2012 Kitchen Goals Wrap Up

I got ahead of myself  and posted my 2013 Kitchen Goals before my 2012 Wrap Up, oh well....

For the past 3 years (2010, 2011, 2012) I have set 12 goals for the kitchen, one for each month of the year.  This is so much easier than setting a bunch of resolutions and trying to accomplish them all at once.   Here's a recap of my successes and failures for the 2012.

Goal 1 - Pantry Challenge - SUCCESS
Did it!  Third year in a row.

Goal 2 - Clean out utensil drawer - SUCCESS
Did it!  And it is still clean and functional

Goal 3 - Limit dining out/take out to 2 - 3 times per month - SUCCESS
We have done really well with this one, so much so it is almonst non-existant.  Now we treat eating out/take out/or delivery as a treat because we want to, not because we have to.

Goal 4 - More veggies in our menu plan- SUCCESS
Much, much better this year, especially with the addition of salads for dinner at least once a week.  I'm still working on the variety of veggies we eat, but our overall intake is much higher.  We have also added a greater variety of fruits to our meals

Goal 5 - Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day- FAIL
This was the 3rd year this has been on my goal list.  I never got around to it, especially with an emphasis on eating better and losing a few pounds, this just didn't seem like a good fit for our family.  I'm dropping this from my kitchen plans

Goal 6 - Better utilization of garden produce -- less waste - FAIL
Our house flooded at the end of May and the entire summer was spent trying to get it repaired and livable again.  The garden fell by the wayside, there just weren't enough hours in the day to deal with contrators and a garden.

Goal 7 - Dehydrate and freeze more - HALF SUCCESS
Since the garden never really got off the ground, there wasn't much to freeze, but I did use the dehydrator to make dried apples several times this fall.  They have become a favorite snack and a great addition to homemade granola.

Goal 8 - Update Family Favorites and Freezer Cookboooks - HALF SUCCESS
Freezer Cookbook is up to date and the Family Favorite Cookbook is almost finished.  I'm just waiting for some pocket sheet protectors to come in and I can add the tabs and cover pages.  It should be a very valuable resource once it is complete.

Goal 9 - Learn to make and freeze cream corn - SUCCESS
My very good friend and I, following my Granny's directions, prepared and froze and entire bushel of corn.  We had 13 quarts of corn between the two of us.  We have certainly decided to invest in a Pampered Chef Corn Cutter for next year!

Goal 10 - Create a list of family favorite salads - SUCCESS
We have added several main dish salads to our menu rotation this year, including Chicken Caesar Salad, Chef Salad, Layered Salad and Revised Southern Cobb Salad

Goal 11 - Eat at the table and not in front of the TV - FAIL
This is just not our style.  We get home late from work, practices, tutoring and we just want to relax and eat.  I don't think we will ever be a eat at the table all the time family

Goal 12 - Let my kids cook more - SUCCESS
We did this alot this year.  Bubba is fully functional at making himself breakfast in the morning and he is also very good about making sandwiches and cereal when he wants a snack - I know that is not really cooking, but he is much more independent in the kitchen and not so dependant on me.  Next step for him is more "real" cooking.  Boo Boo is my constant sous chef and kitchen helper.  She helps me make everything.  She is great at putting things in the crockpot when she gets home from school so it is not over cooked when we all sit down to eat around 8:00.  She will be doing more independent cooking next.

2013 Kitchen Goals

Year 4 of setting 12 kitchen goals -- one for every month.  I have done some really cool things over the past 3 years.  I learned to make my own hummus and freeze creamed corn just like my Granny.  I have decreased our comsumption of processed foods.  I have cleaned out drawers, pantrys and cabinets.  I added to and increased my garden output and preservation.  I utilized my extensive Southern Living Cookbook collection and created freezer and family favorite cookbooks.   Whew, I get tired of just thinking about it! 

Here are my goals for this year, some are new, some are carryovers from prevous years and some are continutations of goals that have worked in the past.

