We’ve made it to January! Happy New Year! And now, it’s back to reality after the beauty of the holiday season.

Yes, the holiday festivities are over but Old Man Winter is still around. January is here, my friends, and with it is cold weather and an often sluggish start.

But don’t let that get you down. There’s so much to look forward to in the coming year!

For instance, also with January comes National Soup Month. Now THAT’S the way to perk up the month! It’s the perfect time of year to tuck into a hearty soup and warm your belly with an incredible meal. January was absolutely made for soup.

So let’s celebrate all things SOUP!

A hearty soup to me means beef. So try a soup this month made with Petite Diced Sirloin – little pieces of heavenly sirloin steak. If you’re looking to warm up your insides on a cold day outside, it’s steak soup all the way.

My kids love sirloin steak and a soup made with it is a great meal to make for the whole family. I love sharing this around the dinner table. It makes winter nights a bit warmer.

This Beef and Mushroom Soup recipe is another tasty way to celebrate National Soup Month. It calls for Beef Tenderloin Tips, which are cut from delicious filet mignon. Outstanding! And with fresh mushrooms, garlic and sherry, it’s a flavor sensation!

THIS particular beef is so, so tender. Great when eating in a soup. I hate using a steak knife while eating soup. It just seems wrong.

Need more soup inspiration? How about a Beef and Vegetable Soup? Delicious. Nutritious. And it’s a whole meal in a bowl. I love that!

So what are YOUR favorite soup recipes? Share them with us and we can all celebrate National Soup Month together!

It’s here. That time of year when we decide we’re going to do better, be better than last year.

Think we can do it?

Some of us like to make resolutions for the new year to keep us on track. And most of us fall off the wagon after week three. It’s just human nature.

But it’s fun to look to the new year with hope and to see all the promise that 2016 holds. We’re here at that magical time, so let’s do it.

Here are my ideas for 2016 New Year’s Resolutions:

1. Try out different types of steak. Something you haven’t tried before. What? You thought I would get through one list without including steaks? It’s impossible. Instead of sugar plums, I’ve got steak recipes dancing in my head.
2. Resolve to focus on making other people happy this year. It’s amazing how that, in turn, will make YOU happy.
3. Pick one of your talents and teach it to someone of a younger generation in 2016. Guitar, financial planning – whatever you do well!
4. Make a pact with yourself to live a healthier life in 2016 – quit smoking, eat healthier, exercise. Just do it.
5. Visit with someone who lived through World War II. Ask them about their life. It will give you perspective in the new year.
6. Go into this next year focusing on what you have, not what you don’t. Someone always has it worse.
7. You know that person who has it worse? Find a way to help make their life better.
8. Think of ways to support and help out the teachers in our community. Year after year, their job seems to get harder and harder.
9. Resolve that every time you go to the store next year, you’ll buy an extra loaf of bread or peanut butter and drop it off at the charity near you who needs it – homeless or women/family shelters.
10. Pick up a new skill in 2016. Learn to whistle, ride a bike, or use video editing software – whatever. Resolve to expand your knowledge in the new year.

Okay, those are my (some very lofty) resolutions. They’re doable, though. What do you think? Will you make some resolutions for 2016? What are yours?

Somehow we are here at the end of one year and the beginning of another.

Again.

Time just seems to fly by for me these days. How does this happen?

Since we’re here, let’s brainstorm some ways we can celebrate 2016 right with 16 ways to ring in this new year:

1. You know it always involves steaks for me, so let’s try some new steak recipes at our new year’s get-together. A Grilled Filet Mignon with Shellfish Butter, perhaps?
2. Make up with someone who you haven’t been seeing eye-to-eye with. Start fresh.
3. Decide you’re going to be happy in 2016. And really mean it. Start at midnight.
4. Toast the new year with a new cocktail.
5. Let your kids stay up until 12:01 with you.
6. Cannonball into a freezing pool when the ball drops.
7. Start January 1^st by volunteering somewhere.
8. Visit a shut-in on New Year’s Eve.
9. Invite the neighborhood to YOUR house this year for the New Year festivities.
10. Include someone new to the area at your party.
11. Wear something sparkly – man or woman, sparkles mean fun.
12. Watch the ball drop on TV in Spanish.
13. Go look at the stars before the clock strikes midnight – it’s crazy to think somewhere else in the world it’s already next year.
14. Spend New Year’s Eve somewhere warm. It’s a different sensation than the traditional freezing NYE that most of the U.S. experiences.
15. Find a time zone line and keep going back and forth after midnight. Pretend you’re a time traveler.
16. Keep it traditional and kiss a loved one at midnight. It’s ALWAYS good luck.

Tell me, what will YOU be doing to ring in the new year? Pick something from the list and just go for it!