It's my last day in New York City and thank goodness because I'm exhausted. The last 3 weeks have been powerful, physically explorative, and immensely educational at Stråla's 300 hour Advanced Leadership Training. Doing the same grind every day has made it seem like the weeks simply melted together. I'm ready to leave the intense pulse of the city for clean air and time surrounded by nature, too. Simplifying my cooking to deal with the demanding hours of training meant meal prep. In other words, lots of roasted vegetables to make meals of. As the week ended the breakfast pickings included roasted carrots, roasted sweet potato, and a fresh apricot. The color coordination was unintentional, I swear. Saved the green scheme for packing lunch.

I find a sense of security in meal prep. Even if I don't have precise meals and portions packed up ahead of time, I know I have nourishing foods at my disposal. I've been reading a lot on the endocrine system while I deal with hypothyroidism that's getting the best of me these days (a major yikes and a huge contribution to why I'm exhausted). Stress is at the root of it all, go figure.

In my reading I found one doctor's take on food to resonate with the sense of security I've always felt with meal prep. This doctor claimed one should never go to bed without knowing what's on the menu the next day. Having meals planned eliminates the body needing to account for a potential need to be in survival mode when it comes to hormones and glucose stores. Planning the next day with meals in mind sets the stage to be well fueled at the right times of day. As someone who used to be severely hypoglycemic all the time, I know that sustaining myself with the right foods is key to keeping hormones and emotions in check.

Ingredients

• 1 apricot

• 2 carrots, cooked

• 1/2 of a small sweet potato, cooked

• 1 teaspoon coconut oil

• 2 tablespoons coconut yogurt

• 1 scoop collagen peptides

• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

• toppings: dried mulberries, sprouted pumpkin seeds, additional cinnamon

Method

Slice roasted carrots and sweet potato in half if they were prepared whole. Also slice the fresh apricot.

Heat coconut oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Sear the roasted carrots, sweet potato, and the apricot slices. Cook 2-3 minutes on one side, flip, repeat on the other side.

Add cinnamon into the frying pan and toss to combine.

Whisk coconut yogurt (I've been making my own.. never going back to store-bought) with collagen peptides until smooth in a small bowl.

Serve the seared fruit and vegetables warm with coconut yogurt/collagen mixture and suggested toppings if desired.