Happy New Year, Friends! I always love the 1st of the year. A new year, new beginnings, fresh starts, a clean slate! My family and I were sitting around last weekend discussing what we wanted this year to look like and I of course had to share my goals in and around the kitchen for 2018. I thought I would share them with you here today in case you wanted to join along. Here are my New Year’s resolutions: they are nothing crazy, nothing too hard to stick to but all of them will help you to live a more healthful 2018, which of course is always my goal.
- Purposefully Stock up the Kitchen: If you stock up right, you will eat right. Go to the market once a week. Choose a day that you have time to think about your purchases instead of rushing in and rushing out. Making good food choices for you and your family is necessary for living a healthful life. I want to shop more often and more purposefully this year.
- Learn New Quick and Easy Recipes: It can’t just be me that feels like they get stuck in a rut constantly making the same things. My goal this year is to branch out. To learn some new quick and easy recipes that my family will love, that are healthy and that make lots of food! Healthy leftovers are always a win in my book!
- Stock up on Veggies: One thing that I always have on hand at our house is a bag of shredded cabbage from the market, apple cider vinegar and olive oil. I mix it all up to make a super quick and healthy coleslaw and it’s always in the refrigerator for me when I’m searching for a snack. My goal this year is to do more of this. More veggies ready and available when we’re all looking to nosh!
- Up My Soup Game: You all already know how I feel about soup. Soup is filling, it’s detoxing, and it’s full of healthy fiber and vegetables. This year I really want to branch out and make even more soup for me and my family.
- Replace Salt with Nutritional Yeast: I’ve shared my struggle with high blood pressure with you here: https://janinewhiteson.com/2017/09/25/battle-high-blood-pressure/ so you know how salt sensitive I am. This year I’m really going to try to replace unneeded sodium and increase the flavor of recipes with nutritional yeast. If you haven’t heard about all its benefits yet, I really encourage you to check it out. It’s cheesy, delicious, and really brightens up any recipe.
- Drink 1-2 Glasses of Water Pre-Meal: We all know the importance of drinking water. I do my best to drink at least half of my body weight in ounces each day. Sometimes I add cucumber, lemon, lime or mint to mix things up a bit. This year, my goal is to drink 1 or 2 glasses of water before each meal. I always find that when I do this, I end up eating less!
- Eat More Fish: Fish can be really filling, full of water and protein and totally satisfying if done right. I almost always order fish when eating out because I always feel like it’s a healthy AND delicious choice. This year, my goal is to make more fish at home for me and my family.
- Get Moving: I’m happy to say that I’m in pretty good shape because I try to really take care of my body. But, I tend to do the same kind of exercise over and over again. This year I want to keep moving every day but I want to try to mix it up a bit. Dancing, stretching, spinning, walking, some different type of exercise every single day!
- Drink Tea: Green tea is a great place to start because of all its benefits but this year I want to drink more Mate tea from South America. My family from Argentina has been encouraging us to drink this our whole lives. It’s great for digestion, detox, and getting rid of bloat.
- Lastly (and this one doesn’t have to be done in the kitchen!!), my main resolution of 2018 is the same as it’s been for the last almost 20 years…to live a life I’m proud of. To take care of my family, myself and my friends to the best of my ability, to be a positive influence to those around me and to share good vibes, good information and good times with my people. I hope you find this space to be a place of all that for you.
Happy New Year! Xo Janine
