January 2017 - Page 2 of 3 - NY Foodie Family

Weekly Meal Plan {Week 61}

Posted on January 16, 2017 by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend. If you have off today, I hope you are enjoying the three day weekend and remembering the great work of Martin Luther King Jr. Meal planning plays an essential part in making our week run smoothly. Here’s a look at what was on our menu this past week:

Saturday: We went to a neighbor’s birthday party and ate dinner there.

Sunday: We had a very belated Hanukkah celebration! My son was upset that we didn’t have latkes, so my husband cooked a pork loin and latkes. Do you join me in seeing the irony of our dinner?! Regardless, it was a delicious dinner and we were upset that my husband didn’t make extra latkes. So we he made some more latkes last night for dinner as well!

Monday: I made Crockpot Italian Chicken and Broccoli Rabe Chili from Half Baked Harvest. I have loved everything that I have made from Half Baked Harvest….until this recipe. I thought it sounded really different. I left out the cannelini beans, since I’m not a fan of them. But I found this dish to be really bitter from all of the balsamic vinegar.

Tuesday: I made Hoisin Glazed Meatball Subs from Every Day with Rachael Ray, October 21, 2016. We like anything with Asian flavors and especially love hoisin sauce. My son rolled the meatballs for me while I was shredding the Brussels sprouts. This was an easy to make (minus the shredding of the Brussels sprouts!) and tasty dinner. I served the sandwiches with fries.

Wednesday: I made French Onion Chicken from Closet Cooking. Of course i hadn’t read the recipe through prior to making. When I got ready to cook dinner at 5:30 I discovered that the onions were supposed to cook for an hour! That was not happening. I cut it down to about 25 minutes. The chicken dish still tasted really good and everyone enjoyed it. It really did have all the flavors of French Onion soup! I served it with roasted sweet potato wedges, frozen, bagged veggies and leftover kale salad that my husband had brought home.

Thursday: Thursday is our super busy evening. I made an audible in our menu plan and used some of the leftover pork loin in pork fried rice. I served the rice with some frozen dumplings and everyone was happy! Super quick and easy! That red sauce is chili garlic sauce. We put it on almost all of our Asian dishes to add some kick.

Friday: I made breakfast nachos. No recipe. Just cooked some bacon and scrambled eggs which we put on top of tortilla chips along with salsa and shredded cheddar cheese. I served with additional salsa and sour cream. Yum!

What is on your menu this week?

Five on Friday {Three Day Weekend}

Posted on January 13, 2017 by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

Happy Friday the 13th! This week has been pretty uneventful, which is fine with me. I am a creature of habit and routine. Tonight my son has a skit night with the Cub Scouts that we are attending and my daughter is at a friend’s for the evening. We have a three day weekend to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. Besides a birthday party that my son has, we so far have a relatively quiet weekend. We will definitely be having a family movie night one evening and I hope to get in lots of reading time! Here are five from this week:

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1. Reading: I just finished reading Raymie Nightingale. This is a middle grade fiction book that was a 2016 Goodreads Choice Award nominee for middle grade & children’s as well as a 2017 Mock Newbery. I was expecting great things from this book but thought it was just an okay read. My daughter is interested in reading this book and I’ll be curious on her thoughts, since she’s the actual intended audience for the book. Up next on my TBR pile is Only Ever You.

2. Watching: Two episodes in and I’m totally hooked on The Bachelor! I’m also very happy that This Is Us is back. I still have to watch this week’s episode though. And my daughter and I have just started watching Just Add Magic on Amazon Prime. We are only a couple of episodes in, but it’s a cute show.

3. Eating: My husband is a quarter Jewish. He was not raised Jewish but has grown up celebrating Passover and Hanukkah with his mother’s side of the family. We normally celebrate Hanukkah as a family with latkes, Hanukkah books and dreidel playing. This year the first night of Hanukkah fell on Christmas Eve. We were busy Christmas Eve and Christmas with family celebrations and then I was sick for most of the week after the holidays. So, we never had our Hanukkah celebration. My son was upset that he didn’t get his latkes, so this past weekend my husband made them. We enjoyed them so much (and he hardly made any!) that we plan on making some more this weekend. They are so good!

