This year, put the focus on New Year’s resolutions that celebrate the food you eat, instead of restricting yourself.
Here are eight ideas for cooking resolutions that will help you love being in the kitchen.
Try meat-free Mondays
Cutting out meat every once in a while is an easy way to make your weekly meals a little healthier ‒ without having to completely change the way you eat.
Meat-free Mondays are an easy initiative to get behind. Initially started by Paul and Stella McCartney, it involves having one vegetarian meal every week.
And while it is just a single day without any meat, it can make a significant difference to your diet, lifestyle and overall wellbeing.
Cutting meat out of your meals also forces you to be a little more adventurous with your food and flavouring ‒ and it could introduce you and your family to some new foods that you might not have had a chance to enjoy yet.
Start with vegetarian versions of classic dishes to get used to cooking full meals without meat. Once you are a little more confident, start experimenting with vegetables as well as meat alternatives.
Invest in cookbooks and use them
Rediscover a cookbook you have had for years, or get to know ones that you received these holiday, by first spending some time reading it outside the kitchen.
Bookmark every recipe you are interested in, even if it calls for spring produce and it is the beginning of January.
Then, go through your notes and pick three dishes you can try this month.
Make a shopping list, buy the ingredients and start cooking.
Try using mushrooms as a meat substitute
Many people aim to start the year with lighter recipes, and swopping mushrooms for meat is a fun way to give vegetarian options a try (maybe you have heard of Veganuary?).
Mushrooms are a really great meat substitute because they add so much savoury, umami flavour, and their texture replicates some properties of meat.
Master a new kitchen skill
Are you afraid of cooking fish, or maybe of making pie? This is the year to hone a new cooking skill. Use your imagination!
You could work on something as simple as chopping an onion, or as complex as de-boning a full chicken.
Just consult a few YouTube tutorials and try it over and over again, until you get it right.
Store your fruits and vegetables better so they get eaten and not tossed
Produce is essentially a living, breathing thing. If you think you can just toss it in your fridge and assume it will be okay, you will be disappointed.
Learn which foods benefit from humidity (generally, fruit needs less and vegetables more) and which should not be stored together.
Some ‒ like potatoes and onions ‒ should not be stored in the refrigerator at all.
With just a few small adjustments, you will save money and food.
Grow something flavourful
Growing your own produce will add an extra layer of connection to your meal.
Add a few tomato or squash vines to your garden. If you do not have outdoor space, a simple windowsill will do the trick.
Mint is also easy to grow in a pot and useful for drinks, dinners, salads and more.
Have a family breakfast every morning
You have probably heard it a million times before, but breakfast really is the most important meal of the day.
Rather than making it a chore, you can turn it into a chance to have some quality time with your family.
You will feel fuller for longer and get to start the day off with the people you love most.
Cook up some breakfast in bulk on Sunday night and set aside at least 10 minutes in the morning to sit down as a family and eat something together.
Something as easy as an assortment of blueberry muffins or some home-made granola will make a nice treat.
Take that cooking class you have been forever saying you would do
Cookbooks and television shows can take you far, but for some skills ‒ think folding a samoosa or knowing what consistency a pie crust should be (and when to stop the food processor and start using your hands) ‒ a demonstration where you participate is the only way to really get it.
Once you get to the kitchen, turn off your phone, pull out your notebook (one with a waterproof cover is best) and take lots of notes.
When you get home, make a concrete plan to use your new skills: Pick a day to cook for friends, or teach your family members what you have learnt.
Experiment with leftovers
Let your favourite dinner menu options inspire how you use leftovers. If you like breakfast for dinner, turn your leftovers into an omelette or a scramble.
If you have a stack of tortillas in the cupboard, just about any kind of leftovers can become tacos. With bread, cheese, and butter, you can transform leftovers into a savoury melt.
By making a cooking resolution to get creative with your leftovers, you will not only reduce the food waste you produce, but you will also keep your fridge better organised, by not messing up your refrigerator shelves with many abandoned containers of the old food.