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Plantbased wholefoods – an update on my food philosophy

Welcome back!

Hi there, and thank you for your patience! I know it’s been quiet around here for some time now so I really appreciate you’re still stopping by! Or maybe you are one of my new followers who know me from my Instagram account @carokocht where I have been sharing my passion for seasonal produce and plantbased wholefoods recipes over the past year. But no matter why you’re here—I’d like to extend a warm welcome! I couldn’t be happier about you being interested in my cooking style, recipes and way of healthy living, so a massive thank you for reading this!!!

I thought that before I resume blogging on a normal base I’d like to share a little update about my lifestyle. Thanks to the amazing Instagram foodie community I’ve reconsidered many of my beliefs regarding food, have connected with inspiring and massively creative souls, and reached more people than I ever imagined.

Intuitive cooking with seasonal ingredients

I have always been an intuitive cook using fresh seasonal vegetables, greens and fruit. Besides that, my diet today consists of whole grains, pulses, nuts and seeds, sometimes eggs and a little organic cheese. Rarely I eat some smoked local fish, like halibut or mackerel, because I personally feel my body craving it and if I don’t give in once in a while I compensate by eating other crap I’m not hungry for in the first place.

I consider myself extremely lucky to have parents that live in the German countryside with a beautiful garden full of amazing produce and a couple chickens we keep for the eggs. I know what fruits and veggies are in season because I grew up harvesting our own asparagus in April, enjoyed juicy strawberries in the beginning of June, cooked massive amounts of sugar-free plum butter in giant cauldrons every autumn and patiently waited for that first frost to give the growing kale its last finishing touch.

My diet—plantbased wholefood kitchen

I do not consider myself a pescetarian, vegetarian, vegan or any of the like. Labels are really not my thing. Now I understand they work for some people—but what I do is trying my own personal best when it comes to sustainable eating while listening to what sorts of foods my body craves. Everyone is different. There is not the ONE RIGHT WAY. I tend to eat more cheese when at my parents’ village, for example. On Christmas I do enjoy a little duck—my aunt and uncle raise a few for the family every year.

Living on my own I probably eat fully vegan 95% of the time. I try to incorporate veggies and greens in all my breakfasts alongside fruit, which is extremely easy in smoothie bowls (which are a staple for me, if you know my IG feed). I have a HUGE sweet tooth but have been trying to stay away from the nasty industrial sweets for some time now. Most of the products I deemed necessary a couple years back, I make on my own now. Like granola using only a little maple syrup to sweeten or clean “Nutella”—less the palm oil, milk powder and refined sugars. After all, nothing beats that smell of toasted hazelnuts in the kitchen…

How practical is this?

While I hear very often that this kind of lifestyle must be so time-consuming and exhausting, all I can say is: it takes some patience in the beginning, but once you have your routine it is soooo easy to eat fresh without all the crap! And don’t we all know that the great things happen outside our comfort zones?! Now don’t believe I am ultra-strict 100% of the time. Like I would never say no to my mum’s quark cake (German cheesecake)! Please don’t obsess with overly healthy eating. Have that second piece of cake once in a while. Or go for those three scoops of gelato. We are all here to enjoy our lives a little, too! But make sure you enjoy those treats properly instead of mindlessly bolting down that chocolate bar.

A couple thoughts on meat consumption

Now I don’t want to bore your with yet another opinion on meat consumption. But let me tell you—and believe it or not—I grew up in a household where home-slaughtering pigs and ducks was normal. Obviously the whole process was way more traditional back then, and every time the proceedings around such an event were special. We would gather the whole family and process ALL parts of one animal. We did not enjoy a culture of picking the best bits and tossing the rest.

However, industrial meat and dairy production today unfortunately is nothing like that! And most of the fish available in normal supermarkets is in no way sourced sustainably either. Put simply, most people are so out of touch with the production of food. If all the heavy meat eaters and dairy consumers would readily stand by the production lines of their favourite foods I’d say ok then… but I bet you that at least 90% of them wouldn’t survive a day in a modern large-scale production facility. I am sure if you are a health and environmental conscious person you know these things. If not, there are tons of studies on this topic, and quite informative and interesting videos and blogs to check out.

Outlook for CaroKocht

A couple last words regarding what to expect here in the future… I will be posting vegan and vegetarian recipes and try to share my enthusiasm for plant-based wholesome dishes with you. Please consider my recipes mere inspirations. While, of course, you can recreate them exactly the same way, my ultimate goal here is to inspire you. Check out your local farmers’ market, buy what’s in season, work with some staples you got at home and simply get cooking! That is why I always mention a couple of variations with each recipe to show you how easy it is to adapt to changing seasons and availability of produce. Sometimes I’ll mention my product sources and occasionally I may get paid a small amount of money to do so which helps me keep this blog and social media channels up and running. However, I’ll only share outstanding products that, in my opinion, deserve more attention. Many of the ingredients will be optional and it’ll be entirely up to you whether you want to invest a little extra.

When sourcing ingredients I try to make sure they are organic. However, if I have the choice between organic potatoes from 1000km away and seasonal local ones which are not I’ll have the latter. I enjoy the OCCASIONAL tropical treat of course, like a mango once in a while. (Even though they’ll never taste as good as during mango season in Kenya!) And I couldn’t live without bananas. Although I always try saving the brown and spotty ones, as I tend to freeze them for smoothies and nicecream anyways. Again, there is no black and white. But being conscious about where the produce you buy comes from is a first step in the right direction!

In this spirit, much love!
Caro

About Carolin

I'm Caro - the face behind CaroKocht. Here I share my passion for plant-based seasonal cuisine, background knowledge on the food industry and foodie tips for Berlin and beyond!

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