4. Media Event: This past Tuesday I was invited to a preview luncheon of Dig Inn. This is a NYC based eatery that opened its first Westchester County location in Rye Brook. I was invited to sample the food (which is healthy and delicious! If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen some of the tasty eats I had!) and see the space (which is bright and beautiful!). I brought a friend with me and it was a great time. I am grateful that blogging has provided me with such fun opportunities.

5. Phone Issues – Okay, I have an iPhone 6s. Recently, whenever I got an incoming call, it would cut in and out and I couldn’t hear the caller for about the first 10 seconds. It was more annoying than anything and I found it especially trying when on the phone with the doctor. My husband called AT&T for me and they noticed that I hadn’t updated my phone in forever. Yes, I admit, the update notice would pop up daily and I’d just hit “update later”……every single day! I’ve heard bad things happening when people do a software update. Well, that is supposedly the cause of my phone issues. So I did the update yesterday and so far, so good. I guess I should listen to my phone and do the updates when they appear?!!

ICYMI this week on the blog:
Monday I shared our weekly meal plan.
Tuesday I posted my December reads which I shared with the Show Us Your Books link up.
Wednesday I wrote about my word of the year.
Thursday I reviewed Dig Inn, a local restaurant that just opened.

Linking up with Tif, Andrea and April. Have a great weekend!

Dig Inn Rye Brook Opens Today!

Posted on January 12, 2017 by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

*I was invited to a preview lunch experience at Dig Inn. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This past Tuesday I was invited to a preview lunch at Dig Inn in Rye Brook. Adam Eskin, Founder & CEO of Dig Inn, opened his first restaurant in 2011. This is Dig Inn’s fourteenth restaurant and first Westchester County location. Located at 112 S. Ridge Street, Dig Inn offers a new dining option to the Rye Ridge Shopping Center. And it officially opens today!

When you enter the restaurant there is a large, casual dining area with communal tables. They have a deli counter in the front where you can order containers of their sides, proteins, or even family meals to go. As you make your way towards the back of the restaurant there is the ordering area, where you can customize your Marketbowl or Melting Broth, the restaurant’s main lunch and dinner dining options.

At the end of the counter is the Chef’s table. Here you can sit and dine while watching the chefs prepare a variety of toasts and vegetable charcuterie.

And finally at the back of the restaurant is dining area. There are several seating areas with marble table tops adorned with tiny succulents. When designing this Rye Brook restaurant, creative director Melanie Masarin and founder Adam Eskin were all about cutting open the ceiling to place a giant, elevated sky light. They also added a giant window in the back of the restaurant, to allow for lots of natural light into the space. The result, is a bright and beautiful dining room.

I was able to sample the three different toasts that they offer, including this one topped with roasted pumpkin with pepitas and pickled chiles. I also tried the lemon ricotta with truffle, black pepper and honey and the smoked whitefish with red grapes and soft herbs. I can honestly say they were all delicious.

Vegetable charcuterie offerings from the chef’s table include this Yukon Gold potato terrine topped with smoked salmon, creme fraiche and Mutsu apple.

I also tried Celery Root Pastrami as well as this Parsnip Marrow Bone with celery leaf and black truffle. It was interesting to see a vegetarian take on what would normally be a meat dish.

I got to meet Chef Matt Weingarten, Dig Inn’s culinary director. He spoke with us about Dig Inn’s mission, which is to build community through food. He noted that their menu is mostly vegetables and all dishes are cooked fresh. He enjoys the open kitchen design (pictured above) which allows the chefs to engage with diners.

The Dig Inn menu is seasonal and they are currently featuring their Winter menu, which as I mentioned features the Marketbowls and Melting Broth.

