Simply put: I love to eat! I\u2019ve gone through a lot of phases with my diet because I have an autoimmune disorder, but I find that placing too many limitations on what I eat really impacts my mental health. For me, the best diet is all about balance. Sometimes, what makes me feel good isn\u2019t necessarily the \u201chealthiest\u201d thing, but if it brings me joy and doesn\u2019t make me feel bad (physically), I\u2019ll probably eat it. Here\u2019s a typical recent menu that brings me joy: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I always start my day with a warm drink to rehydrate\u2014it just feels like the warmth helps get all the senses moving. Sometimes it\u2019s hot water with a pinch of turmeric or ginger. Sometimes it\u2019s green tea. Today it was hot water with lemon. Then I made a smoothie with cherries, almond milk, papaya, pecans, date, coconut, chia seeds and kale. I also took a couple of bites of the\u00a0Harry\u2019s Berries<\/a>\u00a0strawberry buttermilk pancakes I made for my son. I love strawberry season, and these berries are magic. My entire family is obsessed with them!\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n A lot of people forget lunch, but it’s so important to have a mid-day pause<\/a> to stay in a good frame of mind. Today, I had an impromptu lunch out with my husband (thank you, science, for vaccines!). I had chicken vegetable soup and two crostinis. One was prosciutto, arugula and goat cheese and the other was mozzarella, heirloom tomato and balsamic vinegar. Yum. To drink, I had my favorite beverage\u2014iced tea with a muddled orange slice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Came home and ate a few scraps of leftover PB&J sandwich and dinosaur pesto pasta from my son\u2019s plate because I do the \u201deat-his-scraps-while-clearing-his-plate\u201d mom thing after pretty much every meal. (Moms out there, I know you know what I’m talking about!) I also had a handful of Harry\u2019s Berries<\/a> and some pineapple.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n I usually never have coffee, but I\u2019m a self-proclaimed tea connoisseur. I love everything about it\u2014the ceremony of making it, sharing it with other people, even the paraphernalia like mugs and matcha whisks. In addition to giving me a little mind break, brewing a cup of tea brings me joy. Sometimes I make a matcha latte, but today I had brewed matcha tea<\/a> because I was craving the simplicity of traditional ceremonial grade matcha and water whisked to perfection.\u202f And my son joined in on my tea ritual today, so I made him a \u201cbabyccino\u201d with steamed almond milk, honey and cinnamon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My mum is an amazing cook and happened to send over some marinated tandoori chicken and aloo rotis (traditional Indian stuffed potato bread) with sweet yogurt. So good. Bonus: It was a great way to feel connected to family. \u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\nLunch <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Snack <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Tea break <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Dinner <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Dessert <\/h3>\n\n\n\n