Happy 2012, Dear Readers! We hope that you enjoyed a relaxing holiday season. With a new year comes an opportunity to create new goals for ourselves. Those goals can include exercise or nutritional goals or trying to restore balance to our lives. Sometimes balance requires us to be a little “shellfish” with our time; see above photo. (See? We can always work in a good pun.)
Just as we did in 2011, we’ll follow up with quarterly progress reports regarding our goals – and we’d like to hear your resolutions, too.
Sam:
– 2011 in a Nutshell. I did meet my meal planning and trialing of new recipes goal but look forward to seeing it pick up speed as we enter 2012. Big points are scored for creating intentional family meal times because this is a daily priority for me. Even if we’re having sandwiches or easy meals, we sit at the table together and I know this positively impacts our family. I also get points for being active with others, and plan to continue more of the same this year.
– Meal planning. The goal here is to step it up and spend even more time in the kitchen. I’m good at staying organized, but sometimes find my ideas are so plentiful, I don’t know where to begin and feel slightly overwhelmed. I can’t wait to start packing my new chest freezer full of homemade goodness.
– Homemade and DIY. This is likely to be a big goal for many this year, as homemade translates to benefits in health, economics and the environment. I’m keeping it simple and looking for incorporating more homemade staples (enter the new freezer) like spice mixes, sauces and bread doughs.
– Integration. As in pulling together the various aspects of my life and keeping balance through self care.
Stacey:
– 2011 in a Nutshell. I ate very well during my pregnancy and with the help of friends and family, continued to eat right through the end of the year. After a few challenging months, I got the hang of walking the dog and baby at the same time and took them out a lot in the summer and fall, but I did not do as much yoga as I had hoped. Though I didn’t interview many chefs last year, I’ve been able to stay connected to D.C.’s food scene and wrote several tasty features.
– Homemade baby food. I’m taking homemade to a whole new level. My 7-month-old son doesn’t just enjoy solid foods, he’s nuts about them. Oatmeal, rice cracker melts, multigrain cereal, apples, carrots, mangoes, peaches, roasted butternut squash, you name it, he’ll eat it. But food bills can really add up when you spend a dollar here on a pouch of pears and 79 cents there on a jar of peas. From purees to snacks to teething biscuits, I’ll share my adventures in making food for my wee one.
– Meal planning and food photography. A big reason that we started this blog was to provide mouth-watering photos that look like real food and inspire readers to make the simple recipes. But the demands of a two-entrepreneur household and a new baby have trumped photography for many months. It’s my goal to better plan meals and make the beautiful photos you’ve come to expect. Focusing on food photography doesn’t just make for good eye candy; it feeds my soul, something a new mom desperately needs!
– Exercise, exercise, exercise. It won’t be difficult to keep moving; as my son gets more mobile, I find that I need to chase him across the room and, soon enough, around the house. But I’d like to try and fit in yoga sessions of 20 or 30 minutes a few times a week. And though it sounds a little silly – “Housekeeping is my cardio!” – I resolve to vacuum and mop the floors of our three-story house every Monday. I’m going to track this on a calendar and, at the end of each month, reward myself for a job well done if I complete this dreaded task.
Do you have nutrition-related goals for the year? Instead of “joining a gym,” are you finding more creative ways to get exercise? What are your goals or resolutions for 2012?