Friday, January 2, 2009

Happy New Year! (finally)

I've had so much to post, but been so busy with family and the like that I'm just now getting around to the now. (I believe this is the second time I've ever posted twice in the same day. For some reason I hate doing this- don't want to scare away my 3 readers by overwhelming them I guess.) I usually think about having New Years' resolutions, but I honestly can't remember a time when I actually wrote them down and did something about them for the entire year. This year will be different! Here are some of the ones I'm most excited about:

-I will include a whole grain in every homemade meal. This goal is inspired by a course I attended at this year's BYU education week called something like "Those Wonderful Grains". I plan to type up my notes and share them on here very soon, but one notable reason for taking this on is that apparently the average adult is carrying around 15 pounds of extra weight in their colon!! Ew. We should be eating at least 50g of fiber daily, and most Americans get 5. This goal may sound intimidating, but really breakfast and lunch will be easy, it's dinner that I'm nervous about. For breakfast, I just plan to experiment by rotating through various grains cooked on the stove like oatmeal- this week we've been eating teff. Lunch, I'll be sure to eat my sandwich on whole wheat bread or whole wheat tortilla. This leads nicely into my next resolve...

-I will perfect the art of bread making (this includes pizza dough). Yeah, this is a bit ambitious, and how is this quantified? Not really sure, so I just decided to make some kind of bread product once a week. Hopefully after 52 pieces, I will at least be more knowledgeable.

-Jay, through inspiration of a good friend, has decided to avoid eating all refined sugar. Meaning that he will not eat anything he knows to contain sugar or corn syrup. Easy for him to say since I'm the one who makes dinner, no? Though I like the idea, I am pursuing a more mild version- I will not purchase anything with sugar or corn syrup, but I'm allowed to eat gifts and anything that we already have around. (including the 5 lb bag of sugar we already own) Honey, real maple syrup and molasses are allowed, but should not be used with the intention of replacing all sugary snacks.

-Not all my resolutions involve food. Probably the one that will be most trying to my will-power is my resolve to stop picking at my skin. I have the worst habit of poking around at things that are nearly invisible and as a result, they become quite inflamed and noticeable. No more!!

-I resolve to read at least 2 books per month- one is my book club book, the other will be of my choice. Haven't yet decided if scriptures can count when I'm desperate.

-I resolve to enjoy the now. Allow myself to be late and not kick myself over it. Enjoy all the times when The Frog takes his sweet time eating when I'm in a hurry, or poops at an inopportune time. Life's too short!

-Organize my craft room. It is the last room in our house to become livable, and I would like it to be my place of preference by the end of the year.

-I will get rid of all items I own and did not use last year. A fresh year needs a fresh start!

-I will listen to a foreign language podcast 3 times a week. Probably I'll start with French.

-I will use up half my yarn before buying any new.

Hopefully this will give me other things to write about besides The Frog. And now, another cute pic :D

4 comments:

Mel said...

You have some really good resolutions on here. And I like how they are specific and attainable. Way to be.

My Year Without said...

Wow! Cool resolutions! Mine for 2008 was to go without sugar all year, and I did it! If you (Jay) would like some pointers, I've spent all last year figuring it out. I'm going another year without sugar, too, because I feel so good. I also eat the naturally sweetened stuff like honey and molasses...

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your resolve!

I'm interested in your notes from the grain lectures. I'm in love with grains.

If you use a bread machine (I use mine to do the messy kneading but never any of the baking) I can send you a pizza dough recipe and a simple bread recipe. I'm not sure if it's recipes you lack -- my sister avows that the art of bread making is separate from the recipe, but I think the culinary gods, in their pity, let me just have that one. I have similar grain and sugar preferences, so I know they can be modified to be at least partly kosher for you: part whole-wheat pizza dough and no-sugar bread.

Angela Muir said...

Don't we love 2009!! Way to go Lib! i can't wait to share all the fun books we read and all the new recipes we come up with to be sugar free!