As the year comes to a close, I reflect on the year and the role food plays in improving our lives.

We are becoming more conscious of the power of food to influence the quality of our lives.

Eating a largely plant based diet is good for us and good for the planet. We are omnivores and our engines run best on whole natural foods. Our bodies understand the coded chemical messages from those foods. Avoiding processed, chemically altered foods helps us manage inflammation and avoid lifestyle diseases. Understanding that food’s true purpose is to fuel healthy living, empowers us.

There are more choices that let us select “real” food over “fake” food.

There are more organic, plant-based food and drink options available every day. Empowered with the knowledge that processing and chemicals change the nutritional value of our food, we vote with our consumer dollars and make better choices. Sugar, gluten and dairy are all addictive and have an opiate like effect on the brain. 2018 was the year we acted on that knowledge and embraced foods with no-added sugar, began drinking plant-based milk alternatives, and said “no thank you” to foods containing gluten.

Cooking is a 21st century survival skill and we are partnering with our kitchens for better health.

Cooking made a big comeback this year as we took back control of the food on our plates. You only really know what is in your food if you prepare it yourself. You are what you eat, AND what your food eats. We can make shopping, cooking and eating less complicated and less expensive. Simple, functional meal preparation is the ultimate self-care for nourishing our bodies and brains. Weekday cooking is the biggest nutritional challenge for most people, and we rose to the occasion by buying less food, buying better quality food, and not wasting the food we bought. Mastering the preparation of simple, functional food is a powerful tool for a productive life.

Culinary Resilience is built by consciously choosing to eat “real” food and creating a kitchen that supports functional cooking.

Being resilient allows us to control what we can to weather the storm created by a profit driven system. Huge profits are made by large companies selling us food that makes us unhealthy. The cycle continues with further profits made by large companies treating those sicknesses with medication. Maintaining good health is a lot easier then becoming unhealthy and fighting to get your health back. We understand that everything we eat and drink contains a chemically coded message to the body, and we choose to send the right messages to make us resilient and strong. We must eat to live; but in order to live well, we need to eat well.

I look forward to continuing to meet you at the intersection of lifestyle and wellness in the new year.

I will keep you posted on the launch date for my book, The Culinary Cure — my guide to help you create the best conditions in your life to build culinary resilience and take control of your wellness destiny.

There will be more healthy recipes, inspiration and information to help you find balance and optimize your little daily habits. And of course, clean-crafted wine™; because if you don’t want to give up drinking wine, you need to game up your wine and make it healthier.

May your holidays be healthy and happy.

Kristen Coffield

I am a passionate advocate for food as medicine, life navigator and culinary coach. This is my space for sharing what excites, inspires and motivates me to live my best life. It began as a recipe blog for nourishing, simple, weekday meals and has become something much bigger… a guide to resilient wellness. I am excited to share my knowledge of how daily habits can cumulatively help you to live like you mean it and age like you want to.