Turmeric eggs & a lunchbox springy salad

Hormones, hayfever & living at my Mums

Hello friends, how’s the weather your way? I’m writing to you from a sunny patch of Surrey where I’m sitting here wearing just a T shirt, in front of a window at my Mum’s and the heating isn’t even on!? I’ve just come in from a solo afternoon walk and I think the first butterfly of the year swooped past me but I didn’t have my glasses on so can’t be sure. I guess the warm weather has woken them up early and it’s woken my hayfever up early too (more on that later). My cousin is coming over after work with a Pakistani curry she’s made and I’m going to make a lime and yoghurt slaw to go with it as my Mum has some sweet pointed cabbage, half a cucumber and a bag of spicy radishes. Dream Monday family night.

I’m here today with 2 new recipes - a buckwheat spring superfood salad and a turmeric & veg scramble - and my big apologies for being AWOL over the last 10 days while I took my biomedicine exams (the first set of exams of my 3 year nutrition degree and my first time taking exams since my A levels 20 years ago. I’ve actually just realised I revised for those at this same desk).

As I touched on in my last letter to you, we moved here to my Mums in Surrey when we got back from Christmas in France (where Henry’s Mum lives), planning to stay a weekend and then, my poor Mum, we haven’t left due to a combination of life plans chopping and changing and also, having my Mum’s help as we try to work and study and be *good* parents has been so helpful I could have a cry just thinking about how supportive she’s been. I better go and say thank you again after this. She’s really helped us out of a bind.

After spending the first 9 years of my life living in various army base compounds in UK and Germany, I then spent the next 9 years living in this very house in this little patch of suburbia about a 15 minute walk from the River Thames and when I turned 18, I ran as way as fast as I could. But what do you know, just shy of 20 years later, I really wish I lived here! I’ve been revisiting Hampton Court Palace, Kew Gardens, Richmond Park, Petersham Nurseries and showing Henry my favourite pubs and showing Summer my favourite libraries as well as soaking up the birdsong, snowdrops, the cherry blossoms, the surprising amount of redwood trees and - touch wood - almost complete absence of police sirens. We usually live off a 24/7 loud and busy high street in North London so it’s been a little like a holiday from the emergency services these last few months. Having said that, revising for my biomedicine exams did NOT feel like a holiday, it was seriously tough and despite studying and studying and feeling quietly confident-ish before the big day, it went terribly and I almost had panic attack during the actual exam. So, I’m gutted to say I’m not feeling particularly hopeful that I passed. I don’t think it helped that my killer HAYFEVER kicked off with a bang on the morning of my exam and I didn’t have my secret weapons with me as they were back in a cupboard at my house. I’ve got myself a new supply now. If you too suffer from hayfever, do have a read up on quercetin. Obvs I’m not a qualified nutrionist (yet) but check the research on it with regards to it’s help with relieving hayfever, I buy this one and I like these balms too. I think my nervous system has just about recovered after that exam day of extended adrenaline and cortisol raging through my body. I tried my best. Let’s see what happens.

Now on the subject of hormones, Jess Shand, a brilliant hormone specialist and naturopathic nutritionist has let me pick 2 delicious recipes from her new book to share with you plus do have a read of her 7 tips for hormone health, scroll on down to enjoy. Jess qualified at the same college I’m studying at and if you’re interested in trying some of their weekend or short courses, diplomas or degrees, have a read here and if you’re interested in booking, you can say my name for £250 discount off your course, hope that helps!

Onto the delicious recipes

Turmeric Messy Eggs & Avocado by Jess

Serves 1

2 or 3 eggs
1⁄2 tsp ground turmeric
Pinch each of fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, sea salt and blackpepper
Knob of grass-fed butter
2 mushrooms, chopped into small chunks
1 spring onion, finely chopped

1⁄4 pepper (any colour), chopped & 1 tbsp chopped sun-dried tomatoes
Small handful of flat-leaf parsley & a big handful of spinach
1⁄2 avocado, sliced
1 tbsp sauerkraut or kimchi, to serve

1. Crack the eggs into a jug, add the turmeric, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, sea salt and pepper and whisk together.

2. Heat the butter in a pan over a medium heat and sauté the mushrooms, spring onion, pepper and sun- dried tomatoes, until soft.

3. Throw in the parsley and spinach, then pour in the eggs, scrambling them in. Keep moving the eggs around the pan, until cooked to your liking. Serve with sliced avocado and sauerkraut or kimchi.

