‘Resolutions’ Archives

Goodbye, 2009; Hello, 2010

I genuinely cannot get used to writing 2010 as being a real, actual year we are all living in and not some fantastical made up date in the future where we will all have robot servants and jet-packs. Even without flying cars, 2010 has to be better than the rubbish year that was 2009, am I right?

Looking back at the list of resolutions I made for 2009 (which is one of the downsides of having a blog; you can always go back and see your great pronouncements for the new year and then realize you didn’t do any of them), I realize at least most of resolutions worked out, even if some of my other plans for the year did not.

Granted, I didn’t learn to make jam (too messy and costly) or paint the kitchen (ditto) yet, but I did do the following:
— reuse plastic containers
— find a place to recycle the plastic NYC doesn’t take
— use less plastic when I’m out and about
— came to like avocado
— learned to make good pancakes (more on that later this week)

I’m not making a big list of resolutions for this year (and only one food-related one: go to the greenmarket more often), and perhaps I will look back on this post in January 2011 and laugh bitterly because I had no idea what a crap year was in store for me, but right now, I’m feeling pretty good about 2010.

Category Resolutions |

Resolution: Use Less Plastic

[My goodness, ten days without a post? What can I say; it's January and January robs me of any motivation to do much. But let us move on...]

Using less plastic, let me tell you, has not been easy.

Two weeks ago, my kid got a package for her birthday, packed in Styrofoam packing peanuts. No problem, I thought, I’ll just find a place to recycle them. I went to NYCWasteLe$$, the city’s clearinghouse for recycling information. I did find a place to recycle packing peanuts, but I also found this:

At present, the ONLY plastics accepted by NYC’s recycling program are plastic bottles and jugs. ALL plastic bottles and jugs should be placed in your recycling bin. If it is NOT a bottle or jug, put it in the regular garbage. The only plastics accepted for recycling in New York City are bottles & jugs (with necks smaller than their bodies). All other plastic containers and all other plastic items should be placed in the regular trash — even if they are labeled #1 PETE or #2 HDPE.

I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, but I really had absolutely no idea. When I lived in a small city in the suburbs in Massachusetts, anything that was plastic could be recycled, so naturally, I assumed: everything else is better in NYC; the recycling plan must be as well, right?

So… according to the NYC Dept. of Sanitation, all the yogurt cups, sour cream containers, hummus tubs, medicine bottles, et cetera, that I’ve been putting in the recycling bin, should have been put in the trash. That makes me absolutely cringe.

However!

As I was looking for a way to recycle more plastic, I read about this Gimme 5 program from Preserve (makers of the best toothbrush ever). They’ve paired up with Whole Foods Markets to set up drop points for #5 plastics, where they can then be upcycled into something even better, like measuring cups and food storage.

Not bad for something that would have been trash.

Category Green is Gezellig, Resolutions |

Happy Twenty-Aught-Nine

If you’ve been following along for some time, you know I love New Year’s resolutions. Love them. Probably because I love lists (as seen here, here, and here).

In 2007, I completed 4 out of 5 of my food-related resolutions (and only skipped the 5th one — to make more bento lunches — because my husband started working from home).

So how did I do with 2008?

(more…)

Category Resolutions |

Resolutions: 2008 (final draft)

I already mentioned my plans to buy only humanely raised meat and cook more vegetarian meals. Here’s my final list of blog-related resolutions:

Make jam. No idea how to do this, or what sort of jam to make. Maybe rhubarb. We’ll see.

Paint my kitchen yellow. Okay, I’ve had a swatch of Spiced Butternut taped to the wall for months now; I need to just finally paint it.

Plant a windowbox garden so I can grow all my own herbs. I’m thinking of setting up a windowbox outside the kitchen window with the herbs I use the most — mint, basil, dill, parsley.

Bake more often. Pretty self-explanatory. I’m going to bake more yeast breads this year.

Use less water. Also fairly self-explanatory. I use a lot of water when washing the dishes; I’m sure there must be a better way to do it.

Explore more of my city. It doesn’t seem food-related on first glance, but there’s just so much to eat in this city.

What about you?

Category Resolutions |

Resolutions: 2007 — the wrap-up

I made some food-related resolutions around this time last year. Let’s see how they turned out!

Learn to bake. Although I never did make a third baked good, more importantly, I realized I’m no longer afraid to bake something new. I made cakes, I made frosting, I made a pie crust — and I already knew how to bake yeast bread. I think I can count this one as done.

Compost my garbage. I’m fairly proud of this goal. You can read the details of it here. If I had to estimate, I’d guess I composted about… 300 pounds of food scraps this year. (Wow. I even surprised myself with that one.)

Visit the Greenmarket at least once a week (even in winter). I think I made it there once a week — if I average out the whole year. February and March…? It’s a dreary, depressing time to hit the Greenmarket, let me tell you. But in summer, I’m probably at one of the Greenmarkets a couple times during the week. Sooo… eh, it’s close enough.

Cook something I haven’t cooked before every week. I initially described this one as “the college blow-off course of the lot” and it really was. I did this — as I’m sure a lot of us did — without really even realizing it.

Prepare wonderful bento lunches. I admit, I gave up on this one. Less than halfway through the year, my husband started working from home. Husband at home + homeschooled kid + me = not a whole lot of reason to make bentos.

And now, I start to think about Resolutions: 2008. So far, I’ve got buy humanely raised meat and cook more vegetarian meals, but otherwise I’m at a loss. Suggestions?

Category Resolutions |