As many of you already know, I lost my mom very unexpectedly this past July, which you can read about here, and here.

Looking forward to the New Year and the new decade, I am committed to carrying elements of her and her lessons forward in the hopes that by doing so, my children will get to “know” her.

One of her most defining strengths was her creativity and prowess in the kitchen. Even though she worked long hours as a physician, she managed to whip up healthy, homemade dinners every night when we were children, a tradition she continued even after we had flown the coop. She cooked with an abundance of love – fierce in her desire to nourish the people in her life she loved. We used to joke with her that she was like MacGuyver in the kitchen, able to turn out a four-course meal with only beans and a can of olives in the pantry. She even made her own bread.

As a working mom myself, I have often relied on the “I’m too busy” excuse and punted the ball where dinner is concerned. I can’t count the number of times we’ve settled for a frozen meal or simply ordered out because I wasn’t organized enough with the meal planning. The same holds true for lunches. I know my boys eat far too much mac & cheese for lunch…fine every once in awhile, but not as a regular thing.

My ONE resolution

So this is the year I get it together on the cooking front.

My goal is, by the end of the year, to cook 6 healthy meals from scratch a week and pack a healthy lunch for my boys every day – and make my own bread at least 1 time a month. For this first quarter, my goal is to cook at least 3 healthy meals a week from scratch and pack or make a healthy lunch for Will and Lachlan at least 4 days a week.

I’m going to be willing to fail a whole lot along the way. Starting with bread. I’ll be blogging about my progress as the year goes on.

Here’s mom’s recipe for Oatmeal Bread:

Happy New Year to everyone. May you all have strength, health and happiness all year!