My friend and I shared Marketbowls that had a base of toasted farro, sides of Brussels sprouts and kale, apple and blue cheese salad and were topped with Herb Roasted Chicken and Grilled Organic Tofu. These bowls were hearty and delicious and I love that they are customized. The combinations are endless!

I also got to sample a side of the Seasonal Upstate Mac and Cheese. It was creamy and cheesy. Honestly though, I would choose one of the amazing veggie sides over mac and cheese!

And to end the meal, I sampled the Kitchen Sink Cookie and Organic Dark Hot Chocolate!

Dig Inn serves a variety of drinks including wine, beer and hard cider. I tried unsweetened raspberry iced tea and an Iced Matcha Latte. While the matcha latte was good, it needed sugar to sweeten it up.

Dig Inn Rye Brook is open seven days a week and serves breakfast as well as lunch and dinner. Check the website for specific times. The breakfast menu includes a variety of bowls as well as an egg sandwich, frittata, avocado toast, a quinoa waffle and more!

And for those families with young children, have no fear. Dig Inn offers a Little Digs menu with a variety of dining options sure to please. While there’s no age specifications on the children’s menu, my eight and ten year-old would love the Old Macdonald. Otherwise, they could easily share a regular Marketbowl.

Everything I ate at Dig Inn was delicious. For those of us who live in Northern Westchester, getting to Rye Brook is a bit of a drive. However, if you are in the White Plains area (and really, who doesn’t travel down to there frequently?!) Rye Brook is close by. Be sure to stop by and give the newest Dig Inn a try!

2017 Word of the Year

Posted on January 11, 2017 by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

Once again I decided to choose a word of the year. Last year’s word was “happy.” Overall, I think I had a pretty happy year. This year it took me a lot longer to finalize my word. I debated between gratitude, prosperous or success before I finally chose “growth.” Merriam-Webster defines growth as: a stage in the process of growing. And that is what I plan to do this year.

There is a quote that really resonates with me, “A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there” – unknown. Although I may have been happy this past year, I was definitely way too comfortable. I adjusted to life as a full-time stay-at-home-mom, while my husband worked on building his new business. I think that the family has enjoyed the benefits of having me home. However, my husband is situated with his job and the kids are half-way through the school year. It’s now time for me.

This year I plan on focusing on my personal growth. I am five months into my gym membership and still going to classes several times a week. However, I’d like to work on building my arm strength so I can complete a couple of yoga poses that are currently challenging me. Overall, I think my diet isn’t too bad. I would like to incorporate more fruit and veggies into the rotation though and be better at having at least one meatless meal a week.

I’ve owned a DSLR camera for years now and still shoot in automatic mode (hides face behind hands). Since I upgraded to the iPhone 6s last fall, I’ve almost exclusively been taking pictures with the camera on that. However, this year I am intent on learning to shoot in manual mode.

I love to read. I would like to read at least one non-fiction book a month focused on personal growth.

This blog has always been a hobby of mine. It’s a way for me to write about the things that I enjoy and use my brain. While I’m not looking to make money from this blog, I would like to continue to grow my readership and social media following.

And finally, I have decided that this is the year that I go back to work. I left the education field for good at the very beginning of 2016. At that point, as I’ve mentioned, me being home was best for the family as my husband focused on growing his business. Financially, it would be beneficial to the family if I brought home a salary. But I’ve also been feeling restless being home. I am really trying to be intentional about my employment though and looking for possible jobs that would be rewarding and fulfilling rather than just something to bring home a paycheck.

So, 2017 looks to be a great year. Having a word of the year helps keep me focused and living with intention. I hope that this year brings me lots of growth!

What is your word of the year?

December 2016 Reads

Posted on January 10, 2017 by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

It’s time for Steph and Jana’s first Show Us Your Books linkup of 2017! I especially loved reading last month’s best of 2016 books posts, which made me move up some of the books on my to read list! Today I’m sharing my December 2016 reads. I read 10 books which all rated 3 or 4 stars, so a pretty good reading month for me.

