GOODBYE 2020 + OUR 2021 JANUARY CHALLENGE

BEGINING THE WEEK OF JAN 3, 2021!

HI ALL! Gosh I am so grateful to you all, my lovely community! Thank you for another fabulous year of great recipes, articles, and conversation. I am so glad you are here to read this week's newsletter because we are talking ALL about our January 2021 challenge that I want you all to be apart of with us! Our whole team is taking part! We are so excited about this little challenge and we hope you join us, too!

Let's face it, 2020 was hard. I think most people are in this boat: many of our routines, norms, and even standards have been thrown out the window. And for good reason– we've all needed to majorly pivot in 2020.

But I'm craving some normalcy in my life, especially after welcoming our daughter into this world and as we cross over into 2021! I'm accepting that this is the perfect time for a reset on self-care, sitting down for home-cooked meals, and some normalcy all around.

This new year, I'm going to focus hard on meal planning for my family, and making sure to sneak in at least 1 self-care item for myself every week. We can all do this, right? You guys, this is the challenge. It's achievable and we can do it together!

For this challenge we hope that we collectively will:

Create healthy habits and routines
Find renewed joy in cooking
Get the family involved
Take some last-minute decision making off your plate
Reduce anxiety and create a little order for the week
Nourish our bodies & really just feel great

*Keep your eyes out for a full blog coming out Friday, January 1st with all the details on this challenge, some meal plan tips, our favorite quick weeknight meals, giveaway details, and more!

WHY A MEAL PLAN CHALLENGE?

While I know it may seem like an easy thing to simply plan your family's meals at the beginning of each week, but this simple task often gets pushed aside. That can leave us scrambling at the last minute trying to figure out what to make for dinner. This leads to either making less healthy choices or reverting to the same old boring meals we've all got on standby.

Making a commitment to sit down at the beginning of each week and simply plan out most of your meals for the week, can leave us with the right start to the week. And it takes the last-minute decision making off our plates! In addition, we think it will help us enjoy a variety of nutrients and flavors, reduce the anxiety of overwhelm at dinner time and feel motivated within our community!

OUR MEAL PLAN CHALLENGE

So each week, we challenge you to sit down and do the obvious: make a meal plan! We've created a template for you to use (and share on social media, if you'd like to get involved AND enter the giveaway) or you can just go ahead and use whatever recording system that works for you.

But more than just picking out a few random meals for the week, truly think about what your week looks like, and how much time (if any) you have to make a meal. Do your best to not overpromise yourself in making a meal that takes an hour to cook if realistically you have like 15 minutes to throw something together. Gather any recipes you might need, and of course, order or go to the store for the ingredients needed.

Do what you need to do to set yourself up for success for the week. Take meat out of the freezer, etc. Planning doesn't have to necessarily mean COOK… Think ordering a smoothie box for breakfasts or making smoothie packs!

Our Philosophy:

This is YOUR journey to feeling your best, and this month-long kickstart challenge is here to motivate you, support you, and provide inspiration and accountability. This is a lifestyle kickstart, not a 30-day only challenge. Use this as a template that will fit into your lifestyle, rather than trying to this challenge into your life.

The goal here is to make this a simple and achievable challenge, and specifically one where you do not meal prepping for hours. The goal should always be to make your plan achievable.
Be realistic. This isn't' a challenge to see who can create the best looking meals. This is a challenge to figure out what works for your family consistently, which then results in healthy meals that leave everyone feeling nourished.
Use whatever resources you can to make this work: think smoothie boxes or other prepurchased food that works for you. There are a ton of services these days that help get healthy real food on the table for you.
It's also important to keep in mind that just because you planned out your meals for the week, you can still change up what you're having without any guilt! This is not meant for you to make a plan, break it and then beat yourself up over. It's more of an inspirational plan that helps build habits.

WILL YOU JOIN US?
*YOU'LL BE ENTERED IN A GIVEAWAY, TOO!

For some end-of-the-month fun, every entry will be entered to win a cookware pan that we love, plus some other goodies! We will pick 2 winners, at random, on 1/31/20 at 8pm EST.

How to enter:

Use the templates below and upload them on your Instagram stories anytime this month and tag @lexiscleankitchen #LCLchallenge! Not on Instagram? Post in our private Facebook group here!
Bonus: Tag us in recipes you are making on Instagram (@lexiscleankitchen #LCLchallenge) or in the Facebook group!

TEMPLATE FOR INSTAGRAM STORIES
*Save me to your photos on your phone!

PRINTABLE TEMPLATE

30-MINUTE MEAL IDEAS TO KICKOFF THE CHALLEGE WITH
*Click an image to head to the recipe

Grab the rest of our favorite 30-minute meals here!

BE SURE TO BE IN OUR FACEBOOK COMMUNITY GROUP!

Our Private Facebook Community is the best. It's where we share weekly menu ideas, newest recipes, and you'll find plenty of like-minded individuals and support! You can always find me and the team hanging in there, ready to chat! Join us here!

Get ready now, but stay tuned for the blog post on Friday for more info!

Lexi & Team

P.S. A good resource for our challenge is getting our trusty partner, ButcherBox, delivered right to your door with meat and seafood. It's SO convenient. I take my meat/seafood out in the beginning of the week and I'm ready to go with my meal plan. New ButcherBox Members will receive one pack of bacon for the lifetime of your membership PLUS $10 off your first box. This offer will expire after December 31!