Healthy eating | Stuck in a food rut? 7 tips to help you out of it

Thinking about changing your diet, but don’t know where to start? Maybe you’re feeling bored of cooking the same kinds of foods? Or perhaps you look in your cupboard and fridge and just have no idea what to cook. If this sounds like you, we’ve listed some ideas below to help you out of your food rut and make food exciting again.

Speak to others about what they eat

If you’re looking for inspiration for new ideas or recipes, why not speak to your friends or family about dishes they’ve been eating. They might be trying new recipes out and have meals and dishes they can recommend for you to try at home.

Go to dinner parties and return the favour

If you’re invited out to someone’s house for dinner, you can think about returning the favour so you can all benefit from tasting and trying new recipes together. Seeing and tasting other dishes that someone else has cooked can encourage you to try new foods and recipes. You might also be motivated to try cooking new meals if you have regular dinner parties so you can surprise your guests with something different every time they come round.

Browse markets

If you’re out and about in a market, you might see new foods that you like the look of or see new dishes being cooked. Why not buy a meal you’ve never tried before and see if you like it, or pick up some new ingredients or spices. You could ask the market stall holders how they would cook foods for more encouragement.

Watch cooking shows on TV

If you’re relaxing at home, why not try watching some different cooking programmes on the TV. Some examples of cooking shows you could try include Saturday Kitchen, MasterChef, Come Dine with Me, The Great British Bake Off, Best Home Cook, The Big Family Cooking Showdown… plus many more. If you have BBC iPlayer you can also filter programmes by category so you can see all of the different cookery programmes in one place.

Look at recipes online

There’s so much information and inspiration available online for different recipes. Head to websites like BBC Good Food where you can find ways to incorporate new foods into your favourite meals, find tips for eating healthier and eating on a budget. There’s plenty to be found if you do your research.

Read cookery books

If you don’t have access to the internet at home then it’s time to reach for the cookery books and magazines You can pick up free recipe books at the library, and in some local supermarkets you can pick up magazines which are filled with recipes and ideas, sometimes on a monthly basis. You can also pick up magazines in the newsagents or try a subscription service too. Why not try cooking a new dish from a different book each week?

Try a recipe box

There are many services online that offer recipe boxes on a weekly or monthly subscription basis. Each meal service is slightly different -, some offer pre-prepared meals, whilst others deliver the ingredients you’ll need to make meals from scratch. Meal subscription services can be a great way to try foods you’ve always wanted to. All offer a pick 'n’ mix option so you can vary your meals each week/month. Plus, you don’t have to worry about overeating or having any food waste as portions are already measured.

Some examples of subscription services you can look at include:

• Abel & Cole – they provide seasonal produce and have a range of recipe categories including meat, vegan, fish, simple, foodie, 20 minute or less and less than 500 calorie ranges.
• Riverford – they offer high quality organic ingredients with recipes that are changed on a weekly basis. Best of all they also include instructions about how to recycle all of their packaging, so you’ll be helping the environment at the same time too. Recipes include seasonal dishes, meat and poultry, fish and seafood, vegan, vegetarian and dairy free.
• Gousto – they offer recipe kits which are delivered once a week and have over 40 different recipes that change on a weekly basis. When you first order from them, they give you a small binder so you can keep all of your weekly recipes together if you’d like to make them again.
• HelloFresh – this service allows you to select which plan you’d like and for how many people you’d like to feed and how many recipes you’d like to try each week.
• Mindful Chef – they offer sustainable dishes that arrive with fresh produce and all of the ingredients you need to make a wide selection of meals for the whole family.