New Year, New Kitchen

Jan 1st...again...already?!! 2011 was a good one, a very good one. The move East has been very successful and tomorrow we will move in to our dream home here. I'm excited about the whole house but probably most of all, I'm dying to get into the kitchen. It's much bigger that the current condo sized one we've been in for the past 4 months (which is a good size for a condo kitchen) and although the apartment has been great, both PB and I have struggled with the constraints of the space.

Now we will have lots more space aaaand an island! and to go along with the fab kitchen (pic below complete with moving-in crap all over the island), we have a big deck which will be housing a BBQ as soon as it's warm enough to get out there and grill without the cooked goods being re-frozen before getting them back inside.

I have some foodie plans for 2012 as follows:

• Reduce my sugar intake. I've experimented with this a bit over the past year or so and definitely notice a big difference when I don't eat sugar, like waking up before my alarm in the mornings. It's not sustainable 100% of the time so I will have a cheat day every 6-7 days to indulge a little. Cheating does not mean going crazy and eating crap. It means eating the things I want to eat in moderation and satisfying any cravings. My current craving of choice is a Tim Hortons sausage muffins(minus the egg) and maybe throw in a hash brown. For the purpose of clarification, sugar means starchy carbs, candy, high sugar fruits (bananas, mangoes) and dried fruits.
• Eat more vegetarian and vegan foods. I'd like to commit to this 2 nights a week.
• Have people over for dinner! This was not really an option for the past 4 months due to very limited seating and entertaining options but new house is VERY conducive to hosting guests.
• BBQ. A lot.
• Have a super awesome veggie patch. It's not in existence yet but PB has big plans for the yard. Can't wait for freshly picked lettuce and homegrown strawberries.
• Eat more sushi. I have cut back a lot since moving East as it's more costly here and less prevalent, plus I've been eating home a lot for economic reasons. I've decided I need to plan it into my budget more as frankly, it's a food group I can't live without. Hoping to make more sushi at home like last year too.
• Be a more regular blogger......really. I feel like life has settled down now to a more regular existence and so I'll have more time to relay all my foodie finds to you.