Superfood Buckwheat and thyme skin-soothing salad by Jess

The ingredients in this superfood salad are brimming with tasty, targeted vitamins and minerals to promote optimum skin-microbiome functioning. The cocktail of skin-nourishing benefits includes: vitamin A for healing, B vitamins, vitamin C and zinc. An underused skin-health hero, the small but mighty sprouted grains are quite literally loaded with a powerhouse of amino acids and phytochemicals that work together with the rest of the wholefood ingredients in this recipe to promote the regeneration of skin cells, encourage collagen synthesis and support healing. Serves 2

1 butternut squash (or use sweet potatoes), peeled and cut into small chunks

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme
Pinch each of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

200g buckwheat
100g broccoli, cut into small chunks 1⁄2 cucumber, chopped
1 Romano pepper, chopped
30g (approximately) parsley or dandelion leaves, finely chopped

Large handful of rocket
1 avocado
Handful of sprouted grains (alfalfa, mung bean, broccoli or a mix)

2 tbsp pumpkin seeds & 2 tbsp finely chopped almonds

For the skin-healing dressing

1 garlic clove, grated
Juice of 1⁄2 lemon
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp raw honey
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1⁄2 tsp dried thyme
Pinch each of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C. Place the butternut squash in a roasting tin, drizzle with the extra-virgin olive oil and season with the thyme, salt and pepper. Roast for 35 minutes, or until perfectly golden and slightly browned around the edges.

2. In the meantime, cook the buckwheat according to the packet instructions. Combine all the ingredients for the dressing.

3. Construct your salad by adding the roasted butternut squash, buckwheat, broccoli, cucumber, pepper, parsley or dandelion leaves and rocket to a bowl. Chop the avocado and add to the bowl, then top with the sprouted grains, pumpkin seeds and chopped almonds.

7 Tips to Support Hormone Balance

1. Carry out a ‘life audit’ to clarify your health challenges and goals – a ‘life audit’ consists of taking a 7-day food, mood and symptom diary. This gives you the opportunity to document everything you eat and drink including timings, where you are in your cycle, and any symptoms that might arise such as low energy, fatigue, low mood, anxiety, hunger, sugar cravings, headaches, bloating and bowel movements. This invaluable insight and active reflection is so powerful as it will give clarity on your current health and wellbeing so that you can start connecting your eating habits to the changes you feel in mind and body.

2. Commit to eating more real foods grown in nature and minimise ultra-processed food from packets – keep it simple, hormone balance doesn’t need to be complicated! Reframe the way you eat; it’s more about the nutrition you can ADD to your plate, not what you should be removing.

3. Eat 3 protein-rich, high fibre meals daily, and don’t skip meals or fast as this is counterproductive to hormone balance. You want to reassure your hormones that there’s enough fuel / nutrition in your body to prevent it from down regulating our reproductive system, which causes a negative cascade in terms of menstrual symptoms and irregularities in your cycle.

4. Prioritise calming your nervous system as your daily non-negotiable to normalise your body's stress response. Promote a calm mind and body by going to bed and waking up at the same time daily to build structure and rhythm in your day. If possible, try to get your head on your pillow by 10pm latest!

5. Be intentional about your light exposure - expose your eyes to natural sunlight as close to waking up as possible. This is the equivalent to natures version of a caffeine hit so will make you feel far more energised, and the sunlight exposure also your helps reset your internal body clock to improve your sleep / wake cycles AND boosts serotonin levels (our happy hormone) for better mood. In the evening, try to dim the lights after 6pm and limit blue light exposure an hour before bed, as the hormone-disruptive light inhibits melatonin production - our sleep hormone - and negatively impacts sleep quality.

6. Add natural anti-inflammatories from herbs & spices to your meals and drinks to sneak in as many anti-inflammatories as you can to keep inflammation at bay. This is a hormone-balancing essential, and supports everything from your gut microbes to liver enzymes. Try my golden glow milk with turmeric and cinnamon, pomegranate tonic or immunity cubes to support your health this winter.

7. Minimise your exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) - EDCs are synthetic chemicals or compounds that interfere with the way the body’s natural hormones work and can cause problems when it comes to balancing hormones by producing adverse effects on the endocrine glands. This is because some EDCs trick our bodies into thinking that they are hormones, while preventing our natural hormones from carrying out their jobs. Reduce toxic personal and beauty products such as tampons, pads, makeup and skincare, household products such as cleaning products. Try not to heat food in plastic containers or drink out of plastic bottles as much as possible.

You can connect with Jess on her instagram and her book here where she shares daily tips, recipes and nourishing lifestyle rituals to help you feel your most balanced self.

Thank you Jess!

See you all at the end of this week, I’ve got more, spring is coming, recipes for you, hope you have a great start to March x