Goals

I've resisted doing a post with new year's resolutions as they all seem to fall into two categories:  people who make resolutions and talk about how cliche resolutions are and people who don't make resolutions because people never keep them and talk about how cliche it is to not make resolutions because people never keep them.  I fall squarely in between.  {There's also a third category of people whose resolutions read like a Kate Spade ad, but we discussed that on Twitter last week, so I'm not going there.}

I like the idea of resolutions.  As a type-A perfectionist, I'm drawn to that idea of constantly striving for self-improvement.  Growing up, resolutions were a requirement in our family new year's meetings.  These meetings were all business.  My dad would make hand-outs with bullet points and we had to prepare at least 3 resolutions to bring to the meeting.  My parents still have a folder with all of our past resolutions.  My personal favorite is the year my sister resolved for our family to be on Family Double Dare.  Add that one to the 'failure' pile.

But resolutions too often are these rather vague, overreaching visions of what and who we want to be without any sort of framework, plan, or ground game for accomplishing these visions.  Most of the time they are more or less us telling ourselves what we think the best version of ourselves would be.  And then a year later when we haven't ticked everything off the list, you are left with the sneaky and disappointing suspicion that you aren't your best self.  If the idea behind resolutions is self-improvement, that doesn't seem like a particularly wanted outcome.

With that said, this type-A perfectionist adores goals and loves nothing more than the feeling of marking something off of a list.  When I make to-do lists, sometimes I write down things I've already done just so I can mark them off.  I find it that satisfying.  So while I do have some resolution-ish things in mind for 2013 {most of which are closely related to items on my 101 in 1,001 list}, I'm much more excited about the monthly goals I've set for myself.

One of my overarching themes for 2013 is to live a more deliberate life in all aspects of my life.  I don't intend that to mean that every detail of my life is planned out to the second; there's a lot to be said for spontaneity and letting things happen as they come.  But too often I find myself not following through with my best intentions and watching the days go by without accomplishing much of anything.  The road to hell and all that.  I want to look back this time next year and say, "Wow, I really did stuff this year!" instead of "Wow, I wanted to do a lot of stuff last year!" {see: decorating our home to look like two employed adults live there}.  This quote has been inspiring me these past few weeks: "Fear is a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life." - Donald Miller

1 // 2 // 3 // 4

So my monthly goals seem rather silly when typing them out on their own.  But come December, my hope is that they'll add up to a much larger picture of accomplishment and yes, maybe even a little self-improvement.  Vague and overreaching, perhaps, but now that I have a monthly plan for making things happen, I'm excited to get started.  Some of the first goals?  In the month of January, I want to floss at least twice weekly.  And one week, just one, I want to drink the recommend 64oz of water a day, every day.  And I WILL finish reading "The Emperor of All Maladies".

What things are you checking off of your list in 2013?

Menu Monday

Pull up a chair and a cup of coffee because I have lots o' recipes for you today.  I haven't done a proper Menu Monday in awhile, so this is a dump of different meals we've had over the past month.  Enjoy!

Veggie Soup {Moi}

I came up with this one in an attempt to clean out the freezer and to eat something healthy.  I didn't measure anything.  It just threw a bunch of veggies in the pot {frozen lima beans, frozen corn, frozen peas, shredded cabbage, shredded carrots, and green beans cut in half} along with a can of whole tomatoes in puree, vegetable stock, and a little water, salt, and pepper.  I let it simmer away on the stove and used a wooden spoon to break up the tomatoes and there you have it.  We ate this with some homemade bread.  It's not anything spectacular, but it hit the spot.  

Pork Chops with Kale {Dinner: A Love Story}

M doesn't like kale and he inhaled this.  That should give you a good idea of the tasty factor.  I kind of spaced out and undercooked the wild rice I served this over, so once you got past the weird chewiness, it was amazing.  Love that it's a one-pan dish! 

Fettuccine with Spinach Pesto {Everyday Food March 2007}

Roasted Grape Tomatoes {Ina Garten}

So, so, SO good.  I will most definitely be making this again.  Very easy, very fast, very tasty.  The roasted grape tomatoes are a favorite of ours; I only roast 1 pint, as opposed to the recipe's 4.  For the pesto, please do not skimp on the salt.  I put a teensy amount in, thinking that with the pasta water being salted and the saltiness of the parmesan cheese, the pesto probably didn't need much.  I was wrong.  It needs quite a bit.  Also, next time I may use walnuts instead of pine nuts.  I love pine nuts, but I prefer walnuts in a spinach pesto.  And they're a Gwyneth Paltrow-approved superfood, so there's that too.

