8 Tips to connect your Intuition with your Nutrition. A bit of practicality!

Hello Nuts!

September has arrived and therefore I am getting crazy and struggling with the “getting into the routine feeling”. More and more things to do and less and less time to take care of myself! So today I was thinking… why don´t make myself a favor, don´t “waste” time everyday cooking (don´t misunderstand me… I love cooking) or end up eating the first things I can make in 10 minute (usually avocado on toast) or simple grab something on the go without even thinking about the cost of eating everyday out and the effect on my health and the anxiety caused by “I don´t know what to eat or I don´t have many options so I can´t eat what I really need, what my body is asking for.

This is quite stressful for me, I don´t like to leave my lunch or dinner to chance. I like to listen to my body and give it what it needs (we all agree it is not always easy).

Since we start at school we spend so many year learning how to organize ourselves -homework, home tasks, and later, work, economy, etc., in order to make our life more effective. Why not to do the same with my weekly meals?

So from some time ago, I have been trying to plan a menu through the week, but honestly, I could never do that properly. Yes, it was easy just to write in a piece of paper what I wanted to eat or cook during the week but I never get the time or habit to cook ahead a couple of supper and a few small things. So I usually ended cooking dishes in a rush, the quick version, less tasty and harder for my digestion – yes, slow cooking means SLOW, in need of enough time to get it cooked properly and make you feel good -. Of course we can eat salad every day, sandwiches, pasta, super quick meals, but trust me it won´t be as delicious, comfortable, enjoyable, mindful, plentiful as a wonderful stew will do, and the best of all, if you organize yourself it can be ready in a blink of an eye.

For all this reasons, I have been searching how can I organize my week, and surprisingly, I have found very interesting tips. Some of them I have already tried in the past and other that I have never though about:

1. Spend time looking for new recipes. At least one recipe a week.

I like to try new things and experiment, therefore I don´t make the same thing over and over again, because I used to get bored very quickly and also I don´t need always the same things.

2. Look for a place to save new recipes or ideas.

You can have a notebook, or a note on your phone, may be a folder in your computer to save and keep the recipes which works for you.

I am used to invent new combinations, so when I make something which has resulted very tasty, I try to write it as quick as possible in order to don´t miss any step and ingredient and be able to repeat it again (that was my mum´s suggestion and it works!).

3. Cook for someone else, please ask for help.

Inviting a friend, share something with your flatmates is always a good excuse to cook something more interesting and it will give you more ideas and spand your culinary horizons, a part of it is much funnier… Asking about tastes and what they need to eat is easier sometimes to came up with what you want to cook. Very often I finish super tired of thinking what I want or what I need, is very difficult to listen to my body when I am exhausted. For those whose have someone who cooks for you, please give them ideas!

4. Check the weather.

For me it is usually happens that depend of the weather or season I am, my body ask me for some different kind of things and therefore different kind of food. In a city like London, when you have four seasons in one day is quite more difficult, but it is helpful to check the weather and think ahead a few ideas, at least to decide if you want a week of salad or supper!

5. Keep records.

I get crazy in the paper-shops, when I see myself surrounded by planners of all kind! Nice colors, different shapes… So in that´s way I am crazy at organizing and write everything down, I don´t know, for me that helps a lot, so I try to keep a diary or to write in my calendar everyday what I have eaten, so at the same time that I can improve my diet I also can keep records of meals which I can go back when I am running out of ideas.

6. Theme nights.

This is funny but I really like. To create a special day or themes of the nights, for example, curry night, soup night, pizza night, Thailand night, so you can also try different recipes from different ethnic.

7. Choose a shopping day.

When you have an idea of what you want to cook during the week, just make sure you will have all the ingredients in your kitchen. I don´t have much time so, I used to do (really badly, but it is London) my shopping online in my favorite grocery. I love to go to the market myself, smell the veggies and the fruits, see what is in offer, ask for suggestions to the shop assistant or actually to the farmer, in order to get the best every time, however it does not happen very often in London, just if you can go to markets like Borough Market, but they are far for a weekly shopping (that is one thing I really miss from Spain, from my home town).

8. Get cooked as much as you can as soon as the food comes from the grocery.

I used to pick a couple of big casseroles or slow cooking dishes and I make a big amount to keep it on the fridge or freezer for another time, like this I save energy and money at the same time.

A few things I do and other that I would like to start doing are:

• boil a half of the eggs package and keep the on the fridge (last a whole week).

• Chop the vegetable, ie., onions, peppers, carrots… keep then in plastic bags and put then in the freezer.

• Roast vegetables in the oven, keeping then with lemon juice on the fridge

• Boil legumes, like lentils or chickpeas, then I separate then for serving, keeping in a freezer bag on the freezer. You can use then later for salad, stews, humus…

So this few things make you save tons of time in cutting, boiling, and roasting and need just time to maybe boil a bit of pasta or rice or quinoa to mix with, for example.

• If you can´t do anything of that, then what I suggest is to cook your lunch as you cook your dinner, that´s what I do when all this previous resources are finished until my next shopping and cooking day.

• Ah yes!!! Pick a cooking day! Usually when you receive or make your shopping. Allow yourself sometime to take care about your basic needs!!

