HAPPY New Year everyone! Last night, I rung in the new year meditating, practicing yoga with friends, and reflecting on 2011. It was the perfect way to end what was a great year for me–Como Water completely took off, I started a new job, and I moved to a new city. My reflections left me excited about 2012 and with one lone resolution for the year: treat every single person I encounter with love and treat my mind, body, and spirit like the temples they are.

Simply put. Anything but simple to attain. But this is where you all come in.

You see, at our core, we are all trying to be our best: the best friend we can be, the best parent we can be, the best partner we can be, and the most healthy–mentally and physically–we can be. But it’s hard. We make goals. We partially succeed. And then we judge ourselves much more harshly than we would ever, ever judge another. It is my intention this year to break this cycle with the tools of patience and support.

Life, after all, is a process, not an end. A process where growth usually comes out of a series of microchanges. One small change here. One small change there. And before you know it, you have grown immensely. And such growth is often contagious, spreading and positively affecting those around you in ways you could have never imagined. For this reason, this year, I will be using Como Water as an inspiration to be healthier and to hopefully inspire other folks to be healthier. So, in the spirit of the name of this blog–which summons my strongly held belief that you are what you eat–I am introducing a number of additions in 2012 that will help me, and you (I hope!) reach positive goals. Here they are… 😀

Theme of the Month: First, each month will be characterized by a different theme. This month is “vegetable” month, where all recipes will be vegetable-centric. This is a time of the year when folks are trying to institute lasting changes for eating healthy. It’s often hard however to prepare veggies in tasty, creative ways. So, folks eat tasteless veggies or abandon them altogether. Not this year! With the 10 new winter vegetable recipes I’ll be posting this month, you’ll be equipped with great ways to make veggies that are full of flavor and super easy to prepare. (Stay tuned to tomorrow’s post for an overview of the themes for the rest of the year).

Favorite Veg on the Web: Second, I will be featuring a different vegetarian/vegan blog on the last Saturday of each month. Part of what I love so much about blogging is the community I have built. I want you all to meet my favorite veg bloggers and thought that this would be a great way for you to do so!

Food, Nutrition, Health News Round Up: Third, as a part of my job, I get a TON of emails about food, nutrition, and health. While it is way more information that any normal person probably wants to digest in a given day, I have thought, more than once, that folks might really want access to this information, in one convenient place. So once or twice a month, I will post a round up of these news stories for your perusal.

Premium Content: Last, but definitely not least, I will be posting new “premium content.” This content will consist of mostly videos–cooking basics, how to shop for healthy foods, reading food labels 101, traveling and eating healthy, and… wait for it, wait for it… Como Water Cooking Classes. More on the premium content later this week!

So, while I will still be posting basic recipes, this year I wanted to push myself and Como Water closer towards my original intention when starting this blog–to create a resource and to provide a reflection of my quest for a healthier, more balanced lifestyle.

I really hope you enjoy these new additions and I look forward to a great year! Oh, and check out my guest post on Kwanzaa Culinarians! Happy Sunday everyone! 🙂