Goals and Mashed Potato Casserole

I'm not really a new years resolution kind of gal, but I am in desperate need of some lifestyle changes. I've gotten too lazy in the past months and this simply won't do. So here are some of my long- and short-term goals for 2011.

• Finish Reading "The House that Cleans Itself" and be inspired to turn my house into one that cleans itself! Don't worry, I haven't gone crazy and I don't actually think I can have a house that cleans itself, but check out the above link and see what Mindy Starns Clark is talking about.
• Eat smaller portions and walk EVERY day (except maybe Sunday, the day of rest). I've never felt the need to lose weight just to lose weight, but I do want to be healthy. I want to have lots of babies and I want to live well into old age and meet my grandchildren and maybe even my great-grandchildren.
• Have dinner earlier in the evening. Now this will be a tough one, since my husband gets off work at 10:00. I used to eat dinner by myself and just leave the leftovers for the hubby when he got home, but lately I've gotten into the routine of just having a light snack at dinnertime and eating with Sonny when he gets home. It's so pleasant to have dinner with him every night but I don't like to do it because I've heard that it's unhealthy to eat right before bed. I need time to work off my food!
• Be more encouraging and uplifting to my husband
• Be more attentive to learning opportunities for my son and expanding those opportunities
• Prepare more wholesome meals
• Read at least one book a month that will encourage me to be a better child of God, wife, and mother
• Also read at least one book a month for pleasure. I always mean to do this one but end up starting so many different books at once that it's difficult to finish even one!
• Watch less TV. We don't have a TV but over the last couple of years I have started to watch more and more shows online. What a waste of time! *blush blush*
• Combat laziness in general (I'll expand on this one in the near future). That's a BIG one.

I will add more to this list at another time, but for right now, I need to tell you about my latest attempt at a new meal. I know how good sweet potatoes are for you. Yes, I even know they are a superfood, but I just don't like them! Maybe if I eat them in small, disguised doses, I will eventually acquire a taste for them. So, tonight I made a Mashed Potato Casserole with a mixture of sweet and white potatoes. It was good, as long as I had bites that were primarily white potatoes. Sonny quite enjoyed it though. At least someone was happy with it! The only substitution I made was adding my new favorite casserole ingredient: cream of chicken soup, in place of the chive and onion cream cheese. I think it would be a yummy Thanksgiving dish.