That's My Jam

Of course it’s week one of new resolutions, but I did great this week trying out new recipes. I made three in fact! However, I didn’t take any photos, so that’s something to work on for next time. The thing I am noticing about cooking new recipes is that we are learning a lot of new things with each recipe. I think we may come out of this project being really good cooks!

Lemon Herb Dutch Oven Chicken
We bought a dutch oven recently and decided we wanted to try a chicken in it, so we gave this Lemon Herb Dutch Oven Chicken a try. It was really good. We made some edits to it—instead of the paprika mix on the top we went with a herbs de provence. 

Skinny Omelette from 101 Cookbooks
On Saturday we tried to go for a healthy breakfast, make sure we had a bunch of vegetables to kick off the day and made egg white omelettes for the first time. In an effort to not make them completely boring, I did a little research and discovered this delicious looking gem from 101Cookbooks. It’s a skinny omelette filled with delicious vegetables. We, of course, made a few tweaks using what we had on hand by adding stir friend zucchini with a little pesto, some olive oil and lemon to the greens and replacing the goat cheese with shave pecorino. 

Frankie’s Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad
Tonight with one of our favorite recipes, Frankie’s meatballs (which we added in some kale before baking), we made for the first time the Shaved Brussel Sprout salad. It’s fantastic, and so easy if you have a food processor. Since I am preggo, I swapped out the fetta recommendation for pecorino and it was great. If you don’t have the Frankie’s Cookbook, I highly recommend it. Everything we’ve made from this cookbook is super easy and so delicious. It’s one of my favorite restaurants in Brooklyn. 

Ha, ha. So my very last post was my 2012 resolutions. Nothing since then. Well, that’s no reason not to start again. I’m going to keep it simple this year; the more resolutions, the harder it is to keep track of my goals I’ve found. 

2013 Resolutions

Go sweets free in January.
After a sweets filled December, I am going to avoid all additional sugars (outside of whole foods, like fruits) as a way of breaking some bad habits. I did this last year and it was difficult, but definitely worth it. Last night at 12:01 I threw away all the remaining Christmas cookies and treats in our apartment.

Introduce more whole foods and food varieties to Elise
Alex and I are very good at eating a wide variety of foods, but we have one of those picky toddlers who would be very happy to eat plain pasta every day of the week and I am afraid it happens more than I would like. I’m not so happy about that as it means she fills up on refined sugars rather than whole foods, like fruits, vegetables, meats. We are going to eliminate some crutch foods from our house for a while and see how we do. This means being better prepared during the week with smart meals solutions, but I think we can do it. It also means Elise will likely be really excited to go out to eat because that’s when we can break a few rules and get “PASTA!”. Wish us luck! This is going to be hard I think. 

Make one new recipe a week
Somewhat related to the goal above and a repeat resolution that I didn’t accomplish last year is to try one new recipe a week. We often end up in a food rut in this house (who doesn’t?), and either make the same dinners or order out. It’s time to try some new dishes and expand our repertoire, so as a way of keeping up with this, I will post my recipe achievements on this blog. 

Run a race by the end of 2013
Hey, did you know we’re expecting another baby in June of 2013? We are! We’re very excited, as is Elise. So exercising as I usually like is out of the question right now—limited to brisk walks and prenatal yoga which is perfect for now. However, by the end of 2013, I want to be trained and ready for a good race again. I miss running so much. Maybe a half marathon or 10k? 

And that’s all! Again keeping it simple this year to make it more achievable. Happy New Year and good luck with your own resolutions if you make a few!

Want to know how I did with my 2012 resolutions? Er, not so great. Let’s see how it went!

Go sweets + treats free for January. 
I actually did this!! It was hard, but worth it and I am doing it again in 2013. Luckily a friend takes part as well and serves as sort of a sponsor so we can email and text all day to ask questions like: “Does a croissant count as a sweet?” The answer is: it does.

