Eating should be simple: Eat foods that make you feel good whenever you’re hungry. There’s no need to overcomplicate it (unless, of course, you’re pursuing a specific diet for medical reasons and under medical supervision). There are many eating styles that can be easy to follow. For example, you may decide that a plant-based diet is what works for your body and your ethics, or you may pursue a low-carb diet because you find it fuels you best. No matter what you choose to eat, we support you. The recipes in this cookbook are about 55 percent vegetarian (with vegan options included), 45 percent meat inclusive, and 100 percent delicious. We’ll always call out when a recipe conforms to a vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, or dairy-free diet, so you’ll never have to guess.
We also included nutritional information for all the recipes in this book for reference. But we don’t want you to go crazy counting macros. We’re all about transparency, and it’s super important to us that you never have to guess what’s in each dish. We understand that every body, appetite, and eating style is different! Our philosophy is simple: Use a foundation of wholesome, fresh ingredients, eat when hungry, and ultimately do what you need to do to feel
good. No calories are bad calories, and counting them can trigger anxiety. That said, we tried to keep every recipe under 700 calories per serving (with a few exceptions), maintaining a balance of fat, carbohydrates, protein, fiber, and sugar. We also did our best to call for ingredients that can be found in most grocery stores so that all of our recipes are accessible to everyone.
We sometimes use less common ingredients to accommodate alternative diets, but these are always optional and can be swapped out for other ingredients of your choosing.
And since we know you’re busy, we made sure these recipes are simple enough to make but don’t sacrifice flavor—so you aren’t spending all day in the kitchen (unless you want to!).
We’re all for great store-bought shortcuts to help make life easier too. Pre-made cauliflower rice, refrigerated hummus, frozen veggies, peeled and deveined shrimp, lowsodium stock and bone broths, and instant cooked brown rice (just to name a few) are amazing time-saving ingredients. It’s totally okay to use these whenever you want. We know that it’s not always feasible to make everything from scratch.
Use our recipes as inspirations for new dishes to accommodate your (and your loved ones’) tastes. Feel free to take notes in the margins, leave out ingredients you don’t like, or add your own favorites. Mix and match according to your preferences and what works for you and your body. It’s really about choosing and modifying so that everything works for
you.
We believe that one of the keys to wellness is what you put in your body. Each ingredient here was added with a sense of purpose to help balance nutrition and with your busy life in mind. Of course, food is also about celebration and pleasure, so we made sure every recipe is delicious. Enjoy!
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