Cooking Progress - January

One of the resolutions I made for 2014 was to cook something new once a month. Normally, I make a ton of resolutions in a new year (or any time of year, frankly) but end up avoiding putting any effort into them for months at which point I realize that I actually did want to do that thing, go gung ho for a short period of time, and then forget again. Not this year! This year I'm actually starting things in January and instead of cooking one new food this month, I cooked THREE.

I know. I'm impressed with me, too.

I'm also pretty happy with how all three things turned out, which is definitely not always the case when I make something I've never made before. So basically, I'm just sitting around patting myself on the back here - it's fine.

Without further ado, this month I made:

 Manicotti! Is there any way that a bunch of cheese, pasta, and sauce COULDN'T be delicious? Absolutely not. I've always really loved getting manicotti in restaurants but never attempted to cook it myself - getting stuff inside pasta tubes sounds hard and cooking the pasta and then baking it too? Ughhhh, it's just too much for me. And honestly, it was a bit of a pain filling the tubes, but they tasted great in the end. Would I go out of my way to make them again? Probably not, but I'm really glad I did. (I basically used the recipe on the back of the pasta box, but added more ricotta and mozzarella. More cheese is always how I roll.)

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps! This was my first journey into cooking with a crockpot, which was a little nerve-wracking. Additionally, I found the recipe on the low fat cooking blog and I generally find those types of recipes to be pretty hit or miss in terms of actually tasting good. Luckily, I survived using the crock pot and it tasted really good. I liked it even better the next day as a regular sandwich. Oops, give me all the carbs. I used more hot sauce than the recipe called for, too. More is more for me when I cook things.

Blackberry Crumb Cake! This was a recipe that I cut out of Real Simple magazine a couple years ago, but never got around to making it. We basically already had all of the ingredients besides the blackberries, so it was an easy choice to make this month. I served it with a little vanilla icecream, easy breezy beautiful cover girl.

Sidenote: I spent a little more time than I'd like to admit trying to figure out why the food processor wasn't actually processing my ingredients. It was because I forgot to put the blade back in. Professional baker right here, y'all!

In conclusion, it was a good month for making new foods and I think they were well liked all around. I'm calling this month a success and am excited to pick out recipes for February. I'm also excited to look up some tips for food photography that don't include wasting time actually setting up a scene/lighting. These were all taken on my lap seconds before eating them. Don't food bloggers foods get cold!?

Generic Resolutions Post - 2014

Well, I did it! That's exciting, right? Making it to the next year and making some fresh starts? Of course it is. I feel like 2013 was pretty emotionally tumultuous for me in a lot of quiet ways that I really didn't talk about. I had to learn to let things go and accept things that secretly broke my heart. I guess everyone does that every day and it's part of why life can be so hard sometimes and what makes the prospect of another year so appealing.

Anyway, what I'm getting at here is that it's 2014 and I've got shit I wanna do, y'all. Here are my condensed resolutions for this upcoming year: (I've saved you from the most emotional and dramatic ones. Trust me, it's for the best.)

1. Get a job and my own place. Being unemployed is stressing me out! Worrying that my savings are going to run out or that I'm greatly overstaying my welcome is worse than war. I'm pretty sure I picked the worst time of year to quit my job and move and I'm predicting I'll do better in the new year. Or at the very least, I'm putting that thought out into the universe because Oprah says it works and Oprah is certainly employed.
2. Read more. Once again, I've set my Goodreads goal to 50 books. I have yet to hit this goal but 2014 is definitely the year. I feel like I read constantly but, let's be real, I could be reading instead of finishing entire TV shows in days. Also, one of the first things I did in Portland was get a library card so I might as well start using it.
3. Take more pictures!! This one is important to me because I feel like photography is something that means a lot to me and is also something that defines a piece of who I am. It's also something that I've definitely let myself fall away from and despite my many excuses about why that happened and why it's soooo not my fault guyssss, I want back in. When I get my storage box back, I want to take more film pictures. I want to buy some film and take my Holga out. Use Flickr. Actually develop photos in a dark room again. Save up to buy a better digital camera/lenses.
4. Be a kinder person. To myself. To my family. To my friends. To strangers.
5. Try at least one new restaurant or food cart a month. I've already started talking with Jill and Kathy about possibilities and we're makings lists and am really pumped to check out places none of us have ever been. Like Sizzler. Yes, really.
6. Cook something new at least once a month. Picked up the supplies to make manicotti, which I LOVE but have never made, and am crazy excited to make it really soon and start this goal off with a pasta bang.
7. Explore. Use both the walking guide I picked up last month and the one Kim and Cliff gave me at Christmas to see more of Portland. Go to Seattle. Drive down the California coast. See Britney in Las Vegas.
8. STOP BEING SICK!! This should maybe be #1 but I have pneumonia right now and it's my third time being sick since I moved which is annoying because I basically never got sick before. I'm ready to feel better! Also, I definitely passed on these fun pneumonia germs to Kathy and made her sick as a dog, too and I want both of us to be healthy again STAT.
9. Finally, drink more water and eat more vegetables. Obv.

Now, to start this ish off right, I'm gonna curl up with my cat to try and sleep off some sickness.