Goal 1 - Pantry Challenge (4th year)
Goal 2 - Eat Sunday dinner at the kitchen table.
Goal 3 - Add at least one healthy recipe/month to our Family Favorites Cookbook
Goal 4 - Clean out ALL kitchen cabinets -- downsize
Goal 5 - Better use of leftovers - less waste
Goal 6 - Cook ahead on Sunday for the rest of the week
Goal 7 - Use kitchen appliances - if I don't use it, get rid of it
Goal 8 - Kids cook more
Goal 9 - Redesign some of my kitchen cabinets for better space utilization
Goal 10 -  Learn to make 3 more items I would usually buy at the grocery store
Goal 11 - Plan better lunches to take to work

I only have 11 goals this year, but some are pretty intense, like goal 4 -- I have 34 kitchen cabinets and 9 drawers!  However, each goal is designed to make my time in the kitchen more efficient and better for my family.

Linking up to
Tatertots and Jello
Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Kitchen Goals Update #2

It's time to update my 2012 kitchen goals.  Each year I set 12 goals (one per monthish) to work on in my kitchen.  Here's how I am doing since my last update. 


Goal 3 - Limit dining out/take out/deliver to 2-3 times/month - working really hard on this one since we returned home after our house flooded.  I think we have eaten our 3 times in July.  Hopefully that will be it.

Goal 6 - Better utiliziation of garden produce - less waste - this has been a miserable failure.  28 days out of our house and 100 degree temps have really make it almost impossible to keep the garden up.  In fact, I only got 4 of my 6 beds even planted.  I'm scrapping this on until next year.  I did get 8 jars of banana pepper mustard and 6 half pints of pepper jelly made before I pulled up most of the garden.

Goal 7 - Dehydrate and freeze more - See Goal 6! 

Goal 8 - Update Family Favorites and Freezer Cookbook - Freezer Cookbook is done and I have a plan and all the supplies for the Family Favorites

Goal 9 - Learn to make and freeze creamed corn - DONE!   A friend and I put up 13 quarts of corn together.  Plenty to get us through the winter.  It was easier than I thought, and delicious!

Goal 12 - Let my kids cook more - SUCCESS!  Both kids are helping me in the kitchen ALOT.  They are learning so much and the kitchen doesn't seem like foreign country to them anymore.  Boo Boo is the most involved, but Bubba has really helped this summer as well.

Kitchen Goals Update #1

It's time for a Kitchen Goals 2012 Update.  Each year I set some goals to accomplish in the kitchen and update my progress from time to time.  I try to work on one goal/month, with 2 -3 being year long goals.  You can see my complete 2012 list here.

Kitchen Goal Progress - 

Goal #1 - Pantry Challenge (3rd year)- SUCCESS
Each January for the past 3 years I have joined Jessica at Good Cheap Eats in a pantry challenge for the entire month.  I was very successful with the goals I set for my pantry challenge this year.  Check out my wrap up post - Pantry Challenge Wrap Up

Goal #2 - Clean Out Utensil Drawer - SUCCESS
Not only did I clean out and purge my ever challenging utensil drawer, but I also cleaned out the refrigerator (took out all the shelves, washed and disinfected them).  What a difference to cook in a clean and organized work space!

Goal #4 - More Vegetables in our Menu Plan - In Progress
I still have a LONG way to go on this one, but I have been slowly trying work new veggies into our menus.  So far I have made Acorn Squash and Brasied Cabbage.  The fam wasn't a big fan of the acorn squash, but Bubba and I both really liked the cabbage.  I think I might try to grow a couple in our garden this summer.

Goal #12 - Let My Kids Cook More - In Progress
We have really been working on this one and suprisingly, both kids are on board.  I knew Boo Boo would be game as she loves to help in the kitchen, but Bubba has really been a HUGE help as well.  They now make their own sandwiches, Easy Mac, heat their own leftovers, Bubba gets his breakfast ready before school.  Boo Boo made Banana Chocolate Chip muffins start to finish this weekend.  Now if I can just get them to clean up their mess.....

2012 Kitchen Goals

It's that time, time for me to commit to 12 goals to accomplish in my kitchen this year.  Instead of resolutions, I set goals, one/month to better my skills, organization, variety and healthiness in the kitchen.  Take a look at my 2010 goals and my 2011 goals to see what I have accomplished. 

Here we go....

