Meal Plan // Week of January 1, 2024

Happy New Year to you all! I hope the holiday season was full of friends and family – I can already guess it was probably full of delicious food! Mine sure was. Speaking of food… this is definitely the time of year that people tend to jump on drastic diets, cleanses and detox foods of all kinds.  The desire behind this is understandable, holiday foods can be so rich and not our usual way of eating. We’ve all been there. I’d love to offer an alternative to anything drastic, as going cold turkey usually doesn’t have a good track record. 

I love the word “reset.” It’s one my husband and I tend to use after a big trip with mindless eating, after a season of spending, or after a break in routine of any kind.  A reset feels attainable, positive, and something to look forward to.  Not negative, like you did anything wrong or need to feel ashamed of.  Holiday gatherings of family and friends are special and many memories are often made around a shared table – what’s a holiday without my family’s Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies or my husband’s family tradition of making Christmas Sculpture Bread? 

For me, a New Year reset simply means getting back on track to our normal eating.  Stocking the fridge with a homemade salad dressing, tuna salad, hummus and some hard boiled eggs. Roasting some chicken for salads.  Baking a batch of wholesome muffins and making sure we have smoothie ingredients on hand.  All tasks that are simple yet make a huge difference in making healthy eating as accessible as possible.  And, just a tip – all of this is much easier if you start with a quick fridge clean out! 

Today marks 16 years of meal calendars for me. Each January 1st, I print my year’s worth of calendars on cardstock and place them on a book holder which sits in my kitchen. My kitchen wouldn’t be the same without it.  Below is what I have on my meal calendar for the first week in January. It’s nourishing, veggie and protein forward and all I look forward to eating this week. Somehow I ended up with 3 chicken recipes in one week.  I’m ok with that but may end up swapping one with salmon and making Miso-Honey Salmon instead- just marinate for 30 minutes and bake at 375 until desired doneness. 

Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Marbella from Mom’s Kitchen Handbook (trying a new recipe from a trusted source- her recipes are always amazing) + Steamed Broccoli w/ Lemon and Olive Oil

Southwest Chicken and Vegetable Soup Nourishing and makes excellent leftovers. A family and kids cooking camp favorite

Carrot Soup with Turmeric, Ginger and Lemon A creamy, dairy-free, nourishing soup that I crave this time of the year + Spa Crunch Salad Cannot get enough of this salad- perfect to prep ingredients in advance for a quick meal

Miso-Honey Chicken from NYT Cooking (Paywall- HIGHLY recommend a subscription for their amazing recipes! Please reach out or send me a DM if you need help with this recipe) + Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Rice

I hope this meal plan is helpful! 

Happiest and Healthiest New Year,

Christina