 Spicy Lemon Trout {Cooking Light June 2008}

We've had this twice in the past 3 weeks. It's that good.  I don't get dressed trout filets; I just get rainbow trout filets from the seafood counter {Farmed in the U.S.A. trout is a sustainable fish population, so you get the bonus of knowing you're doing right by the environment!}  It takes maybe 15-20 minutes total to prepare, and while it cooks I just fix a side dish or two and we're good to go.  In the above picture, I served it with braised Brussels sprouts and frozen TJ's latkes.  Last time we had it I served it with frozen green beans and couscous mixed with feta, sundried tomatoes, and a little fresh parsley. All great combos.

Mexican Lime Soup with Chicken and Avocado {Williams-Sonoma}

I had such high hopes for this soup since it includes lots of things that I love, but it was SO boring.  I used the breasts from a rotisserie chicken instead of making my own.  I used feta instead of queso fresco because you can't find queso fresco in our middle-of-nowhere grocery store.  I even followed the user suggestion to double the amount of jalapeño, use 1 cup more chicken stock and 1 cup less water, and add diced white corn tortillas.  Nothing helped. It was just watery and bland and all together quite disappointing.  

 Coconut Shrimp Salad {Dinner: A Love Story}

Skinny Coconut Shrimp {Skinnytaste}

One of our detox dinners.  I used Gina's coconut shrimp recipe instead of the one listed in the salad recipe.  Baking them gave me hands-off time to prep the rest of the salad instead of constantly having to dote over shrimp in the pan.  I loved the curry dressing; M did not, but he loves coconut shrimp so he ate the salad anyways.  This would definitely be a great summer meal; it's very refreshing!

Portobello "Philly Cheese Steak" Sandwich {Eating Well December 2005/January 2006}

I've made these once before, way back before I started meal planning.  They're about the same as I remember: good, but nothing to write home about.  They're a good recipe if you do Meatless Mondays, but have eaters who are mainly meat-and-potatoes types.  

Asian Turkey Meatballs with Lime Sesame Dipping Sauce {Skinnytaste}

These were so good and surprisingly easy to make.  I served with a side of pan-sauteed snap peas and broccoli, but next time I would also make some brown rice to sop up all of the yummy sauce.  After the kung pao chicken taco disaster, this may be the recipe I stick to when I want an Asian-inspired meal at home.

Roasted Salmon with Lentils {Barefoot in Paris Ina Garten}

This recipe comes from one of my favorite episodes of Barefoot Contessa {yes, I have favorite Food Network episodes} and one of my favorite cookbooks.  It's something I've always wanted to make, but just never got around to. I'm not sure why last week was any different, but I'm so glad it was.  I had some sort of a mental block against this recipe, thinking it was going to be complicated and time-consuming. Wrong. It was absurdly easy and was on the table from start to finish in well under an hour.    Great detox meal that didn't feel like a detox meal.

Whew! Now I'm finally caught up on Menu Monday.  Let me know if you make any of these; I'd love to hear your thoughts and tweaks.

Bon appétit! 

Friday Favorites

Some random things that are blinking on my radar right now...

Tracking down a bottle or two of Essie's Beyond Cozy. I'm kicking myself for not buying it when it was in every.single.store in December because now it has become elusive!

I've recently developed a mild obsession with Target's line of Madge ballet flats.  I have the above tweed ones {my faves!} and the orange "suede" ones. I have my eye on pretty much all of the others, especially the leopard-print and the quilted. They are absurdly comfortable and stylish and they are so inexpensive!

Winter turns me into a bubble bath-aholic and I'm always picking up new ones to try.  I bought the bliss vanilla + bergamot soapy suds last week and it looks like one bottle will last me quite awhile.  It didn't take too much to get the tub filled with suds and it smells divine.  

I picked up some of this peppermint hot chocolate on clearance at Williams-Sonoma last week and holy wow. I wish I had purchased a couple because I'm going to have plowed through this waaaaaaay before winter is over. 

My new running shoes arrived! One of my 101 in 1,001 goals is to run a marathon, so one of my goals for 2013 is to run a half-marathon.  I just love Asics {you can see my old ones in the bottom corner of my pic} and I couldn't pass up these fun neon shoes. I'm hoping the peppy color will help with the motivation on those days where I just can't run another mile.  These are the GEL-Cirrus 33 style.

Happy Friday!  I had a super productive weekend last weekend and I'm hoping to repeat the magic. What are your plans?