Goal 1 - Pantry Challenge in January (3rd year in a row participating)
Goal 2 - Clean out utensil drawers
Goal 3 - Limit dining out/take out/deliver to 2-3 times/month
Goal 4 - More vegetables in our menu plan
Goal 5 - Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day (3rd year to try this one....)
Goal 6 - Better utiliziation of garden produce - less waste
Goal 7 - Dehydrate and freeze more
Goal 8 - Update Family Favorites and Freezer Cookbook
Goal 9 - Learn to make and freeze creamed corn
Goal 10 - Create a list of family favorite salads
Goal 11 -  Eat at the table and not in front of the TV
Goal 12 - Let my kids cook more

I will select one or two goals per month to work on.  They say it takes 30 days to develop a new habit, so by the end of the year, I should develop several new habits to make my time in the kitchen easier.   Let's see how well I do this year!

Linking up to
Made By You Monday
It's A Blog Party
Sundae Scoop
Make It Yourself Monday
Beauty and Bedlam
Link It Up
Somewhat Simple
Delighful Order
Fireflies and Jelly Beans
Tatertots and Jello
Tidy Mom

2011 Kitchen Goals Recap

For the past 2 years instead of New Year's Resolutions, I have created a list of 11 - 12 kitchen goals to accomplish throughout the year.  For 2011 I set 11 goals and as we enter the last few days of the year, it is time for an accounting of my progress...

Goal 1 - Eat from the Pantry - SUCCESS!
During the month of January, we shopped from the store very little and really reduced our food costs as well as used up items nearing their expiration date or that had been in the freezer far too long. 

Goal 2 - Select and prepare 2 recipes/month from my extensive Southern Living cookbook collection.
While I did not do this every month, I did try several new recipes from my collections and even added a few to our meal rotation.  Our very favorite -- Peanut Butter Granola.

Goal 3 - Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day
I still haven't done this... maybe the third year will be the year of success?

Goal 4 - Less Processed Foods - SUCCESS!
This was a year long goal for me and I did very well.  We know consistantly make our own salad dressings, granola, biscotti, all cookies, jellies and relishes, marinades and pizzas. 

Goal 5 - Create a list of 8 - 10 pantry meals - SUCCESS!
This has been a great help.  I have several meals I can just throw together from what is in the pantry, freezer and refrigerator in about 30 minutes.  I will be sharing these as a series later in 2012.

Goal 6 - Better garden plan
This started out really well, then hit several snags.  I did test my soil and augment it, I rotated my vegetables from last year and used a great fertilizer.  I got most of my garden planted a bit late, and I was out of town for 24 of 20 days in June, making it difficult to water, maintain and harvest as needed.  Then, ants infested my strawberry bed and I had to have it exterminated, killing all my strawberry plants and leaving that bed useless for the rest of the year.  The start of school in August was hectic and much of my produce from August rotted on the vine.  I have much better plans for 2012.

Goal 7 - Preserve more - including dehydrating - SUCCESS!
I canned a greater variety of jellies, jams and relishes this year than ever before, including roasted red pepeprs.    I also put my dehydrator to good use, drying peaches and blueberries as well as my first attempt at sun-dried tomatoes.  I even taught one of my friends how to can jams and jellies. 

Goal 8 - Make homemade tortillas
I never got around to this one.  I have been able to buy them so inexpensively and freeze that I haven't had the need to.  Maybe next year?

Goal 9 - Make homemade hummus - SUCCESS!
I found a great recipe for Roasted Red Pepper Hummus on allrecipes and it has become a favorite.  When my food processor broke in August, one of the recipes I missed most was my hummus.  Now that I received a new food processor for Christmas, I plan on trying other varieties.

Goal 10 - Find a freezer pizza crust recipe and make up Pizza Kits
This one didn't work out for us.  My TNT pizza crust recipe takes only minutes to create and my family has such different tastes in pizza toppings that pizza kits just don't work.  I found that throwing together a pizza with leftovers from the week was more successful. 

Goal 11 - Learn to bake and decorate sugar cookies - SUCCESS!
I just got this one in under the wire, baking them last week on Christmas Eve for Santa.  I finally found the perfect recipe from sweet sugar belle and a great icing on allrecipes.  These turned out perfectly and everyone loved them.  I will be making them again very soon, probably before the end of the year.

