Here are My Favorites From 2019 and My Plans for 2020

Here are some of my favorite things (recipes, hacks and more)  from 2019 along with my plans for Family Savvy (and myself) for 2020.

My Favorite Things From 2019

It is hard to mention every favorite thing. These are just a few of the top ones that spring to mind when reflecting upon 2019.

Favorite Firsts

• My oldest daughter’s wedding in August 2019. This was my first time to be a MOB, so I shared what I learned in My Best Advice to Mothers of the Bride (To Be). In the photo above, my husband Zane is performing the ceremony. Although he is an investment banker by profession, he is a lay minister on the side and has performed a few weddings for special friends. You can hear his unique perspective on marriage in The Chair and How to Ask The Marriage on The SavvyCast.
• I launched The SavvyCast Podcast in 2019. Frankly, I love it because I get to share some of my savvy favorites with you, my readers and listeners, on a more personal level. Three of the most listened to podcasts for 2019 are How to Affair Proof Your Marriage, Let’s Talk the Enneagram with Jordan Jones, and How Practicing P.I.E.S. Can Make You More Attractive. If you listen on iTunes, I’d be SO grateful if you would subscribe, rate, and review. XoXo

Favorite Recipes (Ones that I Made Most Often for the Family)

• This White Chili Chicken. Y’all. If you haven’t made this, make it. The ingredients above look simple, but the results are amazing. It is my #1 favorite dish of 2019. It is ridiculously easy and absolutely delicious. Many of you have messaged me raving over this dish. It is a winner!!!!  You can serve it low carb for healthy or let kids pile on the tortilla chips and rice.
• The Easy Meatball Melt I shared in this blog post. The Flying Meatballs are one of my all time favorite things, and now burrata cheese is too. The two together + spaghetti squash is FAB. An instagram video of the dish is in the blog post.
• This Chick-Fil-A Superfood Copycat Salad is easy, delicious and healthy. I’ll be making this a lot for 2020:-)

Favorite Tools & Hacks 

• I am obsessed with Rakuten and have saved nearly $2,000 since I started using the browser button when shopping online. If you want to earn cash back, sign up here, and see how I’ve used it to save on luxury items in this blog post.
• I won’t go a day without these BPA free oven liners. I have one in the bottom of both ovens, and if I have a spill or overflow while cooking, I remove, toss and add a new one. 
• Tossing this disposable cutting board plastic is my new jam. Because I cut, chop, dice etc…literally every day (or so it seems), I am crazy about this hack. Note: The slider doesn’t always cut easily, so I cut what I need with kitchen shears.

My Plans for 2020

Two quotes are going to drive how I live in 2020. The quotes are ones I’ve heard from both John Maxwell and my Pastor Chris Hodges. 

• The secret to your success is determined by your daily agenda.
• It’s not what you do all day; it’s what you do every day.

Here is how I plan to use the inspirational quotes to make my 2020 more effective, productive, and successful. Of course, allowing for special occasions or breaks, this is how I want to live on most ordinary days.

My Daily Routine

• Early to bed; early to rise. Getting in bed by 10:00 p.m. (or earlier) and up by 5:00 is how I do best. When I stay up late and sleep late, I never feel great or seem to get anything done. I purposely book Pilates at 5:30 for 2-3 days a week so that I will HAVE to get up, dressed, and out the door early. This simple routine has literally been life changing for me
• First 5. I want to always try to dedicate the first 5 minutes to prayer and reading at least a verse or two. I know this sounds like a nothing goal, but it is the minimum. It is the principle of thanking and acknowledging God first and starting the day with Him in mind.
• Dress for the day. I make myself get dressed first thing (usually in my workout clothes) and put my face on before sitting down to work. This helps me “feel” and “act” more productive. I love my cozy robe and slippers, but I don’t want to stay in them just because I work at home.
• Plan & prep for dinner by noon.  I believe that having dinner planned for and prepped (ready to cook or int the slow cooker/oven/etc..) makes life SO much easier and less stressful. When my meal is taken care of and cooking (or ready to cook), I look toward dinnertime with calm rather than chaos.

My Fitness & Health Goals

• I am joining a new round on January 6th of Faster Way to Fat Loss. You can sign up here to be in my group. If you want to read about my first FWTFL experience, you can read this blog post. If you want to see how FWTFL changed my health (lab work included), you can find that in this blog post.
• Although I’ll always make exceptions for holidays, parties, etc…., my goal for 2020 is to eat and cook healthier for myself and my family. So stay tuned for easy, yummy and healthy ideas! And I’d LOVE to hear your ideas if you have them. Comments are welcomed and appreciated:-)

My Cooking and Meal Prep Goals

Because how I do in this area affects not just how I eat, but how my husband and daughter eat, I’ve made some goals to be more organized in this area.

• Meal Prep Sunday or Monday. I plan to buy a ton of fresh veggies and prep them for the week for salads, bowls, roasting etc. I use ziploc bags because I prefer meal prepping each week and have never had any need to buy a produce keeper (most everything is fine in bags for a week).
• Mastering the Ninja. I bought this Ninja Foodie a few months ago and want to learn to make anything and everything in it.  It has almost 5,000 four and five star reviews on amazon, so I know it was a wise purchase. I’ll be sharing all that I make on the blog, so stay tuned!!

There is so much more, but this is just a bit of what I hope to do/accomplish for 2020. What about YOU? If you’d care to share your 2020 goals, we’d all love to hear! It is always encouraging to learn from others. As always, I am so grateful to all of you who read, listen or follow Family Savvy. I hope to add value to you in some way. Wishing you a joyful and blessed 2020!!!! XoXo