Friday, January 04, 2013

2013 Means Getting Out of My Recipe Comfort Zone

I tend to not make a lot of resolutions and empty promises when the new year rolls around.

I don't smoke or use drugs so I can't quit them. And since I don't live somewhere that sports gambling is legal all my activity in that area is limited to on-line games and friendly wagers.

I eat fairly healthy and though I do have the occasional indulgence in fast food or something crappy I also work out and run regularly.

But as I sat and thought about what I wanted to do for or improve about myself in 2013 it all came back to cooking. And eating.

I'll be the first to admit that I get into ruts. Big ones with both eating and cooking. In 2012, I probably ate five three different things for breakfast on 99% of the days:

  1. Light English Muffin with peanut butter and fruit
  2. Greek Yogurt with granola
  3. An egg dish (scrambled, fried or poached) and even that was usually relegated to weekends
And while I can sit back and joke about how my Mom only made five or six dishes when I was growing up, I fear I'm in danger of becoming a six-trick pony when it comes to the kitchen:
  1. Roast Chicken
  2. Balsamic Chicken Breasts
  3. Pork Chops with Country Gravy
  4. Tilapia (either with capers and lemon or with pineapple basil sauce)
  5. Shrimp & Grits
  6. Roast Pork
The change in the calendar presented the perfect opportunity for me to break out of my culinary comfort zone and make some new recipes, try some new restaurants, sample a food I'd normally pass on. 

In other words, don't be afraid to fail.

My first foray into a new recipe wasn't anything too exciting but it certainly got the effort off to a good start. 



These Turkey, Brie and Apple Sandwiches were a great way to use some leftover turkey from our New Year's Day dinner and the only real modification I made was subbing in arugula for the watercress that was called for in the original recipe.

So stay tuned. Hopefully, I'll be posting about more recipe successes than failures!

What are your culinary resolutions for 2013? Tell us in the comments section...

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