Aggie's Kitchen

Best of 2013 – My Favorites (and yours)!

Aggie's Kitchen Best of 2013

I honestly didn’t think I was going to be able to pull off one of these posts this year, because let’s face it – my time these days has been definitely not been my own. My sweet baby boy and children are keeping me quite busy and I’ve been struggling with finding the time to be online. The truth is, I hope to find a balance soon because I miss being here. I miss cooking and sharing what I’m cooking with you. But I am also realizing how much time I spend online – unproductively – and my goal this next year is to be more intentional with my time, with my family, my home and with blogging.

It was fun to look back at the food I cooked up this past year. Since I was pregnant most of 2013 and didn’t enjoy food as much as I wanted to I was actually surprised to find so many recipes I really loved! I’m happy I took the time to look back month-by-month, it inspired me to get back into the kitchen and put together fresh, simple meals for me and my family – something I haven’t been doing much of the last few months (and boy am I feeling it!).

Here are my favorites month-by-month of 2013:

January – Asian Chopped Cabbage Salad with Panfried Wonton Crisps (a fun recipe created during a cooking session with my friend Julie!)

February – Kale and Chard Green Power Salad with Maple Vinaigrette (this salad was inspired by a huge amount of chard my grandpa sent home with me from his garden)

March – Grapefruit and Pistachio Crusted Baked Salmon (inspired by my friend Sandy’s salmon dish, made with fresh picked grapefruit from my grandpa’s tree!)

April – Refreshing Cantaloupe Smoothie (this smoothie brings back memories of the early days of my pregnancy, it was so cool and refreshing and definitely helped during those “not feeling so well” moments)

May – Mexican Black Bean Pizza (a huge hit with my husband!)

June – Shaved Fennel and Arugula Salad (inspired after getting pizza out while on vacation, one of my favorite salads ever!!)

July – Garden Farro Salad with Feta (I ate this one for days at a time, it was a perfect summer grain salad – filling yet light)

August – Easy Cheesesteak Sandwiches (a pregnancy craving satisfied πŸ™‚ )

September – Skillet Zucchini and Feta Tortilla Pizza (I got hooked on these after the kids went back to school and I had my treasured lunch dates with myself again)

October – Kalamata Olive and Feta Dip with Baked Lemon Pepper Pita Chips (a special dip created for my friend Liz’s virtual baby shower – I could eat massive amounts of this!)

November – Rotisserie Chicken Cuban Sandwiches (another craving satisfied – this one turned out to be a regular Saturday afternoon football watching meal that my husband put together for us – especially during the late days of my pregnancy!)

December – Spinach and Feta Quinoa Bites (mark my words, 2014 is going to be the year of quinoa bites on this blog, I can’t stop eating these and can’t wait to play with more combinations!)

I would make (and have made) each of these recipes over and over again. They are truly my favorites and I’m getting hungry just looking at them!

Some other honorable mentions:

Best of 2013 | AggiesKitchen.com

Cherry Tomato and Blue Cheese Salad

Herbed Rice Salad with Toasted Pine Nuts

Crockpot Creamy Chicken Spaghetti with Broccoli

 

Some of your favorites? Here they are:

Fruity Greek Yogurt Smoothie

Creamy Tuna Pasta Salad with Greek Yogurt

Mini Cheedar-BBQ Turkey Meatloaf Muffins

Slow Cooker Barbecue Chicken Melts

Whole Grain Orange-Vanilla Greek Yogurt Pancakes

(Apparently this was the year of Greek yogurt!!)

 

Goodman Holiday CollageGoodman Family Holiday 2013

Thank you all for being here, you definitely made my year that much better.

Here’s to a Happy and Healthy New Year!!

See you in 2014!

Β IMG_9282

Woof!

 

Are you following me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest? If you’d like to subscribe to Aggie’s Kitchen and have each post delivered straight to your e-mail box, then please add your email here. Happy cooking!

There are affiliate links in this post. I make small earnings through any purchases made through these links. Thank you for supporting Aggie’s Kitchen!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

26 comments on “Best of 2013 – My Favorites (and yours)!”

  1. Aggie. I love this post and the pictures of your family! You are one of my greatest gifts and treasures – ever! I love you sweet friend and sister! Happy 2014 to come!

  2. All. Of. It. <3 Happy New Year, Aggie!

  3. Love it all! When I saw this in my facebook feed, I was hoping your Asian salad would be one of your favorites…because it’s one of mine. You’re an awesome friend and I’m so excited for 2014 for you!!! And I hope I get to see Micah (and your other kidlets too) more often too! πŸ™‚

    • I loved that salad so much, and looking back makes me want to make it again asap. (that’s what’s so fun about these recap posts!) Love you Julie!! I’m so grateful for our friendship, here’s to an awesome 2014 for both of us! xoxo

  4. I will never forget learning you were pregnant then finding out I was pregnant the very next day!! And now we have babies!! 2013 went by so fast I can’t believe it. So happy we finally got to meet in person. Can we please make a repeat performance a goal for 2014? So happy to call you a friend who is more like a sister!! Love you girl!

    • And now we have babies!! What an awesome year for both of us. So glad we shared such a huge event together. Grateful for your friendship!! Happy to New Year to you and your boys!! xo

  5. Your family is so so beautiful! Love the pictures. As always, another year of amazing recipes. I need to make those quinoa bites, they sound so darn good! I hope you guys have a great New Years Eve πŸ™‚

  6. oh I love this post!! you certainly cooked up one delicious year my friend!! Hope to see you this year some time! Happy New Year!

  7. Love the pictures! What a beautiful family! Can’t wait to see what the new year holds for you!

  8. Great recipes! I especially want to try that Feta & Olive dip. Happy New Year to you!

  9. Thank you for sharing pics of the family!! They are awesome! Micah is adorable!! One of my favorite discoveries this year was an older post of yours. Your SIL shrimp salad. I cant seem to get enough of it. LOL
    Happy New Year to you and your family!! Look forward to more awesome cooking in 2014!

    Debbi and Primera

  10. So many fantastic recipes! So many to pin and try! Happy New Year, Aggie!

  11. Aggie,
    Spending my time intentionally–especially online–is something I’d like to incorporate in 2014.
    Congrats on looking wonderful with such a lil sweet babe and making yummy foods.
    I’ve enjoyed following your work in 2013. Looking forward to 2014!
    Thanks!

  12. you have such a beautiful family, Aggie!! All the best to you for a wonderful 2014!

  13. Happy New Year Aggie! LOVE this post. You are such an inspiration and I LOVE all your recipes. Umm how have I not tried quinoa bites? Gotta fix that! Great post… so glad you were able to make time to do it. Love you Friend! I’m grateful for your friendship. Here’s to a great 2014!!!!

  14. The Mexican Black Bean Pizza sounds divine. You accomplished a lot in 2013 even if it didn’t have to do with blogging–a new baby and a new home! Happy New Year!

  15. Wow! Nice and delicious looking foods. Happy Holidays to you and your family.

  16. You have some outrageously delicious salads in this list! Can’t wait to read many more recipes in 2014!

  17. I’m glad you found the time to pull this post together too. I love your stuff and want to go check out all of these out. Your baby boy is incredibly cute! What a great smile πŸ™‚ It definitely takes some time to adjust to the schedule of having a new addition to the family but soon it will be the new “normal”. Enjoy that little one!

    Happy New Year, Aggie!

  18. What a great and delicious roundup Aggie!