Starting The New Year

This blog will follow me as I attempt to prepare three new recipes every week throughout 2011. Perhaps some would think this is not an extremely lofty goal, but being a stay-at-home mom with a toddler, I am lucky if I can get dinner on the table most nights. My idea for doing this of course, had roots with one of my favorite movies, Julie and Julia, but there are other motivating factors. As Olivia is approaching age three and becoming more independent, I find myself needing to engage in projects that stimulate my mind, teach me something new and hold my interest for an extended period of time. I decided that holding myself accountable to cooking three new recipes per week fits the bill.

As I write this first entry, it is Wednesday, January 5th. Somehow the week already got away from me so I now have three days to cook my first three recipes. Lucky for me, I received two fabulous vegetarian cookbooks for Christmas so I was able to sit down with the books tonight to choose my first two recipes. The first is a sweet potato and quinoa salad and the second is a vegetable penne pasta with basil sauce. They sound fabulous, don't they? I wrote myself a little shopping list so after I take Olivia to preschool in the morning, I will run to PCC to buy the ingredients. Oh, I forgot to mention that we are an almost vegetarian household (we eat turkey occasionally and lots of fish) and that we currently eat between 70 and 80% organic, depending on the season. I suppose these factors make my project slightly more challenging but I am up for it.

One last thing.......I have not necessarily been known for my cooking prowess but I have improved over the past few years. Let's just say that the majority of meals I cook for my family are good with a great dish thrown in here or there, but I do provide the occasional dud. Here's to a year of cooking adventure! I thank Brad and Olivia in advance for being my guinea pigs and Olivia for being my little kitchen helper.