17 December, 2010

Still 2010, and already second-guessing this...

As a high school teacher who is only half-way through with her third year teaching, I now find myself wondering, "why on earth did I tell people about this resolution?" and furthermore, "why am I blogging about it?" Now I am not only being held accountable by family, friends and coworkers, but also anyone who could potentially run across my blog (which I am hoping will be few and far between), eesh.

Don't get me wrong, I love to cook, but I'll be honest- most nights, after coming home from a long day of lecturing on mitosis and disciplining other people's teenagers, the last thing I want to do is cook. Red Baron is no stranger in our freezer. And at lunch, Lean Cuisine is a savior.

But since I started researching BPA awhile back, and more recently since my husband and I saw "Food, Inc." a few weeks ago, I haven't been able to drop the idea that I am the sole provider of the nutrients in this household. And with the possibility of a baby in the near future (and I'm talking 3-5 years), I suddenly feel like a can of refried beans isn't going to cut it.

So, I wouldn't go so far to say we're on the "whole foods" diet, but I am reading labels more carefully and trying to cook more. So far I've bought free-range chicken eggs and chicken breasts and made my own beans twice now (go me!) Now, keep in mind the rules of my New Year's Resolution do not consider whether I'm using organic or whole foods.

These are the basic rules:
(1) Dinners only. I am a huge baker and that would not be a challenge if desserts were included.
(2) No repeats, but they don't have to be new recipes, as long as they haven't been used after 12:01am January 1, 2011 (although please note that before this, my repertoire of recipes is a whopping 25, which includes a "quiche" recipe that has an ingredient list of entirely prepackaged cheese, ham, broccoli & mushrooms.)
(3)The 100th recipe must be cooked and eaten by 11:59pm December 31, 2011.
*If it's whole or organic and/or my husband truly likes it (because God bless him, he's eaten undercooked chicken before and grinned approvingly through it), Bonus Points should be given-- especially if it's been a long day and I still have papers to grade!

Now, you might be thinking "Hey, there are 52 weeks in a year, so you could technically cook only twice a week and still finish early." Yeah, that's what I thought, too, until I remembered that any holiday break we get is never spent in town in our own home, as all of my husband's family and my extended family do not live here in town, not to mention I'm starting a Master's program in January.

So, I hope you enjoy this adventure as much as I'm hoping I will. I'll be posting photos, recipes if you request them, and comments in general. Wish me luck!