Damaso - Eat better not less 100 healthy and satisfying recipes

Contents

Recipes

I can hardly believe that my book, Eat Better Not Less, is finally finished! To get here, I have worked on this book for four months, stood countless hours in the kitchen, created new recipes, experimented a lot and taken thousands of photos. My kitchen became where I lived, but every moment was worth it and I am so incredibly happy to be able to finally share my new recipes with you.

So, who am I? My name is Nadia Damaso. Im 21 years old and grew up in a beautiful region of the Swiss mountains called Engadin. Im easy-going and love to entertain people; to give them some happiness from the things that I do. In addition to attending acting school in Zrich, I am passionate about cooking and taking pictures, which Ive done since childhood. Cooking is a little bit like acting to me. You can completely submerge yourself in another world, express your ideas in your own way, let your imagination run wild, and put your own personality and character into new, delicious dishes. I love trying new things and I love food. Honestly, good food makes you happy, plain and simple. If you can also share that with friends, family and people all over the world, then it makes it that much more fun! The world is full of different flavours. Every country and culture has its own traditional foods, its unique herbs and spices that bring people together and connect them.

About a year and a half ago I challenged myself to eat more healthily. I was interested to find out how I could cook healthy, balanced, simple and fast meals that were filling, without sacrificing quality and taste. I tried a lot of different things and combined a variety of diverse ingredients. The results amazed me right from the beginning. I could hardly stop; my mind was filled with ideas. Then, without any real intentions, I started taking pictures of my food using my phone and posting them on Instagram.

The photos and recipes were well received, and more and more people all over the world started paying attention and following my Instagram profile. This reaction motivated me to keep going, to create new recipes and keep sharing them. From then on, everything moved really quickly. As Ive always loved photography, it was important to me to take high-quality photos. The smartphone camera was quickly set aside and I grabbed my digital SLR that, today, I wouldnt sell for any price! When I woke up each morning I would get so excited about the photos of the new dishes I was going to shoot! Not only is taking pictures a lot of fun, but its astonishing how much detail a good-quality camera can capture. Sometimes, the pictures bring the food to life so much that all the different ingredients can create a range of emotions. You can see every crumb, every bead of moisture, every piece of ground peppercorn. You can smell the herbs and spices coming out of the picture. That is exactly why cooking, together with my passion for photography, is art to me.

After about three months and another 10,000 Instagram followers I started my first website. I couldnt believe how people from all corners of the globe reacted to it so positively. That response was such an unbelievable motivator to stick with what I was doing and make something out of it. The 10,000 followers quickly became 20,000, 30,000, 40,000, and now, over 150,000 people are following my Instagram account. When you think about such a huge amount of people, you feel very small at first. But eventually you can and should be proud of the work and effort youve invested into doing something you love so passionately that people worldwide have treasured and honoured you for.

A year ago I decided to move forward with everything more professionally. I collected all my recipes and made an ebook that I sold online. However, so many ideas remained buzzing around in my head. One thought that I just couldnt get out of mind was that I needed to create a good and meaningful slogan. Something that didnt already exist. A new brand. The motto, Eat Better Not Less seemed perfect from the start: it expresses exactly what I do. People should eat better, not less. You can read all about my style of cooking and the philosophy behind it in the pages that follow.

I would like to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart for buying this book and, in doing so, supporting my work. Of course, I really hope you enjoy it; that you enjoy the recipes and that the photos make your mouth water. Hopefully I can motivate many of you to try new things yourselves and to create your own unique recipes. Cooking is like art. Sometimes the outcome leaves you speechless and other times it doesnt turn out like you had planned (that isnt

always a bad thing though). I am convinced that everyone can cook. It might take a little courage to try something new, like everything else in life. But with a little practice, a lot of passion, imagination and creativity youll be well on your way.

I hope you have a great time reading and, more importanty, enjoy experimenting!

Nadia Damaso

WEBSITE www.eatbetternotless.com
INSTAGRAM @nadiadamaso_ebnl
FACEBOOK eatbetternotlessnadiadamaso
TWITTER @EBNLnadiadamaso
PINTEREST nadiadamasoebnl

The Philosophy Behind Eat Better Not Less

Eat Better Not Less will show you that eating healthily is definitely not boring or one-dimensional. I want to show people that if you want to eat healthily, you just have to eat better, not less! Not only is it a lot of fun to eat this way, but its good for your body and will simply help you feel better. These recipes should inspire and motivate you to create simple, fast, nutritious yet flavoursome recipes that bring colour and variety to the plate. Of course it isnt easy to have a career, family, friends and hobbies and manage to stay healthy, in shape and feeling good without giving up delicious food, especially if you make it all yourself. But, if youre well organised you will see how easy it can be to embrace a healthy and balanced diet and lifestyle. I get asked a lot about what products I cook with and if I have any tips and tricks on how to fulfil the Eat Better Not Less philosophy.

WHAT CAN I SAY ABOUT MY FOOD?

I make sure that my recipes consist of good carbohydrates and wholegrains, a variety of fruits and vegetables, and good fats and proteins. Its a combination of fresh, nutritious, good-quality and healthy ingredients that are also illing. As a matter of principle, none of these dishes requires sacrifice because with the right proportions and a little know-how, together with the right delicious ingredients, they are all healthy. My recipes also show that you dont have to give up carbohydrates. On the contrary, the body needs good and complex carbs to be able to function properly. The same goes for the essential fats our bodies need; I only use healthy fats found in nuts, olive oil, coconut oil, avocados and salmon or other oily fish. Its also important to listen to your body and eat if you are hungry. Eat until you are full, not more and not less. Often its cravings or boredom that drive you to eat when you dont really need to. The bodys signals are usually right. As a general rule, you cant go wrong if you trust your gut!