HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011

I'm a little disappointed that I didn't post yesterday when the date was 1.1.11! I don't really have anything foddie to blog about this morning but I have thoughts rolling around in my head and decided to get them 'out' here. 

First, it seems this time of the year most everyone is talking about making resolutions. There is a lot to be said about this practice. I think about this a lot, but never really make resolutions. I try to live in a way that I will not be disappointed with my life decisions when I look back on them. It's important to have goals, I guess, but many times, when they aren't reached, it becomes so discouraging that you really do end up worse than when you began!

In saying all that, this past year I decided to eat more consciously..thus the blog. I wanted to make healthier food choices and experiment with new recipes and I feel that I actually achieved that. While the ultimate goal would be to lose weight, I try to keep my focus on being thoughtful in my food choices. If I lose weight that's great, but if I don't, I'm not going to go on a 'bender' and say "to heck with this" and then find myself pounds heavier and feeling miserable! For me, that's been a pattern in my life. It's part of the reason I am where I am today.

So, while I don't plan to make any New Year's resolutions, I do resolve to be a more thoughtful person in the way I treat others, the food decisions I make, and the spiritual path I am on.  I'd like to think that every day I would wake up and ask myself "what do you want to accomplish today"..but I realize that's not going to happen. It's just not how I am. BUT, I can make an effort to be more thoughtful and choose to make the best of each day presented to me.

I want to eat more raw foods this year. Find creative recipes to use raw ingredients in, that will be appetizing and interesting. The value of eating raw foods is pretty impressive and I'd like to be able to do that more. I also plan to continue being a 'seasonal' eater as much as possible, so eating raw foods will depend on what's in season somewhat.

This past week I came down with shingles in my mouth. It's unusual and serious. I thought I was coming down with a cold because I had a really sore throat. The pain I've had the past 5 days is just incredible! It's so painful to swallow or eat anything. I don't want to eat because it hurts so much, and I absolutely can't eat anything warm or hot, it's just too painful. So, I've been surviving on cottage cheese, yogurt, applesauce, a few small salads (just lettuce and mushrooms), and scrambled eggs. I researched shingles to find out what foods would be good to eat for treating it. A diet high in amino acids, particularly broccoli, brussel sprouts, and cabbage was recommended. I like all of these so I bought some broccoli and cooked it so it was soft, and add it to scrambled eggs, or eat it cold on my salad. One article said eating the broccoli raw was the best source of the nutrients. This is what got me started thinking again about raw foods. 

Most times, I think eating a well balanced, healthy diet helps to keep our immune system boosted and fights off germs and diseases that we come in contact with. This year I hope to eat healthier! Last year we began eating MEATLESS MONDAY, adding several days a week of vegetarian eating. I'm convinced that a diet low in meats has a good effect on our health, so we plan to eat red meat only occasionally, and bump up our vegetable and fruit consumption.

I want to post more vegetarian recipes this year and experiement with new ingredients. While battling the shingles, I realized how much less I am eating. I can only eat a very little bit and then my mouth is just too sore to continue, so I'd like to continue that after I get over this. Of course, losing weight would be a nice result, but I try hard not to beat myself up over that one. It's just so counterproductive!

The other food resolution is to do as much 'from scratch' cooking as possible. It may take more time, but the benefits are numerous, both in the money saved, and the actual goodness of what you are eating. Prepackaged foods have too many additives to be considered healthy.

I hope I haven't completely bored you, but those are some of the thoughts in my head at  6 am this morning. Now, I'm off to make myself a smoothie: 1 cup of plain yogurt, 1/2 banana, and some strawberry jam. The jam is actually some I made this past summer that didn't set up because I goofed on the recipe. It came out runny so I froze it and marked it I.C.- for ice cream - because it works well as a topping. It makes a really tasty smoothie, too! Magic bullet, here I come!