6 Successes (1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11)
1 tried and didn't like (10)
2 modified (2, 6)
2 didn't get around to (3, 8)
Overall - not too bad! 

I will be posting my 2012 Kitchen Goals soon. 

Linking up to
Delightful Order
Tatertots and Jello

Kitchen Goals Update - February and March

At the beginning of 2011 I made a list of Kitchen Goals - 12 goals to accomplish throughout the year, focusing on one per month to create some good food and cooking habits.  To keep it real, I am updating my progress on these goals for February and March.  You can see my January progress here. 

Goal 1 - Eat from the pantry.  Completed - January
Believe it or not, this January goal is still in play.  Money has been tight and I have just been buying basic necessities from the grocery store and relying on my freezer and pantry.  This has allowed me to only spend between $20 and $40 dollars per week at the store.  Some weeks I don't even have to go to the store at all.  LOVE IT!

Goal 2 - Select and use 2 recipes/month from my Southern Living Cookbook collection.  I have only made one recipe from my extensive Southern Living collection in February and March.  Because I have not been shopping much at the store, I have not been trying very many new recipes.  Hopefully that will change in April.

Goal 3 - Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.  I haven't done this yet, but I really want to!  Maybe over Spring Break I can get it going.  I'm convinced that if I just start it, it will be easy to keep up with and use. 

Goal 4 - Less Processed Foods - SUCCESS!!  Since this is a year long goal, I try to drop one type of processed food each month.  In February I made 2 different types of granola, even converting my son to eating it as a snack. In March, I focused on making my own salad dressings.  You can find 3 great recipes for homemade dressing here.   I had one lone bottle of Kraft dressing in the pantry and used it....YUCK!  I'm a convert.  Still looking for a good 1000 Dressing recipe though.

Goal 6 - Better garden plan - analyze soil, augment soil, research plant varieties.  Tis the season to plan a garden!  I bought soil kits for each of my raised beds, now if it would just quit raining long enough for the soil to dry out so I can test it...  I have also been researching types of plants - asparagus, carrots, garlic and potatoes are already chosen and on my list.

Goal 10 - Find a freezer pizza crust recipe and make up Pizza Kits.  I froze my own pizza dough recipe in February and it turned out pretty well.  I am thinking about trying to freeze the Olive Oil pizza dough from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, once I get that going.....

Goal 11 - Plan for lunches - try to take lunch 3 days a week (year long).  SUCCESS!!  I have taken my lunch to school everyday but 3 in February and March.  I am getting much better at planning leftovers and I am beginning to create a list of "go to" lunch menus for when I don't have leftovers.  Packing my lunch has become a habit, I hardly even think about it anymore.  

Not bad, but not so great either.  I still have a lot of progress to make, but I have 9 months to go! 

Kitchen Goals Update - January

For the past two years I have set goals for myself in the kitchen.  I find these goals really push my culinary skills and creativity and keep me in the kitchen insteaad of dialing for take out.  One of the added benefits of spending time in the kitchen is one on one time with my kids.  On most days, one or both kids can be found in the kitchen helping at least for a little while, building stronger family relationships and learning valuable life skills.  You can find my 2011 list of kitchen goals here.

January's Goals was to Eat From The Pantry.  I participated in Life As Mom's Pantry Challenge and we were extremely successful.  See my results here.

One of my year long goals is to use my extensive Southern Living Cookbook Collection by making at least 2 new recipes each month.  I made 2 new recipes that are now staples in my kitchen.  Peanut Butter Granola and Cocoa-Almond Biscotti, both are fantastic!

Another goal is to bring my lunch to school more often.  My goal states 3 times/week, but so far, since January 3rd, I have packed my lunch each day except for one and that was a planned celebration.  I am tracking my progress in my What's for Lunch posts.  These posts keep me accountable and give  me inspiration. 

All in all, so far so good on my goals. 

January's Southern Living Recipes

I have an extensive Southern Living Cookbook collection.  Most of my very favorite recipes some from these cookbooks and whenever I am looking for a new recipe, this is were I turn.  However, I still feel I underuse this wonderful library most of the time.  One of my 2011 Kitchen Goals is to make 2 new recipes each month from my collection. 

