Boy am I cutting it close with posting today’s prompt – it’s after 10pm! I’ve had such a busy day — did some work for my husband’s company this morning, rested quite a bit since yesterday was a tough day in pregnancy-land, and I also put together a crock pot freezer meal from this website and made a meal as well which we had for dinner (the teriyaki chicken)! This was my second crock pot meal ever and I am already addicted! After two years of owning a crock pot and never using it, I can’t believe how fabulous it is and am so excited to make more easy and healthy meals for my family.

That brings me to the prompt for the day. 🙂

While obviously becoming pregnant and ultimately having my second son in the next couple of weeks will be super exciting and will likely be the greatest event that happens this year for our family, that’s actually not what I picked for my “best thing this year” — COOKING is!

I made a point to learn how to cook this year. I’m not the best cook or the most creative, but I can follow most recipes and I am not afraid to try new things anymore. I’ve cooked a lot during this pregnancy and I credit eating better with the fact that I haven’t gained as much weight this time around compared to when I was pregnant with Zachary.

I feel so much healthier when I eat home cooked meals and incorporate veggies into our diet. Compared to cooking out of a freezer bag I bought at the grocery store, it’s a world of difference.

Learning to cook has really allowed our family to bond more since my husband is now excited to come home from work a bit earlier when he knows that I’m making something yummy. And Zachary is much more apt to try new foods when he sees Mommy and Daddy eating them. He went from a boy that never ate vegetables to one who will at least try the veggie in every meal! I consider that progress. I’m not a big veggie fan myself, but choosing recipes that include them has inspired me to eat a lot more vegetables than I normally would, and I know I’m better off for it.

It’s hard for me to be on my feet cooking a lot now, so I haven’t been eating as great as I should the past few weeks… but I’m hoping the crock pot helps out with that since it’s so easy — and once I have the baby and recover from my c-section, I’m looking forward to cooking a lot more, losing the baby weight, and keeping my family full and healthy!

So… yay for cooking and eating better this year! A healthier food lifestyle is so important as we get older, and the better we eat the better we’ll feel.