There’s a kind of magic in knowing ten recipes deeply, not just because they’re easy, but because they feel like home, flexible, nourishing, and aligned with you in this season of midlife and menopause. When your hormones shift, your energy fluctuates, and your taste buds sometimes change, having a trusted kitchen foundation becomes a lifeline.

HERE’S THE THING: This isn’t about restricting yourself or being flawless. It’s about reclaiming ease, ritual, and nourishment. It’s about tending to your body, soul, and time with gentleness.

Why Curating a 10-Recipe Kitchen Matters in Midlife

• Reduces overwhelm: At 20, you might have run off recipe trends, new diets, and the next big thing. Now, with midlife, your bandwidth is more precious. Having ten recipes you know well frees up mental space.
• Supports hormonal balance: Recipes you trust let you better integrate foods that stabilise mood, reduce inflammation, support bone health (think calcium, magnesium, leafy greens, omega-3s) without second-guessing.
• Adjusts to energy shifts: Some days you have it; some days you don’t. Having go-to meals that adapt, fewer steps, and less chopping means you still eat well even when fatigue or brain fog hits.
• Honours seasonal rhythms: Your body and the land both follow cycles. Eating seasonally helps with nourishment, joy, cost, and grounding. When a recipe can shift with what’s abundant, you tap into that rhythm.

Building Your Midlife 10-Recipe Kitchen

Here’s how to curate yours, tailored to this chapter:

1. List favourites you’ve already been making: Think about the meals that bring comfort and energy. The ones you reach for without thinking. Start there. Maybe a hearty stew, or a vibrant salad, or something that reminds you of home.
2. Look for flexibility: Can you swap in different proteins (beans, fish, chicken), different vegetables, different grains? Recipes that let you pivot when you don’t have exactly what’s in the list are gold.
3. Balance effort and rest: Out of your ten recipes, some should be “easy days”, minimal prep, few ingredients. Others might be “soul-cooking”, more time, more layers, more pleasure. Having both keeps you steady.
4. Make space for seasonal change: Every few months, revisit your list. Swap out one or two recipes to reflect what’s fresh, what feels right. Let your kitchen adapt as nature does.
5. Include things that nourish deeply: Recipes with good protein, healthy fats, and fibre. Ones that soothe digestion, support hormones, and buffer mood swings. Think soups, stews, whole grains, legumes, lean protein, colourful veg, gentle spices.

Practical Tips to Bring This to Life

• Cook once for leftovers: When you make a soul-recipe, double it so you have something for the next day or two. Helps when you don’t have energy.
• Prep staples: Have homemade sauce, roasted veg, and a grain mix ready. These become the building blocks of easy meals.
• Create a core shopping list based on your ten recipes. Know which staples you always want in your store cupboard.
• Lean into sensory pleasure: Use herbs, lovely oils, spices. Let the aroma, colour, and texture feed you as much as taste. When you cook with delight, digestion improves, and mood lifts.
• Rest post-meal ritual: After eating, take a few minutes to drink something warm (herbal tea, water), sit quietly, maybe stretch. Let your body settle.

Journaling Prompts

• Which meals in my past 12 months made me feel strong, nourished, and alive? What were the ingredients, the atmosphere, the effort?
• What meals do I always fall back on when I’m drained or overwhelmed? What do they give me emotionally and physically?
• What flavours, textures and foods do I find myself craving lately? What might my body be asking for?
• Which of my favourite recipes feel out of sync now (too heavy, too rich, too bland)? How can I adapt them?
• If I had only ten recipes to cook from for the next season, which ten would I choose? What would be the mix (easy / soul / seasonal)?

Inspired Action: What You Can Do This Week

• Pick three recipes from your current rotation that feel like home. Cook them on different days this week. Notice how you feel, what tastes bring satisfaction.
• Choose one of your recipes and make a small swap to lean into seasonality (e.g. use greens in season instead of imported ones, or swap in a local root veg).
• On a low-energy day this week, use one recipe that requires minimal effort and rely on prep-day staples. Observe how much that supports your decision-making.
• Write your “ideal 10-recipe list” draft. Don’t overthink it. Include what you love, what you can see yourself loving in six months. Then put one recipe on “rest” and one on “try”-out.

What this really means is: You’re claiming your wisdom in the kitchen. You’re letting food be your ally, not a chore. You’re crafting safety, joy, and ease in how you eat, and that spills into how you live.

Come join me on Substack, where I share my Love Notes, a gentle pause in your week to reflect, realign, and reconnect in midlife. It’s not just another newsletter; it’s an intimate circle where I offer fresh intentions, soulful prompts, and simple but powerful shifts to inspire purposeful, creative living. Together, we’ll uncover the small but meaningful changes that help you design a life that feels beautifully your own.