the more you will begin to see some steady progress in your cooking skills. Building your confidence with your basic techniques is important and you will become more familiar with a range of ingredients. I have found new ways to introduce flavors to food or figure out different techniques for preparing foods. It’s something that comes with the joy of cooking. Don’t be afraid to experiment, and most importantly, have fun!

#7  Give yourself a day off from kitchen

Don’t feel like you have to slave and cook in the kitchen every day of the week. Plan ahead for days when you may not feel like cooking. Plan leftovers to freeze or plan some quick and easy meals. Allowing yourself to take a break from the kitchen may rejuvenate your creative juices. Taking a break always helps me get my mojo back in the kitchen.

Cooking takes practice and time, but once you’ve found out how to love food and enjoy cooking, it’s a joy that won’t go away.