What to do when your food tastes bland

When you're used to preparing your food a certain way for so long, it eventually starts to taste the same. What was once delicious and mouthwatering can turn into a tasteless mash and at that point, it's time to try something new.

Unless you're a Michelin-star chef, it can be hard to come up with new recipes and cooking techniques that can revive your food over and over again. But there is good news. All hope is not lost because any beginner can have a revamped menu with these five tips:

There is something about packaged spices that have been on the shelf for a long time that doesn't taste right. You can literally pour in an entire packet of some of these spices and still have food that tastes like wood.

A new secret that you should try is buying fresh spices. You can also check online for tutorials on how to make fresh onion powder, garlic powder or any other type of spice you may like, then experiment and see what difference it makes in your meals.

Also, you can swap out powdered ingredients like coriander for the real thing, to add a fresher flavour.

You can either choose to stick to what you've been doing and eat boring food, or take that risk and enjoy some wonderful meals. There is often the fear of messing up but, isn't that part of the process anyway?

That however does not mean combining things that have no business being in the same pan. You can experiment with spices you've never thought of using before then slowly start combining them with your cuisines.

If you're terrified of ending up with a stomach ache after eating a random combination you tried coming up with, you can seek some guidance online. And the good thing is that you have access to free tutorials from world-class chefs.

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You can get step-by-step demonstrations on YouTube or even follow detailed recipes on websites and blogs.

We all know that one person who absolutely loves to cook. Their food tastes amazing even when they've prepared a meal with only two ingredients and no matter how hard we try, it's hard to replicate what they do.

This is the person you should be consulting so you can learn some of their magic. They might even show you a simple extra step that completely changes how food tastes, then you'll slowly incorporate that into your new recipe.

There are times when we try way too hard to create something, which often makes everything worse. Interestingly, being simple can give you better results and maybe that is what you need to try.

If for example, you've been using too many spices, you can now start focusing on two or three that blend well. Take time to learn what goes with what because ingredient combinations is an art.