Checking In

It's been almost six weeks since making my food New Year's resolutions. It seems like a good time to check in on my progress.

Make one new dish every week from our ever-growing and beloved collection of cookbooks.

Hmmm...I'd give myself a C on this one. We have made several new recipes but not six. It's sometimes easier to fall back on familiar favorites. When we do this, though, we miss out on finding new favorites. There's a triumph in trying a new dish and knowing that you'll be eating it for years to come.

Learn to make a killer spaghetti...maybe even with meatballs.

We haven't tried this resolution. It's a challenge because neither of us loves red sauces. If you have a great recipe, please share it.

Eat at least 2 super-vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, chard, kale, etc.) a week.

Solid B+. We actually do well in this category. Super-vegetables are super. We love roasted cauliflower, sauteed spinach and steamed broccoli. Thanks to an experiment with getting a surprise box of organic vegetables, we tried kale for the first time this winter. We are fans. We found a terrific kale soup recipe I'll be sharing very soon.

Learn to make a really good Asian noodle dish.

No luck here yet. Again, suggested recipes (or recommended Asian cookbooks) are very welcome.

Get better at photographing dishes for the blog.

I'll give myself an A for effort here. Sometimes things go well (see the quesadilla post); other times, not so much (see the rest). But, hey, practice makes perfect, right? I'm practicing. Any tips are appreciated.

Try at least 3 new restaurants (this would be more but it conflicts with last year's decision to eat out less).

We excel at this one (or fail at the decision to eat out less, but let's be positive, okay?). We tried Kuma's Corner with our friend Noelle. We had chocolate fondue at Ethel's with Noelle and our friend Scott. We plan to try Balanced Kitchen with our friend Melody soon. Ahh, if only all the resolutions were this easy.

Eliminate Diet Coke.

I'm most proud of myself for this one. I haven't completely ridded myself of the Diet Coke addication, but I'm made tremendous progess. I was drinking 4 DCs a day. I'm down to no more than two and usually one. I drink more if we eat meals geared traditionally toward soda pop--pizza, for example. Maybe I should switch to beer. I don't miss the DC when eating fresher foods like salad or sushi.

As an added plus, I've lost a couple of pounds just from this small change. It's not so much that anyone but me has noticed, but my pants are definitely looser.

That's Tiffany reporting in. More updates later.