Keeping the spark alive when you’re eating different things.

Food is a love language in our house.

Namely, me cooking for my fiance is a big way I express love.

And his unyielding and genuine praise of what I cook is his way of loving me back.

When we sit down to eat one of my new recipes, I’ll literally just watch him for the first few bites, waiting for him to make a sound of approval or enjoyment. He just started noticing that I do this :)

We’ve been mixing up our eating this year, mostly cutting out alcohol and dairy, playing with what makes us feel best in these new decade of our 30s.

In March, Christian started a carnivore diet to help alleviate some of his inflammation and adrenal fatigue. Which meant he was cooking ground beef. All day. Every day.

Albeit briefly, gone were the days of me getting a culinary spark of inspiration and rushing home to cook a creative new meal for us.

Along the way Christian would humor me by smelling what I was cooking, or by praising the colors and presentation. But not once did he yield from his carnivore ways and snag a taste.

At first it was fine, but after a few weeks I started feeling a tiny rift in the energy that usually flows between us. I tried to brush it off as an adjustment period. Until I realized the small ritual of eating the same food, even sporadically, was actually a big and grounding ritual for my heart.

I brought it up to him the same day I identified the feeling, letting him know that sharing meals was really important to our relationship, specifically him eating the food I make.

Completely understanding where I was coming from, he agreed to take a break each week where we could cook something fun and creative together.

This papaya seed honey mustard was the first thing that coaxed him out of his ground beef diet!

I’ve been doing a soft gut reset, and papaya seeds are famous antiparasitic and antifungal agents in the body. I knew I wanted to make a papaya seed salad dressing, so I just started throwing things into the blender.

As I was making this, Christian wrinkled his nose at it, telling me he wasn’t really a papaya guy.

5 minutes later he was dipping his fries into it ;)

May this papaya seed honey mustard nourish your gut and change the minds of the stubborn earth signs in your life.

I hope you love it!

-Morgan

Papaya Seed Honey Mustard

Ingredients:

1 large, ripe papaya

3/4 cup olive oil

1-2 tablespoons of Dijon Mustard (to taste)

1-2 tablespoons of Honey (to taste)

1/2 tablespoon Sea Salt

Pinch of fresh ground Black Pepper

Directions:

Slide and dice your papaya. Clean the seeds and add ALL of them to your blender.

Scoop the papaya flesh out and one cup of it to your blender. You can add more if you like a thicker sauce.

Add the honey, olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, and dijon mustard to the blender.

Blend well until emulsified. Taste test and adjust to your personal tang preference! I like my honey mustard with a touch more mustard, but it’s up to you!

Store in the fridge up to one week. Enjoy!