Peaches & Cream: Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Foodie Resolutions for 2014 & Our Top 10 Picks!

Last year, I made several foodie resolutions. And while I wasn’t able to successfully complete all of my resolutions, I think I will keep some on for next year!! I hope I am not the only one that has unsuccessful resolutions, but I figured I would share them from last year!

Plan a weekly menu. This is easier said than done! Though I hope to do this more consistently than last year.
~~Make more main-meal type dishes that are budget friendly~~. I’ve definitely added more onto the blog! I will continue to do so next year!
Eat more vegetarian dishes ie. 3-4 times/week. This is still a work in progress.
~~Purchase more locally grown food and products.~~ Earlier last year we purchased 1/3 of a cow with my dad & sister. We still have plenty left and so excited to buy more! My dad supplied me with lots of chicken & vegetables over the summertime-score!
Try to make more ethnic dishes. Well, I still need to work on this. I bought more cookbooks that will hopefully help remedy this issue.
Bake more bread. Gavin and I love bread but it just hasn’t worked out very well!
~~Overcome fear of working with pastry.~~ I feel wayyy more comfortable with working more pastry!

In addition to this, I would like to add:

Eat healthy.
Run more often (need to balance out the sweets I post on this blog!!! :D)
5 paleo dishes (this will by done by Marlina! YAY!)

And without further ado, here are Marlina & my favorite picks of 2013-It’ funny, although I love sweets, these ones spoke to me immediately as I made them several times throughout the year.

#10 Nicoise Salad Sandwiches-they take some effort but boy, are they delicious. And absolutely stunning.

#9 Shrimp Tacos-pretty much the best shrimp tacos i've had so far. I love the black bean filling, mixed in with homemade avocado salsa & topped with these spicy shrimp tacos. We made these in Costa Rica several time and I could never get enough of them!

#8 Glory Bowl aka 'Buddha Bowl'-the name says it all. These healthy salad is packed with tonnes of nutrition & a beautifully flavored dressing. SO good, especially for work!

#7 Lemonade Iced Tea-the first time I've ever made Iced Tea and I fell in love with it. It definitely made plenty of appearances over the summertime!

#6 Orange Glazed Chicken with Mint Whipped Feta-well, this chicken is absolutely fantastic. No other words for it!! It pairs so well with the feta, and even better with the roasted beet & quinoa salad.

#5 Shrimp Pasta with Oven Dried Tomatoes-I served this for Mother's day brunch and it was a hit. One of my favorite dishes that we served!

#4 Potato Rosemary & Sausage Pizza-this pizza brings me back to Costa Rica. Oh man, how I miss that place!! Gavin and I ordered this pizza & while we waited, we had a couple of delicious Mojitos. Fun times! I couldn't wait to make this when I got back. I love that a few simple ingredients combined together could make such a tasty pizza.

#3 Cross Rib Roast with Cabernet au Jus- this is now my go to roast recipe. I can't count how many times I've made it with success! And it's always loved by everyone I make it for! :)

#2 Paella-I don't exactly remember when I first tried paella, but I've always been so intrigued by it. I was so happy when I made it. It's such a beautiful dish with complex flavors.

#1 Chili-okay, so this is my absolutely favorite dish. Mostly because it's my own. You can't go wrong with this bowl of heartwarming food. I've been making it for years and it just comes to natural what to add-I had a hard time remembering to write everything down!!