During January, I am participating in the Pantry Challenge hosted by Life as Mom, so this somewhat limits my recipe options as I am trying use what I have and buy very little.  Good ole' Southern Living didn't let me down!  I found the following recipes, all from the January section of the 2009 cookbook, each of which can be make with what I have on hand (with a couple of substitutions). 

Peanut Butter Granola (substituting pecans for peanuts)

Apricot - Pecan Chicken Salad (using turkey from the freezer and dried cranberries)

I will post the recipe, pictures and reviews after I have made each recipe. 

January Kitchen Goal - Eat From the Pantry

Today begins the January Pantry Challenge at our house.  I am playing along with Life as Mom and Good Cheap Eats, just like last year.  This is part of my 2011 Kitchen Goals.  My rules are simple -

1.  Prepare meals from the pantry and freezer exculsively beginning January 1 and ending January 31st.  If I don't have a special ingredient to make a certain recipe, either find a substitute or a new recipe.

2.  Only buy dairy, bread and fresh fruits and vegetables during the month of January, trying to make due with what we have first.

3.  Utilize leftovers more effeciently.  I have a hard time with this one.

4.  The only "out" I am giving myself this month is for my Bunco night.  I am hosting and may have to buy some items to fill in the menu.  I will be "shopping" from my pantry for this first. 

In order to prepare for this challenge, I did a quick pantry clean out and make over in December.  I know exactly what is in my pantry and can plan accordingly.

Before

After

Wish me luck.  Anyone wanting to join me, just leave a comment.  We can cheer each other on!  And on Tuesday, pop over to Life as Mom and link up your Pantry Challenge post.

2011 Kitchen Goals

Last year, about this time, I set some kitchen goals to work on throughout 2010.  I liked this idea so much better than a list of resolutions.  Setting goals targeted toward accomplishing one a month throughout the year seemed so much more reasonable and much less stressful and doable.  I accomplished most of what I set out to do during 2010.  You can read about my successes and failures here.  This idea was so successful I decided to do it again , so drumroll please...... here are my 2011 Kitchen Goals.

1.  Eat from the pantry (January Goal)
2.  Select and make 2 recipes/month from my Southern Living Cookbook Collection (year long)
3.  Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day (February Goal)
4.  Less Processed Foods (year long)
5.  Create a list of 8 - 10 go to pantry meals
6.  Better garden plan - analyze soil, augment soil, research plant varieties
7.  Preserve more - including dehydrating
8.  Make homemade tortillas
9.  Maek homemade hummus
10.  Find a freezer pizza crust recipe and make up Pizza Kits.
11.  Plan for lunches - try to take lunch 3 days a week (year long)
12.  Learn to make and decorated Sugar Cookies


There you have it, my kitchen ambitions for 2011.  Stay tuned for updates on my progress thorughout the year.

2010 Kitchen Goals Recap

Last December, I set 11 kitchen goals, basically one per month.  Looking back I really did well.  I accomplished 8 goals, did not meet 2 of them and decided 1 would just not work for our family.  All in all, a success.  Below, find what I managed to accomplish this year.

1.  Eat from the pantry in January.  I participated in an online pantry challenge in January and was quite successful, in fact, I plan on doing it again this year, either online or on my own. 

2.  Use less processed foods.  This one I turned into a year long goal and really accomplished a great deal.  In addition to the foods listed in this post, I have also begun making my own meatballs, grape jelly, applesauce, chicken noodle soup, breakfast burritos, and granola bars. 

3.  Reduce take out/delivery foods.  WOW, we have done so well with this one.  We used to order pizza and chinese so often, they knew our orders when we called and the delivery guys knew our dogs' names.  Now, pizza delivery is because we just really want a good pizza, not because we don't have any other options.  Picking up Zaxby's is a treat, not a necessity.  I can't believe all the money we saved by just not ordering out.

4.  Menu plan consistantly.  I posted 41 menu plans this year and there were several weeks I had plans, but did not get to post them, so I probably had menu plans for 46 out of 52 weeks this year.  Not too bad.  Let's see if we can make it 52 this year!

