Reality Bites with Tonya Papanikolov
Reality Bites is a feature series focused on the relationships people have with food, what kinds of cooking they’re inspired and sustained by, and the ingredients and tools that help them along the way.
Along with being the founder of Rainbo—a medicinal mushroom based line of supplements and functional foods—Tonya Papanikolov is a Holistic Nutritionist, educator, cook, and yogi who lives in Toronto. Her work in mycotherapy builds from her platform as an educator on holistic health, nutrition, and healing through food as The Well Woman, and years spent foraging mushrooms in the Canadian forests. In this interview, she lets us in on her life, kitchen, and camera roll—proving that plant-based foods can be both extraordinarily pretty and delicious.
What's your morning routine?
My morning routine changes year to year and based on the season of life that I’m in! Right now my morning goes a bit like this: Wake to the beautiful sound of chirping birds or light pouring into the bedroom (summer!). Snooze for a bit longer and snuggle my partner. Drink water. Sit up and do 5-10 minutes of breathwork and meditation (4-7-8 Breathing almost always stimulates my first bowel movement of the day and is something I often recommend to clients.) The deep belly, diaphragmatic breaths are great for stimulating rest, digestion, and parasympathetic response to start the day out calm. Quick phone/email check. Shower, dress for the day. Make a delicious mushroom matcha latte. Jump into emails and get some top priority items done. Daily kundalini sadhana (breathing, chanting, kriya, and meditation)—I made a commitment to take this time for myself each day! I usually do my practice in the morning, but on busy days I do it in the evening.
tell us a little about your journey in holistic nutrition.
I’m the Founder & CEO of Rainbo. Aside from being on the journey of social entrepreneurship, I’m also a Holistic Nutritionist, educator, cook, and yogi. My healing journey began as a teenager and those experiences really directed my focus from a young age. I’ve been studying nutritional sciences and holistic modalities ever since and have devoted my life’s work to helping people heal and upgrade through functional nutrition, mycotherapy, and integrative lifestyle practices. I studied Nutrition and Nutraceutical Sciences in my undergrad and then studied Holistic Nutrition at the Institute of Holistic Nutrition in Toronto. I’ve also been practicing and studying yoga for 10+ years. Yoga changed my life in a big way. When I’m not focused on building Rainbo, you can find me in a forest foraging, hiking, or finding inspiration, creativity, and energy through my practices of movement, meditation, kundalini, cooking, writing, and reading—and when I can, traveling. My relationship with food now feels balanced, honed, intuitive, loving, and functional.
How is nutrition, for you, related to community, culture, and ancestry?
As a Holistic Nutritionist, nutrition expands far beyond myself and naturally to my community, clients, and business. Food is an integral part of all communities, conversations, and cultures. While our plates and their contents may differ, we all come together for nourishment in the same way. For both function, pleasure, celebration, health, and beyond.
My ancestors ate a largely Mediterranean diet, my parents and grandparents grew up in Macedonia where local food, mountain goat milk, and family gardens were the only option! Now, with their offspring (me!) growing up in a big city and a drastically different environment, I too find myself the most interested in simple, whole, nutritious foods—which is much closer to the foods my ancestors would have eaten (compared to the Standard American Diet).
Who do you typically eat with?
I usually eat breakfast/lunch solo. I always eat dinner with my partner. Have been trying my best to safely see friends and family for meals whenever we can too!
How would you describe your diet and relationship to eating?
I consider myself plant-based. I’ve been vegetarian and/or vegan for the past 12 years and this plant-forward diet and lifestyle makes me feel my best and aligns with my values. I rarely ate much meat as a child or teen, I still don’t crave it, don’t like the taste and energetically doesn’t align, so cutting it out is effortless. The other foods I avoid started out of necessity. I can’t tolerate cheese, dairy and am sensitive to gluten. Packaged foods or sugar don’t sit well either.
My diet consists of a wide range of vegetables, lots of leafy greens, fruits, mushrooms, some grains, legumes, sea vegetables, nuts and seeds, eggs, cultured foods, tempeh, sometimes I’ll have some sourdough, or fresh fish when I know it’s sustainable too. I try my best to let eating be an intuitive process and to just let myself enjoy. And when it’s time to indulge, I let myself indulge without guilt! I’ve had rigid diets for a long time so right now I’m enjoying more flexibility.
what does a typical day of eating look like for you?
Drink: Matcha mushroom latte - homemade cashew or nut/seed milk, matcha, Rainbo Reishi, Rainbo 11:11, Rainbo Lion’s Mane, maca, tocos, vanilla bean powder,1 date, hot water.
Breakfast: green smoothie, or coconut yogurt, piece of fruit, or I often just skip breakfast altogether! I always have nuts or seeds soaking for a milk and then either my partner or I make us a smoothie.
Lunch: arugula salad with fridge odds and ends (cucumber, lentils, sweet potato, avocado, quinoa, carrots, boiled egg), or protein smoothie or soup.
