The thing that makes me the most upset about my rheumatoid arthritis is how often I get sick. I love my job, but I get sick so easily. I always try to eat a healthy diet, but try more so whenever I’m not feeling well.

Here’s some food I ate today to try to feel better.

Breakfast: avocado, white rice, leftover curry, and tofu dumplings

I was craving white rice. I always do when I don’t feel well. When I had the flu all I wanted was white rice topped with Chao cheese. For lunch this day I had some leftover curry with white rice (the curry had vegan protein broth, potatoes, chickpeas, and vegan beef, I think it was Boca veggie crumbles), half of an avocado, and Nasoya’s Tofu and Vegetable dumplings. Instead of cooking them in oil I’ve been putting them in the air fryer before steaming them in a pan with water and they turn out so much better.

Snack:

I used Triscuit’s avocado, cilantro, and lime crackers and topped three with hummus, three with Go Veggie vegan cream cheese, and all of them with tomatoes, dill, and black pepper.

Lunch: leftover macaroni and cheese

Processed with VSCO with f2 preset

I customized Hot For Food’s mac and cheese recipe from her cookbook last night with what we had on hand and to make it “healthier” (i.e., minus the vegetable oil). We used to go out with friends to macaroni grill and we’d always get the mac and cheese, so we bought penne to mimic it. The pasta absorbed the sauce overnight, so I added a little cashew milk but that didn’t help much. The before and after sitting in the fridge is what’s pictured above. It was still absolutely delicious though.

Dinner: cauliflower stew with chickpeas, potatoes, and carrots

This was such a random recipe that turned out really good.

For the base:

• Sauté onions and garlic in a pan with coconut oil (I used about 1/4 of a white onion and 1 clove of garlic).
• Add in frozen or fresh cauliflower. I used 1 bag of frozen cauliflower. Steam until soft.
• Blend that all together with enough cashew milk to let it blend easily.

I added the blended cauliflower mixture back into the pot on medium heat, and poured in more cashew milk to thin it out. For spices I used cayenne pepper, paprika, black pepper, a little bit of salt, garlic powder because I couldn’t taste the garlic, and a pinch of dried oregano. Then I added in cubed potatoes and let them cook in the simmering mixture for a few minutes. I added in chopped carrots after the potatoes cooked for a bit, then a can of chickpeas.

Once the potatoes were soft I served it. DJ suggested adding some Daiya to it and honestly it brought it to the next level, especially with some sriracha on top.

I recommend trying it with some vegan protein broth in the base if you want it more like a soup, and maybe adding in nutritional yeast (we were out of both or we would have tried it).

I tried to eat healthier today and tried to get in lots of veg. I would have added in lots more leafy greens if we had any on hand, especially in that stew. Let me know what you like to eat when you’re not feeling well. Do you go for comfort food or healthier options? Tell me what you think! ♡