Gemma Ogston - The Self-Care Cookbook: Easy Healing Plant-Based Recipes

Gem grew up in a large family, and as the youngest child of five is used to being surrounded by lots of noise and happy chaos! She learned to cook from her mum who is not only a fantastic cook but who also taught her how to cook on a budget. Batch-cooking and being smart with ingredients are ideas Gem follows daily. Gem would often cook for the whole family from as young as eight years old, and this is where her passion for cooking started.

During her teenage years, Gem suffered from anorexia, but luckily recovered thanks to the love and support of her family. Most of her twenties were spent partying, and in her early thirties, Gem experienced a number of miscarriages. Through these experiences, Gem worked out the link between eating well and feeling better, both physically and mentally. Gem stared eating more plant-based foods and focused on eating for physical health, as well as continuing to experiment with mood foods. And it worked!

Being blessed with two healthy children was a real turning point and after working in the mental health sector as a drugs counsellor for many years, the family decided to go to Barcelona for an adventure and ended up staying for two-and-half years! While there, Gem set up a vegan takeaway business from their central apartment, often preparing vegan bento box picnics for travelling DJs, as they were all sick of airline food! Word spread and Gems business was doing so well. They moved back to Brighton and this is when Gems Wholesome Kitchen was born. Gem and her husband run it together now Gem does the cooking and Peter looks after the business.

Gem loves cooking up a feast to share with family and friends that tastes good, provides energy, is mood-boosting and makes everyone happy. Like her food, she is bright, colourful, full of love and FUN!

Our busy lives and hectic schedules can often leave us running on empty. Now, more than ever, it feels so important that we regularly set aside proper time to fully restore and recharge our energy levels. Often, we find ourselves dealing with feelings of guilt if we plan to take some time out, as though we think we should be constantly chasing that to-do list, or maybe even that we think we dont deserve to stop and rest. But is there really anything more important than looking after our health? If we arent looking after ourselves properly, how can we be expected to look after other people, or perform to the best of our abilities? If we ignore our need to replenish our energies, and carry on steaming ahead, then illness or exhaustion can kick in, forcing us to take a break. Its obviously so much better if we can avoid reaching breaking point in the first place. Remember that life isnt a competition about who can do more, or who can operate on the least sleep.

This first chapter is all about retreating into yourself for a little while, slowing the pace right down in order that you can gather your energies together again. Ive included sections on how to get more rest into our days, with ideas and recipes to calm the nerves and reduce anxiety, and to aid properly peaceful sleep. Ive also shared an easy restorative mindfulness exercise, which you can even practise while you are preparing a delicious meal for yourself! The chapter closes with one of my favourite sections in the book Cosy. Whether its a lie-in at the weekend or snuggling down into the sofa after a long day, I believe getting cosy is essential to our wellbeing. It should be a MUST in your self-care routine.

I hope by the end of this chapter, you will have started to feel a little calmer, recharged and more in control. Bringing a sense of calm to how you go about your day, however chaotic life may feel at times, will leave you better able to cope with whatever you are facing.

Good-quality rest and enough of it is vital for body and mind. Experiencing even low-level tiredness can lead to fluctuating moods and even forgetfulness. Although eight hours a night is often considered the Holy Grail when it comes to sleep, as a mum of two with a busy job, I know that this is not always possible for everyone. We also all need different amounts of sleep, so its important to work out how much you need personally and then to try to aim for that whenever you can.

Dont worry if youre not getting as many hours each night as you think you should, but do take a look at ways you can introduce more moments of rest into your daily life and at improving the quality of the sleep that you do get. Maybe set aside one night a week to go to bed early or let yourself nap in the afternoon at the weekend if youre tired. Even just slowing things down a notch or two as you go about your day, allowing yourself to pause for a quiet moment or making the time to do absolutely nothing for a few hours every so often so you can relax and unwind will help you feel all the more rested.

The recipes on the following pages contain my favourite restorative and calming ingredients to help boost melatonin production (which controls your bodys internal clock) and to aid better sleep. These dishes can also help reduce anxiety, so you can feel more relaxed and calmer throughout the day. Later in the chapter, Ive shared a few of my tried-and-tested ways for achieving a truly restorative nights sleep.

If you are feeling unrested and exhausted, remember to be gentle with yourself. Know that it will pass eventually, and make sure not to overload your days or plan in too many activities that will drain your energies. We all go through patches of restlessness during our lives but taking just a few small steps can help you gain back control.

Sometimes poor sleep can be due to something as simple as falling blood sugar levels during the night. Try one of these light snacks before bed and see if it makes any difference to how well you sleep.

• A small bowl of porridge
  This is a great bedtime snack, as oats provide sleep-inducing amino acids and B-vitamins.
• Natural cherries
  For a melatonin boost. Have a few on their own, or add to granola with some plant-based yoghurt.
• Walnuts
  Another good source of melatonin make some simple energy balls (see ) and keep them in the freezer.
• Hummus on crackers or toast
  Chickpea hummus contains tryptophan, which is an amino acid that gets converted into melatonin in the body. Spread on rye toast or crackers.

SERVES 4 | Prep time: 5 minutes | Cooking time: 30 minutes

This is a quick dish with minimum prep perfect for when you need to prioritise time for rest. Miso is nourishing and comforting, and being made from fermented soya beans it has benefits for our gut, too. There have been many links made between a healthy gut and maintaining positive emotions, so this is a truly holistic approach to feeling rested. Pasta is one of the ultimate comfort foods, and so a big bowl of this will leave you feeling wonderfully relaxed.