Gratitude List #11

// This week has been all about food. I love food. I’m so glad that eating can be exciting and tasty and not just something that we have to do keep ourselves alive.

I think one of the biggest surprises I’ve had after getting married is how much I enjoy cooking. I particularly love trying new things. Robert would be happy with eating my super easy, super fool-proof, throw-everything-in-the-pressure-cooker dal makhani but I get bored eating the same thing two meals in a row, even if it’s really tasty!

Anyway, so apart from learning how to cook, I’ve been learning a whole lot about what to cook and what to eat. When we were in school, they didn’t teach us much beyond the very basics of the “food-pyramid” and we all know we should stay away from junk food but I don’t remember learning about food ever being exciting or awe-inspiring and oh my gosh, it so is!

Over the last couple of months, I’ve been researching and reading a LOT of food blogs and it is just so fascinating. Every fruit, vegetable, grain, seed, meat, fish, liquid has something different to offer. Every colour signifies something. And to me, a person who is invigorated and inspired by nature and open spaces, it’s like a little treat from God. As I cut open a fruit or vegetable, elaborately designed and made to provide us with much needed nutrients, I find the beauty of creation in our very own tiny kitchen. I can watch a chia seed turn from this tiny solid black speck, which apparently contains unbelievable amounts of good stuff, to this crazy gooey gelatinous substance and my mind is quite literally blown.

I know it’s hard to care so much when you have a busy schedule you literally sometimes just eat because you have to, and I am so grateful that I’ve had time off in the past couple of weeks to spend time reading and experimenting. And honestly, in the area of food, knowledge really is power. Once you know what is in the food you’re buying in packages, or at restaurants, and you know there’s an easier and waaaaaay healthier alternative, you literally develop a ‘good addiction’ to the good stuff.

Here are some of the resources that have helped me:

1. The Clean Newsletter: You can sign up for it on their website. It’s actually a detox program and there’s also a really great recipe book but just start with the newsletter. It comes once a week to your inbox with easy recipes and amazingly informative articles.

2. Simple Green Smoothies: This website has, as the name suggest, simple green smoothie recipes. Smoothies are super easy, super healthy additions to your diet!

3. The Food Babe: This crazy amazing woman is out to fight for honesty in the food and advertising industry. Packaged food is notoriously labeled with misleading tags like “All Natural”, “Zero Trans Fat” and Vani (aka the Food Babe) helps us to dig a little deeper and find out what’s really in the food we’re buying. I have mad respect for this woman and she’s really done some amazing stuff. Check it out here.

4. Eat Life Whole: Some really good easy recipes on this website. They also have ‘Eat Real Essentials” book which has some great tips on what oils to use in your cooking, and meal planning, and a 21-day clean eating challenge with recipes! Definitely worth a gander!

5. Conscious Food Blog: By the folks of Conscious Foods. I just discovered this website today and it has some really good articles and even some recipes. These guys are fast becoming by favourite organic product suppliers.