I can’t believe it’s already the last month of the year! In a couple months this blog will be celebrating it’s one year birthday…which is crazy and awesome. I did pretty well with my November goals and I like having them in the back of my mind as a reminder of things I want to accomplish. Before making some new goals, let’s check on those old ones!

Go meatless one day a week. Ehhh, I give myself probably a B+ with this one. I did several meatless days of my own, but Jason is on a low-carb, high-protein diet right now and I just have not been able to find high protein vegetarian dinners that he enjoys that fit his diet. We did try tempeh in November, though! I can’t tell you that I loved it. It was okay. I liked the texture and nutty flavor but it has a bitterness and aftertaste that I can’t stand (maybe it’s just the brand we bought?). If you’ve never heard of tempeh before, it’s a firm fermented soy product that sometimes has grains mixed in, and it’s really high in protein and very good for you. I think I’d like to try another brand and give it another try because I really want to like it!

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Focus on eating seasonally. I’ve been doing SO GOOD with this one, y’all! I have made so many strides in this area of my life. I make much more of an effort to try everything that comes in our CSA box, and I have gotten a lot better at only picking seasonal produce when I’m in the grocery store. The berries and peaches in the store are tempting, but when I remind myself that they’re from a gajillion miles away and and probably pumped up with chemicals, I’m able to resist the temptation. I LOVE relying more on our local farmers and less on the grocery store for our food! I feel like I’m sticking it to the Man. And I love that.

Try new ways of preparing veggies. Triple check! We ate lots of kale in November, so I tried my hand at preparing it several different ways. My favorite ways of eating it are in chip form, braised, or creamed.

Creamed Kale

I think my favorite veggie discovery of the month was arugula pesto! So delicious!

So now its time for… my DECEMBER GOALS!!! December is full of stress and craziness because of school, so there’s a lot of things I want to make sure I focus on to stay sane and happy.

Practice Yoga Daily

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Back in high school, there was a summer when I woke up every single day at 7am to do a morning yoga show that came on the Oxygen network. I became so much stronger that summer, and started every day feeling refreshed and grounded. I LOVE the way I feel when I practice yoga, and it definitely needs to become a part of my routine again. It will definitely help relieve some stress.

Bake lots of holiday treats!

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I’m totally serious about this one. I know that with finals and everything I won’t be able to bake a new type of Christmas cookie every day, but I’ve got to remind myself to take the time (when I have it) to make the delicious treats that make this time of year so special.

Keep my immune system strong.

As you might remember, I keep getting some bad throat infections and it’s really not fun. I don’t know what the cause is, but I’m assuming it’s bacterial because they always respond immediately to antibiotics. I don’t want to take more antibiotics and I don’t want to get sick again this season. I’m going to do everything in my power to build up my immune system and avoid getting sick again! I’ll do a post later about my plan of attack, but I think it will include taking more probiotics and increasing my intake of antioxidant rich foods.

And last but not least…. Don’t let final exams cause a nervous breakdown.

Thanks for reading, and I h0pe your December is getting off to a fabulous start!

-Lauren