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My Week in Food: Rebecca Hopkins, Co-Founder of Balance Me
“My mother is an excellent cook. She is the primary source of my culinary inspiration and I’ve always tried to emulate her wonderful recipes in my own home. I have happy memories of the smell of baking wafting from the kitchen as I returned from school on a Friday, the day she would devote to cakes.
"Growing up my sisters and I would start the day with a cooked breakfast before school and I never felt hungry until lunchtime. I still maintain that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and although I don’t pretend to knock up a full English for my own children each morning, I try to make porridge or boiled eggs at least two or three times a week for them before school.
"The most important thing for me is that we have a healthy, balanced diet as a family, but we also like treats. My daughters love Junior Bake Off and will happily experiment in the kitchen and provide said treats most weekends. I find that as long as I exercise regularly, I don’t have to feel guilty about what I eat and can indulge my sweet tooth. I also have a passion for travel and find inspiration from most places I visit. I’m drawn to seasonal foods too and find that my food ‘mood’ is inspired by the weather and season.”
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Monday
Breakfast: Bircher muesli soaked in almond milk with a chopped banana and handful of Brazil nuts.
Lunch: A garden salad.
Dinner: Tray baked chicken with vine ripe tomatoes, sugar snap peas and roasted new potatoes.
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Tuesday
Breakfast: Porridge with blueberries after an early morning run.
Lunch: Smoked salmon and rye bread.
Dinner: A Spanish omelette with seasonal greens. I learned the recipe from my visit to Le Manoir Aux Quat-Saisons cookery school last spring.
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Wednesday
Breakfast: I have press breakfast meeting at The Wolseley in Piccadilly. I order mashed avocado salsa on toasted focaccia.
Lunch: A feta and pomegranate salad from M&S followed by Greek yoghurt with manuka honey.
Dinner: Chilli salmon noodle salad with lime and herbs.
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Thursday
Breakfast: Granola with seasonal berries.
Lunch: A crayfish salad from M&S and a small punnet of cherries.
Dinner: Pan fried salmon with fennel on pea risotto.
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Friday
Breakfast: A homemade smoothie with strawberries, frozen banana, chia seeds, mint and coconut water, followed by a manuka honey on a piece of rye bread.
Lunch: I actually forgot to each lunch as I was working from home so I ate a piece of flapjack on the school run that I’d made for the weekend.
Dinner: Kedgeree – it’s usually fish on a Friday in our household! Finished off with Eton Mess, made by the girls.
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Saturday
Breakfast: Freshly squeezed orange juice, croissant and café latte in a local café after a morning Iyengar yoga class with my eldest daughter.
Lunch: Avocado on rye bread with lime and chilli.
Dinner: We went out with friends for supper and had a wonderful selection of sharing plates including a roasted squash, lentil and walnut salad.
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Sunday
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs on toast.
Lunch: Veggie chilli mince wraps after a morning trip to one of our local street markets to buy food for supper.
Dinner: Slow cooked lamb and asparagus with pomegranate, feta, avocado and lambs lettuce salad. A fresh yet hearty end to the week.
Find out more about Rebecca and the Balance Me skincare range
Follow Rebecca on Twitter and Instagram
What Deliciously Stella eats in a week (it’s decidedly tongue in cheek)