Top 12 of 2012

It’s that time of year again – when the food blogging world looks back on another year of recipes, another year of posts, and a FULL year of gratitude for so many kind readers. Minnesota Locavore has grown in ways I could have never anticipated this year. At the beginning of the year a few of you (mostly my immediate family and friends) followed my progress on Facebook and subscribed to updates. Now several hundred people in Minnesota and around the United States tag along for our locavore journey.

2012 wasn’t free of bumps in the road though. The mid-summer months of July and August, when local food is at it’s best was one of the toughest months here. Motivation low. Stress-level high. It’s when I most often catch myself reverting back to bad eating habits and the easy way out. Unfortunately, that’s usually through the drive-thru window! As usually happens in our climate, the seasons change and so does the tempo at which we’re traveling. Fall and winter has been no less busy around here, but there has been a better balance. After all, isn’t that what life is about? Finding the best balance?

Earlier this week I posted one of my favorite posts ever on the site “150 ways to eat more local food.” It’s already receiving a tremendous response from new readers and old friends. I hope you join me in 2013 by tackling a few more of the items on the list. We’ve found by adding some of these things to our daily routine we’ve found that better balance we’ve been looking for. Cutting out some chaos in our schedules and adding some new things to our plates has made all the difference.

So…with all that said…it’s time for the best of 2012. The top 12 posts (by number of views this year) below capture some of the best parts of the year. I can’t wait to share with you all the good things another year of local eating will bring in 2013! Happy New Year!