The holidays are behind us so it’s time to take the festive decorations down and start thinking about your New Year’s Reset. What do I mean by reset? Well, most of us overindulge during the holidays and that leaves us feeling a bit sluggish.
If you made New Year’s Resolutions, I’ll bet a lot of you included “eat healthier” or “lose weight” on that list. Once Upon A Frittata is here to help! January (and beyond) will be dedicated to helping you with a healthy New Year’s Reset full of delicious and nutritious recipes for each meal of the day.
Eat More Plants
I like to think of myself as having a mostly plant based diet. But it you look in my freezer, you’ll find confit duck legs, a short rib ravioli and Calabrian chili sausage. I’m definitely not vegan or vegetarian. That said, eating heavy foods like that tends to make me feel weighed down.
For my New Year’s Reset, I decided to try to go 100% plant based for the month of January. Try is the key word here.
Eat Less Chicken
I bet you think that the picture above shows a grilled chicken salad. Think again. One of the joys of giving up meat for your New Year’s Reset and looking for alternative sources of protein is discovering halloumi cheese.
This firm, salty cheese can be seared and goes with just about anything. If you are already a fan of halloumi and don’t want to wait for the New Year’s Reset recipe shown above to post, check out Halloumi Panzanella which is a twist on a traditional bread salad recipe.
The Most Important Meal of the Day
Not everyone has time to make a fancy breakfast during the week, but you can look forward to having this New Year’s Reset meal on Saturday and Sunday.
One of my favorite Something Borrowed recipes is the Savory Quinoa Breakfast Bowl from Eat with Clarity. I lived on this recipe for at least 2 years before I wore myself out on it.
This past weekend I had a craving for it but didn’t have the exact ingredient mix. I improvised and came up with a delicious twist using shaved Brussel sprouts, seared lemon and labneh which is my latest ingredient obsession and another joy of the New Year’s Reset.
I’ll be transitioning to a remote job next week, which means I’ll be having my New Year’s Reset breakfast bowl on Monday.
Eggplants are Plants
Gooey roasted eggplant is delicious any time of year, but for some reason it tastes better on a cold night than in the middle of summer. Eating more fiber-rich eggplant is a good strategy for your New Year’s Reset.
One of my reliable standby recipes for a quick weeknight supper is a Roasted Pepper, Eggplant and Cherry Tomato Linguine which is essentially a sheet pan dinner over fresh pasta. I overdid it on pasta recently so I’m cutting it out as part of my New Year’s Reset.
Plating this dish over couscous instead means even less work for a weeknight meal. I was plenty full after devouring this bowl but plan to incorporate chickpeas in this New Year’s Reset recipe for additional protein.
Yay for Labneh
I recently wrote a Culinary Guide to Labneh for my side hustle and it got me curious about labneh (pronounced lab-nay). I knew I had tried it before at Mediterranean restaurants, but I had never used it at home. When I saw it at Whole Foods, I decided to give it a try. A New Year’s Reset should include trying things, after all.
Labneh was an instant obsession. It’s like a blend of thick Greek yogurt and goat cheese. If you don’t use either of those ingredients, you can try labneh by substituting it anywhere you’d use cream cheese.
Labneh is a great ingredient to incorporate into your New Year’s Reset. Besides being super versatile, it’s also a great source of protein. This brand happens be also be dairy free if that is important to you.
Expect to see many recipes that incorporate labneh for the New Year’s Reset.
Cure for the Winter Blues
You’ll need something to wash all this delicious plant-based food down, so start thinking about fruit smoothies and veggies juices for your New Year’s Reset. A pineapple banana oat milk smoothie instantly transports you to a more tropical place, at least in spirit.
Incorporating more plant based milks into your diet is another good way to embrace a New Year’s Reset. Just be sure to read labels. Unfortunately many commercial products have sugars, gums and oils in them.
Califia Farms Organic Oat Milk is my go-to and one of the only products I’ve found that doesn’t have fillers. Sadly, I had to give up their Barista Blend once I read the label but the original oat milk is just oats and water so it’s perfect for your New Year’s Reset.
Rolling Into Your Resolutions
As always, Once Upon A Frittata will include some new rolls for 2024 as part of the New Year’s Reset. Vegetarian sushi rolls are still one of my favorite things to experiment with. I’m also branching out with spring rolls that work in your lunchbox.
Start Your New Year’s Reset Today
If you are inspired and want to start your New Year’s Reset today, why not make a batch of your own Homemade Granola? It looks so cute stored in a glass mason jar and goes perfectly with your morning coffee.
Put a dollop of your favorite yogurt on it and drizzle with farm honey. Try not to make a mess like I did, lol.
Happiest New Year to You
One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to post more consistently on the site. Recipes are always a major theme, but what makes Once Upon A Frittata unique is that it doesn’t box me in to one topic.
A New Year’s Reset doesn’t just have to be about eating healthier. What about a reset of how your spend your time? Or just making time to spend time with yourself?
Reading more books is always on my New Year’s Resolution list. I’m getting ready to start The Covenant of Water by the author of one of the best stories ever written, Cutting For Stone.
You can also expect more birds on the site in 2024 because “bird more” was #9 on my New Year’s Resolutions list (though when I shared my list I was told it needs to move up).
One of the best things you can do for a New Year’s Reset is to connect more with nature. Sure, it’s cold outside right now. But you can use binoculars to bird watch from the comfort of your living room.
I just decided that I’m long overdue to write a Beginner’s Guide to Birding post, so now that’s on my to-do list.
Seek Joy, Choose Joy
I started Once Upon A Frittata because sharing the things I love brings me joy. The goal was to share birds, books, food and travel stories in hopes that they would inspire others to cook more, travel more, read more and notice nature more.
If my stories, recipes and photos have inspired you, I’d love to know. I’d also love it if you would share this site with one other person who might enjoy it. I don’t put much effort into becoming a social media influencer, so word of mouth sharing means a lot for the site.
Wishing you the happiest New Year and much joy in 2024!