Menu Wednesday: Winner and Losers

Well it seems a bit of our bad luck from 2012 has spilled over into the early days of 2013.  Ozzie got a piece of bone stuck in his esophagus on Saturday night, which resulted in a very stressful and very expensive overnight stay at the ER vet for him.  He is healing, but not totally out of the woods as we wait to find out if he's had any permanent damage done to his esophagus.  And, bonus, he goes in to his regular vet next week for a procedure on his ears.  The poor little dude.  We just want him to get better {and to stop costing so much $$ :) }!! Thanks for all of the well-wishes on Twitter and Instagram this weekend!

I've been holed up on the couch for the past few days recovering from a stomach bug, so the first full Menu Monday of 2013 will have to wait until next week.  In the meantime, I thought I'd share some recent kitchen disasters and one joyous breakfast discovery.  First up, the losers:

Kung Pao Chicken Tacos {Cooking Light October 2012}

In all fairness, I should have known these were going to be a disaster.  I mean, Kung Pao Chicken Tacos? It sounds like one of the weird products that the chef was trying to sell in Ratatouille.  But Cooking Light rarely steers me wrong and we love Chinese food, so I gave it a shot.

Huge mistake. These were DISGUSTING.  Just...ick. So, so bad. Avoid recipe at all costs.

Taco Stuffed Shells {Budget Bytes}

I didn't even take a picture of this meal because I was so embarassed.  This should have been an incredible dinner.  All delicious components baked under a cheesy blanket.  

But genius here conveniently forgot to cook the beans. I'm not sure how one actually forgets to cook one of the main ingredients, but I did.  We took one bite into the shells and it was an unforgettable combination of delicious taste and the worst, weird, crunchy texture ever.  M was a sport and picked out every single bean and ate around them.  I think I just ate crackers and pouted.

Moral of the story?  Just use canned beans to make this.  Less time, less hassle, less chance you will have a blonde moment like I did.

Roasted Shrimp with Spaghetti Squash {Everyday Food December 2009}

Spaghetti squash = EPIC FAIL.

Have y'all ever cooked one of these before? I've always been intrigued by them but never again.  First of all, I cooked it according to the directions on the freakin' label that was ON THE SQUASH.  And those directions were wrong.  After doing some research, I learned that spaghetti squash is not, in fact, supposed to be crunchy and that it should have cooked for at least another 30-60 minutes. Lovely.

Second of all, even if it had been cooked properly, these things are way too much work for about zero gain.  I'm not on a low carb diet, so the next time I want something resembling shrimp with spaghetti, I will make shrimp with spaghetti.  After the cooking, the cooling, and the never ending scraping of seeds and flesh, I was expecting deliciousness.  I got meh instead. 

At least it looked pretty?

Now for the winner...

Bran Muffins {Elefantitas Alegres}

Minus the fact that making these required my kitchen to look like a toddler had been let loose in the pantry, these were a complete hit.  I've been meaning to make them for awhile.  The recipe makes a ton and with my work schedule, having a healthy breakfast that I can grab and eat on the road is invaluable.  Kate's recommendation to drizzle them with local honey is spot on.  And, per the recipe, I used all applesauce and no sugar.  And I did add the 3/4 cup of ground flaxseed.  Delicious!

Any recent kitchen disaster you care to share so that I don't feel like a wannabe-Ina Garten failure?

Friday Favorites

First Friday Favorites of 2013! 

Barefoot Contessa Foolproof

I received this as a Christmas gift and my girl, Ina, has outdone herself once again.  M was flipping through it and basically dog-eared every page for me to make. Once I have completed my Christmas detox, it's game on.  Do you have this cookbook?  If so, what's your fave recipe in it?

The perfect red lipstick.

I discovered this back in December when I decided in very non-me fashion to do a bold lip for a Christmas wedding we attended.  The saleslady told me that this {Chanel Rouge Allure in Passion} is Chanel's signature red. Sold.  I wore it for New Year's Eve as well and just love it!

Erm, ignoring the subject of Christmas detox, can we talk about these brown butter vanilla bean Rice Krispie treats? I want to eat the entire platter of these.  Aaaaah they just sound so perfect!!

One of my goals for 2013 is getting our house to look like two real, live adults live there.  I love this IKEA hack to make the the Billy bookshelves look like built-ins. I've already bought the burlap for the backing. I just need to find a time to head to IKEA and stockpile on bookshelves.  Now if only I can find someone to style them for me...

And last but not least...

Downton Abbey on Sunday, y'all!!!!!!!!!!!  So. Friggin'. Pumped.

Because It's True

This shall be our theme for 2013, oui?

