2010 goals - Part 1

my goals for this year...

(disclaimer 1: this is a working list and things may be taken off the list or added as time goes on)
(disclaimer 2: to my few family and friends that actually read my blog, this quite possibly might be incredibly boring to you so don't bother to read! I've read so many blogs lately that have lots of "followers" that i am pretending to have the same, and that people would actually care about this stuff, lol)

1.) Feed my family as healthy as possible for as cheap as possible
2.) Lose the baby weight and then some
3.) Make our house "our home" (ie: lots of house projects to make our house more comfortable and cuter)

first up... #1

HOW?

Step 1: Gather info

My SIL, Jess is super inspiring when it comes to this and is incredibly knowledgeable about what really is healthy and nourishing. She previously owned her own store called "Health, Beauty, and Wellness" that sold only things that were truly good for you. Now, she is in AZ going to med school to be a naturopathic doctor (i think that's what it's called!)

I read the book "In Defense of Food" and "Food Rules" by Michael Pollan. Great reads although in my humble opinion I would just read one or the other. The first has a lot of science stuff and explanations and the second is waaay shorter and just gets to the point of what/how you should eat and briefly the why. Both are good though.

A friend (thanks missy!) told me about a blog she came across called kitchenstewardship.com that has been a great starting point for me to really incorporate this into our lives. it is truly overwhelming and this blog helps make it not so "i need to throw everything out of our pantry and move to a farm" thing.

Step 2: Do something. Anything. (think baby steps)

my goal for this first month of doing this (january didn't count... just cause) was to make my own yogurt and granola bars. these are two things that we eat a lot of. the yogurt saves us money, the granola bars cost is about even as buying them from the store but i feel better about knowing what exactly in them is healthy and they are really yummy and filling.

here is my results:


i seriously {heart} this yogurt. it reminds me of the homemade yogurt my mom and aunt made with fresh milk. soooo yummy. i decided to go with the crockpot method (link to it from kitchenstewardship.com's post on how she makes her yogurt)
i really like the granola bars too (recipe also is from kitchenstewardship.com)they aren't quite as convenient as store kind cause they are a bit crumbly, but i think they are way better tasting and waaaay more satisfying. i tried them with 1/2 the honey and replaced it with water and then used peanut butter in place of half the butter however, they were REALLY dry. like, take a drink between each bite kind of dry. so for now i will stick with the basic recipe and experiment with different "add-ins."

other things i am already doing for this goal is to read labels at the store... trying to rid our cupboards/fridge of high fructose corn syrup, cut waaaay back on white sugar and white flour, and get back into making a weekly "menu" (i don't assign days to each meal but rather have a menu of dinner options that i can choose from that i have all the ingredients for on hand)

i am contemplating my next step(s). i will for sure continue with the granola bars and yogurt. i know that i want to get my kids away from processed foods for snacks. they eat (or did eat) A LOT of crackers (whales/goldfish, graham, club, ritz, animal, etc...)

my plan is to:
a) stop buying the crackers
b) encourage/offer homemade baked goods (trying several recipes from kitchenstewardship.com), fresh fruit, string cheese, or popcorn. crackers are just so much easier. bleh. :P

i also am contemplating starting to bake my own bread. a couple issues with this:
i tried this before and was not very successful at it (think brick-like mounds useful as a doorstop). we also are the humble recipients of WIC and we now get a few loaves of bread free each month through this awesome program. the problem: all the loaves of bread approved to get that are available at our grocery stores here contain high fructose corn syrup. ugh. i could switch getting bread on our WIC checks to brown rice, but we don't eat much rice. maybe we should.
so we shall see if this happens. i think i will try a loaf or two this month and see what happens.

i am working on the other two goals too. just not ready to post anything on that yet. ;)