Welcome to the February 2025 edition of RPL at Home, where I share what I’m up to when I’m not in the kitchen or in front of the camera.
Each month (or so), I give you a glimpse into what I’m working on, habits I’m cultivating, things bringing me joy, books/TV shows/podcasts I’m enjoying, and more. Think of it as stream-of-consciousness blabbering meets a semi-curated list of recommendations meets life update.
A recap of the last few months
My last RPL at Home post was back in October(!), and I’ve had writing a new edition on my list for weeks (okay, months). But it kept getting pushed off because while it’s an important task (and one that I love), it is not an urgent task.
So, I’ve been thinking about how I can share these more personal updates more regularly, perhaps in a shorter format more frequently.
Everyone seems to be on Substack these days, and I’ve briefly considered it, but between the blog, our current newsletter, YouTube channel, meal plan subscription, and more, I am not sure there’s room for one more ball (platform) to juggle.
Anywho, let me know your thoughts in the comments if you have any suggestions!
🧘🏽♂️📱What I’m working on in life
Distancing myself from social media. In particular, Instagram, as I don’t use TikTok or X, or Facebook (an assistant manages my Facebook business account).
Back story: Back in fall 2023 / winter 2024, I took a hiatus from Instagram, where not only did I not post, I didn’t even open the app for four months.
I eventually returned to the app (it’s sort of part of the job), and as I geared up for my cookbook launch in September 2024, I found myself using Instagram much more than I would have liked.
By last fall, the state of zen I had enjoyed during that four-month reprieve had largely disappeared, despite me having better social media boundaries and a more sophisticated understanding of how the app affected my mood, energy, and productivity.
That realization, plus the nonstop election cycle and the ensuing results, made me reevaluate my relationship to Instagram yet again.
I find myself often wondering whether it’s possible to be a “content creator” who creates content but doesn’t participate in all facets of its dissemination.
God, just reading that sentence, you can tell I used to be a nerdy lawyer who’s probably not cut out for the world of content creation in the first place 😅
But in all seriousness, I do think about my role and responsibility as a content creator. As much as I love sharing recipes and food content, I don’t want to be part of a system that has created an actual addiction for millions of people, an app that generally leaves people less happy and more anxious than they were before they picked up their phones.
There are certainly bright spots to social media and I am so grateful that I’ve been able to build a positive community there over the last eight(!) years, but the way the apps are designed—to make endless scrolling and sensory overload inevitable—makes those bright spots increasingly hard to find.
Anywho, I’ve been trying to get to a place where, if it’s a day where I’m not posting a video to my Instagram feed (which is most days), I simply don’t open the app. If I want to post a story or respond to a few messages, I give myself 10 minutes a day (or fewer) to spend on the app.
And I’ve been relying on one of my assistants to help with social media management so I can spend less time working on the actual creation of the content.
I’m not fully there yet, but the days where I don’t open Instagram, I feel much better: more energetic, more excited about work, more focused, and well, just happier. Which, in turn, gives me more time and energy to (a) work on the things I do love and (b) to hang out with the people I cherish (like my silly mom).
What I’m watching, listening to, and reading
📺 Watching
My favorite TV show from 2022 was the Netflix comedy-drama series Mo, so I was beyond thrilled when season 2 finally dropped last month.
The show is loosely based on comedian Mo Amer’s life as a Palestinian refugee who grew up in Texas, and it was co-created by Ramy Youssef, star of one of my other favorite TV shows (also titularly named, Ramy).
What drew me to the show is that it’s unlike anything on American TV. Yes, Mo and his family are refugees who have been seeking asylum for 20+ years, but they’re also laugh-out-loud funny and entrepreneurial (Mo hustles between selling merch from his car, working as a strip club security guard, running a falafel taco food truck, and whatever job is open to him as a refugee without papers). Mo’s love interest is Mexican-American, and Mo effortlessly lays down jokes in Spanish, English, and Arabic.
The show touches on deep topics and it’s often heartfelt, but the humor is always present. And Mo’s indomitable spirit—always hustling, always resilient—is a beautiful testament to the better side of humanity.
Watch the season 2 trailer here.
📚 Reading
When the New York Times issued its 100 Best Books of the 21st century last year, I spent an obscene amount of time reading that list, marking the books I had read (not nearly enough to my chagrin), and researching the books that sounded interesting to me.
Here are three books from the list I’ve recently read (and loved).
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward. I’ve mentioned this in a past edition of RPL at Home, but Jesmyn Ward is my favorite contemporary writer. And for good reason. She’s just 47 years old and is the only author on the above-mentioned NYT list with three books on the list (and was the the first woman and Black American to have won two National Book Awards).In Salvage the Bones, Ward, who grew up in rural Mississippi and survived Hurricane Katrina with her family by sheltering in a truck, tells the story of the bond between three motherless children in the days leading up to the hurricane in a poor bayou town. As with all of her books, her prose is intoxicatingly beautiful and the storyline will instantly hook you.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz. This novel, which had been on my list for years, combines many different themes and styles: it’s a coming-of-age love story, there are science fiction references peppered in with magical realism, and there’s a generous amount of Spanish slang plus Dominican history (the latter felt like a free education in a topic most of us will never learn in school).The combination works brilliantly, as it weaves through the life of Oscar Wao, a nerdy, overweight hopeless romantic who navigates unrequited love and third culture kid experiences in New Jersey and the Dominican Republic. The narrator’s voice—uniquely funny and biting yet eloquent—makes this an easy and highly enjoyable read.
