To resolve or not to resolve . . . that is the question

I asked my husband last night if he'd made any New Year resolutions for 2012… he replied that he never makes them anymore because he never keeps them.   

Sound familiar?   

Being a perpetual resolution-maker myself, I thought about that for a moment.  Every year I make one or more “resolutions” (Resolution:  firm decision to do something), which, usually within mere weeks, fizzle away into the oblivion of daily life, never to be resurrected again until right around December 29 or 30. 

So much for firm decisions. 

So, what is it about making New Year resolutions that appeals to us, anyway?  Perhaps nothing more than the desire to be a better person.  The beginning of a new year looks very much like a clean slate—a chance to start over.  And so we resolve to… (do any of these sound familiar?)

• Lose 10 pounds this year
• Stop smoking
• Cut out sweets
• Get organized
• Go to church more often
• Stay connected with family and friends
• Turn off the TV and read
• Do more with the kids 

What are your resolutions this year?  Did you make any?  I have three:

     1 – De-clutter my life (an on-going process)

     2 – Read through the Bible this year

     3 – Keep resolutions 1 and 2

Given my track record, the chances are good that this year’s resolutions will go the way of every other year’s resolutions…but, where there’s life, there’s hope, they say.   And in the effort, I’m sure to come out better than had I not tried at all.

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Side Note…

How do YOU do it?  

I used to be able to sit down and make a menu plan for a month – when I had a houseful of kids…and worked, too!  Now it’s just me and hubby, and it seems an impossible task to plan even one week at a time.   

As a result, most of what I cook is thrown together, and a little boring.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I’ve thrown out most of my cookbooks.  Since our fairly recent transition to a low-carbohydrate and mostly natural food diet, I found very little in those old cookbooks worth keeping.  

Fortunately for me (and to his credit), Mark will eat almost anything I make.  But fried chicken liver and steamed vegetable, no matter how healthy, takes a little of the joy out of eating.  

I’m still working full time, so any suggestions from my readers on the following topics will be gratefully considered:

   1. Meal planning techniques to save time (for two people)

   2. Tried & true recipes using healthy ingredients (i.e. nothing low-fat, nothing processed, nothing with soy…and if possible – for Mark’s sake – nothing with cheese or milk) 

… are you beginning to understand my problem? 

I'm gradually building up a new "cookbook" consisting of a 3-ring binder filled with recipes torn from magazines, printed from internet sites, or recorded by hand from the occasional successful attempt to "throw something together" (slipped into plastic sheet protectors for safe-keeping).  Donations welcome!