1. Focus on what fits your season

Depending on your season of life, select a specific cookbook to cook from for a couple of weeks. For example, when the new school year starts – I pick simple ‘one pan’ type cookbooks for quick and easy family meals to get us back on track. In summer, I’ll pick an Italian or Greek cookbook to embrace the travel vibe. Sometimes I’m on a health kick and select a book from the vegetarian shelf. You get the idea. 

2. Focus on learning a new skill

Is your goal improving a certain skill? Instead of picking one cookbook, focus on say ‘baking bread’ recipes from different cookbooks. Learning about bread baking from different authors can greatly improve your technique. Or choose a focus by getting out a specialty cookbook on seafood for example. And slowly cook your way through that.

3. Focus on a recipe type

I’ve also had fun focusing on a specific recipe type for a couple of weeks. Imagine a February filled with soups. Or an October filled with oven dishes. And a burger & ice cream filled August. Just flip through a couple of your cookbooks to see which burger recipes to try. It’s a fun family thing too if you review all recipes together.

4. Focus on what’s in your fridge 

One of the most logical ways to limit your options is to start with what’s in your fridge. I’m a fan of www.eatyourbooks.com. It ís a paid service however. On their website you can add the cookbooks you own to your personal bookshelf. They’ve indexed all recipes and ingredients. Just type in: pumpkin and parmesan cheese for example. And this website will spit out all the recipes in YOUR cookbooks that contain these ingredients. (But not the cooking method because of copyrights.) 

In an effort to empty the fridge, I’ve stumbled upon lots of hidden gems from my own collection. If it wasn’t for this service, I would often just find a recipe online for pumpkin and parmesan, instead of looking through my books.

5. Involve your family in the selection

If you live with a partner or kids, a fun way to limit your options is to ask them to select a cookbook, a recipe, or an ingredient. That’s one less decision for you to make and a great way to win them over to try something new! Even nicer if you cook it together. 

6. Keep less cookbooks nearby

Another way to limit your options is to just keep a few cookbooks in your kitchen. Just the ones you can easily grab for dinner inspiration when energy and inspiration are low. And keep the more special ones in a different place. By minimizing your options, you keep the overwhelm to a minimum.

7. Pick your moments

I also try to be realistic about my timing. I mostly try new recipes on weekends, or on days I work from home. Experimenting just didn’t work for me when the kids had to be at dance practice at a certain time. Especially when I’m trying something a bit more complicated, I need a certain ‘peace of mind’.

8. Mark your recipes ahead

Another way to use your cookbooks more is to ‘mark ahead’. I try to sit down with a new cookbook and mark the recipes I want to try later. Which I also find very relaxing and fun to do! For example, start by marking 3 recipes: an appetizer, a main, and a dessert. Or mark only those recipes you’re sure your kids will eat. Or start by marking only the spring dishes if that season is coming up. This will give you a quick start, once the moment comes that you have the time and energy to cook something new. 

Bonus tip: No pressure!

These are my tactics to kill the overwhelm and actually cook from my cookbooks. And it’s something I still have to remind myself of everytime I get stuck in a cooking rut. Just don’t put too much pressure on yourself. I never cook éverything from a book anyways. That’s just not my goal or my life. My goal is to have fun, experiment often and add a few new favorites to my repertoire every now and then.