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Anyway… Today, to help you out and give you some ideas I would love to share my planning for this week, also I have to say that I didn´t have much time to cook yesterday, so those advises are also for me to follow!

Lunches:

• Vegan Musaka. (Aubergines, black beans, coconut milk…).

• Chicken Casserole. (Chicken and sweet potato).

• Roasted vegetables (to mix with lemony quinoa).

• Broccoli pesto (to mix with wholemeal pasta).

• Rice Salad (with chickpeas, tomato, cucumber).

• Potato salad with roasted courgette (hard egg, tuna).

• Free day (I can repeat something or maybe give me the treat to eat out).

Dinners:

• Veggie Burger with mushrooms.

• Salmon steak with broccoli.

• Vegetable soup.

• Omelette/ scramble eggs…

• Curry night!

• Veggie Sausages and potato/pea/ other mash.

• Tuna steak with onions and peppers.

• Super salad, with nuts, avocado, spinach.

Of course, some of the days I may not be able to carry it out as planned, but that´s why I also don´t like to stick one meal to a fixed day. I don´t know if this is what I am going to need or something else will happen, so I leave it open to change. However, what I make sure is that I really like the ingredients I bought, it meets the beginnings of the diet I believe that is the best for me (despite I am trying to eat even less animal-based food), and that is affordable.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE THIS WEEK!

For example!!! I have tried this recipe long time ago which initially seemed very complicated, but in this occasion I wanted to make it easier and looking at the ingredients I saw that it could be simple without lose so much quality in the flavors and nutrients.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I am always trying to make traditional dishes in an alternative way, for example, making a vegan version of a meaty dish or baking a free sugar version of a cake. This time I looked at many different Musaka recipes, which is one of my favorites traditional Greek dishes and I simplified it. I think the result really made it worthwhile.

Vegan Musaka

Inspired by: BBC Recipes and many others.

Recipe type: Lunch/ Dinner

Prep time:  10 mins

Cook time:  20 mins

Total time:  30 mins

Serves: about 2 -3 portions.

Gluten free, Vegan and Vegetarian version.

Ingredients ( For 2 servings):

1 Large aubergine

1 Canned organic (or not) black beans.

1 Onion

1 Chopped tomato can.

1 Large grated carrot

Fresh Basil

4 Dates

30g Cashews

Coconut milk for vegan // Ricotta cheese or Greek yogurt for those who eat diary.

Salt and paper

coconut oil

Olive oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven 180- 200ºC.

2. Cut the aubergine in the middle and slice the two half in sheets of 1 cm more or less.

3. Put a tea-spoon of coconut oil in a pan and fried pan the aubergines until soft. Reserve.

4. Make a tomato sauce. In other pan, fried the onions in a spoon of olive oil, when it gets soft add the carrot and the chopped tomatoes. Add salt and paper. You can also add a 100 ml of white wine for a kick!

5. In a bowl mix the dried black beans, the fresh basil chopped and a spoon of ricotta cheese/ Greek yogurt/ coconut milk depend of your taste, and the dates chopped.

6. Place on a trail organizing the different layers. First a spoon of tomato sauce, a layer of aubergines, then black beans , and start again until finish with a layer of tomato sauce.

7. Finish topping the Mukasa with grated cashews and put in the oven for 10-15 min or until the top gets brown.

8. Serve or leave it ready as tomorrow´s meal, warm it up in the microwave but eat it mindful and enjoy!

It is funny but every time I made this recipe I made it in a different way, for example by adding another layer of spinach if I run out of any ingredient I just try to improve, this makes it much more fun and exciting every time I eat it. Let´s see the next time, but don´t be afraid of change ingredients, for example lentils instead of black beans or cannellini beans, just play! And please share it if you liked it!

However you may be run out of time or maybe don´t have microwave the next day, I have another options which in one occasion, not long ago, I needed to adjust.

“It was an incredible weekend at the countryside, and of course we spent a lot of time out, hiking, enjoying the nature. I planned a lot thing to make “the perfect” lunch but we came back really late and with not patience to wait for an oven to heat up and after bake a Musaka, so I decided to make a Mukasa Salad (I mean almost the same ingredients but with a different twist), and it actually works!!!! Even better if it is a hot day at it was. And actually, if I am honest wasn´t much quicker than prepare the Musaka but I really enjoyed the process and the taste was amazing!”

It is for you Dani!

Inspired by: my own intuition.

Ingredients (For 4 servings):

2 Medium aubergines

1 Can of black beans

A few sheets of lettuce

1 Big tomato salad

1 Onion, half caramelized, half raw

2 Carrots grated

1 Apple

4 Dates

1 Spoon cumin seeds

1 Spoon of pumpkin seeds

1 teaspoon chia seeds

1 Spoon yeast

Dressing:

olive oil

balsamic

yogurt

salt

lemon

coriander

 

Method

1. Fried pan the aubergines.

2. Caramelize half on the onion

3. Cut and mix the rest of ingredients

4. In a fry-pan, toast the cumin seeds together with the pumpkin seeds and a bit of salt.

5. Whisk all the ingredients for the dressing and add-on top of the salad with the toasted seed and fresh coriander.

6. Don´t wait until it is cool, eat and enjoy the mix of textures!!