Resolved

Well, here it is.  Another New Year.  This particular new year will be the year that my baby turns THREE.  And the year *I* turn THIRTY SEVEN.

And yes, I realize I'm worrying about things that will happen SIX MONTHS FROM NOW.

But still.  Three.  How did that happen?

I've made only one resolution this year.  And no, it has nothing to do with this:

I'm *certain* something is faulty with this thing.

Although, damn, the holidays have been brutal on my waistline.  I ate with reckless abandon this season.  But, I figure I'll take care of that extra tonnage like I always do.  A little less cake.  A little more exercise.  You know, the usual. 

And I figure something so ordinary as "lose ten pounds" does not merit my resolution list anymore.  Especially since I've been gaining and losing those same ten pounds for the last ten years.  We're like old friends, that fat and me.  It says 'goodbye' every spring, and then comes back around for a visit every winter. 

No, this year I'm resolving to Be a Better Meal Planner.

It took me some time to come up with that.  At first, I thought I'd like to Be a Better Cook.  But that doesn't really do it.  I *can* cook.  But, I am craptastically bad at 1)coming up with a meal idea 2) having the correct ingredients on hand 3) starting the meal on time 4) coming up with appropriate side dishes.

I realize for some women this is just second nature.  Like "of COURSE you serve baked potatoes and apple sauce with pork chops!".  For me, nothing comes easy in this realm.  Once, right after I had Paige, my friend Susan drove here from Tulsa to help out.  She spent the day doing my laundry and my dishes and holding my newborn baby while I napped (best gift EVER from a friend, by the way).  And the last thing she did before she went back home was to make me a meal.  And she made an entire meal FROM THE INGREDIENTS I HAD ON HAND.  She just looked through my freezer and my pantry AND CAME UP WITH AN ENTIRE MEAL. 

This is so amazing to me.  If she had walked outside and leaped my entire house in a single bound I would not have been more impressed. 

There is absolutely NO WAY I could do that.  NO POSSIBLE WAY.  In order to make a meal, I have to 1) make a list of all ingredients needed 2) go to the store for those specific things 3) come home and begin preparing the meal 4) go back to the store for the one damn thing I forgot (ALWAYS!) 5) try not to burn anything (including myself).

But I'm resolving to get better at all this.  I figure the only way to get better at anything is practice.  So that's what I aim to do.  This year I'm going to make meal after meal after meal until I get good at it.

For inspiration, I *did* buy myself a cookbook. 

By the folks at 'Southern Living'... so it *has* to be good.

I'm not particularly fond of crock pot cooking, but this cookbook comes with little meal pairing suggestions next to each recipe.  Like "serve this with brown rice and sauteed spinach".  And *that's* what I need.  Lots of suggestions.

Because I am a meal ninny.  A stoopid stoopid ninny.

Here's hoping for a delicious 2011!



Postscript:

I also vowed I would clean out all my drawers and closets this year, WHICH I'VE ALREADY DONE, so if this cooking thing fails, at least I can say I accomplished *something* in 2011.




Any bets on how long this stays clean?

 

Organized drawers: a thing of beauty