What is your food philosophy?
I think that the most important thing to remember when you eat, is to do it with joy. To be conscious and grateful for what you are about to receive, no matter what “kind” of diet you follow. If you align emotionally with your food choices, that is a huge part of being healthy.
For me, this means eating as close to the earth as possible (choosing minimally processed ingredients), using cooking techniques that preserve or enhance the integrity of the nutrients inside the food, and actually taking the time to cook for myself every day, and most days that’s three or more times!
There are a lot of diet labels floating around these days (vegan, paleo, gluten-free) and I think they’re fine as long as we can recognize that we are not those labels, and that aligning our identity with what we choose to eat can be hard on us emotionally if we “slip up” or choose to change our minds one day. That’s why I think removing the deep emotional connections to those labels is good practice to protect ourselves, and just making food choices based on what we know makes us feel our best, and brings us joy is the most important thing to focus on.
What are your thoughts on how food relates to beauty?
I think of beauty more in terms of how we feel than our outward appearance. I know I feel my most beautiful when I am deeply nourished with clean, high vibrational food that I’ve made with a clear intention and love!
What do you always keep in your fridge?
Lemons and limes, leafy greens (kale, lettuces, spinach, chard, collards), broccoli, cooked beans, lentils and whole grains, nuts and nut butters, homemade hemp milk, apple cider vinegar and local farm eggs.
Please give us a breakdown of each shelf.
Top shelf I store spring onions and herbs in glasses of water (like you would keep flowers) since this keeps them fresh and crispy for such a long time. The cilantro I would normally have “tented” under a plastic bag, but I removed it for the photo :) Next to that I have my line up of nuts: walnuts, almonds, pistachios, cashews, and some homemade nut milk on top. Most people don’t think about storing their nuts in the fridge, but it’s a really good idea since their fats are so sensitive to heat. They stay fresh longer and retain more of their delicate nutrients this way. Behind the front row is apple cider vinegar, my kombucha SCOBY hotel and some delicious hot salsa that I just brought back from Mexico.
Second shelf Locally made chickpea miso, locally made sauerkraut (I usually make my own, but this stuff with roasted garlic and jalepeno is to die for!), mustard, followed by my nut and seed butter collection: peanut, sunflower, almond and three kinds of locally-made tahini: beet, smoked and salted.
Third shelf I like to store all leftovers and prepared things in the same place so my family knows which shelf to grab from if they’re hungry. The first container is cooked lentil spaghetti, then steamed broccoli (which is key for me to have ready so that I actually eat it), then some washed organic strawberries. These are totally out of season, but they’re my son’s favourite so I cave every time I’m at the store. In behind the containers is some truffle butter that my friend made and my homemade chia jam.
Fourth shelf I’m lucky to live outside the city and have farms around me that have a surplus of eggs! These were dropped off this week. I love how fresh they taste! On top of that there are some organic cherry tomatoes (in plastic! I caved again!) then cooked chickpeas under the cooked pinto beans. I always need to have cooked “building blocks” on hand, like legumes (pulses) and whole grains. Next to that is a spicy almond butter sauce that’s delicious on top of the steamed broccoli! Then a jar of fresh turmeric tubers.
Drawer Organic citrus, apples, cabbage, carrots, cucumber, and kale.
Door Our extensive hot sauce collection! There’s one for every mood ;)
Door, bottom shelf Homemade kombucha vinegar, tamari, locally made maple syrup, homemade hemp seed “queso” and homemade kombucha vinegar pickled onions.
Please share a favorite recipe.
This is one of the most recent recipes from my blog. It’s a cashew-coconut-cacao butter that is good poured over your ENTIRE LIFE!
Bali Butter
Makes 3 cups
3 cups raw cashews
3 cups unsweetened desiccated coconut
¾ tsp large flake sea salt (I used Maldon)
¼ cup raw cacao powder
3 Tbsp coconut sugar
3 Tbsp cacao nibs
Seeds from 1 vanilla bean
Preheat oven to 325°F. Spread cashews out evenly on a rimmed baking sheet and place in the preheated oven. Toast for about 10 minutes, keeping an eye on them so that they don’t burn! Remove from oven and let cool.
While the cashews are in the oven, toast the coconut in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until slightly golden. Remove from heat and set aside. Depending on the size of your skillet, you may want to work in batches.
Place the coconut in a food processor. Blend on high, scraping down the sides every so often, until the coconut is creamy and smooth (this make take up to 10 minutes, depending on the strength of your food processor – be patient!).
Add the cashews to the food processor and blend on high until creamy and smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and blend on high. Taste and adjust saltiness, sweetness, chocolate levels to suit your taste.
Store Bali Butter in an airtight glass container at room temperature (out of the fridge) for one month.
