Into The Fridge 🌵
Whitney Tingle on her favorite chili crisp and nature's Ozempic
Whitney Tingle 🌵
Whitney is one of the co-founders of Sakara Life, a health & wellness brand anchored in the power of food as medicine (best known for their beautiful plant based meal delivery plans). After 12 years in NYC, she now lives in Miami with her husband and 3.5-year-old named Bodhi. I’ve admired Whitney’s passion for taking care of both herself and her community for quite a while now, so I’m excited to share a small dose of it today.
*author’s note: I had to choose one of Whitney’s favorite emojis for the sake of the subject line, but please enjoy the full array as follows*
🌵🪐🍋🟩🥗🥬🦠
What is your fridge philosophy?
Your fridge should always be colorful and full of foods with life energy!
Your fridge is always always always stocked with ____.
A rainbow of Sakara meals.
Top 5 condiments, go.
Hummus is definitely treated as a condiment (as well as a meal) in our house - great on sandwiches or as a dip with raw broccoli florets.
DIVINA Chopped Calabrian Peppers - so good on everything. Just the right amount of spice.
Fly By Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp - great flavor and spice. Both of these chilis contain capsaicin, which has been shown to have anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties.
Tahina - it’s as simple as mixing a high quality tahini with water, a squeeze of lemon, some salt. If you want to make it really tasty, use a microplane to grate in some fresh garlic and add chopped parsley.
Organic Ketchup - not for me, but for the hubby and my kid. They’re still on the hunt for their favorite one. Apparently nothing tastes as good as corn syrup and red dye 40…
Fine, I’ll open it up to pantry too. Let’s hear your favorite snacks / pantry staples:
Eden brand beans - they line their cans with their own proprietary plant resin instead of BPA or BPA-alternatives
Maya Kaimal Everyday Dal
Soooo many supplements!
For my kid:
A meal that’s on heavy rotation these days:
Everything But the Kitchen Sink Chopped Salad:
This is a concept that I got from my mom when I was growing up. Basically I buy whatever looks good/fresh at the farmers market or grocery store and chop it up into small pieces. Some of my favorite ingredients for it are: broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, purple onion, cucumber, bell pepper. And then on top of whatever veg I have in there, I add rice and a bean (often black beans) and chopped apple for a touch of sweetness. I top it off with a tahini dressing.
This dish is so delicious and the fountain of youth in a bowl. It’s so good that we put it on the Sakara delivery menu as well as put the recipe in our best-selling cookbook, Eat Clean, Play Dirty. I like to make a huge tupperware full to keep in the fridge. If you don’t use watery veggies like tomatoes then it will hold up in your fridge for several days. My 3-year-old son loves this salad too!
Let’s go a little deeper…
What’s the mantra you keep coming back to?
“The universe always conspires in my favor.”
What products / practices are part of your regular mental wellness habits?
Positive thinking. Mindset is EVERYTHING. The mind is more powerful than we realize and certainly more powerful than we give it credit for.
I have trained my mind to spot the good in every situation - to seek learning from challenges, instead of letting myself get caught in the drudgery of a situation. I’ve found that asking the universe what lesson I’m supposed to be learning, or what door is closing so that another can open, is the best practice for my mental health.
And your physical?
I love Pilates, I love yoga, I love getting outside to go hiking or play sports. I’ve recently started adding some traditional weight lifting to my workout routine, but I still don’t think it compares to the sophistication and how smart of a workout Classical Pilates is.
I work out with a brilliant instructor named Vanessa Remijio who has a studio called Springs & Slings. She designs the class specifically to my body and its needs – to strengthen the muscles in MY body that need strengthening, to create space specifically in the spot in MY spine that needs space, to balance MY imbalances. She helps me build a body that will last a lifetime.
What do you think is the most underrated part of wellness?
Antioxidants & fiber. If you care about keeping your body & skin healthy and youthful into the future, aim for getting at least 40g of fiber daily, from a rainbow of antioxidant-filled fruits and vegetables.
…and overrated?
Protein. Everyone is obsessed with protein right now. Yet less than 2% of Americans are deficient in protein, while 95% of Americans are deficient in FIBER. It makes sense why we’re being told to eat more protein — if you don’t have proper gut health, you’re not going to be able to digest and assimilate your nutrients as well, and therefore need to eat more to absorb the amount you need.
Do you know what helps support gut health so that you don’t have to eat so much protein? Fiber. Along with better digestion, other benefits of fiber include: naturally boosting GLP-1 in the body (nature’s Ozempic!), feeding the good microbes in your gut that in return produce protective short chain fatty acids, and happy brain chemicals.
Picture this: you wake up one morning and feel like shit. What’s your next move:
Chug a big glass of water (that I structured using my Somavedic) with Sakara Beauty & Detox Water Drops in it. A lot of times when we feel like shit we’re just dehydrated.
Give us your ride or die wellness products:
Sakara meals are always my #1. It’s how I keep my baseline. It’s how I’m able to work, support my family, be a wife, and a friend – and show up for myself. It’s my biggest form of self care!
If I don’t have the meals available, our new Sakara Fiber Super Powder is my go-to. It’s prebiotic fiber from 10 whole food sources to help make sure I’m feeding the good bugs in my gut, which is essential for stress management and overall health.
One thing you do everyday that makes you the most YOU version of yourself:
My skincare routine.
Whose taste inspires you?!
Fashion: @hoskelsa
Jewelry: @themoonstoned
Lifestyle: @danielleduboise
Big thank you to Whitney for blessing us with her wellness wisdom. You can soak in even more of her knowledge over on her Instagram as well as Sakara Life’s Podcast, Instagram, and website. You can shop her fridge favorites and more here, and if you want to try Sakara Life (granola is on next week’s menu, btw) you can use the code KSSAKARA for 20% off. :)
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. I’ll see you with a review soon!
Loved hearing from Whitney!
There is nothing like getting a peek into someone’s fridge. Loved this one!!