10 Food Resolutions To Cook And Eat Better This Year

In 2013, we're all about more DIY lunches and less late-night pizza. Honest!

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Andy and Jenny over at Dinner: A Love Story inspired us today with their charming list of New Year's resolutions, including such gems as learning to cook "a real Carbonara sauce that doesn’t taste like a Salmonella Special."

So we, the editors of BuzzFeed Food, do solemnly swear to abide by these resolutions to the best of our abilities (and appetites). THIS year will be different.

1. Actually pack lunch.

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Not, like, talk about how I'm thinking about maybe one day trying to pack my lunch and bring it to work. I'M DOING THIS. THIS IS REAL.

2. Learn how to cook meat well.

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Raw meat is kind of nasty and it makes me nervous. But I'm a big girl, and big girls are capable of cooking a steak when the occasion calls for it.

3. Use my Kitchen-Aid mixer.

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Because I've had this beautiful monster for almost a year (a year!) and used it exactly...once. What is wrong with me? There should be an endless parade of cookies emerging from my oven. I should never use my stupid arms to stir a bowl of anything ever again!

4. Buy a Dutch oven.

This one, to be specific. Still trying to decide between blue and yellow, though!

5. Stop boredom-snacking.

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I blame this bad habit on the fact that our irresistibly adorable BuzzFeed Food cookie jar (YES we have one IRL and SORRY it is sold out) is about 6 inches away from my face all day. But I will do better. I will resist. I can be the change I want to see in the world.

6. Be less lame about eating out.

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Only an idiot could live in the most amazing restaurant city in the world (NYC) and end up going to the same five places near my apartment over and over. I hereby declare that 2013 will be the year the number of items on my "restaurants to try" list finally maybe dips under a billion.

7. Bake brioche.

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Bouchon Bakery's Pistachio and Cherry Brioche makes me happy in a way that other baked goods simply cannot. I love it and I want to try to make it. Though from what I know about French pastry, it's not going to be easy, so once will be enough.

8. Say no to late-night pizza.

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I live above a pizza joint in the East Village. They know me by name and they know my life's story and they know, based on what expression is on my face when I walk in the door at 1 AM, whether I need one slices or two. This problem is that I'm an old lady with heartburn now and every time I eat pizza and pass out I wake up when my esophagus decides I'm going to. I'm not saying no more pizza period, just not after 11 PM.

9. Learn to smoke meat.

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That's my friend James Kapner who had to be asked several times not to lick the meat on the smoker during our college barbecues. I was not in charge of those barbecues, like I am now, because back then I wasn't a "fancy food editor." Now everyone assumes I know what to do with a huge pork shoulder and a smoker — and the truth is that I kind of don't. That all changes this year. 2013 is the year I learn how to smoke huge piles of meat.

10. Use my cookbooks.

I own so many cookbooks that it's a problem (mostly because I own very few other kinds of books and am insecure about that). But outside of the occasional work-related stuff, I rarely cook out of them. I cook off of blogs and Epicurious and recipes I've made a thousand times and don't need to look up. SO WHY DO I OWN 387 COOKBOOKS?! Because I love them. They are inspiring and beautiful and thoughtful. So this year I will try to get them off the shelf more often.

What are your food resolutions?

Tell us in the comments!