Healthy Eating in the New Year

You know what's better than a dinner out with friends? ... A dinner IN with friends. In the New Year, Matt and I have instituted some changes in our lifestyle. Unless it's a special occasion, absolutely NO eating out at a restaurant. We are fortunate enough to have an amazing kitchen, that allows for some great cooking. This past weekend, we staying in and had stir fry night with our friend, Katie. 

Another resolution for the New Year, Matt and I are cutting out almost ALL the processed foods we eat. If we want mayo, we have to make mayo. And we have to use what we make. I'd like to get to the point where I even make my own butter, but being lactose-intolerant, I wonder if I'd be okay with butter made from dairy.. hmm... I refuse to use margarine. Gross. We're using up all the condiments in the fridge that are already there, and then we can't buy new ones. Also, organic when possible. Hormone-free when possible. More fresh food. As Tony Horton says, if it has more than three ingredients, you probably shouldn't eat it. 

(as I write this post, I have to be honest, I'm really sick with a cold and I've broken my own rules, eating oreos, Easy Mac, and store bought soup today, but hey, I can break rules when I'm too sick to cook...)

Chicken and shrimp stir fry. Matt's allergic to shrimp (or so he thinks he is), and Katie's a vegetarian, so we kept the meat seperate from the stir fry. Ingredients in the stir fry were as follow: carrots, broccoli, yellow, red, and green bell peppers, snap peas, fresh garlic, cayenne pepper, ginger, olive oil, crushed red pepper, sea salt (just a dash), sweet chili sauce, and soy sauce. 

In your dreams, Zeus. We served the stir fry with brown rice. 

Such a great night in! I can't wait for more nights cooking with friends in our kitchen, rather than wasting money on food at a restaurant. And the best part of cooking in, leftovers. Sunday meals were entirely leftovers and it was so yummy!

I found a few new food websites and apps I'm going to make an effort to try out. New recipes, less baking, more cooking. Happy Herbivore has a ton of great recipes I want to try, if only I can get Matt to like squash. And FoodGawker (an app) has a bunch of things I've favorited. I'll try to share more of my cooking with you all. Let's all be super healthy this year! Yeah?! Yeah!

What are you doing different in 2013?