My New Years Resolutions

Personal:
1. Spend more time with the Boy having fun, and less time yelling.
2. Get back in some sort of decent shape.

3. Quit smoking (again).

Personal Stuff:
4. I would really like to get a hand grinder, but considering the price of the ones I like, this is more of a hope then a resolution.

5. Also, I want to co-op with a friend's family this year for a garden. The Boy is old enough to help out, they have the land, and then have school-age kids who are willing to help out. I love fresh fruits and veggies, we just don't have the space. Also start a small herb garden at the house.

Financial:
6. Start an emergency home-stash of cash.
7. Rebuild saving to 3 months of expenses.
8. Continue using Mint.com to better track/save expenses.
9. Continue to not make stupid choices.

Skills:
10. Go shooting at least once a month.
11. Take knitting or quilting class.

12. Enroll the Boy in Swimming classes.

Preparedness Stuff :
13. Add a stock of various Batteries.
14. Purchase some lighting setups. I.e.: various lanterns and flashlights.
15. Stock up on firewood this winter, perhaps get DNR permit.

Gun Stuff:
16. Save some money each month for a handgun. I know this sounds small, but seeing as my gun knowledge is extremely limited, I'm working with what I've got now.

Food Rotation:
17. This year, be much more realistic about what I'm canning and what amounts. Having lots of fruits and jams is nice, but realistically I should have canned much more veggies. I'm much more likely to use 10 quarts of spaghetti sauce then I am to use 10 quarts of pickles.

18. Purchase a small dehydrator to use for drying own herbs and veggies.

If I were a Rich Girl: Kitchen List

This is a completely random and irrational list of things I would have in my kitchen, should one of those "obscure relative dies and leaves you loads of cash" emails come to fruit. Otherwise, well, I'm a cheapskate.

KitchenAid Stand Mixer: Even if I had a million dollars, I refuse to spend an extra $150 to get it in lime green. I'm pretty fine with hand mixing (builds the biceps) but considering I'm doing this on my own, it gets a bit tedious when trying to do 5 things at once. I can't say I'd mind having this take some of the load off.

Atlas Pasta Maker: I've tried to hand roll pasta in the past, and even made a fairly decent batch of ravioli's once. BUT I don't not have the patience or practice to make it paper-thin like you need to really have it work well. I'd love to be able to make whole grain pasta, and spinach pasta on my own. *Note: I'll probably cave and buy a smaller, cheaper one eventually*

KitchenAid Food Processor: This particular one is twelve cups, and I'd probably actually lean a bit smaller for just me and the Boy. Once again, this is something I don't need but it would be a nice little splurge it I could afford it.

Le Creuset French Oven: (Excuse me while I wipe off my drool) This is numbero uno on my list! It cooks everything, does everything and I want it. I want it yesterday. Actually, scratch that just get me the 6-piece set. I'll take that in yellow, thanks.

Cuisineart Ice Cream Maker: My parents have an automatic ice cream maker, but it seriously makes about a pint of ice cream. You stare and stare and stare all day, and in the end you get two bits. This one makes 2 qts. which is enough for a big get-together, or to freeze for later. On a more realistic note. Ex-Holes family has one of these which are actually a lot of fun. The kids spent a bit rolling it around in the grass (rolling, no soccer) and poof! Ice Cream.

Belgian Waffle Maker: Once again, I'd be more then happy with a little cheaper one like this but if I was splurging I want one of the cool flippity ones. Waffles are a big deal around our house come breakfast. If I whip out the waffle iron, I'm practically beating the Boy off and trying to keep as many waffles as I can away from him at least until they get to the table. Right now I have the standard square waffle iron, and well, I like Belgian waffles more.

For Grills I would take both the Weber Genesis and regular Weber Charcoal Grill. I love the taste of a charcoal grill, nothing beats it. But sometimes you can fight the ease and stability of propane. Oh, and ah, throw in a EGG Smoker while your at it.

I think that's about it, but I'll probably think of a ton more once I post this.