5.  Make homemade tortillas.  I never did this one.  I consistantly found great deals on tortillas at the grocery stores, so I just never had a need to make them.  I am keeping this goal for 2011, we will see how it goes.

6.  Add 5 new WW recipes to our menu rotation.  Well, they weren't WW recipes, but I added many new recipes to our rotation, most with out any processed foods.  Some of our favorites were Italian Sausage and Potato Roast, Chicken Noodle Soup, Hubby Will Inhale Them Meatballs, Delicious Ham and Potato Soup and Pesto. 

7.  Try making Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.  I have not completed this goal yet.  I have bought and read the book and I ordered (and received) a dough bucket from King Arthur Flour, so there are no excuses now....

8 and 9.  Utilize a CSA or Farmer's Market.  This is the goal I discovered just didn't fit our family.  We only like certain vegetables, so the expense and surprise of a CSA box just wouldn't have been a good use of our grocery budget.  And since I accomplished goal 9 - Enlarge my garden and utilize it, we had plenty of the vegetables we liked and were able to eat from our own garden and not purchase much produce at all from June until September.

10.  Preserve more.  I preserved a great deal more this year than last year.  I made jalapeno-pepper jelly, cherry jam, strawberry jam, strawberry-jalapeno jam, peach jelly, peach jam, sweet and sour relish, cherries, bourbon cherries, mojito jelly, Roasted Tomato Sauce, and Pesto.  I have even bigger plans for next year.

11.  Type up family favorite recipes and add to cookbook.  Not only did I update the regular cookbook, I created a freezer cookbook with all the recipes I regularly cook for the freezer and I included freezing instructions. 

Not bad for a year of goals. I have plenty of new goals (and few old ones) ready for the new year.

Kitchen Goals Update

I am still working towards the Kitchen Goals I set for this year.  One of my goals was to add 5 new Weight Watchers recipes to our family favorites.  I did add at least 5 new recipes to our dinner rotation, they just weren't Weight Watchers.  They are however, homemade and use less processed foods than most Weight Watchers recipes.  AND, everyone likes them!   Here they are -

1.  Homemade Applesauce
2. Italian Sausage and Potato Roast
3. Spinach Ravioli Lasagna
4. Broccoli Cheese Soup
5. Homemade Meatballs

Each of these yummy dishes has made several appearances on our dinner table this year and I am sure they will make more this year and in years to come. 

Kitchen Goals Updated

Way back in December I made a list of 12 kitchen goals - one to work on each month of the year.  I have done fairly well with them, even if I have not posted about all of them.  Today I wanted to update 2 of my goals 1) use less processed foods and 2) meal plan consistantly and stick to the plan.

Use less processed foods - This has become more and more important to me over time as I read about food additives and I see how certain chemicals make me feel and my children act.  Some permanent changes I have made since January have been -

• make my own chicken broth
• make my own cream of whatever soup
• make my own ranch dressing
• make my own chocolate sauce 
• make my own pancake syrup (1 c water, 2 c sugar, 1/2 t maple flavoring - boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Store in refrigerater)
• make my own pesto

Each one of these items is soooo easy to make and tastes so much better than what I buy at the store (cheaper too!). 

Meal Plan Consistantly and Stick To It - While I don't always post my menu plan on Monday, I do have it written out and ready to go by Sunday afternoon.  I also do all my grocery shopping by Monday night so the week can just flow (yeah, right!).  With 3 nights a week and all day Saturday spent on the football field, meal planning is the only way to go to make sure we don't resort to the closest drive thru window.  Below are some of my favorite meal plans since January.

• January
• February 
• March
• April
• May
• June
• July
• August

Overall, two successful attempts at improving our eating habits at home.  Now, on to those last few goals.....

April Kitchen Goal

I realize I never posted about my April Kitchen Goal - Type up Family Favorite Recipes and add to my cookbook.  To see my other goals with progress go here.  I started with this....

And ended with this...

I sorted through hundreds of recipes, culling out those I knew I would never make and ones I made that we weren't crazy about.  What was left is going in our Family Favorites Cookbook.  I still have many to type up, but I made a great deal of progress on this project.  I plan on getting all of them typed up this summer. 

