The cold weather is here and it’s time for a new winter capsule. Our family’s seasonal recipe collection that is.
Putting a collection of recipes together that we love to eat for the season, helps me to feel less stressed about meal times and meal planning (which I’m not a huge fan of). It offers variety without the fuss, we rotate through the meals however we feel like and there is no overwhelm regarding the question of ‘what’s for dinner’.
what is a capsule recipe collection?
In short, a capsule recipe collection consists of meals your family loves and you enjoy cooking. It’s like your personal menu in your favourite café! You can see at a glance what you eat (or plan to eat) often.
Ideally it is seasonal and has a good variety of ingredients. BUT if you are just starting out there is no need to make it complicated. This is not meant to be an exercise like ‘in an ideal world my family would eat xyz…’ that you have to try and live up to. It’s meant to take away some mental clutter so you find it easier to focus. If you lead a full life, clarity is very soothing.
Start by choosing the meals that you already eat often. You can worry about what to add to them later. For now, it’s more important to have a list of meals that you know you enjoy cooking or can throw together at a moments notice.
getting more personal
This is a rough framework more than anything, I’m not a huge fan of set-in-stone kind of rules. For our winter capsule I have decided to add in 5 healthy treats because you know what it’s like when it’s cold outside and you’re rugged up on the couch watching TV: Bring. On. The. Chocolate. I’m all for keeping ‘proper’ treats on hand too, but having these healthy(ish) options in the house makes it easier for me to be clear on what I really feel like. More on that soon! Stay tuned.
So our winter capsule consists of:
5 breakfasts
20 meals
5 snacks
5 healthy treats
Our meals are different from your meals, please take this as an example and inspiration only. The key is to find meals that you know you like preparing and that make you feel nourished – however that looks like for you! For me and my family it is mainly plantbased meals, some fish and a handful of meat dishes. There’s wholegrains, nuts and legumes, lots of vegetables and generally I don’t stress much about whether or not any particular meal is healthy or not because if we eat all of what’s on our list throughout winter, it offers a pretty good variety. Less stress and guilt around food is what we all need, isn’t it!
Recently I’ve been cooking some of my Omi’s recipes – I had completely forgotten how much I loved them. You get caught up in the shiny new things all the time don’t you (I do!). But instead, when putting together your own collection, I want to invite you to look back and remember what you used to love and want to eat again. Without getting all soppy about it: It’s a beautiful way to remember family and moments in your life that gave you joy.
our ‘weird’ addition this winter
Anyhow, so I was making this herring salad, which Omi traditionally served around Christmas time. To my great surprise my Aussie husband absolutely loved it too! I totally assumed it was a weird German thing that you had to grow up with. It wouldn’t have occurred to me to add this to our collection, but now it’s on there! I wasn’t even sure if I should share it here because it’s a bit unusual.
The point is, this list is totally yours! I still fall into the trap of making my collection too ambitious. And then I need to remind myself that it’s not about presenting a perfect meal collection to the outside world. It’s about creating the perfect collection for you right now, in this moment of your life. Nothing to aspire to. Nothing to make work. Only what is doable for you and nourishes you this season. And as it happens there will be a lot of herring salad nourishing me this winter :).
Here is our list. Let it inspire you to create your own. xx
5 Breakfasts
Buckwheat Pancakes
Wholemeal Pikelets
Vegan Banana Bread (also good for snacks and on the go)
Baked Oats (great office breakfast if you need one)
Easy Baked Eggs
20 Meals
Green Soup with Ginger and Miso
Pea and watercress soup
Ribollita
Soupe au Pistou
Vegan baked orzo
Miso roasted sweet potato
Baked Cauliflower risotto
Broccoli, Anchovy and Chili Penne
Spiced Lentil soup
Eggplant and Broccoli Soba Noodles
Roasted Garlic and Artichoke Spaghetti (recipe coming soon!)
Chilli (I need to dig out the vegetarian recipe I have)
Salmon and Fennel Parcels
Mirin glazed salmon with asian greens
Omi’s hering salad
Moroccan Lamb and Lentil Soup
Omi’s simple beef stew (recipe coming soon!)
Pork, Apple and Thyme Meatballs
Lemon and oregano roasted chicken
Chicken Pot au Feu
5 Snacks
Beetroot Hummus
Artichoke and Bean dip
Vibrant cottage cheese
Sunflower and zucchini hummus
Tahini and parsley dressing
I love to rotate dips and dressings because they make it so easy to add extra vegetables or legumes to a meal. Plus they double up as sandwich spreads in our house.
5 Healthy Treats
Brown Rice Crispy Treats
Chocolate, Hazelnut and Raisin Energy Balls
Raw Choc Chip Bites
Raspberry Breakfast Bars
Cashew, honey and spirulina balls (recipe coming soon!)
That’s it! Bring on winter :).
Of course if you set up your list you can still make all sorts of other things too! It’s just great to have a core collection that you can rotate through without having to spare much thought.
So, what’s in your collection?
Much love,
Katrine xx
cover photo by Emile Guillemot on Unsplash
