Well it’s about time I shared a more personal blog post. Spring is now in full swing, which makes me such a happy person. Everything is starting up again and, on a personal level, I’m growing again too. I always feel like things are a bit more stagnant in the winter, which is fine for a while. In the winter months, I tend to have more routine in my life and one way or another this make things in my life a bit more resistant to change. In this period of time, I notice that I hold on to things more often and am less open to new possibilities that cross my path. I do seem to need a bit of variation in my life though. There’s nothing wrong spending my days at the office, heading into the kitchen and keeping up with my emails. But sometimes I need to step out of that routine to drum up new inspiration and give myself an energy boost. As you all know, I work in a creative sector and travel and clearing my mind are essential to me being able to generate new ideas (read: new recipes, yay!). That’s why it really is so good for me to get away every now and then. Now you’re probably thinking, hey, wouldn’t we all love to get away! So, just to be clear: I only go on vacation once or twice a year. The rest of my travels are work related (which can also be very inspirational).

Anyway, as I write this blog, I am with my boyfriend on the island of Santo Antão, one of the Cape Verde islands known for its amazing hiking, music and food. We are island hopping so that we can pack as much culture (and new inspiration) into our trip as possible. The food here is yummy, but I do miss my favorite Powerfood salads sometimes ;-). Here on the Cape Verde islands, people eat predominantly fresh (and I mean really fresh) fish, rice, beans, corn, cabbage and cassava. I’m crazy about the traditional dish, cachupa. It is a slow-cooked dish that is made with all of the ingredients listed above. The dish is also served with chicken, goat or beef. I’ll be trying my hand at creating a Powerfood version of this dish very soon ;-). In the morning, I’ve been eating fruit plates with papaya, mango and banana. These fruits are picked from the trees just before serving. This really is as fresh as it gets! Delicious.

One more day and then my vacation is over and I’ll fly back to Amsterdam, where there’s lots of work to be done! As you may have seen on social media, I started working on my fourth book last summer, Powerfood – The Party Edition (yes, I just keep on going! Haha!), which will come out on the 8^th of June (have you preordered your copy yet?). I’m putting the finishing touches on the final proof and then it’s off to the printer. I’m so looking forward to finding out what you guys think of it, aaaaah! In the next month or two, I’ll be nice and busy with (the preparations for) the launch and I’ll be focusing my attention a bit more on the US, UK and Australian markets, as the English-language version of my third book, On the Go, will be coming out there in October. I’m super excited and will have more than enough going on to keep me busy for the time being!

Stay tuned for news and I’ll keep you posted.

Happy spring!

XXX Rens