goodbye 2011

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2011 had plenty of ups and downs, and though I haven’t blogged as much as I might have hoped, I am very grateful for the good things that happened.

Highlights included trips to Camp Blogaway, the Institute for Integrative Nutrition fall conference, and the International Food Blogger Conference where I met amazing people.

Goals from last year

focus on my writing, which I did
write more guest posts, which I did
launch my coaching site, which I did
update New Food Fridays, which I did not
tweak and update the site, which is in the works, slowly

2012 is the year of the dragon

“The Dragon symbol of the 2012 year is an intelligent and laborious worker who never puts aside work though sometimes this leads him to excesses. The water Dragon has enough courage to face challenges and easily finds weak points that stand on his way to success.” source

Blogging Goals for 2012

A real logo for the site is already in the works.
This year I will actually use my editorial calendar.
More frequent posts. My writing energy went to my my business in 2011 and I’m proud of that, but I miss posting regularly here.
More diverse posts (it’s been mostly CSA/Project: Food Budget posts lately) with more recipes again.

Personal Goals for 2012

Travel more. With a few exceptions, we stayed pretty close to home in 2011. I’m kicking it off with a roadtrip through the Southwest with my mom in January.
Learn to can. Now that we have a yard, an abundance of produce is in our future and I want to be prepared.
Have more fun! We’ve had a lot of Serious Things happen lately, and I want to be present, let go, and worry less.
“Do.” I read, learned, and planned a lot in 2011. This year, I will take action and do more.

I also have a pile of business goals which kick off right away with my FREE 5-day January Jumpstart on Monday, segueing into a 3-month group program. On January 12 I have my first live workshop of the year here in San Diego.

I’m grateful to you for reading my site, leaving comments, emailing me, making and sharing my recipes, and being part of my community and online family. I look forward to connecting with you in the next amazing year!

What are you proud of from 2011? What are you releasing? What are you looking forward to in 2012?

Happy New Year!

Keep up with Little Blue Hen: get updates via email, subscribe through an RSS feed, connect on Facebook, or say hello on Twitter. Comments? I love feedback and suggestions! Leave them below or email me.

December 31, 2011 · Tagged with goals, holiday, new year, winter

food budget, projects

project food budget: weeks 11 & 12

Posted by Stacy · 4 Comments

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Project: Food Budget

I am currently back in the Midwest for Christmas, and though I prepped my numbers for the last two weeks for this post (I have a tracking spreadsheet), I forgot to somehow make that spreadsheet accessible while I travel. Oops. So I’m putting in approximations based on bank statements which I will adjust later.

Totals

Week 11: $58.44 (groceries) + $20.90 (restaurants)
Week 12: $78.40 (groceries) + $35.48 (restaurants)

Lessons Learned

We were close, maybe a little higher than usual last week between the CSA ($28) and running out of a few kitchen staples like oils (last for a while, but $8 a bottle).

We hadn’t been eating out much, but we did a few times in the last two weeks. Once was to try a restaurant I really wanted to visit, and twice my husband and I went out while running errands and to take a break. One of the benefits of working from home is that I can cook my own food, but sometimes I don’t leave the house for days at a time. I needed a break and some quality time with my hubby!

Other Thoughts

We’re 3 months in to Project: Food Budget! Emily asked all the participants what we’ve learned. I noticed that the word “budget” has a negative connotation to me, much like the word “diet” evokes a restrictive way of eating. In some ways, calling this a food budget makes me feel internal pressure to spend as little money as possible. It’s a budget!

However, I feel that good quality food is an investment, and I’m happy to pay that money to farmers and restaurants I support. So while tracking my food spending is educational, I want to make sure that I’m not trying to make buying decisions based on those restrictive thoughts.

Something for me to ponder.

Do you try to minimize your food costs no matter what, or would you rather spend money on food and save money in another area?

Check out the other participants of the challenge to see how they’re doing!

December 22, 2011 · Tagged with project: food budget, winter

desserts, food, snacks and sides

moroccan citrus salad & how to supreme an orange

Posted by Stacy · 13 Comments

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A local Moroccan restaurant offers a simple dessert of orange segments, strawberries, and orange blossom water. It’s lovely and understated, and a perfect way to cap off a delicious Moroccan meal.

But when you’re invited to a fall potluck when strawberries are decidedly not in season, what’s a girl to do?

Instead of studding the lovely in-season oranges with cardboard sham berries, I opted for the beautiful pops of color from an in-season pomegranate. The contrast in textures and flavors worked brilliantly. It’s simple, striking, and the orange blossom water adds a mysterious floral perfume.

Then I had the following conversation at least 5 times:
What’s in this?
Oranges, pomegranate, and orange blossom water.
Ooh, what else?
That’s it.
Really? Just oranges, pomegranate, and ….
… orange blossom water.
Orange blossom water. Where…
Middle Eastern grocery stores. It’s about $2.50.
Ahh, thank you. So oranges, pomegranate, and orange…. blossom… water.

The only prep time involved is to supreme the oranges. This recipe was the first time I had done so myself, but a few oranges in and I was working much faster. Supremes are just citrus segments cut away from all the membranes, pith, and peel of the fruit for a cleaner presentation. Technically you could just peel and segment them, but this is prettier.

First, slice off the top and bottom of the orange so they are flat. I used my santoku, you could use a smaller knife so long as it’s sharp.

Then, slice away the peel and all white pith from top-to-bottom in a curving motion. Work your way around the orange.

You can do this with the orange on the cutting board if you prefer. I risked life and limb for these photos for you!

Once the orange is naked, line up your knife along the membrane between segments and slice toward the center. Repeat on the other side of membrane until you have clean slices.

Voila! Orange supremes.

Not sure how to seed a pomegranate? Got you covered.

Now sprinkle in a few drops of potent, floral orange blossom water, mix in some gorgeous pomegranate arils, and impress everyone at your next event with such a simple recipe.

Moroccan Citrus Salad

Orange blossom water can be found in Middle Eastern grocery stores.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Serving Size: 4 ounces

Ingredients

1 pound (about 4 medium) oranges
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
1/2 teaspoon orange blossom water

Cooking Directions

Peel and supreme oranges (see above).
Add pomegranate seeds and orange blossom water. Stir.

December 14, 2011 · Tagged with citrus, dairy-free, easy, fruit, gluten-free, salad, vegan, vegetarian, winter

food budget

project: food budget, weeks 7-10

Posted by Stacy · Leave a Comment

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Project: Food Budget
I think most of the participants in the project skipped posting on Thanksgiving, but since I’m posting bi-weekly, that makes it a whole month since my last update.

As I guessed, our food expenditures increased based the amount of people eating at our house. Not only did we add 3 adults and a ravenous 4-year-old, my husband had some extra days off work and was actually home for meals.

It’s not entirely accurate; we ate out several times in a group, and my sister kindly paid for one grocery run, Mom for another. We took a trip to the farmers market and spent more money than usual, but I didn’t keep a good tally of the cash we had. So it’s an estimate.