Food related New Years resolutions-(non diet)

On the fun side- this year I resolve to learn to make onion soup from scratch.
On the not so fun side- I will rid my kitchen of old spices, condiments and food stuffs I have not used all year.

I will eat more salads and fruits and vegetables. I will bake more. I will make homemade salad dressings. I will learn to cook tofu.

I don't make "resolutions," but every New Year's Day, I completely clean out my refrigerator. Old, expired/mystery food is tossed...all the shelves come out and everything is scrubbed clean...jars/containers are all wiped clean and it gets a fresh new box o' baking soda. I always feel great starting out the new year with a sparkly "new" fridge.

I have resolved to make all my own organic baby food.

We'll see how long that lasts once the actual baby arrives...

tgoddess wrote:I don't make "resolutions," but every New Year's Day, I completely clean out my refrigerator. Old, expired/mystery food is tossed...all the shelves come out and everything is scrubbed clean...jars/containers are all wiped clean and it gets a fresh new box o' baking soda. I always feel great starting out the new year with a sparkly "new" fridge.

I like this. Could be just the thing for tomorrow or Saturday. Especially if combined with Elfin's scrub of spices, I swear I don't use that much cumin & just got another ounce from the Spice House yesterday. I bet if I cleared those shelves out I'd find the other cumin in there.

Hmmm, maybe I'll do one shelf tomorrow and one shelf on Saturday for the spices.

The fridge sounds perfect for Friday, but I still need to get black-eyed peas & collards for New Year's Day.


Ultimately, I want to cook with greater frequency.

tgoddess wrote:I don't make "resolutions," but every New Year's Day, I completely clean out my refrigerator. Old, expired/mystery food is tossed...all the shelves come out and everything is scrubbed clean...jars/containers are all wiped clean and it gets a fresh new box o' baking soda. I always feel great starting out the new year with a sparkly "new" fridge.

Oh boy, am I in need of this. There are still Jell-O stains from Halloween and a mysterious orange puddle in the bottom under the veggie crisper.

I decided I'm going to make more homemade bread for when we have sandwiches. I will make a large container of plain salad vinaigrette instead of just making a little at a time. I think I will attempt making pasta. One easy to dry, like ravioli.

I am going to learn how to make gnocchi. I tackled spaetzle last year, which turned out great, but is so darned labor intensive!

Thanks. Just cleared & organized 1 shelf of teas & spices. I even threw out a small can of poultry spice. We've been here 10 + years & I haven't eaten poultry since summer of 1996 .

I am going to make my spaghetti meat sauce on a more regular basis. No more jarred crappola sauce for me!

I am going to taste (for the first time) a truffle. (not the candy).

OK! I have cleaned out the fridge and freezer..... cabinets are next.

Elfin wrote:OK! I have cleaned out the fridge and freezer..... cabinets are next.

Woo hoo! I'm really hoping to join you in this endeavor.

=R=

Sharona wrote:I am going to learn how to make gnocchi. I tackled spaetzle last year, which turned out great, but is so darned labor intensive!

Spatzle is dead simple and couldn't be less labor intensive. Do you have a spaetzle "hopper"?

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/13-spae ... QAodoXPJOA

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Elfin wrote:OK! I have cleaned out the fridge and freezer..... cabinets are next.

Woo hoo! I'm really hoping to join you in this endeavor.

=R=

I'm done with mine. There was Jell-O where Jell-O should never be. I have no idea what that orange puddle was but it needed to be scraped off. All clean!

I planned on emptying the freezer by the end of the year, but that didn't happen, although I got very close. Now I need to eat my way through all the ice cream and cookie dough and scrub that down. Shouldn't be too long.

I am going to try to write down more of my "pulled together" dishes so I can make them again and share them with others.

2012 goals:

- curing a hunk of beef brisket for some corned beef for St. Patty's.
- get down to Memphis, or perhaps a crawfish festival.
- continue exploring & discovering the IRV.

I did it! I spent the whole day in my kitchen clearing and cleaning out my cabinets. I got rid of old spices, canned goods and anything else that was expired. I also got rid of and all those plastic containers that I have stock piled. I cleaned out the pantry and reorganized it for better access to oft used items.

Elfin wrote:On the fun side- this year I resolve to learn to make onion soup from scratch.
On the not so fun side- I will rid my kitchen of old spices, condiments and food stuffs I have not used all year.

