On Meal Planning

A little meal planning goes a long way—it lifts the weight of rushing into the kitchen with hanger after a long day's work and allows for mixing & matching. Many of us, though, may find ourselves swept into preparing the same meals every weekend. Despite being a creature of habit & finding ease in eating certain meals all the time, it's necessary to have variety.

 It's not just a culinary pun here that "variety is the spice of life," it gives our bodies life as well. Having a diet that rotates with the seasons, for instance, allows the body to return to its natural rhythm of synching with Mother Nature. It provides the body with produce at its peak nutrition, often arriving to the table not far from the farm. Whereas nonseasonal or non-local produce travels often for miles and sits in on-temperature controlled environments like trucks.

Revive your diet by visiting the farmer's market to pick up local, in-season produce to experiment with. Try garlic scape in a leafy green vegetable sauté that you haven't tried before or don't eat often, such as dandelion greens. These bitter vegetables aid the body in the gentle detoxification process that is the highlight of the warmer, airy seasons of Spring & Summer. They cool the body and remove excess toxins that we have acquired over the indulgent colder months, which aren't as conducive to circulation and hence detoxification or elimination.

Another way to get out of a cyclical meal plan or general meal rut is purchasing a new cookbook. I often find myself winging it in the kitchen or hitting the jackpot with an unwritten recipe. I'm certain there is a cookbook you have been increasingly finding in your radar or one that you have been coveting. These become a portal into unexpected flavour combinations and new igredients to expand your culinary horizon. Make the purchase and try out a few recipes over the weekend. If they are winners, include them in your meal prep rotation to have new flavours to look forward to during the week. Some of my experimental favourites are Gjelina, Prune, Plenty, Hartwood, On Vegetables, Salad for President, Small Victories, & Moon Juicefor easier, snack-y options.