Welcoming 2012

Happy New Year I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas as well. As most of you know once you become a parent, Christmas isn’t really about you anymore. Although, I have to admit…I was spoiled this Christmas (and my birthday which was December 29th). I got a plethora of kitchen items, and I was so excited to share with all of you!

First, my brother and sister in law got a fancy coffee pot recently and gave me their old one. Well, it was an upgrade from mine. I now have a clock that I can set…nothing worst than skipping coffee when I’m running late! For my actual Christmas present, they got me a juicer. I’ve had an old juicer once and well, it was horrible. It made a mess and had a gazillion parts. I love mine! Much better and is easy to clean. I also got a juicing book to go with it. So far I’ve made Blueberry Grapefruit and Carrot Apple juices. They were both amazing! I also love how easy it is to keep all the pulp, skin, etc. for the compost.

Next, my stepmom and dad got me a food processor. I’ve been using my mom’s blender since mine broke years ago, and I’ve never had a food processor before. Specifically, it’s a Food Ninja. I’ve never heard of it before, but this thing is awesome!! It comes with three different size pitchers along with lids for storage. Tonight I used it to make a quick smoothie post work out. I used an overripe frozen banana, frozen blueberries, 1% milk, and wheat germ. Isaac and I both enjoyed it.

And my inlaws got me a fondue pot. Told you that I was spoiled! And those were just the kitchen items…hubby and I also got a patio set, and I got a beautiful necklace and some Vera Bradley items that I’ve been wanting. And some gift cards. Now that Isaac is 3 it was great to see him actually understand what was going on. Isaac got roller skates and a helmet from Santa, and he loves them! Now he just needs to learn to actually skate instead of just walking. haha.

We all had a blast during this holiday period, enjoying good food as well. We hosted Christmas Eve at our house and had some nice finger foods. I made some tortilla pinwheels and oreo balls, and I also cooked a ham. It’s tradition in our family to eat ham sandwiches when we open presents at midnight.

For Christmas day we enjoyed brunch at my inlaws’ house and then lots of good food at my cousin’s. We rang in the new year at our house. For New Year’s Day we enjoyed black eyed peas with the leftover Christmas ham. My stepmom also made beef brisket with cabbage. It’s tradition in New Orleans to eat black eyed peas and cabbage for the new year to welcome luck and wealth . I have to admit that Isaac wasn’t crazy about the cabbage, but he was a good sport.

These holidays have been truly amazing. With the start of the new year, I decided to come up with some resolutions. I haven’t done these in years…I always felt like they were far fetched and monotonous. I always argued that you should make goals throughout your every day life. While I still believe that, I realized that I never sat down and thought about my goals. I did this year. Here are a couple of my resolutions:

• Exercise at least three times per week
• Go to church regularly
• Learn to sew
• Walk my dog more regularly-I’ve been told she’s overweight
• Blog twice per week
• Take better care of myself, including not only exercise and healthy eating but also enough sleep

I started p90x yesterday and it was rough. I’m SUPER sore today,  but today’s workout was much easier. I feel encouraged already!

Did you get any kitchen goodies for Christmas? Does your family have any traditional foods for the New Year?

As always, thanks for reading.

Selene