3 Stars:

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Flawless by Sara Shepard – I’ve been slowly making my way through the Pretty Liar series. I’m not sure what took me so long to start this series but it’s perfect brain candy! Plus, I’m enjoying watching the show on Netflix as well. There’s only 16 books but 141 episodes and I’m already seeing how the show is different from the book. But, it’s fun!

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Happy Endings by Adele Geras – This is a YA book that I received for review for the Kiss the Book blog. Set in London, 16 year-old Mel spends her summer rehearsing in a youth theater performance of Chekhov’s Three Sisters. With a small cast, they become close and Mel navigates new friendships, drama and romance. Although this is a short book, at 170 pages, I felt it read very slow.

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Sleep Smarter by Shawn Stevenson – This non-fiction book provides, “21 essential strategies to sleep your way to a better, body, better health, and bigger success.” Shawn Stevenson provides useful tips and insights on getting better sleep and why it’s so important. I’ve been interested in getting more sleep and know that sleep is important. I found this book to be informative.

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Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple – I wasn’t a fan of Where’d You Go Bernadette? so I probably shouldn’t have read this book. This book is a quirky, family drama that I thought was okay.

4 Stars:

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A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig – A cute, middle grade fiction book about the origin of Santa Claus. You can read my full review in my 25 Books of Christmas post.

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Matilda by Roald Dahl – Somehow, I never read this book until now! My son and I read this book together over the course of a couple of weeks. It’s a great Dahl read about a super smart little girl and her parents who don’t believe in reading or the importance of an education. Luckily, her teacher Miss Honey realizes Matilda’s gift and encourages her learning. We were unable to see the musical in NYC before it closed but will watch the movie soon.

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Paris For One and Other Short Stories by Jojo Moyes – I’m normally not a big fan of short stories. However, I really like Moyes’ books and enjoyed this collection. It’s a book of nine short stories all about relationships.

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Three Christmas Wishes by Sheila Roberts – I like to read Christmas books in December. This was another book that I read for my 25 Books of Christmas feature. You can read the review here.

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Two By Two by Nicholas Sparks – This book was a little different than Sparks’ normal love stories. This was actually more of a story of a couple falling apart. There were a couple of other side stories going on as well including Russell, the main character bonding with his young daughter as he basically raises her as a single parent. This was a tear jerker, as Sparks’ books usually are.

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What Light by Jay Asher – I loved Asher’s 13 Reasons Why. This book was very different but an enjoyable, holiday YA read. This was another book I reviewed for my 25 Books of Christmas.

Weekly Meal Plan {Week 60}

Posted on January 9, 2017 by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

Happy Monday! This is the first meal weekly meal plan of 2017. If you enjoy my meal plan posts, you have 59 previous weeks of meal plans you can search to help inspire you in your meal planning! Here is a look at what was on our meal plan last week:

Sunday: My husband made fish tacos with spicy coleslaw which he served with cilantro rice and homemade guacamole! I love guacamole….and homemade? Yum!!

Monday: I normally do the weekly grocery shopping Monday. Since it was a holiday, I didn’t want to battle the crowds. So, we made some fried rice and dumplings (that I had in the freezer from HMart).

Tuesday: I made Cheesy Turkey Tortilla Soup from How Sweet It Is. I had been sick the week of Christmas and hadn’t cooked in forever. I jumped back into the cooking game by making this soup. It was a perfect meal for the chilly night we had it and a great way to use up some of the leftover turkey from Christmas. I had never made tortilla soup prior to this and I can’t believe what I’ve been missing! This was so good and even the kids loved it!

Wednesday: I made an Asian Meatloaf (recipe to come soon!) with Asian Potatoes and string beans. The meatloaf was really tasty! I realize that in addition to the prep, meatloaf takes forever to cook (like an hour!). So, not a quick and easy weeknight meal. However, I think making mini meatloaves in muffin tins or burgers would be great too.

