Tag: cooking advice

Categories
Fabulous living

New Year’s Resolution Check-In

Hi everyone and Happy July!

Can you believe that we are already seven months into the year? I feel like we were just celebrating the holidays and hunkering down for winter and now we are in full summer mode. This has been such a good summer so far, and in good news, we still have a lot more to enjoy. These past few weeks have been filled with walks, reading by the pool, grilling and family time.

Outdoor walks by the water have been a favorite of mine recently

Plus, tomorrow is the Fourth of July-one of my favorite summer traditions. 

Since we are just passed the halfway point of the year, I figured it would be a good time to do a New Year’s Resolution check in to see how I’ve been doing so far with my goals for 2024.

Here’s a look at my post from the start of the year.

My top resolutions that I set for this year were:

-Donate Blood

-Do 8K or 10K

-Re-Learn Piano

-Learn How to Braid Hair

-Cook a New Recipe a Week

We are half way through and I’ve tackled a handful of these already.

Let’s get into it:

–Donate Blood– I donated blood for the first-time last month, although it took until June to do it, I accomplished it, and it was not as scary as I thought it would be. My boyfriend is an avid blood donor and has been encouraging me to do it for years. We made a date out of it, and it felt good to give back and save lives. I was most concerned about the pain and passing out afterwards, but thankfully, all went smoothly, no pain during or after and no passing out. Success!  I will definitely be donating again when I am eligible. If you are ever on the fence about doing something out of your comfort zone, don’t like fear cause you to back out.

–Do an 8K or 10K- I will be accomplishing this tomorrow! Most races happen on the weekends when I work, but I found one that was happening on one of my days off. I will be running a 10K tomorrow for the Fourth of July. I have been upping my mileage over the past few months and I’m looking forward to seeing how I do timewise tomorrow. I have been focusing more on distance rather than speed, so I’m anxious to see how it goes. I’ll be back here on Friday to let you know the final results.

–Re-Learn Piano-This has been a hobby that I started at the beginning of the year and have been consistent about it over the past seven months. I aim to practice for ten minutes a day at least five times a week. Sometimes, I practice all seven days, other days, I only practice for five days. There are even some days when I do practices on my phone on the go, it just varies week to week. I have been using Simply Piano to teach myself. This hobby has been one of the more challenging hobbies I have attempted. Some days, I really love learning new music and playing well-known songs, other days, I get frustrated and want to throw in the towel, but I take a deep breath and keep practicing (even though it does annoy my dog and I’m sure my family at times.) This has been a learning experience unlike other hobbies I have attempted but I have been proud of the progress I have made so far.

-Learn How to Braid Hair– I have not attempted this yet and that’s due to the fact that I got a haircut and got layers which makes it harder to braid. I do have many how-to braid ideas saved on Pinterest and that has been giving me inspiration. I just need some longer hair to get there haha! However, this does give me something to work towards for the second half of the year.

– Cook a New Recipe A Week– This has been something I have been really proud of. I have been doing lots of cooking this year and once again have been consistent by cooking one new meal a week. I have been getting recipes from blogs, cookbooks and Pinterest. I have been loving getting more comfortable in the kitchen and trying new recipes and gadgets. These will be great skills to have when I am on my own soon. I have to give a huge shout out to my family for indulging me in all my new recipes. Some have been hits and others misses. I need to get better about making sure I make enough food for everyone. I’ve done super creative dishes and simple, one pot meals too. This has been such a fun passion and skill to improve on and I’m looking forward to trying even more recipes as the seasons change through the rest of the year. 

Big meals
Soups
Salads

There you have it. My New Year’s Resolution Check-In! I’m proud with how many things I have accomplished so far and behind the scenes, I’m proud of the personal growth I have seen in myself over the past several months. Although, I have made a lot of strides in my New Year’s Resolutions, we still have five more months left in the year, plenty of time for more improvement and consistency.

Tell me: how are your new year’s resolutions coming so far? 

Have a happy and safe Fourth of July!

I’ll see you back here on Friday!

Categories
Fun Ways to Organize Let's Get Cooking

Recipe Organization and Planning

Hello all!

Happy Wednesday! I can’t believe we are one week away from Thanksgiving. This month has flown by. I am looking forward to the bonus time with family next week, the delicious food, and getting into the holiday spirit after Thanksgiving. The older I get the more I cherish the time my whole is together because I know it won’t be that way forever. I’m feeling extra grateful this holiday season. Speaking of the holiday season, it also leads to more time in the kitchen.

One of my favorite hobbies that I have developed over the past year or so has been cooking and baking. I always enjoyed helping my mom in the kitchen as a child, whether it be helping bake cookies or with dinner.  As an adult, I have continued to love to spend time in the kitchen both baking family-favorite foods or trying new recipes.  I love finding new recipes from blogs, Pinterest and cookbooks. However, it can get overwhelming when you find recipes and then don’t get a chance to try them if you misplace or don’t save them. Over the past few months, I have developed a system when it comes to finding new recipes from cookbooks and blogs, saving them, trying them out and saving the recipe in my own cookbook.

I love finding new cookbooks and trying new recipes

Here’s how my system works:

  • Browse and tab recipes- Whenever I get a new cookbook or I’m reading a recipe blog and I see a recipe I like, I immediately tab and save it. I use sticky notes for cookbooks and then for blogs online I will save the page. On Pinterest,  I have a food board that I save all recipes I like. 
Browsing a cookbook
Using sticky tabs for my favorites
  • Add recipes to Notes in my phone- When I am done browsing a cookbook or after I find a recipe I want to try online, I add it to a note on my phone. I have a note saved of a list of all the recipes I want to try divided up by season and where I can find them.  For example, a hearty dish from one of Jessie James Decker’s cookbooksk would be under the winter or fall sections. I only keep meals on this note, not drinks or desserts. I only use this for cookbooks and blogs, not Pinterest, I will check that occasionally for specific recipe ideas. This way when I am looking to try a new recipe, I have a list of things I want to try and I know exactly where to find them, whether they be in a cookbook or online.
Some of the recipes I was to try and where I found them.
More recipes to try!
  • Time to Cook or Bake- Once I have settled on my recipe, I get my ingredients and cook or bake it and (hopefully) enjoy it!
The final result
  • Save the Recipe- If the meal is a success, I do a few things. First, I took it off my notes list since I have already tried it. If I found the recipe in a cookbook, I was replace the sticky note with a new color, so I know for future reference that I have tried it, and it was a success and I want to cook it again. If I find the recipe online whether it be on a blog or Pinterest, I will type up the recipe, with a photo of it and add it to my own personal cookbook. I got this cookbook from Simplified, and I love it. I have it filled with family recipes and recipes from blogs or Pinterest. I have each recipe typed up and in a protective cover and organized by course of meal (appetizer, breakfast, lunch, dinner etc.) From there, recipes are organized by the type of meal (for example under main courses, I have a section for chicken, pork, pasta, beef etc.) This keeps all recipes from family members or online in one spot that’s easy to find.

This system has worked great for me over the past year. I love how I have a whole slew of recipes at my fingertips and then I have a place with them all saved to make again in the future. Although this system may seem complex and tedious, it has become second nature to add recipes I want to try to my list and then type them up when I am done. I keep my personal cookbook with my other cookbooks in one spot, so they are all easy to grab and cook.

If you love being in the kitchen as much as I do, what are some of your tips and tricks when it saving and trying recipes? I would love to hear them! Enjoy your time in the kitchen!