On World Health Day on April 7, let’s bow down to respect and thank the doctors, nurses, cleaners and all those workers who are at the forefront of the COVID-19 response. Appreciate and support them by staying home and distancing socially, so that there is less burden on their shoulders!
While we are indoors and keeping our distance, make the most of it by staying healthy and happy mentally and physically, thus helping ourselves and the health system. We suggest that the best way this can be achieved is through some cookbooks, candles and, chocolates!
Cookbooks
One of the best ways we can start taking care of our well-being is by eating healthy because a healthy diet is equal to a healthy mind. Yes, there might be plenty of healthy recipes on the web, but let’s admit books connect better! So, vegan or non-vegan, get to the kitchen and practice those culinary skills with feel-good cookbooks that are all about being sustainably healthy.
If you want to go on a plant-based diet which is known to be low in saturated fat, free of cholesterol, and rich in fibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants which lowers the risks of heart disease or hypertension, a couple of interesting vegan recipes books where you can find fresh and snappy recipes include: 15 Minute Vegan on a Budget, 15 Minute Vegan Comfort Food, The 15 Minute Vegan, Vegan for Good, Vegan Goodness, Australian Bush Superfoods, and The Healthy Covert. These books challenge the perception that vegan cooking is expensive, is cold and soulless. Vegan cooking can be quick and simple using basic ingredients found in supermarkets, and multi-functional, bursting with flavour.
Worried that this self-isolation and staying at home might make you gain some extra kilos? Fear not because some healthy salads and soups can potentially prevent this from happening. While the book Big Salads offers recipes that make the most of seasonal salad ingredients, giving the option of eating vegan, vegetarian or adding meat or fish to the fresh vegetables and herbs, Clean Soups has nourishing recipes for good health and vitality.
For the ones with a sweet tooth but are averse to dairy, Nourish Cakes offers many recipes that are allergy or intolerance-friendly with ingredients that can easily be sourced. The book shows how you can embrace a more positive, balanced and inclusive approach to your baking. Likewise, the book This is Gluten-Free is about baking delicious cakes without making it feel like it's gluten-free!
When the principles of yoga and cooking come in one book, the result is magic! The Yoga Kitchen offers recipes that are vegetarian and gluten-free and teaches you that by eating holistic dishes one can nourish their minds, strengthen their bodies and bring more balance to life. And just like yoga principles, What you eat for how you feel, applies Ayurvedic principles to flavorsome meals with seasonal ingredients. Carrying the healing benefits of Ayurvedic cooking, the book offers practical ways to bridge the ancient wisdom of food with modern living.
Other lip-smacking cookbooks you can explore to lead a healthy life include Eat Better, Not Less, Green Kitchen at Home, Green Kitchen Smoothies, My New Roots, 30 Minute Vegetarian, Nourish Bowls, Naturally Nourished and Thug Kitchen: Eat Like You Give a F*ck among others.
Candles
To calm the restless mind, especially during these uncertain times, relax and welcome tranquility to your space with some beautiful, natural, aromatic candles that can transport you to another world. For instance, Mojo Candle Co.’s Coconut and Lime Wine Bottle Candle, with its fusion of summer scents, will take you to an island holiday. Likewise, go to the mountains where the Fresh Water Beer Bottle Candle is just like splashing your face with water from a cold mountain stream. On the contrary, if you are missing pool parties, the Watermelon Lemonade Wine Bottle Candle might just do the trick! Enjoy these scents and accompany them with a long relaxing bath with Summer Salt Body’s Salt Soak and soothe the senses even more!
Chocolates
While cooking healthy food and smelling fragrant candles brings positivity to the body and mind, chocolates bring comfort to the spirit! Symbolic of love, happiness, relaxation, self-indulgence, joy, and optimism. Dark chocolate, in particular, with its high cocoa content, is loaded with vitamins and minerals that are great for maintaining good health. Drinking hot chocolate is known to boost the mood and helps combat stress, anxiety and pain.
Mork Chocolate’s gluten-free specialty hot chocolate ranging from Even Darker Hot Chocolate, Original Dark Chocolate, Dark Milk and River Salt Hot Chocolate or Australian Native Blends is made up of naturally sourced ingredients, such as cacao liquor, cocoa powder, and unrefined coconut blossom sugar. Without compromising on taste, a sip of this can nourish and uplift your spirit during this self-isolation and social distancing phase!