Go to the gym 52 weeks this year 
This so DID NOT happen. I am just not a gym person. I love to run and exercise, but the gym is sad. Why is it so sad? I can’t even figure out why I don’t like it. Although, I didn’t make it to the gym 52 times this year, I did run two half marathons, made it to one soul cycle class that kicked my ass and even tried hot yoga, which I loved. 

Complete 100 pushups in one session
It is a whole year later and I do not have arms like Linda Hamilton in the Terminator. One day. One day. 

Start my own business
I did not do this and I am ok with it. I led a really great project at work this year that I think made me a better designer, thinker and creative lead. In addition, I have a few little side projects I am working on that I feel good about so maybe I don’t have my own business yet, but I am feeling good about where I am headed professionally. 

Complete my first knitted scarf
So it’s not quite completed, but it is almost there! I will finish in maybe the next two weeks! Hooray!

Make one new recipe a week
This was a harder resolution than I thought. After a long day at work, then getting Elise bathed and to sleep, it’s almost 8:30 and I rarely have the energy to cook let alone try something entirely new. However, I am going to try again in 2013!

Gossip less
Eh… this went ok. Not the best, not the worst. I improved. Or as someone at work said “It’s not gossip when it’s what happened.” Ha ha. Fair enough. 

I love, love, love me some resolutions and I’m a strong believer in posting them in public to help keep me motivated. It’s the public humiliation model. If I completely fall flat, I’ll just be embarrassed and no one wants that. So friends, here are my 2012 resolutions:

Go sweets + treats free for January. 
I’m doing this in hopes to reset my sweets addiction. It’s my #1 weakness. I could eat sweets ALL. DAY. LONG. Can you say breakfast cookies? 

Go to the gym 52 weeks this year 
Ideally, I’d actually like to workout 3 days a week but if I at least get to the gym once a week, I think I will be less inclined to fall of the wagon as I have in the past.

Complete 100 pushups in one session
I’ve always wanted killer arms and I have never had them aside from maybe 30 minutes at the start of my wedding day. Right now I can do about 25 consecutive pushups. I want to get to 100 by the end of the year and then maybe I’ll have some Linda Hamilton in the Terminator arms!

Start my own business
This is something I’ve always wanted to do and seeing as I’m not getting any younger and I’ve had years of great design experience at some fantastic companies, it’s time to take that experience and start something I’m excited and passionate about. What that is exactly… is what 2012 is for! 

Complete my first knitted scarf
I learned to knit last year (one of my resolutions!), but never completed my hat (which is a hard starter project btw). I started a new scarf last week and I am staying on top of this project! 

Make one new recipe a week
I clip recipes all the time—I bookmark them on pinterest, I email them to myself, I rip out magazine pages, but I don’t take action on these clippings enough. I’m hoping if I make one new recipe a week, I’ll find some great healthy dishes in my repertoire.

Gossip less
This one is just embarrassing, but it’s true: I love the gossip and I need to stop doing it so often. 

So that’s my plan for 2012. Wish me luck! I love a fresh start. 

Sent from their brand new ipad from Italy. Love their two different styles of communication and what they each think of their trip so far:

Hi kids, hope everyone is well, please email what everyone is doing.  Had an incredible birthday!  Vatican gelato,coliseum, catacombs (not so great) Spanish steps, Trevi Fountain and then a great dinner.  A good day. Tuesday we drove to sorrentino, drove along Amalfi coast,visited the town of Positano and a very nice dinner at the hotel we are staying at.  Tomorrow Capri.  All has been so beautiful.  That! It. Love mom. P.s. Here is your dad-

Walked….walked and walk some more…….. Has been interesting…….love those gelatos…. Food has been great……„, kelly if you can (house is alarmed) stop by house turn power on the power switch in bedroom (under dresser) works tv &  recorder. Forgot I wanted to tape some pgms and turned off electric in bedroom tv area….. Hope everyone is doing fine
love dad & mom