I love new beginnings. New days, new months, New Years. New journals, relationships, challenges, recipes. I thank God that He gives us a second chance, a new day, over and over and over again. I thank Him for a new year in which I can hope for a better understanding of Him and of who I am in Him. I’m excited about the New Year – are you?
Yesterday my pastor asked our congregation if anyone had made New Year’s Resolutions. I piped up that my goal was to not make any because I am too goal driven. Ha. That lasted until last night, when I found journal #71 and my resolutions, or goals, for 2010. It was so much fun to see how I had actually achieved many of the things I set out to do in the past year, I knew I needed to jot down the few things I had swirling around in my mind to focus on this year. ‘Cause it’s so fun to cross things off. ‘Cause I can’t help myself. And ’cause that’s who I am – a list maker, a goal oriented, driven person.
(I’m making it one of my goals to be more relaxed and take it easy, ok?)
I’m posting my Real Food goals here today as part of Nourishing Gourmet’s Resolutions 2011 Carnival.
I liked what Kimi posted as her goal – “resolving to keep what I’ve learned in practice.”
That is where I’m at, too, I think. I had some huge goals in the kitchen the past few years, like ‘learn to sprout wheat’ or ‘make whey’, or ‘incorporate fish into our diet’. But things have evened out as I have made more and more things part of our routine, and I feel I have the most important basics of our diet in good shape.
So, my first goal is Maintain.
Keep making cultured and fermented foods and incorporating them into our diet daily.
Keep making bone broth and serve it often.
Keep sprouting or soaking all our grains.
Keep sweets few and nutrient dense foods frequent.
My second kitchen goal is Mozzarella I have had this on my list for two years – to learn to make mozzarella cheese (or, re-learn, ’cause I did this on the homestead when I was a teen). I actually made a batch last month that turned out edible, but it still needs some work. My goal is to see if I can actually make a cheese that is as good as what I get at the store. If I can do that, it will be time to evaluate whether it is worth working it in to my routine. The fact is, I’d need to make it once a week, using two gallons of milk to get the amount of cheese I use on our weekly pizza. I know it would save money, and be better for us, but the question is if it is actually worth it in this season. (or do I wait till my kids are old enough to actually delegate that job to one of them?) I realize I have limits and do not actually want to spend all day in my kitchen.
I also want to try Making my own Lard by rendering beef tallow. Yeah, I know, I’m addicted to making stuff from scratch! But I just found out that the lard I’ve been buying has stabilizers in it, and who knows what else, so I’m motivated to try to make it myself. It’s gonna be another one of those things that I will try to see how much work it is and then decide whether I can fit it into my routine.
Finally, Sprouting. I started making sprouts this month, and LOVED them. It’s hard for me to get fresh veggies in our diet regularly in the winter ’cause I go shopping less and produce is more expensive and not as fresh. Sprouts is the yummy, easy solution to this! I can add them easily to everything and it feels so great to be getting such good stuff in our diet so easily. I want to add this into my routine.
So, those are my goals in my Real Food Kitchen. What are yours?
{david's wife} – sprouts are when you take certain seeds (brocoli, radish, mustard, etc.) and soak them or keep them damp until they begin to germinate and grow. I put a few tablespoons of seeds in a mason jar, soak overnight, then rinse occasionally until they begin to grow little leaves and roots. Then I refrigerate them to slow the growth process and keep them fresh as we eat them. they're usually 1-3 inches long and have a subtle flavor and lovely crispiness.
I only made sprouts once so far, but once I actually got them sprouting, I was amazed at how easy it was to throw them in almost anything. I plan on doing a post about this soon, meanwhile, just get some sprouts going, and find just how easy it is to add them to stuff.
I topped a bowl of chili with sprouts – any soup would benefit from this subtle addition. you can put them on a salad, in a sandwich, in a wrap, and garnish most casseroles or crock pot meals with them. You can throw some in your morning smoothie, or even on top of some yogurt if you're adventurous.
I feel that if I can add sprouts into our daily menu, I won't have to spend so much time and effort to put a fresh salad on the table as often.
I'm glad I've been able to e3ncourage you – I wish you well in your new home and as you try to feed your family well!
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So I'm curious…what is sprouting, and how do you incorporate it into your diet? My husband and I just moved to MT so that he can get his degree, and we have a 2monthold daughter – the point being, eating healthy is the goal, but on a student's budget, I'm always interested for ways to have more health with (hopefully less) spending! 🙂 I know you're busy, but I'd love to hear more about this whenever you have time? Thanks so much! Reading your blog has been an encouragement to me as a new wife/mom.
Maybe if I sit down and make a list of the things I want to do, I wonder if I would actually do some of them? (I've never been a list maker).
I need to figure out a practical way to make sprouts in my kitchen. We have almost zero counter space. I have the alfalfa seeds sitting out on the kitchen table–I just need to figure out where to put the jars of sprouting seeds. This is the first winter in a long time that I have not yet made sprouts.
I have had a reality check of things I want to do.. the intangible list is still the same but some of the other goals have been given a raincheck until next season. I'm struggling to be ok with that because I need to live life, not be bustling about so much that I don't see the surprise opportunities God presents me with from day to day.
Hello Trina,
I was just wondering what apron pattern you used for Claire's apron. I would like to make one for Leah and I really like that one.
You can email me @sweetblessings35@hotmail.com
Thanks so much.Hope you are all doing well.
Kristina