While working on our shared project we took the time to sit down and talk with David and Luise Frankiel, founders of the plant based food universe Green Kitchen Stories and our collaborator on the new Puori Vegan Line. We discussed finding balance when life gets hectic, making cooking part of your daily life, ambitions for the future and what excites them about the new vegan line we developed together
What do you feel are the biggest challenges in achieving a healthy lifestyle - and how do you deal?
Luise: I have a holistic approach to my life and achieving balance is the key to getting all parts in sync - but I guess this is also the biggest challenge. Life happens, and you can’t always control the curveballs that are thrown at you. But you can choose how to tackle them and recover.
Like Cooking from scratch for example - it can seem daunting, but it doesn’t need to be complicated or time consuming. My advice would be to keep it simple and find some go to recipes that you make part of your routine. You can often adapt these according to what's in season and alter them to meet your needs.
I also like to squeeze in a lunchtime exercise class as often as I can get away with it. Pilates Reformer, Mega-former or Barre classes have become my absolute favorite workout ever since our time staying in Australia 6 years ago, andI go out for a power walk every day, either with the kids on kick-bikes or during work hours when I’m doing a phone meeting.
David: I often end my busy days with a late night workout when the kids are asleep, mostly functional weight training at the gym closest to our home. And you always find me biking from one meeting to another at a fast pace. Whenever I have time I play tennis, single or double it doesn’t matter, I have been playing since I was a kid and still love it.
What are the biggest achievements in your career and what’s your next big goal?
David: Looking back, the biggest achievement is the entire Green Kitchen journey. We started a small blog out of a passion for green cooking and turned it into a worldwide community and jobs that we both can live on. This includes fun tasks like writing cookbooks that are used in people’s kitchens all around the world, creating recipe videos and collaborating with like-minded brands. We regularly receive emails from readers about how our recipes have helped them change their lives for the better - knowing we’ve made some kind of difference for people is hands down the most fulfilling aspect of the job.
Luise: As for what we want to do next - we want to build a Green Kitchen Studio space. A beautiful kitchen and creative space where we can keep producing recipes, images and videos to keep inspiring people around the world to eat delicious vegetable focused food and feel their best for it. Another goal is to create a huge vegetable garden where we can grow and harvest our own vegetables!
What role do supplements play in your daily life?
David and Luise: Supplements are a great tool in holistic health. We see it as a way to help add a little extra health boost to your life. Although there are no shortcuts to eating well and your focus should always be on healthy eating and enjoying a nourishing diet, supplements can be used to fill in nutritional gaps and complement your existing plan. When you have a balanced diet as the base, supplements help vitamins and minerals work at their best. Especially for vegetarians and vegans, who can be in need of higher levels of certain vitamins, minerals and fatty acids.
What makes you excited about the Vegan line you developed in collaboration with Puori?
Luise: We love that the 3 products are based on natural ingredients with high absorption and are developed specifically to support a vegetarian and vegan diet. The product line is vegan certified and in recyclable containers. It was important to us that we helped create a high-quality product that could be matched with high quality design. We have considered every aspect of the design and feel it reflects our intentions for the line and is true to our aesthetics and appreciation for detail.
What’s your favorite thing about each product?
B12 Berry Booster:
Luise: The color just makes us instantly happy, it's fun to play with and brightens up your breakfast. We use Nordic wild blueberries which are super high in antioxidants and the healthiest blueberries you can find. Conveniently it's in a stick so you can easily have it in your handbag and it's a nice little energy boost that you can enjoy on the go.
PB Plant Protein Boost
David and Luise: It mixes really well into any combination of ingredients without messing with the flavor or the color. We’re very happy with the super fine texture of the PB powder, it dissolves easily and becomes almost invisible in a smoothie but adds so many nutrients. We often add it to banana bread, pancakes, and vegetarian patties, it can be used in so many different ways. If you avoid dairy this is a great supplement to add into your routine as it contains both protein and calcium which supports muscle growth and helps maintain healthy bone structure.
V Multi Vitamin and Minerals:
David: As someone who prefers a plant-based diet I like knowing that this covers all my particular needs. We have worked really hard with the science team to find forms of vitamins and minerals that the body easily absorbs and to fit 13 essential vitamins and 9 minerals into one daily capsule. Also how rad is the purple color capsules?! This specific combination is carefully designed to perfectly supplement my plant-based diet.
Working with David and Luise has been such a blast , and we are so excited to have these 3 new products available for all the plant based enthusiasts out there. If what David and Louise had to say resonates with you or makes you curious to find out more about the Puori X Green Kitchen Stories range, we suggest you search our blog posts for recipes (search for Green Kitchen Stories), visit the Vegan range landing page, or check David and Luise’s own content at greenkitchenstories.com.