From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for your sweet comments, e-mails, and Facebook messages regarding yesterday's post.  I was very close to not writing it because I still have some issues with putting personal stuff too "out there" on here.  But reading your words of encouragement and support and empathy were so needed and so welcome.  As is often said, sometimes in blogland we paint a portrait of a perfect life that doesn't exist.  It's nice to know that we're not the only couple with struggles.

I have more thoughts expanding on yesterday's post tumbling around in my head, but for today, let me just say that you ALL are fabulous. And I hope you will continue to be in 2013.

So 2012 Wasn't Awesome...

I'm not quite sure where to begin this post, so I'll just dive right in.  I don't typically do year-in-review posts, and this post certainly doesn't follow the model of most of those posts.  But I've been meaning to do a post looking back on our first year of marriage and in talking with my parents last week, I realized that reflecting on our first year of marriage is essentially the same as reflecting on 2012.  And 2012 was not a good one.

Not because of our relationship, but because of so many external factors that weighed us down.  We kicked off 2012 in Atlanta.  The flight home was miserable, because we were leaving a city we love and time with sweet friends and headed back to a condo we hated, in a city we hated, to job situations that were less than ideal.  It's hard for me to put into words the absolute funk that we spent the first half of 2012 in.  I think most days we were just going through the motions.  Numb might be the right word. Throw in the fact that work stress caused some {fortunately temporary} serious health issues for M, and we were about at our breaking point come spring.

At that point, we realized that things weren't going to miraculously get better.  We realized that we needed a change and stat.  So I began looking for a new job, and was fortunate enough to find one relatively quickly.  And I love my new job. LOVE. Wonderful people, wonderful work environment, doing something I'm passionate about.  M and I were discussing what our favorite memory of 2012 was and we both agreed it was the night we celebrated my new job at VOLT.  I think it was the first night in a long time when we both felt hopeful and happy and excited.

But just about the time I started my new job and got that part of my life together, the other wheels fell off.  We adopted our sweet boy, Ozzie.  And as much of a joy as he is to us now, the first 2 months were absolute hell.  He cost us so much money and time.  He caused many tears and fights.  With the help of a wonderful vet, our absurdly stubborn personalities, and a lot of patience, we are at a good place with our sweet boys.

But just about the time we started to figure things out with Ozzie, I had to go and blow the engine in my car.  Which, 3 months later, is an issue we are still dealing with and paying for.  Going from having only a year of payments left on a car to having to put in a new engine AND a new transmission is not a fun experience. Especially when you and your spouse both work for non-profits, which translates to not a lot of extra cash lying around to take care of these things.  We truly would not have made it through this fall without our parents.  They have showed us that you are never too old to need your mom and dad! We are so grateful to them.

Did I mention that in the midst of starting the new job and adopting the new dog we moved 20 miles south?  And went to five weddings? Three of which M was a groomsman in?  We were a bit busy this year.

We have made some definite improvement in the past year.  I am in a job that makes me happy.  We live in a townhouse with lots of space and potential, a big kitchen, and a fenced-in yard for our boys.  M has a new car for the first time since he was 16.  We are making progress on paying down debt.  2013 kicks off in a much better position than 2012.

But we still have a ways to go for 2013.  As much as we love our actual physical residence, we still don't like where we live.  We have no friends with no chance to meet new friends and nothing to do.  That is the reality of the tiny place we moved to so that my commute would be manageable.  We feel like we are watching our childless years blow by us, unable to do the things we want to do in this supposedly carefree time.  That's got to change.  I need gal pals.  M needs male friends.  We need couple friends so that I can fulfill my NEED to entertain.

It's impossible for me to separate my thoughts on the first year of marriage from my thoughts on 2012 because they are one and the same.  Marriage is hard.  That shouldn't be a shock to anyone.  The world threw so many obstacles at us this year that there were times when we truly struggled in our relationship.  But I married an incredible man who takes his vows as seriously as I take mine.  We absolutely meant the words we said to each other on our wedding day and we are in it for the long haul.  I don't think we expected to have so many of those vows tested so early on in our marriage, but I think we both feel that we can pretty much handle anything now.  There were times last year when I was so angry because we weren't getting that rose-colored hazy fog type of newlywed bliss that you hear about.  We got the real world and we got a hell of a lot of it.  But we also came out of it feeling fairly bulletproof, and for my money {what little of it is left after my car is finally fixed!}, I'll take bulletproof over schmaltz any day.

We've decided 2013 is going to be our year.  We may not be able to take all the trips we want this year or finally pull the trigger on buying a house, but we're going to make it an amazing year all the same.  Our little family of four plans to dominate the next 12 months in a big way.