…In With the New + WIAW #10

Happy 2013!

I can only hope that the rest of this brand new year is better than the first two days of it. Since just before Christmas, I’ve been battling a pretty severe (for me) cold. I felt absolutely miserable Christmas day, and while I thought I was hitting the home stretch New Year’s Eve, my throat started bothering me again. I have never been a huge NYE partier, but this year, we barely remained awake until midnight. No champagne for us–and no viewing of the giant MoonPie drop either! 🙁

After staying in most of Tuesday and sleeping well last night, I do feel much better today. Knock on wood. Unfortunately, the husband woke up with a fever and stayed home from work. My wish for the New Year: good health!

Jumping on the New Year’s theme bandwagon, I’m going to share a few goals of my own. I’m not a huge “resolution maker.” Like a lot of people—at least the cynical ones—I feel they’re ultimately pointless. Most people set unattainable goals, knowing they’ll give up after a few weeks or months. At least that’s how I usually am, especially toward specific ones.

I do, however, appreciate the sentiment behind starting anew—with a blank canvas, so to speak. I realize the world is dynamic, and I know we’re all constantly changing—whether it’s through forming friendships, traveling to new places, losing (or gaining) weight, overcoming an illness, etc. So, this year, I hope to grow into a better me.

Health Goals

First and foremost, I want to continue gymnastics. My class has been such a welcome break during the week, and it’s brought back some wonderful memories. I’m amazed my almost-29 year old body can still do tricks I haven’t done since high school!

Additionally, I want to start exercising regularly. I find most exercise to be mundane, so I need to find something both enjoyable and beneficial. Although I’ve said it for a few months now, I’d like to try a zumba or yoga class; likewise, the elliptical and bikes could certainly use some attention.

Food-wise, I’d like to develop more of my own healthy recipes to share, as well as experiment with the many options in my new cookbook, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.

Professional Goals

Something I desperately need to strive for is having a better attitude at work. I’m blessed to have had a steady job since 2007 (a year after college graduation), and while I’m not always challenged and sometimes feel underappreciated, I have learned some valuable skills useful to any office job.

I also want to gain more exposure with foodiEcology and develop my writing. While I love WIAW, I’d like to do more research and posts about nutrition, the environment, and our food system at large. Along the same lines, I’d like to find some freelance opportunity. Writing has always been a passion of mine, and for most of my high school and college years, I was on the newspaper, yearbook, or literary magazine staff; I always envisioned myself with a career in writing, and I feel freelance work within the community would give me that exposure.

Personal Goals

All throughout college, I participated in volunteer work, whether it was through my service grant, sorority’s philanthropy, or student ministry. As cheesy as it may sound, helping others is enriching to one’s own life; whether it’s a monthly Habitat for Humanity build or something less hands-on, I’d like to find a volunteer opportunity to which I can commit regularly.

One last goal: to experience something new as frequently as possible. The past couple of years, I’ve tried so many new foods, and I’d like to keep the trend going. And while I don’t have the opportunity to travel very often, I hope to travel some place Mark and I’ve never visited. I want to dive into new recipes, read new authors and genres of books, and maybe even pick up a new hobby (or improve my current hobbies, food photography and painting).

Before I start making outrageous, unachievable goals, let’s move on to the food. Here are a few meals and snacks I’ve enjoyed the last week.

Healing Vegetable Soup & Cheese Toast

This soup, while slightly under-seasoned, was very satisfying, and I like to think it contributed to my post-Christmas wellness. We began by sautéing onion, carrots, and celery in olive oil and small amount of butter. We seasoned the vegetables to taste (salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, whatever you fancy!), and added some chopped kale, a can of rinsed/drained cannellini beans, frozen corn and peas, and a large can of diced tomatoes (with juices). Lastly we added 4 cups of vegetable stock, and let it simmer away.

Kale Chips

Though ubiquitous to healthy food bloggers, kale chips are new to me. With leftover kale from the soup, I decided to use half for a salad and bake half in the oven, coated with olive oil, salt, pepper, and grated parmesan cheese. While they almost burned and were a bit too salty (with the cheese, additional salt was unnecessary), the crunch really was reminiscent of an ultra-thin potato chip. Next time I’ll have to make a spicy (or sweet?) variety—and use a lower oven setting.

Massaged Kale Salad

This was my first time trying raw kale, and it was a welcome change from all the spinach I’ve been consuming lately. I tossed and massaged the kale with lemon juice and olive oil and topped the greens with goji berries, carrots, celery, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, and a bit of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. The marinated greens weren’t bitter and softened nicely; they still had a bit of a bite to them, however, and were very filling.

Southern New Year’s Dinner

As per southern tradition, our New Year’s Day dinner—practically our only sustenance for the day, unless you count a container of Chobani—included black eyed peas and turnip greens. Supposedly, the peas bring luck and the greens bring wealth. We served ours alongside pork tenderloin, seasoned with sage and white pepper. Bring on the good fortune!