It’s very, very rare that I don’t feel like cooking.  It’s usually one of my favorite parts of the day, but the past few days I’ve been experiencing this crazy “I don’t want to cook” feeling.  So there have been many pieces of toast with almond butter, egg sandwiches, veggie burgers, packets of granola, and sliced apples consumed for full meals.  I’ve also eaten out a few times in the past couple of days.  This is probably normal for a lot of people, but for me it’s definitely the exception to the rule.

On top of my “meh, I just don’t know what I want to eat/make” attitude, I’m trying to use up a lot of the ingredients that have consumed my cupboards lately.  And I missed the farmers market yesterday.  In order to use up ingredients which I’ve had on hand for months, I need the be creative, and that just isn’t there right now.

I’m determined to get myself out of this rut today! Here is my game plan:

• I hope to at least make a big batch of granola, which always seems to make the apartment smell awesome which makes me hungry, which makes me want to cook more.  I hope to post an approximation of the recipe I generally follow real soon.
• I have several cookbooks that I don’t open nearly enough.  While I hardly ever use a recipe when I’m cooking, in my opinion it is a great source of inspiration when you are in a cooking rut.  I’m going to try something new today!

My Reading List for Today

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I will now show you a few things that I’ve eaten recently that have been super tasty.  Good looking food should help me get in the cooking frame of mind, right?

Whole wheat mini bagel, hummus, grape tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh (homegrown!) basil, mixed olives, and grapes

If you read the caption, I’m pretty sure you don’t need me to tell you how this tasted.  Nom.

I also ate some crack salsa made by the person who introduced me to the stuff.  Amazing.

And finally, I made bruschetta for the same party where the salsa was consumed.  I bought the tomatoes from the farmers market the day of the party, and boy oh boy were they tasty.  Since I’m a sweetheart, I’ll give you this very complex recipe for bruschetta.  Aren’t I the nicest?

Bruschetta

Ingredients:

• Tomatoes
• Basil
• Garlic
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Balsamic vinegar (optional)
• Crusty Bread

Directions:

1. Chop upsome seeded tomatoes.  Throw them in a bowl.
2. Pour in some olive oil, enough that it coats the tomatoes and some pools in the bottom of the bowl.
3. Chop the basil, don’t get fancy with the chopping, just rough pieces, and add to the bowl.
4. Slice a few cloves of garlic in half and put them in the bowl as well.
5. Season with salt and the vinegar, if you want, and set aside for an hour or so.
6. Slice the bread into 1/2 inch or so pieces (don’t freak out, it doesn’t really what size/shape, just big enough to hold the tomatoes and not too thin that it gets super crispy, and not too thick that all you taste is bread).
7. Spray on some olive oil, and put them in a hot oven for a few minutes.  You don’t want toast, you want very lightly browned tops.
8. Slice another clove of garlic in half, and rub it over the bread.
9. Top with the tomato mixture.
10. Consume.

*****

Yup, definitely feeling the inspiration coming back now.  :)

Tags: Bruschetta, Crack Salsa, Farmers Market, Motivation