1. Stick to my Golden Rule of Book Buying
EPIC FAIL! Let's just say once I fell off the wagon a few months into the year, I never got back on. Shall I fess up to the number of books I bought this year? I was going to, but every time I tried to tally them up, I lost count. ::Hangs head in shame::
2. Get no more than 10 new cookbooks.
I was still on track halfway through the year with four new additions. Then it seems it all went to hell in a hand basket! I did some major splurging which landed me with 15 more new ones, plus four I won from a giveaway. Most of the ones I bought were used, purchased with the gift card that came with the giveaway, or Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals. Still, I was definitely naughty with a grand total of 23 cookbooks added to my shelves. I did do a good clean out and traded in some old ones I don't use though, so maybe that redeems me slightly?
OK, I think I did pretty good on this one. I finished many of my challenges and have read all over the place this year -- close to 100 books! A new record for me for sure.
4. Read more books for the Classics Club.
I was off to a good start with four earlier in the year, then I read two more. So six in twelve months -- not terrible, but not a huge number either. There's always room for improvement!
The idea behind this goal was that I could dip in and out of these types of books while also reading other things, but I still haven't managed it yet. This may be the perfect thing to try next year after baby arrives since reading in bits and pieces may be all I can manage for a while.
6. Work on my time management and make time for reading every day.
I did great on this one. I have read more this year than ever before and have been loving every minute of it. Taking a blogging break and cutting down on reviews also helped me make more time to read. No promises on how this will carry over into 2015 though!
7. Go to bed earlier and get more sleep.
I've had a few short stretches where I fell back into bad habits, but have been able to get myself back on track. For most of my first trimester, I was completely exhausted and sleeping a solid 10 hours every single night, so that really helped establish a better routine. I don't sleep so well now, but I do go to bed at a decent hour and figure waking up in the night will be good practice for when baby arrivese.
8. Try at least 50 new recipes.
I did really well on this one making 97 new recipes! My recipe list from the fist half of the year can be found here. The remaining new recipes for the year are listed below (but only the ones you can find online in case anyone wants to try them.)
SWEET
Award-winning zucchini bread and muffins from Sally's Baking Addiction
Chocolate chip zucchini brownies from Two Peas and Their Pod
Cornmeal-berry sheet cake from Martha Stewart Living
Dark-chocolate spelt brownies from Martha Stewart Living
Glazed lemon zucchini bread from Lil' Luna
Healthy strawberry oat squares from Sally's Baking Addiction
Oatmeal scones topped with lavender sugar from Movita Beaucoup
Raspberry buttermilk crumb cake with lemon crumbles from Vanilla Sugar
Roast plum sorbet from River Cottage Every Day
Salted caramel apple crumb bars from Two Peas and Their Pod
Salted caramel cookie dough truffles from The Baker Chick
Salted dulce de leche bars from Spoon Fork Bacon
Stone fruit tea cake from Rustic Fruit Desserts
Strawberry and honey sorbet from The Kitchn
Brownie batter truffles from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen
Chocolate Nutella fudge with sea salt from Cookin' Canuck
Chocolate chip cookie dough fudge from The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook
Peanut butter fudge from Sally's Baking Addiction
No-bake Thin Mint cookie truffles from Six Sisters Stuff
Speculoos truffles from Savory Sweet
Chocolate peanut butter bark from Love and Olive Oil
Chocolate chip cookie dough fudge from The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook
Peanut butter fudge from Sally's Baking Addiction
No-bake Thin Mint cookie truffles from Six Sisters Stuff
Speculoos truffles from Savory Sweet
Chocolate peanut butter bark from Love and Olive Oil
SAVORY
Baked pasta with tomato, red pepper, and sweet Italian sausage sauce from Seriously Simple Holidays
Caramelized onion and goat cheese pizza from Cooking Light The Essential Dinner Tonight Cookbook
Collard and pecan pesto from Bon Appétit
Corn chowder with zucchini and orzo from Everyday Food
Fairy tale eggplant in ginger-garlic sauce from Coconut & Lime
Farm Stand marinara sauce from Food to Live By
Fresh ricotta cheese from Bon Appétit
Garlic dill pickles from Food in Jars
Garlic-scape pesto roast chicken from The Farm
Hoisin pork with napa cabbage from Fine Cooking
Kale pesto white bean dip from Annie's Eats
Par-baked pizza crust from Vegetarian Times
Raspberry vinegar from Food to Live By
Rigatoni with lemony kale-and-pecorino pesto from Food & Wine
Santa Fe pizza from The Bon Appetit Fast Easy Fresh Cookbook
Shaved broccoli stalk salad with lime and cotiija from Root to Stalk Cooking
Spinach pesto fusilli from Mad Hungry Cravings
Stir-fried pork with eggplant, chile, and runner beans from Bon Appétit
Sweet corn, zucchini and fresh mozzarella pizza from How Sweet It Is
Swiss chard, onion and cheese frittata from Williams-Sonoma Cooking from the Farmers' Market
Tomato-kale quiche in cheesy rice crust from Food52
9. Choose one cookbook from my collection at a time and make several recipes from it.
Nope. Didn't manage to do this one. With too many cookbooks to choose from, I definitely had commitment issues! Also, with our CSA farm share, I needed to choose recipes that used up the fresh veggies we received before they went bad which was not compatible with cooking exclusively from one book.
10. No purchasing packaged sweets.
I did really well on this one... until I got pregnant. First, I lost my sweet tooth altogether and then when it came back, I only wanted plain, simple sweets like dark chocolate or dark chocolate peanut butter cups (OK and the occasional Hagaan-Dazs Sea Salt Caramel Gelato -- that stuff is GOOD!) I still wasn't buying cookies or baked goods, but store-bought treats definitely snuck their way back in.
* * * * *
Overall, I was successful with half of my goals. Some I did even better than anticipated on, while others were complete failures. You win some, you lose some, right? I'm not feeling up to making goals for 2015, especially since I anticipate it will be a year of the new and unexpected. I may give it a bit more thought, but for now I'm happy with going with the flow and just having a simple goal of making time to read on a regular basis -- not exactly earth-shattering, but I think that is realistic for my life right now.
How did you do on your goals for the year?
Are you setting new goals for 2015?
Are you setting new goals for 2015?