My two most favourite concepts of life begin with the letter F. Family & Food. Both hold deep meaning for me. One I cannot live without, and one I live for. Good luck figuring out which is for which, ha-ha!
Okay, I will make this easy. My family is always above all. The love we share, the laughter we indulge, the arguments we grow from and the endless bond that only grows stronger, is something incomparable. My husband, my children (god’s gift, really!), my parents, my in-laws and my siblings, have always been the best support system I could ask for. Food plays a secondary role, but yet, a very important one. Food is a game-changing element of all our lives: it determines how we feel on a daily basis, it is the one thing that makes us feel better on days that nothing else can, and it is the essential to our well-being, our lives and our happiness. There really is a reason they say blueberries are natural mood-lifters; apart from the scientific explanation, how can one ignore the luscious blue that spills out sweet and tart-like taste?!
Simply a taste of something decadent, home-made, warm, fuzzy and comforting is unmatched. Food always beckons us to a better mood. Whether we are happy, sad, angry or frustrated, food is the best way to reach into our souls and remove the ill-feeling. It is the lightening agent we need in our lives. We need to learn to love it, not just survive with it. When we say we love spending time with our families, it mostly translates to “I love cooking for my family, and eating out with them and living life with them!”. Food plays an integral role in our lives; whether it is from a health perspective or for satiating a craving that our souls have. Nonetheless, food is important. And this year has taught us all about nutrition; its value to our immunities, well-being and day to day lives. Right from haldi-paani to fresh vegetables, to nutritious lentils and grains; nutrition became our daily goals!
But think of it like this; whether we have two ingredients in our hands, or ten. A meal is a sure shot outcome from it; and something made with our own hands. Tasty, home-made and made with love.
I’ll tell you this. People always say that everything in our bodies is connected to our ‘gut’. It all starts with our ‘gut’. Any ailment, any pain we feel. There is a 90% chance that it is related to something that went upside down in our bellies. So, bottom line, we need to be careful of how we feed ourselves. Stop eating just for the heck of it. Start eating for your soul, nourishment and joys. Gratitude brings out the best of everything. When it comes to food, I am always grateful for the opportunity to be able to enjoy a plate full of food, and do my best to support those that do not have such fortune. Constant gratitude for the abundance that God blesses us with got me to starting Gouri’s Goodies. That, and the fact that I needed my boys to be better nourished!
At Gouri’s Goodies, I strived to create products that exuded my love for natural and whole food. It reflects my love for nutrition, good taste and a zero compromise on quality of ingredients. Right from the California almonds, to Belgian couverture chocolate, to organic turmeric, organic palm jaggery and Himalayan honeys, among other brilliant natural products. I believe that whole foods are the best way to feed your heart; what better way than to enjoy the taste, texture and amalgamation of whole seeds, almonds and other elements.
This is how I began and grew Gouri’s Goodies. Because honestly, delicious is the best way for me to go. This year, we introduced two new cereals that are very close to my heart. One is a fusion of natural ingredients with almonds and turmeric; I thought of this just before the lockdown and wanted everyone around me to enjoy nutrition with good taste. Why compromise on deliciousness just because your food has to be healthy, right?
The second product was a cereal with an excellent combination of quinoa, cranberries and decadent natural seeds, almonds and other elements, to create something enjoyable for your mid-meal pangs or a power-packed breakfast. Quinoa is one of my favourite ingredients, and I have wanted to work with it since a long time. The lockdown period got me thinking and experimenting, and voila!
This year has brought us all to understand, value and implement nutrition in ways that we never considered before. Food has become one of the most important parts of our day, because what we eat is the deciding factor for how healthy we are, how strong we are. So, we better eat right!
I love my lifestyle. Food is my lifestyle, my routine, my magic mix of the day; it is always my mood-maker and it needs to be yours too!
Written By Gouri Gupta
Week 52, December ’20
