Creative (winter) Wellness: food

This is an especially important topic for me in the winter.  During the summer months, we live off produce from our Farmer's Market and anything/everything just seems to taste delicious without a lot of thought or planning.  But in the winter months (and, for me, this begins at the onset of "day light savings" in November), I have to transition.  

I am vegetarian (although, in the menus below are all vegan), gluten-free, suffer from seasonal affective disorder and have had low B levels in the past.  These factors can all collide into a physical + mental disaster for me if I do not intentionally supply the deficiencies. 

ALSO! my menus are simple and I cycle through a small repertoire.  This is what is best for me because it supports my creativity <insert Austin Kleon quote:"Be boring. It's the only way to get work done.">  In other words, it's best if I don't have to think about my food.  In this case, I have a lot of freed up thought for where I really want to place my time and energy.

As a side note: some people's creative expression IS cooking, baking, designing new menus, recipes.  They love to put a lot of effort and time into preparing meals and trying new recipes.  I love this!  These people inspire me.

Here is an example of how I eat:

Black Bean breakfast tacos (protein + iron)

Sweet potatoes with tofutti (very high in Vitamin A)

Sauteed onions, mushrooms (protein, high in B vitamins, antioxidant) 

and spinach (protein + iron) on brown rice

And another:

Avocado Toast (high in potassium, vitamins B + C)

Fresh vegetable salad with quinoa (protein + iron, B vitamins) + almonds (protein + calcium)

Spinach (protein + iron) + tomato drop soup with rice noodles

one more:

Potato, spinach + tomato hash

Beet (vitamins B + C) and potato salad

Mexican lentil + vegetable stew (protein + iron)

By the way:

I start every morning with AT LEAST 2 cups of the darkest, best coffee.

I also make and drink one serving of liquid sunshine daily (vitamin B, D)

I take a calcium/magnesium supplement before going to bed 

Staples for snacks:

tortilla chips

almonds

pickles

chocolate

I just ate an apple + peanut butter

And, although I have never made FALAFEL (protein + iron) before, 

I think it's still fun to mention that I LOVE me some FALAFEL!!!

It's my favorite.

If you struggle with what to eat, give yourself experimentation and patience.  Trust the process.  Although, I believe I have always eaten well, eating consciously is different and it's taken me some time in figuring out what works best for me.  Trust your own preferences too.  When picking up something in the grocery store, if it immediately feels hard or heavy, LEAVE it there (regardless of how good you think it is for you).  Choose items that feel light, easy, inspiring, interesting or neutral.