Random Family by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc. While I lean towards fiction (the real world is a hot mess, I need an escape!), I occasionally dabble in nonfiction, particularly books that can teach me about worlds I’ll never know much about. And Random Family is the perfect example.Using more than 10 years of immersive reporting and research, LeBlanc introduces us to an extended Puerto Rican-American family living in the Bronx between the 1980s and 1990s as they navigate the complicated worlds of love, family, drugs, and incarceration. This book features equal amounts of empathetic storytelling, rigorous reporting, and shocking revelations that make you want to keep reading.
PS: If you’re the kind of person who likes to read at night and/or in bed, I can’t recommend this book lamp enough. It attaches to your book and casts a warm orange glow on your book—bright enough to allow you to read but not so bright that it will disturb your bedmate or keep you up at night.
🎧 Listening
The best podcast series I listened to recently is The Good Whale, and I’m confident that whether you’re an animal lover like me or not, you will find it fascinating.
It tells the story of Keiko, the orca who inspired the hit 1993 film, Free Willy. It’s poignant, sad, beautiful, and hopeful all at the same time.
And it’s part of Serial Productions so you know it’s well executed (yes, the original Serial podcast that took narrative podcast storytelling to the next level).
✈️ Fun Things
As I type, we’re flying back from Australia! This is my fourth visit in the last few years, as Max’s grandparents live there and we love spending time with them.
Though it’s harder for them to get around physically these days (grandpa is 92, grandma is 89), they remain upbeat, funny, curious, kind, and thoughtful. They’ve been married for over 65 years and continue to hold hands and make each other laugh. They’re the model couple, and really just model human beings.
This time, we spent most of our time in the area they live, the Adelaide Hills (the beautiful mountainous areas surrounding the city of Adelaide and populated with charming little towns).
Highlights included spending time with the grandparents, Max’s cousin Sophie and her husband Josh and their new baby (named in honor of grandpa’s initials!), as well as my own first cousin Isha (she grew up in India but coincidentally moved to Adelaide several years ago).
And the food! Even in small towns in the Adelaide Hills, you will find at least a few good vegan options. And I mean good.
For instance, at this casual coffee shop and cafe, I was treated to a delicious stack of fried salt-and-pepper tofu, well-seasoned veggies, roasted pumpkin, local sourdough, sweet potato crisps, all drizzled with chili oil. At the local hotel, I dined on (actually good) vegan pizza one night; the next night, watermelon salad with peanut-ginger-sesame dressing and a vegan poke tofu bowl.
And at the warmest, sunniest restaurant, Marshi’s Kitchen, where we met the lovely Marshi—a talented chef who grew up in Sri Lanka—and her equally lovely husband, I dined on a red lentil curry bowl complete with kale sambol, braised cashews, spiced beetroot, and papadum.
After the Adelaide Hills, we spent a few days in possibly my favorite city, Melbourne. Sure, it doesn’t have the romantic charm of Paris or the wild affordability of Bangkok (two of my other favorite cities), but it does have possibly the best vegan food scene in the world.
I’m working on a guide to Melbourne (what to eat, where to stay, what to do), so stay tuned for all my recommendations!
Okay, that’s it for this month! Drop me a line below and let me know what you’d like to see in the next edition :)
Thanks for the great post Nisha!
I am on the same social media journey right now, I’ve been off since December and the mood uplift has been amazing, but there’s a touch of FOMO too.
Also, no need for the Substack. I agree you’re already juggling all the things. Pro juggler.
We won’t judge you if you step back from social media for your own well-being :) I’m sure it is so difficult to balance as a content creator. I personally love your blog and website and I think they are both very effective tools for me as a home cook. Over the past 5 years I have slowly phased out of all my social media… It has made a world of difference in my overall health and I can never go back!!
Love the book recommendations. Started reading Crying at the H Mart and loving it (your previous recommendation). Also reading A Thousand Splendid Suns from the author of The Kite Runner. It grabs you from the first page. Highly recommend it!
This is my first time receiving this email. I loved it! Especially the book recommendations. I recently found you and Rainbow Life when I became vegan two weeks ago.
Thank you again for all you share. You are an inspiration as a vegan and as a human being.
Be well,
Molly
Hi Nisha, so good you visited Australia! While I live in Sydney, I’m always keen to find good vegan options in other cities. Which ones were good in Melbourne?
Happy to see you are a Jesmyn Ward admirer. I became an instant fan several years ago after reading “Sing, Unburied, Sing”.
