2012 food goals

Every year at about this time my beloved and I sit down to work out our goals for the year - individually and jointly. This year is no different - in fact, it's happening tonight. Hence this post, which is helping me work out what I want some of my goals to be this year. Specifically my food-related goals.

Oh, who am I kidding! I can turn any goal into something food related. The general themes we use are around our finances, health, professional development and work, personal development and our relationship with each other as well as with family and other loved ones. Typically they include saving $$; getting fitter and healthier and eating less junk; spending more time together including date nights, holidays, long weekends; etc etc...

But what do these have to do with food? I'm getting there...

For a long time I have hated our kitchen. Actually since we bought our house. There is nothing hugely wrong with it - the house was only a few years old - but it is small with limited and very pokey storage that fits a small fraction of what I have, deep cupboards so you can barely find out what is behind the first layer, an awful electric stove, bad lighting and not enough powerpoints.

The good news - the reno is happening in 2012! Kitchen designers are being spoken to AS WE SPEAK {yippie-yi-yay!!}.

Horrible pantry with deep shelves - and yes it's messy... 

So onto the goals:

In anticipation of the kitchen reno and having to pack {but financial as I'll be saving $!}:

• stop buying stuff that gets shoved in the pantry and forgotten! As soon I'll need to pack all this, my #1 goal is not to buy ANY pantry goods but to eat our way through what we have - including the 12 tins of salmon, 8 tins of sardines, packets of couscous, quinoa, crackers, many jars of yumminess, wild rice, dried fruits and SO. MUCH. MORE. 
• eat our way through the freezer - it has a similar look thanks to a few not-really-necessary visits to SuperButcher to stock up on some of their incredible beef/pork/chicken bargains, the generosity of Silverwood Organics {I won a lamb pack at a charity fundraiser in October}, and more general over-shopping
• so all I am allowing myself to buy food-wise between now and the kitchen reno is fresh fruit/veg, dairy, bread and fresh fish. Of course, I may have to get the occasional chocolate bar as today I sadly discovered this house is chocolate-free :(

Kitchen benches like THIS will soon be a thing of the past!!

Food experiences {this is really health to get fitter and feel better}

• eat more locally grown and produced food, and support more local small food biz
• cook more at home. Especially since Kerry Heaney @eatdrinkbeKerry so kindly {note the sarcasm here...} told me of a study that shows women who eat out more than 6 times a week tally up the kilojoule equivalent of 1 kilo a month. I gained 10kg in 2011. Mostly because I ate out A LOT...
• entertain more at home and have more friends over for a casual mid-week meal
• eat more fruit, more veg and less meat - aim for one vegetarian day a week
• visit more markets and different types of food shops, especially when I'm on holiday {this is just part of the exercise bit - walking around markets for cardio, carrying my purchases for strength!}

The rest {including education, personal development and fun stuff!}

• blog more! 
• try new foods and cook with new ingredients
• read more food books - and not just cookbooks! 
• try more new restaurants, not just the old favourites - and use Brisbane Budget Bites a LOT MORE!

Anyway, they are some of mine for 2012. What goals - food or otherwise - do you have?