The last couple of weeks I have made it a point to make at least one of our weeknight meals in the crock pot. Sort of a little personal kitchen challenge I guess you could call it.

I found this recipe on Skinnytaste last week when I was working on this roundup of slow cooker chicken recipes for Babble. When I saw it I looked at the ingredients and knew that I would have to try it out on the family very soon. It’s a very simple and straightforward recipe, my favorite kind, and once everything is in the crock pot the only thing left to do is cook up some rice and you are good to go!

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So, it’s not a surprise that most of us start the new year off with resolutions and goals. While on that note, I’ll go ahead and share mine since one of my goals this year is to actually start writing down my goals and making them real:

• Write down my goals regularly
• Work smarter
• Use my calendar
• Practice patience with my children…and become less of a ‘yeller’
• Wake up earlier in the morning
• Meal plan better (2 – 3 days at a time works best for me I have finally learned)
• Create a ‘space’ for myself in my home
• Get strong (with weight training and pilates)

I love making lists like this. I have one I refer to daily taped on my my bedroom mirror that reminds me of the things I should do daily to make myself feel good. It’s probably time I move that list to a new place though, because I’m noticing I haven’t been ‘seeing’ it lately if you know what I mean.

So let’s talk about this ‘make myself feel good’ stuff. The whirlwind of the holidays are behind us now (barely, but they are back there, I promise). It’s time to clean up our homes, our minds and get back to routines. For some of us, it’s time to clean up our bodies too. I’m definitely in that club. I’ve indulged heavily on some yummy food and drinks this past month and with no regrets, I loved it all. But I’m really feeling the effects of it. I think I’ve ‘tasted’ more meat this past month than I have all year long (I cut out most meat over a year and a half ago, not fish, and have felt great because of it). It’s been fun, but I’m ready to get back to what works for me…eating clean, light, heavy on veggies, fruits, beans and fish…and of course daily exercise.

My SIL brought the 17 Day Diet to my attention last week…and as I read the book myself, I got motivated. I don’t like to ever say that I’m on a ‘diet’…I actually cringe at the word. I tend to rebel when I’m told what I can and can’t eat on a ‘diet’. But, in all honesty, I’ve been on a few with success and I know that’s exactly what I need right now. So 17 Day Diet, here I come.

The 17 Day Diet reminds me a lot of South Beach Diet (which I did after both my kids, and loved it)…it revolves around 17 day cycles where you adjust your eating habits and rev up your system. What I like about this program is that is heavily based on eating real food and creating good eating habits, and knowing I’m only thinking 17 days at a time helps. Yes, the first 17 days is going to be tough (it’s limited to veggies, fish or poultry, 2 servings of fruit and little to no sugar)…but after all the sugar and ‘crap’ I put in my body the past few weeks, I’m all for this healthy little detox. (to be clear, the book/diet has 4 different cycles, I plan on doing the first one and then deciding what I want to do from there…I’ll keep ya posted, I promise). I want to lose 10 lbs. And I’ve learned that when it comes to dieting, it’s about how bad you want to lose the weight, and I REALLY want it bad this time around.

I hit the grocery store yesterday, and this is what I came home with:

frozen mahi and salmon
lots of veggies: broccoli, green beans, asparagus, zucchini, tomatoes, celery, cucumbers, kale, lettuce
eggs and egg whites
non fat plain Greek yogurt
kefir
frozen blueberries, grapes and oranges

For the most part (other than the kefir), this is what I come home from the grocery store with often. Now it’s time to figure out how to eat it all over the next 17 days. This is the tricky part….finding recipes, ideas and techniques to cook it all up.

If anyone wants to jump on board this little 17 day journey here…please, chime in. The more the merrier. Here’s the site about the book itself (I have absolutely no affiliation with them by the way, these people have no idea who I am) and here’s a little resourceful forum I found on The Doctors website that can help answer any questions.

And for the sake of inspiration, motivation and ideas on what to cook up…here are a few ideas I found here on my blog. Also, I will be spending a lot of time over on Kalyn’s Kitchen looking for healthy recipes, I’ve been following her for years and she’s got an incredible collection of great food over there.

So here’s what I’ll be eating a lot of over the next couple of weeks:

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