Omg you were in Adelaide! Its my hometown and I recently moved back here after 10 years in Melbourne. It’s a small town but it’s lovely, and the food and produce is great. The Hills are beautiful. Did you make it out to the Central Markets? The beaches here are also lovely.
hi Nisha!
You are so wise to clock your content creating/consuming hours…
I love your youtube content, but even more I love sitting down with your wonderful new cookbook to learn more than I ever knew was possible about flavours, and just drool at the amazing pics :) … needless to say many of the pages are dog-eared!
Thanks for your amazing recipes [all of them are amazing].
This is my first time reading anything other than your recipes. What a fun read this was. It really made me think about my own addiction to my cell phone and scrolling all day and night. I am retired and get bored a lot. It made me think of all the other things I could be doing to make my last years on earth more rewarding. Thank you. I want to read more, so I will try one of you book recommendations. I love the connection with family and your adventures in traveling. I have your cookbook and need to actually open it and use it. I am not vegan but ordered it because I always love the way your recipes sound and I need and want to eat better and need flavor in my food.
Canadian fan chiming in here: just discovered (and binge-watched two seasons of) Mo, and it is fantastic. Hard to believe US leaders want to steal Mo’s homeland (and extort Ukraine, annex Canada, enable Putin, among so much more madness). My heart goes out to so many people in the US right now. May US democracy and Canada survive the current administration. Thank you for doing what you do, Nisha (and for the book/podcast recs).
Hi Nisha! I enjoyed this read and totally resonated with your social media take, in fact I have been involved in an online business for the past year and just can’t get over the mental space it takes up. So I’ve let it go and am moving on to other ventures, more in alignment with my personality. BTW I have never made a recipe of yours I did not love, all so so good!! Thank you!! And the hubby has loved them too. I love the idea of an Australia guide, but do you have an Italy guide by chance? I am going next year and would love some recs! Best wishes to you! Wendy
Why not be a trendsetter (a true influencer) and leave IG for good? I love your videos, your cooking newsletter, and RPL at Home. I don’t use social media at all and never miss it. My life is BETTER because I left.
PS. I meant to add a few book recs. I loved Goodbye Vitamin by Rachel Khong, and all three of Idra Novey’s novels — so good!
I live for these updates! I had been counting the months (and there have been too many!). But alas, one is allowed to live as well. Especially when you bring such a wealth of ideas, recommendations and suggestions once you resurface. I always get the books, bookmark the movies and podcasts you recommend right after reading these. Did it as well now, will start with Mo and Jesmyn Ward. Thank you for everything you put out into the world, Nisha! It is a joy to have discovered you!
This is the first time I’ve received one of these “general” updates. I really enjoyed it and would encourage you to keep doing them! I especially enjoyed the book and podcast recommendations, and it’s always fun to hear about your adventures outside of the kitchen. Cheers!
I love your perspective on social media as a content creator. Social media overwhelms me. It’s refreshing to hear how others experience it. I love reading so appreciate your book recommendations. Lastly, I’m enjoying your new book and channel. I made the breakfast cookies yesterday! Thanks for helping us be better cooks!
Hi Nisha
I have been dabbling in Vegan meals for the last 1 1/2 years, and now I can proudly say I am about 98% vegan and feel so much better. I researched many vegan recipes during that time, but when I found YOU, I hit the jackpot!!!! I LOVE watching your videos. You are so upbeat, and the first day I saw the videos, I just wanted to get to my kitchen and cook as they all looked so delicious. I now have your book and have prepared many recipes from it. My husband is not vegan however he loves “hot spice” and seems to be liking what I prepare LOL. He may come to my side of the food world one of these days LOL. I have also forwarded your name to several of my girlfriends; two have already purchased your book. Also, thank you for sharing and for the efforts you put into this newsletter. I love to read so will be looking into a couple of the books you mentioned. On a personal note, I am from Calgary, Canada, and I worked in law firms for 35 years. I am now happily retired – so I can very much relate to your previous employment. Good for you to move toward your passion; well done!
Thanks Nisha, this adds a whole other dimension to you. And I now have something to watch – a series about Palestine and refugees that isn’t just going to make me cry.
MO is such an amazing, wonderful series! Yes! Everyone should watch it :)
I’m not a content creator, but I left IG and FB years ago and honestly, it’s no big thing. Because I’m ancient, I remember what the world was like (distantly!) before we all “connected” online :)
An inspirational post with good books, tv series, and a glimpse into family. My daughter introduced me to your blog after buying the cookbook, and I am buying one today!!! Thank you!
I am a big fan of your cooking channel and enjoy your newsletter as well
I own a copy of Big Vegan Flavor and love all the recipes
I am working on the condiment section and as as I type this, the life changing chili crisp recipe is open before me
I live in a area of the country where being vegan is seen as a curiosity and not a lifestyle
I always direct people that are interested in vegan eating to your channel, as I am serving them one of your fabulous recipes 😋