The pandemic was hard on my business like so many others.
Apparently people aren’t into overhauling their diet when they’re just treading water.
The good news is that business has picked up.
With a busier schedule, I’ve found myself having to practice what I preach.
As many of my clients know, a holistic approach involves looking at the whole person, and I’m constantly preaching self-care and stress management.
What I recently noticed was, I stopped taking the time to batch cook and my freezer started looking bare.
The result: more takeout, frozen pizza, store bought dumplings and quick pasta meals…
The result of that: A few (8) extra pounds, a little more sluggishness, a little more brain fog, sore stiff joints which lead to less activity, less motivation, more scrolling, more Netflix.
See the pattern?
Let’s be clear; I have nothing against takeout once in awhile and I never want to divorce pasta but it’s about the balance.
Correcting that involved a couple of tough decisions, some prioritizing and a little more discipline with the scrolling and the screen time.
I’m working at building up my meal reserves again because I know that:
Cooking my own food is a giant part of self-care and it does pay off in the long run.
I’ve gone back to making one batch cooking recipe per week. It usually goes like this:
-Monday after work, I grocery shop and gather up my ingredients. I also take an inventory of containers and labels and make sure I have everything I need . I may do a little prepping such as taking stuff out to defrost, washing the greens, soaking beans, chopping some of the veggies.
-Tuesday is usually my big recipe day and I try to book myself off around 4:00 or so and go straight to the kitchen.
It’s much less overwhelming because I’ve already been to the store and everything has been laid out the day before.
I even plan a light lunch on my cooking day because I know that if I have a little edge, I’m more motivated to taste, season carefully and really work at making my masterpiece delicious.
Golden Rule: It doesn’t go into the freezer unless it’s absolutely delicious. Working at seasoning carefully and making your food delicious is ESSENTIAL.
Committing to doing this on a weekly or bi-weekly basis ensures that I always have some healthy delicious go-tos when things get busy.
Some weeks it’s as simple as making a giant batch of homemade salad dressing, getting some sprouts sprouting or starting a batch of ferments…
What I know for sure; cooking my own food is foundational and key to staying the course and being at my best.
My gift to you:
This pea soup recipe is a regular part of my rotation. This recipe makes a large batch so you’ll have enough to freeze for busy days.
I sometimes struggle with getting enough legumes into my diet. This recipe is one of my solutions to that problem.
Legumes are super-foods providing beautiful fiber, prebiotics and protein. Eating legumes has been shown to stabilize blood sugar levels for the meal when they’re consumed and well into the next meal.
This is called therapeutic for folks with blood sugar issues.
This recipe includes some bacon. For folks that are in the early stages of their Metabolic Balance program and don’t want to mix proteins, or if you prefer going full-on plant-based, the bacon can be replaced by a few drops of liquid smoke.
For folks that worry that bacon has no part in a healthy diet. I say, first of all, source your bacon carefully (naturally raised without antibiotics and without preservatives). Secondly, rest assured that some saturated fats are beneficial when part of a balanced, nutrient-dense diet.
Top this soup with a generous helping of raw sauerkraut and you’ve got all your bases covered. A perfect quick, delicious lunch.
Reach out if you’d like to build on your self-care routine.
Cheers to making healthy delicious.