My Goals for 2011

I have a number of goals for 2011:

- Become generally more self sufficient by making a greater effort to widen my skillset and learn more about any areas that would make my life easier if any type of disaster were to strike.

- Expand my efforts at gardening to include more four season gardening, following the awesome Elliott Coleman's (Four Season Harvesting) guidelines. This includes growing more plants from seeds (in the past it has only been a small percentage of my garden) and trying to get an earlier start on the season.

- Be better about preserving that harvest via canning, freezing, drying, and generally USING what I grow. I plan to regularly try new ingredients and new recipes and will share the results here. In addition, I am employing more Once a Month Cooking (OAMC) techniques in my cooking and will share those efforts as well. Finally, I also am planning mini challenges for myself for each month to learn new skills, create my own products to eliminate convenience products, and incorporate frugality into my daily life.

- Incorporate healthier eating habits into my life following the South Beach Diet eating program.

- Be a better steward of the earth's resources by actively seeking out organic and locally grown ingredients. However, I struggle with this in trying to balance the financial aspect of these options. I plan to share the results my efforts here.

- Be a better steward of MY resources by actively looking for ways to save money and reduce our debt and generally live a more frugal and simplified life.

- Organize my crafting, cooking, and gardening efforts to be more efficient and effective in what I do. One of my goals is to be less couch potato-esque!

- Document my efforts in achieving these goals with photographs and journaling. This requires that I learn more about how to operate my camera!