March Kitchen Goal - Enlarge my garden and utilize it.

One of my Kitchen Goals for 2010 was to expand my vegetable garden. My dh helped me accomplish this goal this weekend when he added 3 raised beds to my original 3, effectively more than doubling my garden space. My soil arrives on Saturday so the planting can really begin!

Garden Before Addition -

After Additon -

There are 3 new beds, the farthest one will be my potato bed. I have ordered Kennebec and Red Pontiacs to plant. I am going to use the technique described here to get the most out of my space. The middle new section is reserved for my strawberries. I ordered 25 Day Neutral plants that should produce spring, summer and fall. My hope is to have strawberries this summer. The other new section will be a mix of tomatoes, peppers and squash. Two of the original beds have been planted with peas, lettuce, spinach and onions. The third will hold my herbs and more peppers and tomatoes. We also puchased 5 blueberry bushes. I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

Kitchen Goal for February - Reduce Takeout

Back in December I set some Kitchen Goals for 2010. We did really well on our January Goal of Eating from our Pantry. My goal for February has been to reduce takeout and delivery because I was too tired to cook or to lazy to meal plan.

So far so good! Absolutely no pizza or chinese delivery at our house this month! In fact, we have only eaten out 3 times and those had nothing to do with not planning ahead or being too tired to cook.

2/5 - my parents came to town to visit. I had Chicken Pot Pie planned, even had the chicken cooked, but they rolled into town and were craving Mexican food, so they treated us to our favorite Mexican place.

2/9 - I had planned to make PW's meatballs only to come home from work and discover my dh had made hamburgers for lunch out of my meatball meat! We had an appointment and I didn't have time for a plan B, so we ended up going through a drive thru.

2/11 - we have activites at 4:30, 5:15 and 6:45 tonight, so due to this one week crossover between basketball, gymnastics and lacrosee we will be stopping for sub sandwiches.

Not bad, considering that the pizza and chinese delivery guys not only know our regular orders by heart, but greet our dogs at the door by name.

January Kitchen Goal - Eat From the Pantry

My January Kitchen Goal is to eat from our pantry and reduce the number of trips and amout of money spent at the grocery store. I am in good company, as Money Saving Mom and FishMama are doing this as well and even hosting a challenge. So, I am signing up.



My goals are

1. Only 1 trip to the grocery a week. Ideally this will be for milk, eggs, bread and fresh produce. However, I am not going to let really good deals go by that we need - the key word being need. For example, I am out of butter. If a really good deal for butter comes along, I will stock up on it.
2. Shop from my pantry first, not my cookbooks. I have a bad habit of choosing recipes first and then having to buy alot of ingredients at the store. I am hoping this will change my menu planning behavior.
3. Use my leftovers! I am the worst about saving food and then a week (or more) later throwing it away. This one will be hard.
4. Use up the processed food we have in the house in order to focus on February's goal - Use less processed food.

I will be making one last grocery trip this year for the items we need for our New Year's Eve and New Years's Day Celebrations. I will be including milk, eggs, OJ and bread to get us started on our Pantry Challenge. Wish us luck!

Kitchen Goals for 2010

In my recent blog surfing I came across a great idea. I do not remember where I saw it now, but please know this is not my original idea. Instead of creating a list of goals/resolutions for the year, she created a list of 12 things, one to focus on each month. I thought this made a lot of sense and certainly takes the pressure off trying to implement changes all at once. Below is my own list of twelve kitchen goals for the year.

1. Eat from the pantry. (January's Goal -Completed)

2. Use less processed foods. (Year long goal - great progress!)

3. Reduce takeout/delivery emergency/I'm just too tired to cook meals (February's Goal)

4. Menu plan consistantly and stick to the plan (Year long goal - good progress)

5. Make homemade tortillas

6. Add 5 new WW recipes to our menu rotation (not WW Recipes, but several new ones added)

7. Try making Artistan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

8. Utilize a CSA or Farmer's Market

9. Enlarge my garden and utilize it (March Goal - completed)

10. Preserve more this year. (Summer Goal - completed)

11. Type up all family favorites and add to cookbook (April Goal - completed)

12.  To Be Determined

Linked to Frugal Fridays at Life as Mom