January Baker's Notes
How to hit the ground running in the new year.
Happy 2025 bakers!
How are you? I hope you had a joyful holiday season.Â
Even if we spent the last week in a blur of athleisure wear and surviving on the four C’s (coffee, carbs, cheese, and cookies), we still have time to kick off 2025 on a high note.Â
I really hoped for snow. It was the first year since moving to the North Shore that we had very few plans and easy access to the mountains, but instead we got rain. Lots of rain.
In an effort to keep spirits high, I enforced fresh air activities every time there was a break in the rain. We explored new and old playgrounds, walked around Kitsilano, took wagon rides to the coffee shop, and looked at Christmas lights in our own neighborhood. My mom and I cooked real meals to supplement the excessive cookies and cheese in the house. We played all the kids’ new games and read our newly gifted books. Overall, a solid staycation with a backdrop of twinkle lights and Tchaikovsky to round out the year.
For 2025, I am focusing on a year of calm and clarity. Simple enough, right? These things look differently for everyone. But for me, that means a year of great food, a balance of outdoor activities and indoor stillness (like actual stillness, not scrolling), getting my hands dirty (gardening, making bread, playing with the kids), morning exercise and after dinner walks. These are the things that quiet my anxious mind and help me enjoy the truly precious moments of life.Â
For both myself and my kids, I believe a lot of our mental clarity and physical energy start in the kitchen. If you are looking to make more changes in your own kitchen this year, start here:
How to Reset the Kitchen for a High-Vibration Year
Expand Your DIY Pantry - I have a short list of non-negotiables for homemade ingredients. Granola, salad dressings, coffee creamers, and oatmeal are at the top of the list. They are super easy to make with my preferred ingredients and are often cheaper than store-bought. I’m continually expanding my DIY pantry with breads of all kinds, lemon curd, quick jams, toasted nuts, and granola bars.Â
Recipe for Vinaigrette:
â…“ cup olive or avocado oil
¼ cup vinegar (typically red wine, balsamic, or rice)
2 teaspoons sugar, maple, or honey
2 teaspoons dijon mustard (optional)
Squeeze of citrus (optional)
½ teaspoon salt
Shake it up in a jar and use immediately or store in the refrigerator. Sometimes I add a spoon of mayo or Greek yogurt for a creamy version (skip the citrus). I honestly never even use measuring cups here. I pour oil in a glass jar and add almost an equal amount of vinegar then proceed with the seasonings. Taste and adjust, but don’t overthink it.Â
Rediscover Real Scents - I’ve always been sensitive to smells and stopped wearing any perfumes or scents of my own 10 years ago when I was pregnant with our son. I used to love lighting candles and dabbled in essential oils, but increasing headaches made the occurrences less frequent.Â
For various health reasons, I’ve grown weary of artificial fragrances. As an alternative, I invite us to experiment with real scents. Want the house to smell like oatmeal cookies? Make some! Want to limit phthalates and parabens in the home but still make it smell good? Some easy alternatives are to brew a fresh pot of coffee, sip cinnamon tea, simmer a pot of spices, slice citrus and herbs, or mull some wine.Â
Reduce Plastics - This is a slow process for me, as it would be difficult to toss all the plastics and replace them at the same time. Last year I ditched all the kids’ plastic cups and my mega water bottle that was impossible to thoroughly clean in favor of glass jars with silicone sleeves and stainless steel. We’ve switched to all glass food storage containers as well.
This year, I’ll be gradually removing our plastic cutting boards and replacing them with wood and butcher block.Â
Let Go of Near Empty Jars - I’m not talking about good jam jars - I hoard those. But this is a personal one. I tend to hold on to every near empty jar or container. Or save special ingredients for an occasion that never comes and then they spoil. January seems like the perfect time to clean out the fridge and start fresh.
Produce in the Door - We replaced our refrigerator in the fall and purged a lot of old items and near empty containers, and it felt so good! (see above) Starting from scratch, I wanted to try something new. Instead of old produce lurking in the back of a drawer, I started storing most fruit and vegetables in one of the doors.
I thought it would help me eat more greens. And while I don’t think that’s actually happening, it has cut down on our food waste - showing us all what’s in there, what’s about to go bad, and all the bits that should be repurposed instead of going to the compost.Â
Bye, Bye Bagged Salad - Think about it. Why do we even like them? It’s got to be for the add-ins and not all that cabbage right? Or the convenience of the dressing packet.
Let’s put it all together. Now that we are making our own vinaigrettes, letting go of near empty containers, and bringing produce to the forefront, all we have to do is rummage through the pantry for nuts, chip crumbs, and dried fruit to go with whatever is starting to wilt in the fridge. Grate some cheese and toss in fresh herbs to finish it off.Â
Restock the Muffins - My youngest is the pickiest eater of the bunch. She goes to preschool part-time now, and packing her lunch is a struggle. She’s a Carb Queen, so I often turn to homemade muffins and quick breads to fill her up. We started making muffins on her days at home, and now she reminds me every time we come home from her morning ballet class that it’s muffin time. It’s like meal prep - but for snacks.
She just turned 3. Thinking about baking with a toddler gives me more anxiety than actually doing it. Understand that baking with littles will be a bit messy, but they are more capable than you might think and are learning every step of the way.
She patiently watches them bake for 20 minutes while I shove all the dirty dishes in the sink to take care of later. We most often make some variation of my favorite olive oil muffins with Greek yogurt. Sometimes we massage orange zest into the sugar and almost always with added chocolate chips.
Great advice!