An unexpected tip to inspire you to cook something now

We all get into a rut sometimes.

When it comes to what I am going to cook and eat, my ruts often mean way more take-out meals than normal and/or the feeling like I have a pantry full of food but nothing to pull together a meal.

It can be hard to find the inspiration, motivation and, let’s be honest, the discipline to get into the kitchen and make a meal. It’s kind of like many of the good things in life — we need a bit of a push to get the wheels turning but once we get into the flow of it, we are so glad we did!

If you are seriously lacking motivation and inspiration in the kitchen during these dog days of winter, I give you my number one tip to starting: Clean your kitchen first!

If you ever watch reality television shows about restaurants and professional chefs (my favorite is Chef’s Table), then you will notice that the pros do it a little differently than we do. Upon arrival into their kitchens, they clean first and then they get to work.

Here’s what that can look like for you:

Get ready to prepare your kitchen, which can truly be a space for creativity and enjoyment.

1. Take out trash, recycling and compost. (3 minutes)
2. Put away clean dishes and load dirties into the dishwasher. (7 minutes)
3. Remove non-kitchen stuff from your work space such as papers like bills and calendars, table linens, electronics, and kitchen gadgets that you won’t be needing for your session today. The kitchen is the heart of many homes, and a lot of stuff can accumulate in it. This step won’t have to be done every time if you keep on top of it. (7 minutes)
4. Wipe down surfaces. (3 minutes)
5. Buy or pick some fresh flowers. (This is an add-on item, so you can do this in preparation for a cooking session when you are at the market or in your garden.)
6. Select your cooking music. (1 minute)
7. Now you are ready to open a cookbook and source your ingredients and begin! (This step will be a lot faster with a clear, fresh space to work in.)

There are good reasons why professional kitchen staffs do the cleaning part of their jobs up front. Not only is this to make sure no pathogens get into the food, but also to set up a space that is conducive to creating and to ensure that the experience is pleasant for the cook! If you like what you are doing and can do it in a stress-free environment, then the food will taste better, I promise.

And when you have prepped your spaced up front, you’ll create energy and momentum such that you’ll continue to effortlessly care for the space as you cook, and there won’t be a horrendous clean-up after the cooking process is over, thus I believe that you will ultimately save the 15–20 minutes you invested up front. The whole process will be more enjoyable, so I’d say that’s a good return on investment.

Once these small tasks become habitual, they will become faster and faster and tidying up before the cooking process will also become easier.

Treat yourself to a nice space to create. It will be worth it!