Top 5 Fresh Ideas To Beat Cooking and Baking Boredom

Cooking enthusiasts, foodies, culinary experts, and lovers of food all experience a moment in time when, they're bored, and just want to try something new. Frankly, I'm bringing this up because I happen to be experiencing such a sustenance stalemate.

Often, the prescription for such a sorry state is more cowbell. No, that's the prescription for something else entirely. The answer usually is watching food shows on tv, going to a new restaurant, checking out recipes online. But lately, nothing is working to fire up my creative cooking juices.

So, I've tried something simple, but so far effective, to get a few new ideas flowing. I went onto my personal Facebook page and asked my friends to share a picture of the food that they've made and tell me what it is. Could be a photo of a well-plated meal they snapped a photo of at a restaurant or a picture of a delectable dish they created or even just grab something out of the fridge and snap a photo. There are no wrong answers, just needing to spark some tasty thoughts.

I'm expecting this to be an on-going project, but here are some mouthwatering pictures.

This is Amy's Shrimp Etoufee. It's apparently spicy and delicious and gets better every time she whips up a batch. That's only hearsay, as she's never offered me any.

Heather's Cheesy Jalapeno Cornbread. I suggest trying some with a big 'ole bowl of chili. A tall glass of milk too. Again, I don't know from experience how good this is - just trusting my friends.

My lovely daughter inherited the 'baking gene' from her grandmother. This Banana Cream Pie looks divine. Emily's friends swear by it. But I......maybe for Father's Day...

Work side-by-side with someone for years, and you'd think you would have tried their homemade banana chocolate chip muffins. Aimee Yoerger - thanks for the visual.

Lisa - this looks divine - and Jim is a lucky man to have received these for Valentine's Day. These are Lisa's homemade peanut butter chocolate chip cupcakes with chocolate ganache frosting. I gained three pounds gazing at this picture!

I will update you as more and more pictures are coming in. Started the evening bored with no new choices and now here's five to get us started.