When I talk about self-care these days, I’m rarely speaking about doing a face mask or taking a long luxurious bath.
Most of the time, my self-care takes the form of cooking which (I know) is whack because…it’s also my job. I’ve figured out how to outsource a lot of other tasks and responsibilities in my life. The cleaning, the grocery shopping (truth,) the laundry (love my husband!) and even some of the childcare. But what I’m unwilling to outsource is the meals that we enjoy in our home. Because I know all too well that good food makes us feel good, and allows us to work hard, play as hard as we work, take care of our tiny person, thrive on smaller amounts of sleep, and help our tiny human to grow and thrive as well. Eating good food makes us feel well cared for because it is the ULTIMATE way that we can care for ourselves. For that there is no substitute, and because of it I have (and love) recipes like this Coconut + Cauliflower Red Lentil Dal with easy little sesame studded chapati to go with.
Yes. Yes I do. And I’d like to say that these are unique artistic creations, inspired by my extensive culinary education and world travels…but most of the time what I’m making is very very simple. Determined. Easy. Low hanging fruit. But homecooked with seasonal, local ingredients whenever I can get them, prepared by my own hands.
Why? Because I know that this is the best way for me to mainline The Good Stuff for us. Because there is a lot of crap in processed and packaged foods; hydrogenated seed oils, preservatives, food derivatives, and non-food ingredients. I know too much to eat this kind of food. I care too much too. And I know all too well how truly not-great this kind of food makes me feel. Maybe you too.
Once a week, on the day when I literally can’t pull anything together, we order pizza from the joint down the street. It’s one of my favorite meals of the week.
For breakfasts, we have a few rotating recipes that change with the seasons. A porridge, a toast, maybe some granola and yogurt if the weather inside the body and outside in the world is right.
For lunches, we use simple blueprints to mix and match wholesome seasonal ingredients and make things delicious. Not exotic, just grounding, nourishing and surefire.
And for dinner, when tiny Leo is finally asleep and I have some more time to get my hands dirty and feel the nourishment coming through them, I cook. I make enough of something to eat for dinner, and to last into lunch (and maybe even dinner) for the next day. It’s my way to avoid ‘meal prepping’ because the notion of eating leftovers all week is the saddest thing I can think of but weaving well-prepared components into something else feels like a creative challenge I’m down for. This Coconut + Cauliflower Red Lentil Dal is a recent favorite. Typically by the time a recipe or meal is used up, we’re excited to get on to the next thing. But this one we actually missed…and I can’t wait to make it again.
It’s true; frozen meals and prepared foods are much ‘easier.’ And taking best care of ourselves in this way does mean making a sacrifice. I might (ok who am I kidding) be able to take that luxurious bath if I wasn’t so determined to cook….but then again I could always just plan the bath on a pizza night. HA.
The way I make this happen in MY time-strapped life is to outsource some of the effort to devices, and to use the little slots of time that I have to do lo-fi cooking projects that give a big impact. The recipe you’ll find below is an exceptional example of how to do both.
Is kinda like a kitchari? But not quite. It’s creamy, satisfying, loaded with veggies and just spiced enough. It’s particularly luxe when you dip a chapati in like a little scoop. The toasted coconut on top is not to be missed, and the little golden raisins cooked in are like hidden bombs of sweetness that I love most.
Experts say that we require 30 different plant foods each week to help our microbiome thrive – this meal has over 14! So half of your week’s variety in a single bowl. BOOM.
You can make it two ways – on the stovetop or in the InstantPot…but I highly recommend the latter. Reason being that you only spend about 5 minutes preparing your ingredients, then you toss them all in the pot and hit COOK. Walk away. Bathe your infant. Pound out a couple of recipes for your blog. Take a phone call. Take a luxurious bath. And come back to enjoy a warm, balancing delicious meal. I add a few more bits to know in the recipe notes below.
The chapati is a great example of using tiny windows of time to maximize your nourishment. I typically make chapati dough while other things are cooking, while drinking a cocktail, or even while I’m on a phone call with my mother (she hates this – sorry Mom!) I pop it in the fridge, covered, so it’s ready to make when I’m ready. It’s pretty easy to enlist a partner to help with the shaping and frying; it turns out that nearly all adults find smashing dough with their hands to be cathartic after a long day of work, and the frying of the chapati itself is a very gratifying job that only takes a few minutes, but makes you feel very resourceful and honestly, like you’re winning at life.
And don’t we all need that sometimes? The way we feel about the thing IS the thing. Life is no cake walk, and every day is full no matter who we are. But dropping a few little tasks into life that make you feel like you’re taking incredible care of yourself and your people (despite so many exploded diapers, being stared at in the crotch all day because you spilled breakfast RIGHT THERE, missing every deadline, watching your inbox overflow out of the computer if that’s even possible, and so on) is all of the self-care we need to really, truly and actually be taking exceptional care in all of it.
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