I’m sharing My 3 Words for the New Year along with a spiced up and spiked version of cabbage rolls!
It’s a new year. I keep repeating that to myself, but it doesn’t want to stick.
Most years, I feel this big sense of transition as we close one out and enter another. I’m big on the goals and resolutions, so I have those all lined up and I’m ready to jump right in the minute the ball drops.
This year feels different.
We spent the last two weeks of 2014 traveling. We visited Copenhagen, went to Berlin and explored the markets over the Christmas holiday, enjoyed a day in Malmo and returned to Copenhagen for New Years Eve. It was a blissful break filled with new experiences, people and foods.
On January 1 we got on a plane mid-day in Copenhagen and landed mid-day on January 1 in San Francisco. Just as that flight made it feel like I hadn’t lost any time at all, it’s as if I also seamlessly transferred into a new year.
2014 blended into 2015 and I am back to doing what I enjoy (second to travel), with the sounds of faint pug snoring in the corner.
As I pondered why I haven’t had my usual grand entrance into a new 12 months, it dawned on me.
Holy crap. I’m happy.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I’ve previously been unhappy, exactly. But right now, the happiness is pretty overwhelming. I haven’t experienced a big transition because things are moving along quite well at the moment. I’m glad to push that on into 2015 and see where it takes me.
That doesn’t mean I haven’t set new goals. No way. I am a goal setter, list maker and to-doer at heart. I have running and yoga goals, beer goals (hopefully I’ll explain this more in the coming months), work goals and friend and family goals.
I sum all those goals up with My 3 Words.
If you don’t follow Chris Brogan, head over and read his post about picking three words for your year. I’ve done this since 2012 and it is such a refreshing way to create a focus for the year. Gone are the days of setting goals to lose 10 pounds or workout 5 times a week.
The 3 Words have a way of being broad and specific at the same time. My past words have been:
2012 – Progress. Learn. Honor.
2013 – Be. Create. Grow.
2014 – Recreate. Plunge. Pause.
And this year?
Sustain. Reach. Separate.
Sustain – I mentioned that I kind of have a good thing going here, right? There are so many great things about my life and work that I want to sustain throughout the next year. While I need to grow, I still have a lot to learn right where I’m at.
Reach – My sustaining can’t get in the way of reaching for new things – new work, new clients, new tasks, new levels of fitness. This also means reaching on a personal level, connecting with people I’ve lost touch with and focusing on relationships.
Separate – A big piece of advice that has stuck with me throughout the last year is the importance of separating myself from my work. I have ideas, ideas I’m passionate about, but I can’t be married to everything I create and expect to have a successful working relationship with others. When I am doing work for others, flexibility is so important. It’s something that I’ve not been good at in the past, but I get better at everyday. If someone edits my brilliant idea, it’s really no big deal. I am not my work, no harm done.
This also extends to separating myself physically from my work day. It is really, really tough when you work from home and get new offers that you want to take on so badly. Last fall kicked my butt. I needed that travel break in the worst way. I must do a better job of separating my work time and my free time.
These 3 words can be applied to my time in the kitchen, too. Sustain the knowledge I have, reach for learning more and separate myself from the cooking I do for others to do more for us.
2013 and 2014 were not the best blogging years. I felt stressed to come up with new things for posts. I don’t know that I’ll ever get back to the momentum and place I was when I lived on an acre in rural Kentucky or when I needed to fill my days in an apartment in Brazil, but I am ready to return to what motivated me about cooking in the first place – the cuisines of the world and experimenting with new ideas.
Now, I’m not saying that stuffed cabbage rolls are all that worldly, but I did do some experimenting…with beer. That’s another big passion of mine. I’m kind of craft beer crazy at the moment.
I took my basic cabbage roll recipe, added some heat with peppers and then spiked the meat and sauce with a rich Scotch Ale. I used ground turkey and took out the rice. Once I had it put together (in about 45 minutes), it was hands off as it sat in the slow cooker for 6 hours.
A nice plate of easy-to-make comfort food like this fits perfectly with my smooth transition into the New Year.
