
Nadia Fragnito

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Mountains stretch down to coastal plains, which hug the curves of over 100 pristine beaches, all gazing out towards the stunning waters of the...
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Use up leftover potatoes in this nacho-platter-style meal with Mediterranean flavours.
Just add a few spoonfuls of cacao and get a rich, creamy chocolate ice-cream. Bravo, avocado!
Perfect plant-based pikelets? Yes please! Make a big batch for your next Sunday brunch, or to freeze for quick and easy weekday breakfasts that...
Our friends at Sanitarium share this hearty and warming winter soup, fragrantly spiced and packed with the goodness of extra vegetables, toasted...
This crowd-pleasing dish is easier than you might think and features flaky pastry, zesty capers, and the star of the show, whipped plant-based...
Summertime means salad season! Load 'em up generously and dress them deliciously.
You only need simple ingredients and a great recipe to create a beautiful and highly nutritious dish like this one.
Spraying sheets and pillows with calming scents can be a wonderful aid to slumber
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When the clouds converge, practise gratitude for the smallest of glimmers, and learn to dance in the rain.
Stepping into the kitchen can offer mindful and meditative moments. Let’s try a little cooking therapy to bring a sense of calm to our often chaotic lives.
In difficult times, we seek to alleviate stress in a variety of ways, whether chatting to a friend, dancing like crazy, spending time in nature, meditating, or enjoying a long hot bath. No matter the remedy we choose – these can all be viewed as forms of therapy. Yet another form is cooking. Donning an apron and whipping up a batch of cookies can have more emotional benefits than you may realise. Cooking therapy is available to everyone, and can be enjoyed alone, with a partner, or in a group setting. Following a recipe, or even creating one, requires focus and mindfulness.
If life is feeling out of control, cooking therapy can offer certainty and self-worth. We might not be able to foretell the future, solve our financial strains, immediately fix personal or work conflicts – but we can bake a cake and bring a little love and deliciousness into the world. Here are some simple activities you might like to try as a form of cooking therapy.
Have you ever been instantly transported to the past by the smell or taste of food? This is referred to as ‘Proustian memory’ and is a result of our odour memory. According to Moss and Johnson, who have studied this phenomena, there is a “strong relationship between odour and emotion… from the part of the brain involved in processing odours being positioned within the limbic system – an area of the brain integral to emotion”. So, choose a nostalgic meal from your childhood. Perhaps a sweet treat that your grandma used to make? Dig out recipes for those family favourites and adapt them to suit your diet today. Lay the table, set up a beautiful space, and honour those memories.
Give yourself the gift of time. Just like making bread or pizza dough, making pasta from scratch can be a meditative process. It’s even a bit similar to art therapy, except you replace the clay with dough, ultimately creating beautiful pasta shapes, just like little sculptures. You’ll experience play, focus, presence and a sensory experience. It’s also physical without being exhausting. And after all this, you get to devour a silky-soft plate of fresh pasta.
Food often involves sharing and connection. So why not create food gifts either for or with your friends? Giving is mostly centred around the recipient of the gift and how they will feel. But the giver experiences just as much pleasure in creating the gift. What a pleasant cycle of giving! Perhaps you can get together at a friend’s house and prepare food gifts together. You might bake a batch of cookies and create your own packaging and gift card. Or layer the perfect hot chocolate mix into a mason jar and attach a homemade label. Try preserving jams from seasonal fruits or pasta sauce from an abundance of tomatoes, then share them with friends, family, workmates, or neighbours.
Hosting a tea party can be just the escapism you need. Everything just tastes better at a tea party! When we delight in the treats we prepare and the company we keep at a tea party or tea ceremony, we allow ourselves to taste the beauty of life. Italians refer to this experience as dolce far niente or the sweetness of doing nothing. The Danes have their own term, hygge, which translates to a feeling or moment of pure contentment. The Japanese phrase ichi-go ichi-e, which literally means one time, one meeting. What a perfect reminder that there is only this present moment, this once in a lifetime occurrence. So, delight in time and treats with your friends!
Cooking isn’t just for function. Cooking therapy can be a transformative tool to include in our wellbeing toolkit. Step into the kitchen, clean the bench tops, pull ingredients off the shelf, and cook with love!
If you haven’t quite got your cycle phases figured out, you’re not alone. But it’s time to tune in to your body’s rhythms - so that you...
Wholefoods may just save your life, and at the very least, they will deliver a host of health benefits. Here’s what you need to know to get...
Going vegan can be a life-changing experience, and it’s not without its challenges. The good news is you’re not alone. There are identifiable...
In the fast-paced and demanding world we live in, finding moments of stillness and calm can be challenging. In an attempt to find a little peace...
There’s a serum for every skin condition, but which active ingredients do what? This is the guide to vegan and sustainably sourced serums...
Time for an eco spring clean? Here are seven simple swaps for the conscious consumer
If you want to get your gut in order, Dr Will Bulsiewicz is the expert to help you sort out fact from fiction. This is the gut-health cheat sheet...
This Indonesian fried noodle dish can be found at both high-end restaurants and street food vendors in the region – it’s a popular dish for...
The trick to this super-vibrant green curry is to add a bunch of blitzed leafy greens into the paste to ensure a lovely, bright-green colour. I...
This salad is a take on urap sayur that instead uses crumbled tempeh and toasted almonds to top the dish. A balance of spicy, sweet, and sour...
Shifting to a wholefood plant-based diet doesn’t mean missing out on cheesecake. This recipe uses tofu instead of cream cheese and is therefore...
Spraying sheets and pillows with calming scents can be a wonderful aid to slumber
The next time you go for a walk, discover the wonder of the everyday world around you
A skincare routine can be a way to nourish yourself inside and out
When the clouds converge, practise gratitude for the smallest of glimmers, and learn to dance in the rain.
Lasagne is surely everyone’s favourite Italian recipe and this vegan version is sure to impress with layer upon layer of rich, meaty, saucy, creamy goodness.