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Annee De Mamiel: My Week In Food
A multi-award winning acupuncturist, aromatherapist and healing holistic facialist, Annee de Mamiel has garnered a loyal following for her high-performing natural and organic skincare - notably her Seasonal Facial Oil blends -and signature bespoke treatments, which focus on healthy skin from the inside out, reflecting her study of Chinese medicine. She lives with her husband Chris in Harpenden, Essex and spends three days a week with her team of three in her office on a farm close to her home where she focuses on product production. One day a week is devoted to meetings and another to seeing clients in her London clinic.
Food, like her blends, she believes, "is there to energise us and make us feel better. For me it’s about freshness, quality and seasonality and eating the best we can. I love Ottolenghi and Vietnamese food, which is pungent and clean. For me it’s all about balance - coffee and wine are fine in moderation. I also avoid faddy eating. I believe in eating at meal times and not constant snacking. Organic is important to me, and I make sure I buy organic for ‘the dirty dozen’ (fruit and vegetables with the highest pesticide residue: peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, pears, imported grapes, lettuce, spinach, potatoes)."
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Monday
Today is a clinic day. I'll see around five clients in London at Agua at The Sanderson Hotel, for my bespoke signature treatment which takes about 1.5 hours and incorporates acupuncture and meditation. I also look at each client’s diet, stress levels, sleep and skin. On a beautiful morning, I like to get a 6.45am train from Harpenden, Essex, where I live, to London St Pancras, before it gets super-crowded.
Breakfast: I get up at 5.30am and start with a good breakfast as it’s a long day. Smashed avocado on sourdough with poached eggs is usually my favourite!
Lunch: I like to pop out and get some light and air and generally go around the corner to The Detox Kitchen on Mortimer Street for an egg wrap with salmon, cucumber, hummus, lettuce.
Dinner: I have chicken and ginger broth as it is quite late when I arrive home around 9pm. This is true soul food – my favourite bought one is Daylesford chicken, cabbage, carrot, leeks and ginger. We get this from Ocado and will have it in the fridge to have it when time is short and I can’t make my own.
Snack: Raw Coconut and Cacao ball from The Detox Kitchen
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Tuesday
Today I’m working from the office which is on a farm in Harpenden, a five minute walk from my home.
Breakfast: home-made granola. I make a batch on a Saturday morning - generally whatever is in the cupboard gets put in the pan and roasted, but this one has Qnola, gluten free oats, coconut flakes, pecans, brazils, hazelnuts and almonds, hemp, chia, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, coconut oil and dash of vanilla extract with a dollop of Coconut Collective Madagascan vanilla yoghurt and some fresh berries.
Lunch: we have a lovely little salad bar Harpenden, called Parker Vine, where I grab lunch if I haven’t had time to pop leftovers together. Today’s delights are broccoli, mung bean, feta, lemon and rocket, couscous and cucumber and three-tomato salad.
Dinner: herb polenta cake with puy lentil and pomegranate salad, quinoa cucumber and tomato salad which was left over from lunch and red cabbage, pine nut and carrot salad. I usually have three recipe books open at the same time and mix and match the things I like, keeping going until I get it right – a bit like blending my products.
Snack: beetroot, carrot, celery and ginger juice - I like the taste of this combination.
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Wednesday
Breakfast: homemade granola with full fat Greek yoghurt and some different berries – just to shake it up a little!!
Lunch: chargrilled zucchini, Spelt rocket, tomato, couscous, tomato. I minimise gluten rather than avoid it, because of the inflammation that it causes. This meal was homemade and I choose whatever is in the fridge rather than making a specific meal.
Dinner: home-made salad of salmon and sesame, raw zucchini, beetroot, quinoa, avocado and lime. At home we always eat at the table, it’s not just what we put in our bodies, but the environment we eat it in. If you are mindful about it, you can enjoy it fully and digestion is not affected. This is one of the principles of Chinese medicine that I stick to.
Snack: almond latte, Plenish Juice made of raw cacao, maca, cashew milk, dates and cinnamon
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Thursday
Breakfast: a working breakfast in London this morning with my PR agency Imagination PR at Good Life Eatery. Matcha tea with scrambled eggs and smoked salmon.
Lunch: a quick salad in between appointments. Pearl barley, edamame, broccoli, mushrooms and rocket salad with red onions and grilled chicken.
Dinner: home-made salad with butternut squash roasted in chilli, garlic and ground coriander tossed with some feta, spinach, sugar snap peas.
Snack: green juice with broccoli, celery, cucumber, spinach, courgette, ginger, lemon. I go for vegetable-based juices as they are more nutrient rich and lower in sugar and help provide me with all the vitamins and minerals I need.
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Friday
A very early start at 4am to catch the Eurostar to Paris for a day with French press, bloggers and clients together with our lovely stockist Caroline at Mon Corner B so everything today was a bit on the hop.
Breakfast: chia pot which I made at home and bought with me on the train and a cup of green tea.
Lunch: a lovely lunch in a local French brasserie of Buffalo mozzarella and several types of tomato followed by aubergine ravioli and herb sauce.
Dinner: on a very delayed train I managed to have a Press Greenhouse 2 juice with kale, spinach, celery, romaine, cucumber, lime which was still in my bag (I had bought it the day before as a just in case drink) and a bag of raw nuts.
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Saturday
A slow start to the day, watching the Lions and New Zealand rugby game at home on the TV with my husband Chris and friend.
Breakfast: homemade granola, Coconut Collective Madagascan vanilla yoghurt and loads fresh berries with a black coffee.
Lunch: I made a salmon and sesame salad, raw zucchini, beetroot, quinoa, avocado and lime.
Dinner: I cooked vegan pad Thai with ribbons of zucchini and carrot with edamame beans, red cabbage, red capsicum and sesame seeds with a sauce made from tamari, almond butter, lime, ginger and garlic washed down with a glass of red wine. Very little of my food is actually vegan. I believe in balance and that there is room for everything in our diet.
Snack: popsicles. It was such brilliant weather I decided to make some frozen treats. This one was coconut, banana, vanilla and coconut flakes - a vegan treat that is yummy.
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Sunday
Breakfast: while Saturdays are my yoga days, a session at the gym doing cardio and weights, is a regular Sunday habit. Post gym I’ll make blueberry pancakes – a yummy treat after a killer session – gluten and dairy free made from gluten free oats, Brown rice, bananas, Almond milk, dates and Blueberries! With a dollop of Coyo!
Lunch: poached egg and mushroom on sourdough.
Dinner: Beef lemongrass summer rolls. One of my absolute favourite dinners – marinated organic grass-fed beef in fresh lemongrass with bean sprouts, carrots, snow peas, cucumber, mint, brown rice noodles and a leaf of gem lettuce with a tamari and fish sauce dipping sauce.