@Smithy, I’ve been thinking about your question for a while. I think it’s complex and I have no easy answers but am sharing this stream of consciousness anyway 🙃
@liuzhou wrote that there are two types of culinary ennui: cooking ennui and eating ennui. I suspect there are even more subtypes. For example, eating ennui can be appetite ennui (nothing appeals, no appetite) or dining/social ennui (something might appeal but it’s not worth making just for myself, I'd like a dish from a particular restaurant but I don’t want to go there alone, or I'd like something that I’ve always shared with a person or group who aren’t around)
@liuzhou also said eating ennui was the most concerning and I agree, especially appetite ennui. A number of years ago, I lost my sense of smell. I could still taste (sweet, sour, salt, bitter, umami) but had zero appetite, absolutely nothing appealed to me. I was sick, had other symptoms and many tests but no diagnosis. After a while I realized that I needed better nutrition or I was never going to get better. I found a smoothie recipe that included 2-3 servings of both fruit, veg and protein, plus fiber, etc. I made one every day, drank half in the AM and half for lunch. Not culinarily interesting but it did the job. I doubt you’re in that situation but looking out for nutrition in some way is important.
Even when I started feeling better, and wanted to get back to cooking, I’d lost interest in trying new recipes because so much of their flavor was lost to me. I learned to focus on old favorites and rely on flavor memory to fill in the blanks. Luckily, texture has always been key for me so I focused on that. Again, I don’t think you’re in that situation but focusing on old favorites isn’t a bad idea from a comfort POV.
You mentioned both planning ahead and cooking earlier in the day and I think both are good strategies for dealing with cooking ennui. Sometimes the restrictions of a job, caretaking for kids, spouse, parents or the need to conform to the preferences of those folks restrict the time available or the recipe options but they can also provide a helpful structure. When I was working a demanding job, I could only devote time to cooking on the weekends. If I didn’t get my act together, I’d be stuck with restaurant or cafeteria food that was expensive and not particularly healthy so I shopped, prepped and cooked. When my mom lived with me, I planned meals to accommodate her preferences. I no longer have any of those restrictions but if I don’t do a little planning, I’ll just wait until I’m hangry, which is no time to do any enjoyable cooking.
I’m a morning person. That doesn’t mean I need to eat right away so I’ve got plenty of time but if I don’t have at least a bit of a plan, I’ll waste the part of the day that I could be most productive. That pertains to cooking and anything else I want to accomplish. I suspect the same is true for anyone with the flexibility to schedule our own time whether they’re early birds or night owls so I think you’re on to something with those thoughts.
From what I’m reading in your posts, you’re doing fine!
