Packing Healthy Treats for a Busy Week

3 days, 36 solid hours. That’s the amount of time I spent this week learning how to conquer one of my biggest fears. Here’s the thing: ever since I can remember, I’ve always been a little… awkward. Both an extrovert and introvert, I love the idea of speaking to people, sharing and teaching – but I’m terrified of it at the same time. Have you ever felt insecurity holding you back from the things you want to achieve? We’re good at making up excuses why we don’t do go for these big, scary dreams: “It’s too hard. I’m too busy. I’m comfortable with where I am now.”

Perhaps you’ve had the same experience where, one day, life offers you an opportunity and you have to make a choice to either stay comfortable or expand your horizons.  That’s what happened to me last year when Del invited me to teach workshops with her. It’s funny how people come into your life right when you need them. Now, remember I’m terrified at the thought of speaking in front of people, so you can imagine my surprise when when she asked  and I heard myself answer “Yes”.

If you could be standing next to me when I’m about to teach a workshop… I’m looking out at a group of people. I can see their faces staring back at me, some are younger than me, some are older.  My hands are starting to shake a little. The room is silent. They’re looking at me hoping to learn something, to be inspired. If you could feel my pulse, just before I begin to speak, you’d know that my heart is pumping a million beats per minute and I feel like I’m about to implode.

Here’s what I know – we all have insecurities, fears and imperfections and, for me, I had to decide: do I settle for a life that is comfortable -or- do I go after my dreams of connecting, sharing and inspiring no matter how fast it makes my heart beat.

So I signed up for a public speaking workshop to learn new skills and to empower myself. I’m so glad that I did. No, I haven’t cured of my fear of public speaking, but I’ve decided to tell that little voice in my head that says “Militza, you’ll make a fool of yourself!” that it’s ok. My hands may shake a little, I may stumble over my words, I may even feel uncomfortable – but life’s too short to play it safe. I want to live a life that I love – full of meaning, connections, experiences and adventure!

That was a long introduction, but thanks for letting me tell you my story. I knew going in to a 3 day workshop wouldn’t be easy, so I prepared for it. Every night, before I went to bed, I made massive amounts of green juices and packed a lunchbag with healthy treats for the next day. Even though I had to get up at 6:30 every morning, I made sure to leave the house with a good breakfast in me. Here are some pictures that I took and some little tips that helped me along the way.

top row:

• I pre-made a big batch of pasta sauce for quick dinners
• I made green juice each night and stored them in mason jars for the next day. My favorite combo was cucumber, celery and green grapes.
• I soaked seeds and then the next day dried them in the oven to make a trail mix with seeds and raisins. Why soak? Nature wants to make sure that seeds don’t sprout until the conditions are right, so they have an enzyme blocker to keep them dormant. That enzyme blocker is tough on our digestion and means that we can’t absorb most of the vital nutrients. Try to soak your nuts, grains and beans before eating them, for at least 8 hours.

middle row: 

• My lunch bag, which I packed with fruit and snacks.
  
• For a quick dinner I made a pre-mix of white rice with quinoa and sesame seeds. The girls won’t touch brown rice, so this makes us both happy – they get added fiber, protein and calcium.
• I packed a few tea bags in my lunch bag, most places will give you hot water in your cup and you can make a sneaky tea

bottom row: 

• One of my breakfasts – Del and I call them Superfood Toast. It’s quick to make and fills you up with the good stuff – brown toast with avocado and cherry tomatoes.
• At the workshop, drinking my green juice. Turned out to be quite the conversation piece – a few people came up to me wondering what the heck I was drinking!  One lady noticed that I was eating fruit all day and came up to me to say “you really like fruit!” Standing out is a good way to make friends!
• I made a batch of raw brownies as treats for the 3 days. Didn’t bother to shape them into balls, just cut a big old slab of it!

Now, have you ever had that struggle of being afraid of the very thing you want? Have you recently taken steps to achieve a goal or to go after a dream? I’d love to hear about it! Let me know in the comments below!

Top 10 Favorite Kitchenware Shops That Inspire us to Get in the Kitchen!

I’d like to share a story with you. About a year ago, I became really preoccupied with eating healthily. When cooking my family’s food – not only did I have the stress of planning meals, organizing the ingredients and taking the time to cook it – but I was also adding to the burden, questioning whether I was using organic ingredients, the right kind of flour or heaven forbid, too much sugar. I was feeling stressed. Making the choice to be more hands-on was supposed to be a good thing, so why did I feel frustrated?

I took a nutrition course on Coursera to get more of a handle on my nutrition, thinking that more information would make me feel more comfortable – and what I came away with was completely unexpected…

Food can be a nourishing experience – not only offering nutrition for your body, but for your total sense of happiness. There’s a lot to gain if you offer yourself the opportunity to connect with your food. Those little moments where you spend time at a fresh market looking through all the beautiful produce. Sitting at your kitchen counter picking through fresh blueberries for homemade muffins. Cutting a carrot into little heart shapes for your kids… it can be a time where you feel joy just being present in the moment. And when it comes to nutrition, knowing which foods make you feel your best and which don’t, knowing the right proportions and healthier cooking techniques… it all becomes more natural the more time you spend doing it. When you make it yourself, you can already feel good about that – because it’s going to be healthier for you and your family than eating pre-made, processed foods. Even when you do sprinkle a little sugar on top!

I absolutely love spending time in my kitchen now. Over the last year I’ve organised my time so that I can create those moments. Slowly, I’ve stocked my kitchen with all the necessities that make it easy for me – a food processor to make my nut butters, glass tupperware that I like looking at and a few gadgets that make me smile – like my zucchini slicer for making veggie lasagna sheets! I haven’t bought quick cooking lasagna pasta in ages!

I think creating a space that works for you is key, that’s why I recently shared my top 10 Favorite Kitchenware Shops in Singapore with Sassy Mama’s readers. Definitely check it out, there are some great finds. Get the list below from Sassy Mama!


p.s. – my biggest lesson has been that while my kids don’t always like to eat what I make for them, they ALWAYS like spending time with me making it. I think there’s a lot of nourishment in that too. And when they grow up, I’m confident that they will love their veggies, and spend happy moments peeling potatoes with their kids too.