Thursday: I made The Pioneer Woman’s Turkey Tetrazzini. This dish used up the rest of the leftover turkey! Woo-hoo! It took awhile to prep and cook but I did it all in the afternoon. Since Thursday is our busy night we were able to reheat it and eat in between piano lessons and basketball practice. This makes a lot and provided dinner and several lunches for the rest of the week. I’ve made tetrazzini before, but this one was different with the addition of olives and bacon. The kids weren’t big fans of this dish though, so I likely won’t be making it again.

Friday: We had our usual homemade pizza. However, this week we had bacon and olive pizzas to use up leftover ingredients we had from other meals this week.

What is on your menu this week?

Five on Friday {Happy New Year!}

Posted on January 6, 2017 by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

Happy Friday and Happy New Year! I hope everyone has adjusted to 2017. It’s been a bit of an adjustment for the kids (and myself!) adapting to earlier bedtimes and earlier mornings! But we are back into our routine and ready for all that 2017 brings! This weekend my son has a basketball game and we are going to a neighbor’s birthday party. We will also be taking down our tree and Christmas decorations. Here are five from this week:

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1. Reading – I am currently reading Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick. I love her and am enjoying this book.

2. Watching – The Bachelor. I’m not a regular watcher of this show. I watched the season of the Bachelorette with Andi and Nick, but I didn’t see Kaitlyn’s season or when Nick was on Bachelor in Paradise. However, I’m all in for this season!

3. Listening – Since I’m watching The Bachelor, I thought it might be fun to listen to an episode recap on a Bachelor podcast. Well, who knew that there are so many different podcasts?!!! Here to Make Friends, Rose Buddies, Rose Pricks, Bachelor RHAPups…..does anyone listen to any of these and/or have a favorite to recommend? There’s no way I can or want to listen to them all!

4. Eating – All the comfort foods. I hated being sick all week and thankfully, my husband stepped in and took care of dinner most evenings. I felt so out of practice cooking dinner this week! The weather is cold and although I want to eat healthy, I’ve been all about the comfort food. Look for this Cheesy Turkey Tortilla Soup and the rest of our comfort food eats this week in Monday’s weekly meal plan post.

5. Family Fun – My son had been wanting to see Star Wars: Rogue One since it came out December 16. Neither my daughter or I are huge Star Wars fans, although we surprisingly both enjoyed The Force Awakens. So last weekend my husband and son went to see Rogue One and my daughter and I went to see Sing. Everyone was happy and both movies were really good!

Bonus: New Year’s Eve – My husband and I haven’t gone out on New Year’s Eve since having kids. Honestly, I’m not all that into the holiday and the thought of getting on the road when so many people have been drinking kind of scares me. The kids are getting older and for the second year have stayed awake to see the ball drop. So we had our second annual family game night. Each member picked a game for us to play. My son just got Star Wars CLUE for Christmas and this was my pick. We also played a Jelly Belly guessing game that my daughter made up, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? and Wits & Wagers.

ICYMI this week on the blog:
Monday I shared our November & December Six-Pack.
Tuesday I posted Podcast Episodes for the New Year.
Wednesday I shared my January Currently in the monthly linkup.
Thursday I reviewed the Empire Crate subscription box.

Have a great weekend! Linking up with Tif, Andrea and April.

Empire Crate November 2016 {Subscription Box}

Posted on January 5, 2017 by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

Back in November I won an Empire Crate subscription box. I was super excited since this monthly subscription box is filled with hand-picked food items from all over New York state. The box costs $39.95 if doing a month to month subscription. But they offer a three month and six month prepay option which gives a discount on the subscription price. Inside the box were six different items (one in two different flavors) as well as an information card about the products and producers. The inside of the box has a map of New York State with an X showing where in the state the different items in the box were produced. I received the November 2016 box and this is what was included:

Anya’s Real Fruit Licorice – (2 – 1.13 ounce sticks) In the box we received a Strawberry and Mango flavored licorice bar. Anya’s licorice is made in Brooklyn, New York. The candy is made in small batches without preservatives, high fructose corn syrup or artificial colors or flavors. I’m not a licorice fan but enjoyed this candy. Neither the strawberry or mango flavored bars had a traditional “licorice” flavor.

