2012 Goals

I'm not big on setting New Year Resolutions. I don't really like to set myself up for failure and it seems like that always happens when I try to make resolutions. Instead, this year I've simply made some goals. These are not items I can check off a list once they are complete nor are they things I will do for one year and then just forget about in the years to come.  My goals are behavior changing and new habits I want to start now and continue forever.  So, in case you're interested here are my food/cooking related goals for 2012 and beyond!!!


1. Read recipes all the way through. Are you guilty of looking a recipe over only to find half way through it's going to fail because you have already messed up the next step because you weren't prepared for what came next? Or perhaps you're like me and think you've went over the ingredient section well enough only to find when you skimmed you missed the one item you don't currently have? I am AWFUL at not reading recipes all the way through, thoroughly before beginning. This silly little habit has led to many failed recipes and MANY MANY cooking tantrums. Yeah, I totally throw little 3 year old type fits when I figure out I have messed up a recipe or I don't have all the ingredients. I'm not proud, but it happens.

2. Try something new at least once a month. I don't just mean a new recipe, but a new food type or ingredient.  I want to expand my cooking abilities and my palate so I'm going to try really hard to experience new foods this year.

3. Waste less. This may be my biggest and most important goal.  This will coincide with Goal #1, if I can do a better job at making sure I have everything I need I won't waste items. This happens all too often...

I find a new recipe and buy all the ingredients then when I'm about to make the dish I realize I don't have all the ingredients so I make something else instead and eventually forget about the original dish and when cleaning my fridge/freezer/pantry find expired items...YIKES!

I also want to eat my leftovers. I don't know about you but I was a super spoiled child (I may have shared this before) and NEVER EVER EVER ate left overs. My mom cooked every day and I'm not sure we really had leftovers often but when we did I never had them.  This is a habit I carried into adulthood and I'm not proud that we waste a lot of food that I save and tell myself I will take for lunch or eat for dinner again and my spoiled self refuses and makes another meal instead.  There are so many people in our world that do not have access to good nutritious food and because I don't want it I toss it away. I need to be more thankful for what I've been given and do my part to waste less.

Did anyone else watch "The Big Waste" on Food Network? WOW! It really opened my eyes to how much we Americans waste and it's not just left overs and spoiled food, it's good edible food that we don't consume because it's less than perfect!

4. Cut the junk! I'm no "health nut" nor am I trying to be. However, after evaluating what I actually consume every week (making a list of everything I ate each day for 2 weeks) I wasn't happy with myself.  Although I don't eat a ton of junk food (chips, cookies, soda, etc) I do eat a lot of items that aren't truly healthy or beneficial to my health.  This includes cutting out a lot of processed foods. Do you ever look on the back of those labels? YUCK! Filled with sodium and sugar and preservatives, it's kinda scary actually. I love fruits and veggies but I don't eat them enough, honestly I have no excuse for this. So, as far of cutting out the junk I want to replaces it with good healthy items and "super foods".

Have you set any new goals for this year or New Years Resolutions? Do you have any good ideas to help me stay on track? I'd love to hear some feedback!