Millionaire’s Shortbread, Instagram Overlords & Anti Inflammatory Recipes from Cycle Kitchen

Hi hey hello,

So the other day I posted a picture on my Instagram stories of a "Millionaire's Shortbread" style sweet treat that I made over the weekend, and I wanna talk about it. →

Instagram Overlords

I've felt like the Instagram algorithm overlords have not been in my favour recently, as anything I post doesn't seem to be shown to many people.

But this one story of my baked goods reached a surprising fair few of you, and I had a lot of people asking me for the recipe (to my surprise)!

So for context...

Another Food Group Bites The Dust

I've been on my own health journeyyyy over the past couple of years, but I haven't quite had the willpower to cut out entire food groups (for elimination purposes) until a couple of months ago.

It's taken a hell of a lot of building up, and reaching-of-the-final-straw to do, so for the past two months specifically, I've been eating pretty restrictively. God help me.

The past year was me going more anti-inflammatory, trying seed-cycling, low-fodmap, cutting out gluten, dairy, processed foods, refined sugars — all to try and get to the root of some gut & hormone & histamine (yada yada yada) related problems I've been having.

I'm a wellness girl through and through, but treating my body as a temple is something I have fallen short on. We're all still having a human experience hey.

Never Gonna Give You Up

The general swap to mostly whole foods has been fine, I've generally been a pretty healthy eater - eaten my fruit and veg like a good girl - but I bloody love a sweet treat... and that's something I REFUSE to relinquish.

Sweet treats do (literally and metaphorically) sweeten life, let's be honest.

So in a desperate attempt to ensure that my life (and the food I consume) is still enjoyable and not incredibly depressing, boring and restrictive, I have been experimenting with different anti-inflammatory, gut and hormone-healthy recipes... sweet treats and beyond.

Enter: Nourishing-My-Inner-Child Mode

1. The Sticker Chart

I have turned a calendar in my kitchen into a sticker chart which I am seriously attributing my consistency and success to. IT HELPS. Who doesn't want a little gold star as a reward?

2. The Whimsical Menu

I also made myself a little anti-inflammatory menu to help me feel inspired, and to make my daily food choices feel more fun, and easier to remember.

As a type B girlie, I tend to forget what I have the ability to cook when it comes to preparing food for myself. Any inspiration and memory of nice meals simply leaves my brain.

The comfort of beans on toast and a jam doughnut that I managed to survive university on 10 years ago (that is still imprinted in my system as a go-to) is no longer a supportive option for my 30 year old self.

I need a reminder, to see meals visually, and give myself choices to stay consistent while feeling like I can live a buffet-like life full of options.

The Kick Up The Arse

I needed a kick up the arse to really commit to myself and not self-abandon.

To finally do something that I've been putting off for aaaages, that I know will make me feel better on so many levels, and change my life for the better.

Cycle Kitchen

Last year, I started secretly writing about this whole process.

I wrote for about a month, and then proceeded to procrastinate writing anything else for the past 9 months because of that not-so-friendly voice in my head. Let's call her Margaret.

Until I posted on Monday on my Instagram and got a really good response - it gave me a second wind that I needed to fuel the fire, get me writing again.

(Not that I rely on ahem external validation in order to complete tasks ?!!??! 👀)

So… Here We Are - Anti Inflammatory Recipes

I am writing this to let you know that there are a couple of free recipes on my website for my 2 tried and tested hormone and gut friendly sweet treats.

If anyone is interested in my whimsical, anti-inflammatory menu that I have created - let me know!

I am calling this area of expansion into more holistic, food-based wellbeing… Cycle Kitchen.

Cycle - to represent our hormonal cycle, and learning how to support ourselves through each different phase.

Kitchen - because that’s where the magic happens.

It's rooted in female hormonal health from my experience, but can be useful for anyone who wants to feel better in their body.

There you go, Margaret - it's out there.

Where This Is Going

This is going to expand into a space within Mary Elizabeth Wellness where I continue sharing more of my recipes, meals, and other ways to support yourself hormonally, holistically, spiritually, mentally, physically. The sky's the limit, hey.

And this blog is also an accountability container for myself too, and to incorporate what I love - writing from my heart!!

So thank you for reading my stream of consciousness if you got this far. 🫶 There'll be more where this comes from.

And send me pics of your own healthy bakes and thoughts on your own experience if you relate - inspiration always welcome!

Loads of love, Mary xxx