[vegan tofu scramble with corn grits and sautéed greens]
Plans for 2019
I don’t believe in new years resolutions, they often set us up for failure and often make us just feel bad about not keeping those resolutions. However, I do think the new year is a good opportunity to reflect on the year that ended and make some plans for the new one. 2018 was a big year, and I hope 2019 will also bring big things. I have so many ideas brewing up in my brain, I hope to make some of them a reality!
I’ll start with my goals for my personal life, then we can go on to the business stuff.
As I was heading to my parents’ place on the bus a few days before Christmas, I was listening to my favourite podcast One Part Plant. The episode was about questioning your food choices and it talked a lot about the meat and dairy industry and their impact on environmental issues. We’ve all heard bits and pieces of information about the water it takes to produce beef (2,400 gallons for 1 pound of meat) but hearing all the facts can be shocking and sad. I stopped eating meat 15 years ago and gave up fish about 10 years later but going vegan was never really in the plans, I loved my eggs and cheese too much. However, after listening to the podcast, I knew that being a vegetarian wasn’t enough and I wanted to reduce my consumption of dairy and eggs too.
So for 2019, I’ve decided to only cook vegan at home. Once I’ve used up all the leftover animal products in our kitchen, I won’t bring any more in for the year. Of course, this doesn’t apply to Matt’s diet, though he hardly eats much meat anyway. I’m currently on the hunt for good vegan breakfast dishes. I don’t like cold dishes like overnight oats or chia pudding and smoothies are not really my jam in winter. So I’ve been eating a lot of oatmeal and tofu scrambles but I feel like I need a little more diversity. I am also excited to try nut cheeses and maybe even make my own! We made a vegan cheesecake for Christmas and it was a big hit so I’m excited to try other cheese substitutes. I already make my own nut milks from time to time because I prefer it over the processed kind in stores. Since I only use milk for coffee and tea, I only need to make a little bit at a time, to last me a few days.
For the moment I’m just cooking vegan at home. I may eventually go full fledge, but for now I want to be able to keep going out to restaurants without too many complications. I will however be making an effort to order vegan dishes over vegetarian ones when they are on the menu. I don’t doubt that along the way, I’ll come up against some challenges but I am looking forward to discovering some new recipes to replace old favourites.
I think I am pretty good with this already but I want to reduce my waste even more this year. That will include more bulk buying (with my own bags/jars) and buying more seasonally. Sometimes, I just need to skip buying a particular item if I can’t find it without packaging. I want to also sign up for another year of CSA baskets and do more canning and fermenting with local products. I’ve been trying to buy more
I’m also excited to find ways to use more recycling in my artwork. I haven’t quite figured out the details of this one yet… I will however be doing a paper making workshop with Atelier Retailles who makes paper from fabric scraps and I am pretty excited about that. So maybe some fun project ideas can come from that! I also want to start experimenting with embroidery designs on second-hand clothing, a way to give them new life and send them back out into the world.
In terms of what I want to accomplish professionally, there are a few goals I want to throw out into the universe. Hopefully the stars will align (with lots of hard work), and exciting new project dreams will come true this year.
- TAKE A SIGN PAINTING WORKSHOP – I’m looking into a few options for workshops that are not too far away. I would love to travel far and wide and learn while discovering a new city but I want to keep extra costs (lodging, food, travel) to a minimum.
- PAINT A SIGN – once the aforementioned workshop knowledge and experience has sunk into my brain, I want to paint some cool shit for local businesses!
- DESIGN AND PAINT A MURAL – Still unclear how to go about this but I really want to get into designing things outside my usual comfort zone. Bonus points if these things are outside!
- OPEN AN ONLINE SHOP FOR PRINTS AND GREETING CARDS – This one has been on the To Do List for months. I just need to sit down one day and dedicate some serious time to do research on the best way to print and ship potential orders.
- DO MORE FILM PHOTOGRAPHY – I still haven’t finished the roll I started last year which means I have been seriously slacking in this department! I’m only a few shots away and once it’s done, I want use Matt’s grandfather’s vintage Minolta a lot more often.
Otherwise, I just hope for a happy and healthy 2019. I’m looking forward to seeing my new niece grow (she changes every week!) and making time to catch up with good friends.