A Look Ahead

First of all, with this final post of 2006, I will be marking a significant milestone. For this, my friends, is my 500th post to Tummy Treasure. 500! It seems like just yesterday that I was starting out, and to reach 500, that's quite amazing to me. I'm looking forward to the year ahead and seeing where it takes me.

Secondly, I have a quick article up this morning at Kids Cuisine. Definitely check it out, because it shares food for thought on expanding the repertoire of your picky eaters. I think I'm on the right track as far as getting my kids to eat more, and this little nugget just reinforces that.

And finally, I have compiled a brief list of 10 Food Goals for me for 2007. I don't make any promises other than a sincere attempt to think about accomplishing several of my goals. Some of these goals are really just focused on common sense eating and incorporating more of the good stuff. Others are a little more frivolous and will be fun to explore. So here we go.

1. Attempt to make homemade sausage. Whether it's homemade breakfast sausage, or a grilling sausage, I'd like to try making my own and grinding my own meat. We'll see how this one goes.

2. Explore Moroccan Cuisine. I'm fascinated by the combinations of flavors associated with Moroccan food, and I would love to learn more. I'll give myself an added bonus if I can make it slightly more kid friendly.

3. Be less afraid of greens. I admit it, I tend to avoid greens like Kale, Collards, Chard, etc. I don't know why, because I love spinach, and I like turnip and beet greens. I want to get over that fear and learn to love 'em.

4. Make one recipe from every cookbook I own. I'm hedging on 70 cookbooks, surely this is doable. And as I make my way through, if I just can't find a recipe to try, then I know the cookbook needs a new home. I'll be figuring a way to track this and sharing the results. This one will be a fun challenge.

5. Experiment more with vegetarian cooking. I get so focused on the meat and 3 or meat and starch aspect of a meal. I have several vegetarian cookbooks that I love going through, I just need to hunker down and use them.

6. Prepare duck. I LOOOVE duck, but I've never prepared it. Even if it's just a couple of breasts, I will make duck at least once this year.

7. Incorporate more fish into our meals. We love fish, the kids not so much. So I tend to avoid cooking it. Fish is so healthy and good for you. And if you've read my Kids Cuisine article, you know that if I continue to eat fish, my kids eventually will too. So that's great incentive right there.

8. Eat breakfast daily/be more adventurous with breakfast. I don't always eat a good brekkie, and when I do, I get stuck in a rut. There's more to breakfast than eggs and oatmeal. I want to discover that.

9. Incorporate more beans into our diets. Why wouldn't I? Beans are great for you, and offer an excellent protein source for meatless alternatives. Specifically, I want to have plenty of dried beans on hand to do anything I want with them.

10. And finally, I want to learn more about whole-grain baking. I'll be getting the new King Arthur flour book shortly, but I already enjoy baking bread from scratch, I want to be able to make breads that are good for you, and great tasting. It would also be fun to be able to bake a cake that isn't as unhealthy as it seems (and we all know I love cake!)

Well, that's my list. Farewell to 2006, you've been kind to me.