New Year's Goals

Image Credit: Valentina Design

Happy New Year, friends! I'm really excited about the year ahead. This is because, for the first time, my husband and I spent an evening together setting goals for our life this year. He is a goal-setter, and has always had very clear personal, business, and life goals. It was something I'd never really been interested in--I've considered myself a more…in-the-moment, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants sort of person. I just preferred to decide what my plans were for next week (or sometimes just tomorrow!), not one year, five years, or (good Lord!) ten years down the road. Yikes.

But, guess what? Flying by the seat of my pants is NOT working anymore, with two small children, preschool, and LIFE. I am always rushed, feeling overwhelmed, and running out of time to do the things I'd like to each day.

Like shower. Ew. :)

Without hashing out every detail of the goals we decided on, we basically just want to do better…be better…eat better…feel better. :) That could probably sum up, pretty broadly, almost everyone's New Year's Resolutions. But having specific, written goals that we'll re-visit each week together (when we review our week ahead on Sunday nights, which will make us so much more organized! woohoo!) makes it feel like I may actually pull it off this year.

Since this is my food blog, I will share our food related goals…nothing too surprising or over-the-top, but it still will be a challenge to stick to them.

- Each Tuesday, I'll complete a weekly meal plan (including snack planning and healthy lunch for hubby to take to work) with a COMPREHENSIVE shopping list

- Each Wednesday, I'll do all the grocery shopping for said meals

- Three of our dinners each week will be VEGAN (Have you seen Forks Over Knives? Gotta watch it, people!)

- We'll have a minimum of one family meal per day (this is mostly to make sure that my hubby is home and present for at least one meal a day :) )

-I will start to keep a FOOD LIST--for meal planning purposes, to keep better track of the tasty things I make (one of my motivators to start blogging again--it helps me keep track!)

Now that my food goals are public, it's really official! You all are helping me stick to it, just by reading. Here's to a happy and healthy 2012! What goals and resolutions have you set this year?

From My Plate to Yours...

My mom tells me how, even as an infant, I spent my days loving to sleep and loving to nurse. I guess it’s not surprising that as an adult, I still love a good meal. (I still love sleep, too, but with a two-year-old and an infant, that pleasure is not as easy to come by.)

Being a stay-at-home mom for the past two and a half years has allowed me to take the time to practice my cooking skills, making my own good meals. I really enjoy cooking for my family. It’s fun to create meals that my daughter gobbles up—I love these words: “Fank you, Mommy, for this da-lish-iss dinnnner!” I have experimented with recipes, hunted for healthy ideas, and come up with some great menu stand-bys.

Being home, though, has sometimes left me feeling like I’m losing my mind to kid’s songs and laundry (I actually fall asleep AND wake up with children's music on repeat in my head). I recently started feeling like I really need something creative to stimulate my mommy mind. Which led to this blog. It’s my creative outlet; my chance to share my food thoughts and favorite recipes, my kitchen experiments (successes and failures), and to have some virtual adult interaction. There will probably be a common theme to most of my posts; it is important to me to cook responsible meals...not only nutritious food, but cooked with consideration for the environment and the food source. And hopefully, maybe, one of my yummy suggestions will end up on your plate one night. ( and please let me know what you think of it if one does!)