Too often, new year’s resolutions seem like a dismal reminder of personal failures. This year, I propose that they should be fun. Fun resolutions are easier to keep, and the satisfaction we get from accomplishing them can improve our lives as much as the draconian un-fun ones.

Here are some food-related new year’s resolutions which should be a pleasure to keep up with. If you have any more, please share. Happy new year!

1. Have people over for dinner at least once a month. I cook a lot. But maybe I’m selfish, or antisocial, because I don’t have people over for dinner nearly enough. I’m hoping this will change, especially since my boyfriend and I are moving into a condo with a big kitchen and room for a table.

2. Plan better lunches. When I lived alone, lunches were usually leftovers from last night’s dinner. Now that I’ve been living with my boyfriend, it makes more sense for us to plan ahead for some healthy and tasty lunch options. This includes making larger amounts of food, especially food that freezes well. I’ll be sure to share recipes and ideas.

3. Try new restaurants. I have something to admit, and you’ll probably think I’m a total dork – I keep a Google spreadsheet of restaurants I’d like to try. Unfortunately, it’s easy to lazily end up at a favorite place than venture into the unknown. I’d like to update and consult my list more often. Ideally, I’d like to limit my restaurant visits to once a week, but even if just half of these are new, I’ll have tried 26 new restaurants by the end of the year.

4. Be aware of what’s in the fridge. I’m usually good about using older food in creative ways (like banana bread and bread pudding), but especially when life is busy, I need to peek in the veggie bin to see what needs to be used. Wasting food never makes sense.

5. Take more food photos. A few years ago I entered, and won, a food photography competition! It was so much fun, but I got a bit burnt out taking photos every night for a couple of months. Also, with a 9-5 job and winter at hand, the lack of daylight is somewhat uninspiring. But I just got a Canon XTi and plan to put it to good use, even if it means setting up a little photography corner in the kitchen.