Do you want to cook something different for dinner or dessert, but not sure where to start?

Over the years of cooking, I had to be creative, because kids were awfully hard to please, not to mention a husband who, when I first met him, ate meat, potatoes, gravy, green beans, corn. That's it. BORING! Now, he's in to baked, or grilled meats like Tuna Steak, asparagus, brussel sprouts, spinach, fish, and hardly ever fries anything.

Still, often I just run out of ideas. I have literally hundreds of recipes handed down from family and the famous Aunts In The Kitchen. With all my recipe blogs, I have never ending appetite for "how to." To feed that hungry beast, I have to come up with recipes or tweak a million more.

I've come up with a few ideas that might help you when you're in a cooking slump.

Here's how to create a recipe:

• Inventory your spices. Become so familiar with them that you know exactly what's in your pantry.
• Arrange your spices in the order of what they're used to flavor, such as: Spices that flavor Beef, those that flavor chicken, fish, you get the idea. Then arrange those that will be basic, like salt, pepper, garlic. Next, group spices best for vegetables, and lastly, arrange those flavorings for baking such as vanilla or cream of tartar. Last, build a group that would fit into the miscellaneous category like balsalmic vinegar, baking soda and powder, and your oils.
• Read the back of bottles and containers of spices to create a handy list of what each spice is best used for, and place it in a plastic sheet or laminate it for hanging around near the spices.

When your spices are arranged in this way, they will help you create meat and poultry rubs, casseroles, and vegetable dishes with new and exciting flavors.

Take a look at your pantry shelves. Mine get messed up easily with so many hands in the "soup" around here, so I normally have to straighten them each week.

Place like items together: noodles, rice, dry mixes, and vegetables all on their own shelf if you can, or at least in the same area on one shelf. Arrange sauces on another, baking mixes and baking items grouped, as well as canned meats. Put sweet things, like jams and syrups, on a shelf by themselves and try to turn all labels to the front or side so they can be read at a glance.

Last is the refrigerator and freezer. Take out your fresh vegetables and either chop or slice at least some of them, or make sure they're sealed and wrapped for longevity. Taking time every shoppiing day to trim and package will avoid many rushed and frustrated moments when preparing meals or special dishes. Group eggs and cheese,etc within easy reach, and things you use less frequently to the back.

In the freezer, group your meats so you know what you've got. Ice cream should be near the vent in the freezer so it stays fresh and hard, making sure it's sealed against freezer burn. Otherwise, those sugar crystals form and there goes the cake and ice cream you thought you had. Besides, the ice cream I like has gone up to over $6 bucks. You sure don't want to waste that cold gold. When I package and freeze meat in smaller portions, I cut them to a 3 - 4 ounce size. If you add 2 or 3 different vegetables to the meal, their stomachs and taste buds will still be satisfied and they'll be eating healthier without realizing it. Think the "Four F's:" flavor, fiber, fewer calories and fat.

Group bags of veggies that you either purchased or froze yourself, and last, keep frozen fruit to the front. You do have frozen fruit, don't you?

Put a notepad on or near the refrigerator for items needed, keep the pen handy! The list is no good if you can't write on it at the same time you find some ingredient you need to buy. Not only will this save you multiple trips to the store, it'll save time, money and gas!!

Keep your cookbooks in sight, but you don't have to follow their recipes exactly.

Now, you're ready to create your own recipe!

Choose a meat from your freezer, select your spices that go with it, and do the same with the vegetables, all the way to the salad. In a matter of seconds you've got inspiration and creativity sitting on your counter. As you add small amounts of spices and flavorings, write them down on the notepad so you'll know what you did. After the meal, next to the ingredients you listed, make a note of what worked or what you might need to change. Name the dish and you did it! During the meal, it's fun to ask the family to help you come up with a name for your newest endeavor. Those names can become new family traditions and stories, so be sure and write down who named it and how they came up with it. I have recipe cards from my aunts that are so funny. On the back of a cobbler recipe, my Aunt Lady wrote "I made this for the church dinner and so did Cally (her sister). Mine was best." Instantly, I am reminded of these two sisters teasing each other.

Healthy cooking tips are:

• Bake, grill, stir fry, steam anything you're cooking.
• Steam vegetables with a teaspoon or two of chicken broth or water, use less salt and more pepper and other spices.
• Put away the corn oil or oils that have saturated fats, and experiment with light or virgin olive oils.
• Become a lable reader. There's a world of education on them!
• Cover vegetables and meat when you can as it saves nutrition, and creates the important level of steam for tenderizing.

Visit my recipe sites for more inspiration! (Had to throw that in.) I just gave birth to easy slow cooker recipes. Enjoy!