- 15 oz. can tomato sauce
- 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
- 4 oz. Scotch Ale (or a dark Mexican beer would work, too)
- 4 green onions, sliced, green portion only
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
- ½ teaspoon fine ground sea salt
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- ¼ teaspoon hot smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 4 green onions, sliced, white portion only
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 small hot pepper (any variety), minced*
- 1 lb. ground turkey breast
- 4 oz. Scotch Ale (or a dark Mexican beer)
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
- ½ teaspoon fine ground sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 head of green cabbage (you’ll need 6 large leaves)
- Sliced green onions or chopped cilantro for garnish
- Fill a large soup pot ¾ full with water. It needs to be large enough to submerge the whole head of cabbage. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. You can move on to the other steps of the recipe while the water is coming to boil.
- Reserve 3 tablespoons of the tomato sauce. Pour the rest into a medium bowl. Add the diced tomatoes, 4 ounces of ale, greens of the green onions, 1 tablespoon of cilantro, ½ teaspoon of salt, crushed red pepper (the amount depending on your heat preferences) and the smoked paprika. Stir all the ingredients together and set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high. Add the whites of the green onions, the garlic and hot pepper. Cook for 1 minute. Add the ground turkey. Stir to break it up and remove it from the heat. Most of the meat should still be raw.
- Stir in the reserved 3 tablespoons of tomato sauce, 4 ounces of ale, 1 tablespoon of chopped cilantro, ½ teaspoon of sea salt and the ground pepper. Let cool for about 5 minutes.
- Once the water comes to a boil, use a slotted spoon or tongs to gently add the whole head of cabbage. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the outer leaves begin to soften and pull away from the head of cabbage. Carefully transfer the cabbage to a clean dish towel on the counter or into a colander set over the sink to drain and cool until you can handle the leaves.
- Gently remove six large leaves. If you need to soften the interior leaves of the cabbage more, simply put it back into the hot water for a minute or two. (Whatever is leftover of the cabbage can be chopped for use in another recipe.)
- Spread ¼ cup of the sauce in the bottom of a 5-quart slow cooker.
- Place a cabbage leave on a flat surface in front of you with the interior facing up and the stem end facing you.
- Transfer about 1/3 cup of the meat filling onto the center of the leaf. Roll from the bottom up and tuck in the sides as you roll the leave around the filling to completely enclose it.
- Place the cabbage roll seam-side down in the slow cooker. Repeat with the other leaves.
- Pour the remaining sauce over the cabbage rolls. Cook on low for 6 hours. Serve warm with the sauce spooned over the top.
- *For less heat, be sure to remove the stems and seeds from the hot pepper before mincing.
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I love the idea of three words for the new year. And this recipe looks pretty spectacular too.
Thanks so much, Kalyn! Both are a great way to start the New Year!
I am happy to hear that you’re happy 🙂 I am getting there, but I am too stressed at the moment with work. I think it will get better in the next few weeks though. These cabbage rolls look amazing by the way!!
Best wishes for getting through the stressful time! I hope it gets better. Thanks so much!
Love the three words Lori and I’m so happy that you’re happy! Also cabbage rolls WITH beer are the way to my heart. Ha! 🙂
Thanks, Andrea! Anything is better with beer! 🙂
What is it about 2015 that inspires us to stuff things in leaves? Your happiness is infectious and inspiring! Our friendship is one of the highlights of 2014! Thanks for this great post and for sharing your three words! Here’s to a Happy New Year and much success in 2015!
Mine too, Tracey! And speaking of leaves, I have been thinking about pandan and banana leaves lately! 🙂
I have been thinking of pandan leaves, but not for stuffing! I need some for a Hainese chicken dish!
I love the idea of 3 words instead of just one word or a resolution. It’s the perfect way to encompass multiple things without getting so specific that you feel like a failure if you don’t attain them!
Yes! Exactly. Much more achievable and they can apply to just about anything. Happy New Year!
This is such a beautiful post! I love the idea of the 3 words – I’m thinking about my own 3 right now.
Your cabbage rolls look amazing – it’s been waaaaay too long since I’ve had cabbage rolls and I need to fix that! 🙂
Thanks so much, Faith! So glad it’s got you thinking about your 3 words! Happy New Year!