Emmy’s Organics Coconut Cookies – (2 ounce bag, with 3 cookies) Emmy’s Organics was started by Ian and Samantha in 2009 when they started selling their coconut cookies at the Ithaca Farmer’s Market. They make several different varieties of coconut cookies including chocolate chip, vanilla bean, raspberry and lemon ginger. We received the dark cacao variety in the box. The two ounce bag had three cookies in it. These cookies are vegan, gluten free and made from organic ingredients as well as fair trade organic cocoa powder. Unfortunately, I’m not a big coconut fan, unless it’s on a Girl Scout Samoa cookie or in Haagen-Dazs Pineapple Coconut ice cream. So, these cookies weren’t my thing. However, my husband and son ate them up!

Martin’s Handmade Pretzels – (box of four pretzels) Martin’s pretzels are handmade using only four ingredients. These hard pretzels are super light and crunchy. Four pretzels were included in the box we received. Unfortunately, all but one (luckily, one was photo-worthy!) were broken in pieces. From what I’ve read online, the company is based in New York City. However, I believe the pretzels are actually made in Pennsylvania and sold at several NYC Greenmarkets. Otherwise, you can purchase the pretzels online, where a 3 lb box, available in either whole wheat or traditional costs $14.29. We thought the pretzels weren’t bad, but probably wouldn’t go out of our way to get them again.

Partyka Farms Pumpkin Seeds – (3 oz. bag) Jeff and Lora Partyka have 900 acres of family farm land in Kendall, New York. The farm sells fruit and vegetables and has a store that sells baked goods, jellies and of course, their pumpkin seeds. You can purchase these pumpkin seeds through their website, with a 6 oz. bag costing $3.50 or find them at retailers including Wegmans. I’ve never been a big seed eater. However, these lightly salted pumpkin seeds were tasty. Everyone, including the kids enjoyed eating these!

Weber’s Horseradish Mustard – (16 ounce jar) Weber’s has been a family owned and operated company, located in Buffalo, New York since 1922. According to the Weber website, this horseradish mustard, whose recipe hasn’t changed since it was first created is the number one selling mustard in the Buffalo area. I don’t eat mustard. However, my husband and parents really like this mustard. It has a nice kick from the horseradish but isn’t overly spicy.

Gatherer’s Gourmet Granola – (bag with 1/2 cup of granola) Since 2010, Gatherer’s Granola has been making their granola in Schenectady, New York. The granola comes in six varieties: Chipmunk’s Choice (almonds, peanut butter, maple syrup), Squirrel Bait (pecans, maple syrup, toasted coconut), Fox’s Fancy (apple, spices, honey) Badger’s Best (coconut, dark chocolate, quinoa), Bee’s Knees (honey, pistachio, walnut) and Turtle Tracks (pecans, dark chocolate, cranberry). The box contained a sample of Chipmunk’s Choice. We enjoyed this granola over Greek yogurt. While it is tasty enough to eat on its own, it is very loose, which makes it difficult. All the granola is made from locally sourced and natural ingredients. The company offers a subscription service through their website in which you can receive four 9 ounce bags for $19.99 a month (other subscription options are also available) or single 9 ounce bags can be purchased for $5.49 each. You can also find the granola at select stores and farms throughout the northeast United States.

Overall, my husband and I really enjoyed The Empire Crate subscription box. We especially liked being able to try products from our home state that we might not have heard of otherwise. Unfortunately, this box had a lot of items that I personally don’t like (mustard, coconut). We put a subscription to this box on our Christmas wish list, but no one got it for us. However, it’s a fun box that we will likely order in the future!

