I made Rotisserie Chicken Soup on Day 1 of Whole30, because it’s luscious and delicious. The stock uses a rotisserie chicken. Roy first made this for me when I had a cold a couple years ago; he bought a rotisserie chicken, using the bones to make the stock. He sautéed carrots and added large pieces of the chicken. It feels almost like a noodle soup, with green beans and carrots. This soup is simply spectacular, and it’s something you will enjoy making again and again.

If you’re not doing Whole 30 and you to want to put together something easy for weeknight eating, this Weeknight Chicken Stir Fry is the best! Here it is done with a bit of rice pilaf, but if you’re on Whole30, substitute cauliflower rice.

This delicious Asian Chicken Salad was developed a while back in the nocrumbsleft kitchen, and it remains one of my favorites. I’ve had long phases in which I brought it to Michigan every weekend! As I’ve updated the recipe, I no longer use mango, just the Mandarin oranges. It has a most delectable combination of sweet, salty, and crispy. I like to make all the individual elements with the dressing on the side and assemble and toss as needed.

As you rotate back into your healthy habits, remember these five things: 

• Start small. Don’t swing to an unsustainably extreme diet. Instead, commit to simple, sustainable shifts, like changing to a more healthful breakfast for a week. Tackle lunch and dinner in the following weeks.
• The simplest and most effective habit you can immediately establish is to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!
• Create a health vision board to connect to why you want to live your healthiest life.

• I encourage outdoor walking daily to get your dose of Vitamin D. Even just 20 minutes is enough to boost mood and reduce stress.
• Ask a friend to be your support and accountability partner. Text each other daily affirmations and share your wins.

I’m sending all of you my best wishes for 2022!  Thanks so much to those who took the journey with me last weekend, as Henry went from not feeling well to being on the verge of departing altogether. And thank you so much to modern medicine and our veterinary emergency room. We are on our final chapter with Henry, but it’s sweet to know that we still have some time with him, so we are loving and enjoying him day by day. I truly appreciate your sweet messages.

In 2022, more than anything, let’s find a way to be nicer to each other and include somebody new. Create a dream wish for yourself and to try as much as possible to let go of 2021, so you start this year with as much hope as possible.