The MayaBazar

What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

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Organic Bandanas

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Georgiana Paraschiv.

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birdcagewalk (via urbnite)

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Madewell | three of a kind / it took seven months to perfect the simplicity of our iconic bag, and other little-known facts about the transport tote, on the blog (link in bio) #totewell

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Over time, a commitment to challenging, focused work and leisure produces not only better daily experience, but also a more complex, interesting person: the long-range benefit of the focused life. As [Nicholas] Hobbs puts it, the secret of fulfillment is “to choose trouble for oneself in the direction of what one would like to become.” 

Winifred Gallagher, Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life

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Camille Cotton photographed by Neige Augusta Céleste for W Magazine (2021)

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Alice + Olivia Pre-Fall 2020

[themayabazar]

Four.

Most days, I hanker for a spicy snack, right around 4 or 5 pm. I used to eat a sandwich. Or a roll. Or a single crisp toast with some cheese on it. Perhaps a bhel puri or a pani puri, if I walked up to my favourite chaat vendor. Maybe a small portion of rice noodles that I would make at home. Or, at a certain point in my life when I ate to make sense of loss and listlessness, I would cook a bowl of pasta in a spicy tomato sauce and finish it with a generous crumble of cheese. But that was then, and this is now. These days, I have three excellent, healthy snack options that I thought I would share - they offer crunch, flavour and enough oomph to counter the late-afternoon/early-evening slump. Plus, all three can be made in advance and carried to work, if you need to. The first is a small portion of sauteed vegetables. Zucchini and red peppers. Or mushrooms and steamed green beans. Red peppers, carrots and steamed green beans. Whatever is in the fridge and needs the least cooking. I season with paprika, a little salt and maybe a shake of Tabasco. 

The second is grilled tofu, tossed with a mix of tahini, almond butter, sambal olek, ginger and a little lime juice. This is a substantial snack that I save for evenings when I have an event or dinner to go to. The last is a variation of my favourite salad in the world - som tam. I use carrots, or purple cabbage or cucumber or a mixture of all three, with a little of whichever greens are available. I might or might not add a thinly sliced tomato. If there are spring onions available, I will chop one very fine and mix into the dressing. My dressing is very simple - vinegar, soy, chilli powder or a green chilli, a dash of sugar and lime juice. (I am not a fan of raw garlic.) And lots of crushed roasted peanuts to top it off. There are still days I prefer a pani puri, or make myself a cheese toast but those are now the exceptions and not the norm. As I rearrange my life - as we all have to, again and again - I am learning to create gentler rules for myself. Suggestions, almost. Guidelines and not commandments. 

As an emotional eater, food is the first place I make life hard for myself with and the first domino that falls when things go awry. Recognising that, and understanding what I need in terms of nutrition, discipline and fun is now my aim.  

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