New year, let the blogging begin.

As 2013 came to its end I realised I had spent the whole year neglecting my blog, not one single post was published. I did spend an awful lot of time in the kitchen though and since practise makes perfect I figured the year was not a complete waste. This year however my aim is to bake and cook as much as I usually do, but also write all the recipes down, take lots of pictures and get blogging.

For me the New Year brings a sense of relief, it is as if we can all get a fresh start and forget about all those mince pies and ginger bread cookies eaten over the holidays. I have not really made any big promises this year as I find it to hard to keep it up after the first week or so in January. I have however started to do some more exercise and try to stay healthy with yoga and a wholesome diet. My plan is to eat more vegetarian meals, still getting lots of protein from pulses, nuts, lean meat and fish. One way of getting better at balancing your diet is to make a weekly menu. I try to get a good variety of meals and this is how a weekly meal plan can look in my household;

Monday: Roast red pepper risotto with crispy parma ham
Tuesday: Chicken biryani with mint and cucumber yogurt
Wednesday: Baked salmon, roast potatoes and green beans
Thursday: Indian chickpea stew with rice
Friday: Pasta alla norma

Weekends are usually left blank. I like to see whats left in the fridge on the Friday and decide from there what to cook/buy for the weekend. I try not to spend more than 60 euro per week on food. Even if it seems a little tricky it is definitely possible to feed two adults for that sum and I would encourage anyone to give it a try.

So 3 weeks in the New year, it is looking like it is going to be a good, healthy one with lots of blogging, cooking and baking to do.