I have seen a recipe in which you do most of the onion caramelization in the oven - it's much easier. You start off with the lid of your pot on, cook at 400 for about an hour, then stir and leave the lid ajar and cook for about another 90 minutes. FInish up on the stove.

I am going to have to make it again soon!

So focused on the cleaning aspect that I totally ignored the BIG bushel of yellow onions sold at the grocery store in the Golf Mill south west parking lot. I'm going back this weekend!

Hit the butcher & larder up at least once every few weeks and make something I haven't made before. First up was my stab at carbonnade out of beef neck (Pleasant House Bakery had just cleared them out of beef shank).

A lot of great ideas! I just recently finished clearing out my cabinets, not fun stuff, but it's made my life easier (at least for a couple months until I mess everything up again). My main goals for this year are:

- Make more bread and pasta from scratch
- Start a blog
- Do a few complete recipes from French Laundry or Fat Duck cookbooks
- Do a better job planning my garden (and build a hail defense shield for it)
- Build an outdoor brick oven
- Forge a Chapa
- Cook a whole cow on a spit

I think I just want to be Attrill's assistant for all of his goals.

I have renewed my annual vow to eat more sage.

Pie Lady wrote:I planned on emptying the freezer by the end of the year, but that didn't happen, although I got very close. Now I need to eat my way through all the ice cream and cookie dough and scrub that down. Shouldn't be too long.

Apparently it was. I'm still eating ice cream but some of it's new. I will soon have leftover Asian pears marinated in five-spice liquid, heated, dumped over ice cream with banana caramel.

Pie Lady wrote:

tgoddess wrote:I don't make "resolutions," but every New Year's Day, I completely clean out my refrigerator. Old, expired/mystery food is tossed...all the shelves come out and everything is scrubbed clean...jars/containers are all wiped clean and it gets a fresh new box o' baking soda. I always feel great starting out the new year with a sparkly "new" fridge.

Oh boy, am I in need of this. There are still Jell-O stains from Halloween and a mysterious orange puddle in the bottom under the veggie crisper.

I decided I'm going to make more homemade bread for when we have sandwiches. I will make a large container of plain salad vinaigrette instead of just making a little at a time. I think I will attempt making pasta. One easy to dry, like ravioli.

Well, the fridge is clean and I made dressing.

Pie Lady wrote:

Pie Lady wrote:

tgoddess wrote:I don't make "resolutions," but every New Year's Day, I completely clean out my refrigerator. Old, expired/mystery food is tossed...all the shelves come out and everything is scrubbed clean...jars/containers are all wiped clean and it gets a fresh new box o' baking soda. I always feel great starting out the new year with a sparkly "new" fridge.

Oh boy, am I in need of this. There are still Jell-O stains from Halloween and a mysterious orange puddle in the bottom under the veggie crisper.

I decided I'm going to make more homemade bread for when we have sandwiches. I will make a large container of plain salad vinaigrette instead of just making a little at a time. I think I will attempt making pasta. One easy to dry, like ravioli.

Well, the fridge is clean and I made dressing.

How did everyone else's resolutions turn out?

Thanks for thread bump.

I still want to cook more/eat more meals at home. To that end, I just cancelled our reservation for our anniversary at Acadia Saturday night. I'm now thinking a simple favorite pasta with chickpeas & garlic at home or perhaps pizza & NA champagne w/ Ambrosia for dessert sounds perfect & in the holiday spirit.

Then before the new year I can clean out the fridge & freezer. The freezer is in good shape since we got a new one last spring.

My goal is to figure out how to make a good gluten-free sandwich loaf, and maybe even plunge into the world of gluten-free sourdough. The last few months have seen a successful foray into gf quick breads like muffins and biscuits, so my confidence is building and I'm thinking 2013 will bring good things from my oven!

I'll also be working on improving my little window herb and box veggie gardens... each year they get a little more prolific and dependable, maybe I'm actually learning something? Oh, and I think we need to add a compost heap and a worm bin to the year's plans as well.

The fridge could stand a freshening-up... we did the big clear-out right before Thanksgiving, so fortunately it hasn't gotten too bad in there. But I like the idea of starting clean, and since it's not so bad, it should go quickly.

Thank you all for your inspiring words and stories! Happy new year to us all!

I still want to taste a truffle (not the candy).

Still have not learned to make onion soup- but did clean out spices and old food. Will do again this year. I will try not to overbuy food. If there is a good sale, I tend to buy more than I need or can use in a reasonable period of time. Also to use the freshiest ingredients possible. Keep processed foods to a minimum.