Into the Fridge 🛀
Courtney Wittich on laying in the sun and going on a cooking strike
Courtney Wittich 🛀
Courtney is an L.A.-based sauna connoisseur. She’s obsessed with taking baths, traveling to new cities and countries to sweat with people (she’s currently in Finland for the World Sauna Forum as we speak), and might be the most passionate person I’ve ever encountered when it comes to any kind of health through water. Her Substack, S.P.A., is where she documents her attempts at becoming the, and I quote, “Anthony Bourdain of all things wet,” as she reports on all things STEAM (sauna, tubs, exfoliation, acupuncture, and massage). Courtney, as you may recall, is our resident sauna expert over here on Plant Based, so it’s my deepest honor to present you all with her fridge.
What is your fridge philosophy?
I am not a consistent person. This concept used to plague me, but now I am leaning in to where it can actually help me. Sometimes I want to cook elaborate chicken stocks. Sometimes I want to attempt a difficult Thai recipe or Beef Wellington. Sometimes, all I am capable of is grabbing a yogurt from the fridge or microwaving instant oatmeal or cutting a slice of cheese.
I went on cooking strike a few years ago after completely burning myself out—I was making three meals a day plus baked goods and snacks. The plus side of that experience is that my husband learned how to cook fun meals and now I am finding and feeling much more joy in the kitchen again.
All is to say, fridge philosophy: simple snacks, seasonal produce, see where desire leads me.
Your fridge is always always always stocked with ____.
Oat milk AND regular milk
Spinach
Cheese
Water
A frozen Trader Joe’s something when emergency hunger strikes (like returning home from a hellish travel day)
Top 5 condiment picks, go.
Japanese ginger salad dressing
Tamari/soy sauce
Ponzu (are you sensing a theme?)
French mustard
Valentina or Cholula or Sriracha. It depends on the season and what we’re craving.
Fine, I’ll open it up to pantry too. Let’s hear your favorite snacks / pantry staples:
My friend recently gave us a box of snacks from craft services that she got on set and it’s been feeding us for so long. I’ve been loving the Aloha protein bars.
Also, these amazing herbal tinctures that my friend’s mom makes in San Diego called Colibri.
A meal that’s on heavy rotation these days:
We are finally transitioning out of SOUP SZN.
Now it’s summer rolls! Rice paper wraps are intimidating but soooo rewarding and delicious. This week we grabbed a bunch of veggies at the farmers market including:
Summer greens
Carrots
Cucumbers
Cilantro
Mint
Micro greens!!! So fun
Sprouts
And made a peanut butter, Sriracha, and soy dipping sauce.
Let’s go a little deeper…
What’s the mantra you keep coming back to?
Always be sparkling (water).
What products / practices are part of your regular mental wellness habits?
I’m a big believer in the mind-body-soul wellness connection. I love to write in my journal, and practicing gratitude lists with chosen cheerleader confidants makes me feel better.
Being of service is a big part of my wellness routine and it’s usually the ultimate relief to get out of my head and give something (time, love, compassion) away without expecting anything in return.
And your physical?
My bathtub, hot yin yoga, walking in the sun, surfing, spa-ing.
What do think is the most underrated part of wellness?
It’s really nice to feel good and not that difficult if you cut out the noise and BS. (Disclaimer: this is hard to do in late stage capitalism.)
And overrated?
That one cream, serum, pill, injection, surgery, etc that will change your whole life. It probably won’t unless you’re willing to tune up other loose ends / look at systems creating dis-ease and/or discontent.
Picture this: you wake up one morning and feel like shit. What’s your next move:
Ever since I stopped drinking, I rarely wake up feeling like shit which is a #blessing. However, I’m a mere mortal, so sometimes I’m sick or tired or both.
I’m going to Lassen’s down the street and getting a huge green juice and using it to wash down the Wellness Formula pills, and/or other various supplements in my cupboard. Maybe I’m hitting the shake plate. Maybe I’m laying in the sun or taking a bath.
If I’m really sore and not contagious, I’m going to the spa to do some rounds of hot and cold and get a massage. If I am potentially contagious, I’m staying home and hopping into my infrared sauna bag.
Give us your ride or die wellness products:
Always be trialing (products).
Right now I’m obsessed with: Sangre de Fruta botanical tonic mists and whipped creams, Saint Lucie sauna serum, Magic Molecule spray, La Roche Posay Cicaplast.
One thing you do everyday that makes you the most YOU version of yourself:
My morning coffee, delivered in bed by husband, with oat milk and whipped local honey. The coffee we get is from a super small farm in Mexico—hand-picked, hand-dried, and hand-roasted by the loveliest and most eccentric couple. I genuinely am already looking forward to this moment every night when I fall asleep.
Whose taste inspires you?!
For food moods: Into the Fridge 😉
Physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, work ethic:
Lotta Volkova, girls wearing Made Some, surfers, steff yotka, Lynette Nylander, Nick Tran, Emma Davidson, Lena Dunham, Lily Sperry, Kaitlin Phillips, David Sedaris, Leonard Koren (not a typo for Cohen), Rachel Seville Tashjian, Emily Sundberg, Gabi abrão, my friends, my husband, my family, Thom Bettridge, sauna entrepreneurs, people who dare to dream.
Also, this sign on my refrigerator that I read everyday.
Big thank you to Courtney for sharing this little taste of her very aquatic life with us. I highly recommend keeping up with S.P.A. and following along on Instagram. You can find her fridge favorites + more here.
Feel free to leave a comment or respond to this email with questions you want asked, people you want featured, or anything else that’s on your mind. Don’t be shy, I love hearing from you.
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I love being a fridge girlie!!!
blue liquid is guisados dodgers horchata but of course 💙