Okay, friends, you've made it to the last post in our month-long series of Founder Faves! This is the Kitchen Edition, because, more than I am a skincare expert, I am a physician, and food is one of the most important ways in which you can improve (or harm) your health over time. In order to commit to eating well, you need a few tools, tricks, and resources. So, here are a few of my very favorite kitchen-related things!
Cookbooks: Love & Lemons and Love Real Food
Two of my favorite food blogs are Cookie + Kate and Love & Lemons, both of which are full of gorgeous photos of flavorful, healthy vegetarian food. I’ve been vegetarian for about 18 years, and gluten-free for about three, and both of these blogs have endless options for me and my family. As a physician and a skincare expert, I have an especially clear understanding that healthy skin starts with what you’re putting in your body - bad fuel usually equals bad performance over time, and that often shows up on the skin. Both Kathryne and Jeanine have mastered the art of using spices, fresh ingredients, and straightforward combinations to create simple recipes that are doable for a working mother, and appeal to the whole family. In fact, occasionally, I’ll come home and my ten-year-old will have gotten on Cookie + Kate and whipped up dinner! They both have awesome Instagram feeds (here and here) that make you hungry for their delicious concoctions even if you just finished dinner! But, as much as I adore these blogs, there’s still no substitute for flipping through an actual cookbook from time to time - especially while sipping your coffee on a Sunday morning.
The Amazing Vitamix
What do you even say about a Vitamix? All other blenders are dead to me. There’s no going back to anything else, even the ones that compare themselves to the Vitamix. I've tried the competition, and there's nothing that's even in the same ball park. They should come up with a new category for the Vitamix, because it's not a "blender" - don't even call it that in front of me. I make at least one thing a day in mine, sometimes two or three. Soups, smoothies, sauces - all the good stuff. I know I could survive without one, but I think I would just look sad and despondent all the time, now that I’ve seen the light. Need a new recipe for yours? Try this Blueberry-Basil-Hemp Breakfast Smoothie!
Epicurean Cutting Boards
I love things that work perfectly and last forever, and that’s exactly what these Epicurean cutting boards do. I have three of them - they’re at least ten years old and going strong. I want to get new ones, but I don’t need new ones, which is an excellent problem to have. They’re made of Richlite, a combination of recycled paper and resin that is FSC, Greenguard, and Rainforest Alliance certified. They can go in the dishwasher (though I choose to wash mine by hand), and are knife-safe. They’re just... perfection.
Gina Cucina Soup
Gina Stryker, in addition to being one of the most positive, beautiful, and inspiring women I’ve ever known, makes a mean bowl of soup. A mean bowl of vegetarian, gluten-free, organic, low-sodium, non-GMO, no-added-sugar bowl of soup, of course. All her ingredients are grown in the US, by farmers she knows and trusts, and her soups are made fresh and processed in a way that allows them to skip the preservatives! They ship to you in frozen pouches, which you can buy six at a time on her website, or you can have them magically appear at your door by joining her soup-of-the-month club. The soups are all incredibly nourishing and delicious, but Gina’s whole vibe and code of ethics makes me love her company as much as I love her soup. She sits on the FedEx Small Business Advisory Board, and is working with FedEx to educated hundreds of thousands of truck drivers about how to spot human trafficking. Now that’s a powerful bowl of soup, baby.
Spindrift
I’m bad at drinking water. Some days I manage to do it, and I always feel better when I do. But sometimes I forget and go back to my old habits from working in the ER - I don’t eat or drink for 10 hours, and end up with a headache by the time I go home for the day. Spindrift helps me remember not to do that! It’s simple, fresh, bubbly, and has no artificial sweeteners or silly fillers. Like someone walked by with a slice of grapefruit and squeezed it into your sparkling water. In fact, that’s exactly what’s in the can, and nothing more. My favorite flavor is grapefruit, but I love the tartness of blackberry, too. If you’re still drinking soda - please say you aren’t - this stuff could help you kick that nasty habit to the curb for good.
Yeti Mug
When you wake up and find ice cubes still in your water from the night before, or burn your tongue on your tea even though it’s been sitting on your desk for two hours, you know you’re drinking from a Yeti mug. Once you have a Yeti, you’ll never want anything to do with another travel mug again, and you’ll fight fiercely to protect your Yeti. That’s why I got one in turquoise - so my family would know which mug was MINE! I love to share most things, just maybe not my Yeti. Especially if there's Spindrift in it.
With love and food that fuels your health from us to you,
