Embracing My Love Affair With Food

Written by Gigi M

This  has been the one constant relationship in my life that has shaped me, (in more ways than one!) and nourished me. Food plays an important role in my life, I eat to survive, I eat for nourishment, I eat for pleasure, I eat for sustainability, and I eat to socialise.

 As a society, we give a lot of power to food. It boosts our mood, brings us closer together with loved ones, and gives us a reason to get to know new people. But it can also empower us when we choose to dig in, get our hands dirty and make it ourselves. My love affair happens to consist of a green smoothie, oxtail stew and Pistachio gelato. 3 of my favourite things to date. I will just take you through my perfect day of eating things that I enjoy.

Breakfast

Thee Green  Diva Smoothie

I know, you wondering why anyone would be excited to drink something as green as this. I hear ya— I’ve been right where you are. When I first made this beginner-friendly green smoothie recipe…it changed my life in more ways than I ever imagined. It was love at first sip for me, and I hope it will be for some of you if you decide to try it.

This recipe is full of iron, potassium and vitamins galore— and tastes like a tropical treat from all the island fruit. Yet the best part is how simple and quick it is to make! You only need 6 ingredients people 6! and all of them can be found at your local grocery store (and don’t cost a fortune either!). As I say all the time— I’m all for making healthy eating affordable so it’s sustainable.

INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED:

• coconut water
• Baby spinach
• medium orange
• medium-sized banana
• tbsp hemp seeds
• thump sized ginger

Recipe on healthy smoothie lifestyle blog

Lunch/Dinner

Oxtail

Being a Zimbabwean girl, this recipe is my favourite and  I am pretty sure it has something to do with my missing home.

I know everyone has their version of the oxtail recipe, some braise in the oven, and some use a slow cooker or stove top. There is no right or wrong way. A traditional dish that is becoming more difficult to find. The preparation time is long but not difficult. Worth cooking, in my opinion. Most people cook their meat until it falls off the bone. To me, sucking and nibbling the bones is part of the fun of eating oxtail. So it stays on. You can never have too much oxtail. It tastes even better the next day. Once all the flavours have had time to imbue…

Dessert

Pistachio Gelato

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream. So, truth be told, I had never had pistachio ice cream until 2016 when a friend introduced me to it. Yeah, I know, sacrilege, right? I mean, ok. I never really wanted to try it when we went to gelato/ice cream places because there were just other flavours that were much more appealing to me than pistachio, and honestly, the green kind of turned me off (I know, I’m picky). It’s my favourite nut (I’ve got an expensive taste, apparently, lol) but I just thought it’d taste weird and I’d waste money so I would always go for the obvious flavours (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry) etc. Um yeah, I’ve been MISSING OUT.

Don’t pull a me and miss out on an awesome ice cream flavour. You should try it ASAP!  As I am writing this, I have started dreaming of this ice cream and wish I had more in my freezer. It’s sooo creamy and the perfect dessert for any day of the week.

I have realised that my relationship with food is still evolving. Who knows, maybe a few years from now I will be on to the next but right now, I am taking the time to enjoy what I eat, what I buy and how I prepare my meals. It is a relationship that has blossomed. My relationship with food now comes with words such as balance, nourish, joy, passion and play.

How is your love affair with food going?

WRITTEN BY

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