Currently January 2017

Posted on January 4, 2017 by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

Happy 2017! I’m excited to be joining the first Currently linkup of 2017, hosted by Anne and Jessica. Here is a look at what I’m currently:

gathering: up all the Christmas presents and decorations. The tree is still up and decorated but all of the presents have been collected and put away in their new homes. Our plan is to take the tree down this upcoming weekend.

making: a vision board. This is the first time I’ve ever made one. It’s still a work in progress as I gather my pictures and words. But I’m having fun as I create my focus for the year.

sipping: as I’m currently typing this over New Year’s weekend I’ve been sipping lots of tea and gingerale. I’ve been battling the flu for over a week now. I’m grateful to have gotten through the Christmas holidays and to have been sick over the vacation and not during a regular week where I’m up at 6:15 AM and shuttling the kids from one activity to another. However, it’s been rough! I didn’t get a flu shot and it hit me hard.

following: This past week I started following The LV Guide and Sheaffer Told Me To, both new to me fashion blogs. I’ve never been big into fashion. However, I’m trying to up my game this year and be a little more aware of fashion trends and style.

resolving: I am still trying to figure out my one word for the year. Last year’s word was “happy.” I have a couple of words that I’m thinking about but have not decided on. Hopefully, I’ll have it figured out by the end of the week. Does anyone else choose a word for the year?

Podcasts for the New Year

Posted on January 3, 2017 by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

If you’re new to the blog, you may not know that I’m a big podcast listener. I find that listening to podcasts help pass the time while I’m cleaning the house, driving around running errands and even showering. Instead of a list of podcasts that I’ve been listening to lately, I thought an episode specific post would be better. Especially because today’s post focuses on podcasts for the new year. These are recent episodes that I’ve enjoyed that focus on “best of 2016” or things to look forward to in 2017. If you’d like to read about some of my favorite podcasts you can read my blog posts, All the Podcasts Volume 1 and Volume 2.

2016 Wrap-Ups:

https://soundcloud.com/ifeelbetterpodcast/61-final

I Feel Better – Episode #61: Favorite Pop Culture of 2016! – I’m not going to lie, the four hosts, Nicole, Ashley, Ashley D. and Linda are very giggly. However, they are young, millenials who share movie, book, podcast and television recommendations. I’m a regular listener of this weekly podcast and enjoyed listening to this episode of their favorites of the year.

Let It Out With Katie Dalebout – Bonus Episode: 16 Things I Tried in 2016 – This is a pretty new podcast that I’ve started listening to and I’ve only listened to a handful of episodes. Katie is a speaker, blogger, author and life coach. She interviews different guests and inspires listeners live their best life. However, I enjoyed listening to this podcast in which she shares 16 things that she learned this year.

Local Mouthful – Episode #173: Home Cooking Highlights 2016 Edition – There are only a couple of food podcasts that I listen to and Local Mouthful is one of them. Hosts Joy Manning and Marisa McClellan have these soft, soothing voices and talk about all things related to food. Although the tag line is “living the food life in Philadelphia and beyond,” even if you live nowhere near Philly, you will learn a lot from this podcast. In this episode, the two discuss their favorite recipes that they made this year.

2017:

All The Books – Episode #87: Anticipated Books of 2017 – I have to admit I’m not a regular listener of this podcast. My to read list is already 600+ books long. I’m not sure what would happen to my list if I listened to hosts Liberty and Rebecca discuss new releases each week. However, I did enjoy listening to this episode in which the two talk about the books that they are most anticipating in 2017.

Elise Gets Crafty – Episode #117: On “one little word” for 2017 – As I sit still pondering what my one little word for 2017 will be I found this podcast episode helpful. Elise interviews Ali Edwards about the practice of choosing a word. This was the first episode of this podcast that I ever listened to, which I found in a search for “one word.”

The Sporkful – New Year’s Food Resolutions 2017 – In this podcast not, “for foodies, it’s for eaters” host Dan Pashman replays one of his favorite episodes of the year. Listeners also share the foods that they resolve to eat more of this year.

What are some of your favorite podcasts?