My goodness...

Has it really been three whole months? I guess the dates don't lie!

As I said three months ago, I had lost my will to cook. Even being in culinary school didn't help. I ended up having to drop my two culinary classes though, because I had no way back and forth to campus (the rest of them are online.) I'm going to re-enroll in them for the spring semester. I did, however, get a great knife kit out of the deal. Don't worry, I plan on doing a blog post about them.

We're now in our 31st week of this pregnancy and, even though my pelvis feels like it's been broken, things have finally started going better. I think I've hit my nesting phase where I finally feel like I have a little bit of energy throughout the day! This paired with being hungry all the time has restored my faith in cooking.

Last night I threw together some BBQ Bacon Chicken that I couldn't get enough of. Then tonight I had no clue what to make. All I knew was that it would involve chicken breast, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and pasta. I ended up with a dish that was AMAZING! (I'll have the recipes for both up here soon!)

I think part of my renewed faith in cooking has come from the impending holiday season. Last year I made huge baskets filled with homemade goodies for our family and friends and they were a HUGE hit! I was debating on doing similar ones this year, but was iffy considering the fact that our baby is due on December 23rd. I think I've finally decided to go ahead and do it. I figure it I spread it out over the next two months, that it shouldn't be that bad. People might end up with a Tupperware full of random, half finished candy! hahaha We will see.

I just thought I would pop in and say hello to everyone. I can't believe I still have 40 followers! I guess it's hard to remember to delete something that you have forgotten about (Lucky for me!)

I am going to go through my google reader tonight, and will probably be posting links to great posts that I hope you all will read. Plus, I'll post my latest two recipes!

Resolutions, Green Monsters, and Other Random Tidbits

Who here makes New Year's resolutions?  I, for one, do not! If I don't make them, then I can't break them. Great system, huh?

This year I made the mistake of making a resolution; Quite a few actually. Here is what I drunkenly promised myself when the clock struck twelve:

1. I would eat less meat. I'm a total omnivore. I enjoy meat, but I understand the impact that eating less of it can have on our environment. 
2. I would start eating better. This included eating more greens, buying more organic, cutting out the processed foods, ect...
3. I would make an effort to reduce my carbon footprint. 

As for #1... I fail. Throughout the end of 2009 I started instituting "Meatless Monday." I have somehow managed to stray from that. It just sometimes seems easier to make chicken, then it is to find a vegetarian recipe that everyone in my house can agree on. This is nothing more than pure laziness on my part. I plan on rectifying this. Starting next Monday I'm going to reinstate Meatless Monday's in our house! Anyone know of any bloggers that link up for that? If I can't find one and/or some of you are interested, I'll just start my own McLinky for it! 

(click it to see the full size version... it's funny!)

As for # 2... 

I have definitely been working more greens into our diets, as well as trying to make sure our meals are more well rounded! I've also stopped buying a lot of the processed foods that we normally ate. I've also started making Green Monsters. A lot of the blogs I read are constantly raving about them, so today I thought I would try them. They're not bad. I definitely need to tweak my fruits a little bit, just to get the taste right. Check out this post from The Clean Eating Momma to learn more about Green Monsters.

Last, but not least #3.... 

This one is something that I've always tried to do every day. We already recycle, and make sure that we don't keep random lights or appliances turned on, along with a so much more. My big this for this goal is to start buying locally more. I'm hoping to be able to get all of my produce and meats locally by the end of the summer. I'm going to do some more research on other ways to reduce your carbon footprint, and then do a big post about it soon. 

So there are my resolutions. I haven't been doing the best I could, but I am going to make a conscience effort to change that! 

What were some of your resolutions? Have you kept them?