what will you do this year?

I have been thinking about what goals I would like to make for the new year (since it is already the seventh, and I better set my goals soon or January will be over). Do you make New Year's resolutions? Do you tell people your resolutions or keep them privately to yourself?

I read this devotional this week about keeping your goals to yourself. It challenged me to consider my motives if/when I do share my goals or resolutions on this blog. Whose thoughts am I really considering when I share my goals? Do I just want to talk about my goals, or am I willing to seriously work at them?

There are so many resolutions I could make: as a child of God, a wife, a mother, a homemaker, homeschooler, friend...
I am so flawed, sometimes resolutions can seem daunting. But change, purpose, direction, and goals are good.

I need to resolve to be resolute in my resolutions. :)
2011 can be a success. I have 358 days left to make it so.

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So, all that being said, I will share one goal (besides to take down my Christmas tree before the end of January).

I want to cook or bake at least one new recipe every week. Maybe two; I can't decide.

It figures that one of my 2011 resolutions has to do with food. I can't help myself -- I just love to eat!

See, here's the deal: I really love cooking and baking, and I am a cookbook lover as well -- I can spend hours just paging through a cookbook, and reading recipes, and dreaming about all the things in the world I have never tasted. But I still find myself in cooking ruts since I can be lazy. I need to stop reading all these recipes and just cook some of them already! So my hope is to stretch and grow my kitchen repertiore (without stretching and growing myself).

My mother-in-law gave me a subscription to Vegetarian Times, and while I am in no way a vegetarian, it is a great resource for cooking outside the steamed broccoli and frozen peas box. On Thursday I cooked up a recipe in the January/February '11 issue for a Baked Leek and Sweet Potato Gratin.

Confession: I have never before in my life ever bought or cooked leeks.
The result: a very yummy, savory application for sweet potatoes.

While I dress them up with mounds of sugar and butter and pecans for holidays, on an everyday basis I just bake sweet potatoes whole and serve with butter or honey. This recipe was very different from the usual and made me buy and try a new veggie. The leeks and garlic in the dish played so well with the sweetness of the potatoes, and I really enjoyed it.
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So while I may blog about some of the new recipes I try, I think I will heed the advice in that devotional and acknowledge the wisdom of God's Word and keep the rest of my goals and resolutions to myself. I don't want to let pride or a false sense of accomplishment get in the way of what I need to do. Nor do I want to get any of the glory that belongs to God.

I hope your new year is one of thriving in Him!