Forgive me, I have sinned…

I had my first casualty of 2013.  I had to throw out half of a loaf of bread.

Now in actuality, my goal for the year was to limit the amount of fruits and veggies I had to throw out because they had gone bad.  Which 18 days in, I have still been successful!  And no, you nay-sayers, it’s not because I haven’t bought any!  I know you were thinking it…  But at some point I decided I was going to make an extra effort to not waste ANY food this year.  Hell, I don’t even like to waste Post-it notes, and I use a tea bag twice to eek out as much tea as possible, so I’ve just been trying to find other ways I can reduce waste in my life.

The thing that is so frustrating is that I usually buy sourdough bread.  And because I mainly just use it for toast, it lasts quite a while!  But I had to buy boring white bread to make my experimental turkey meatloaf last week.  Apparently it doesn’t have the shelf life I had expected. Le Sigh.

But all things considered, I have been otherwise on track with my goals.  I haven’t had the time to post my new recipes, but I will given some spare time, and I’ll link them here.

In addition to my trying a new recipe a week, not wasting food, and getting 1000 miles logged to DailyMile this year, I decided to add trying a new fruit or veggie each month.  This can be raw or cooked.  But something I’ve never made/eaten before.  And so you shall hear it here first.  I have never eaten (to my knowledge) butternut squash before.  It was a PAIN to prep, but super easy to toss in olive oil, salt, and pepper to roast!  And sooooooo tasty!

If you have any suggestions of recipes or a fruit or veggie to try, please post them!  I’m always looking for inspiration!

Resolution, Schmesolution.

Worse than the “see you next year!” people like to say in the week before a new year, is the “what is your New Year Resolution?!”.  It’s the small talk that makes me want to stab myself in the eye.

But rather than come up with a snarky answer, I usually do share one of my goals for the new year.

That’s right.  I make goals.  Not resolutions.  Goals are something to strive for, but give myself the leeway to have hiccups along the way.  Goals are also measurable. And they tend to be things that can be built on.  They become routine, so the next year I keep at them, while focusing on something new.

Here are some past goals that I have given myself, and achieved:

2009: Train for and run my first 5k (I ran NINE in 2009)
2010: Train for and run my first 10k (I ran TWO in 2010, with 5ks sprinkled in)
2011: Train for and run my first 1/2 marathon (I ran ONE, on my birthday, and have the Tiffany necklace to prove it!)

2012: Throw away less uneaten vegetables (I made a good effort this year but didn’t have a way to really track it- but it was always on my mind when shopping/cooking)

For 2013 I really wanted to get back on track with the fitness.  After running the half marathon, I was burned out.  Followed up by two sprained ankles in the spring of 2012 while hiking, I just lost focus.  I feel very successful in adding the veggie goal last year, so this year I am giving myself two goals:

1) Try a new recipe once a week.  I LOVE to cook. And usually cook a few times a week anyway, so why not start trying out all of the recipes I pull off the internet, Pinterest, and my Cooking Light magazines.

2) Log 1000 miles. Whether running, hiking, biking, or walking, I want to get 1000 miles in this year.  I think it’s doable, barring more injuries of course.

Both of these are completely tangeable AND trackable!  I plan on posting my weekly recipe as a blog here, and upload all of my miles on DailyMile.  You can follow me there to see my progress.

Let’s do this…