Snack: apple, homemade cookie, a scoop of almond butter with sea salt, celery, hummus.
Dinner: Soups or stews, curry, rice + beans + herbs, homemade veggie sushi, fish + steamed veggies, macrobiotic bowls, salads, walnut-meat tacos, coconut-flour crust pizza.
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been making a big batch of vegetable soup 1-2 times per week and eating that for lunches. It was suggested to me by my TCM practitioner. It’s such an easy way to have a nutritious lunch or snack and takes zero effort on the busy days.
What’s always in your fridge and pantry?
Greens! And lots of them: kale, arugula, microgreens, celery, broccoli, asparagus. Also homemade milks, lemons, avocados, broccoli, frozen wild blueberries, coconut yogurt, homemade kombucha, nutritional yeast, chia seeds, lentils, and almond butter.
How do you go about planning and prepping your meals?
We usually just wing it! Though because my partner and I are both entrepreneurs we’ve recently decided to meal plan a bit more! Lunch and dinner lately have been going day-by-day, or mental lists but I’m actually working towards doing more solid prep for lunch and dinner like writing out weekly lists—I find I’m better set up for success this way. So lately I have been creating a list that lives on the fridge for our dinner meals of the week—this helps us try something new each week and ensures we have the right ingredients on hand. Otherwise, it’s the classic trap of working late, eating late, and not being prepared. A little prep goes a long way.
I do make a shopping list when I’m creating a special recipe, a birthday cake, or have some specific recipe in mind that I’m testing or trying out.
Where do you shop for your ingredients?
We get food once a week. Now that it’s summer and farmers markets are opening up, I love going there at least once a week. Sometimes we sign up for Organic Small Produce boxes too from local farms.
4Life Natural Foods, Fiesta Farms, Harvest Wagon, Bulk Barn, Brick Works Farmers Market, Sorauren Farmers Market, Trinity Bellwoods Farmers Market, and Chinatown and Kensington.
what’s your relationship with mushrooms like?
My relationship with mushrooms is deep, alive and is one that I nurture daily—whether I am taking our mushrooms, foraging, reading, working, etc., a lot of my conscious time and energy is devoted to them! The relationship feels strong and reciprocal. For immunity, resilience, antioxidants, stress support—they are my daily allies.
My routine with medicinal mushrooms is that I take about a 1.5-2g dosage daily through our tinctures. I typically add these to my morning tonic which can include herbs, mushrooms, hot water, steamed milk—I love a good morning latte. I also sometimes take Reishi in a glass of water before bed. It is the mushroom that had really profound healing effects on me that really catapulted my journey into mushrooms. Or Cordyceps before a workout. I also microdose on days that I want to be intentionally creative, problem solve, gather inspiration or challenge myself to look at something a new way.
I eat culinary mushrooms 3-4 times a week. I make everything from broths, soups, sautees, pastas, and beyond. They have lots of nutritional value like B vitamins, fiber, some protein, vitamins, and minerals. I believe mushrooms are a food group!
A few times a year I also go on a spiritual journey with magic mushrooms. Psilocybin mushrooms are the most magical of them all. This is my medicine. They are my teachers, guides, partners, forever teaching me about nature’s symbiotic forces. And forever offering me greater and deeper opportunities to know and love myself, to accept, trust and surrender.
Are there times you feel uninspired to cook, and if so, how do you inspire yourself?
Of course! Honestly being a busy entrepreneur has forced me to be a bit more functional with my meals. But even if it’s a simple meal, I always love making my meals look beautiful because I eat with my eyes first and when my food is intentionally placed and plated, I feel like I’m honoring the high-quality ingredients and it means I bring intention, gratitude, and appreciation into my eating. If I’m uninspired I read cookbooks, look to other cultures for inspiration and check out some of my foodie friends Instagrams :)
What do you eat that makes you feel your best?
Fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, and herbs. They make me feel light, energized, fueled, happy, connected to the earth.
Are there any ingredients you avoid?
I don’t eat meat or poultry and I keep fish to a minimum as well. I don’t tolerate spice. No hot sauce, hot peppers, or chipotle! I have an allergic reaction to it. I can handle some cayenne pepper and black pepper, thankfully! I also avoid packaged foods as much as possible and don’t eat sugar. White or other processed sugars are an absolute no for me. But I do still enjoy other sugars (ofc!) when there’s a celebration, but even then, I’m usually making the cakes so they’re sweetened with maple syrup, honey, or dates :)
What do you drink or eat when you're bloated?
Fasting is a great antidote. Avoiding grains and starches also works well (for me). Drinking lots of water. Peppermint, fennel seed tea. Deep diaphragmatic breathing before bed and upon waking. 4-7-8 Breath (again!) helps with relieving gas and stimulating digestion and bowel movements. Abdominal massages with self-reiki.
favorite cookware and servingware?
Spoons are my favorite. I have a very special spoon collection from my travels, experiences, and gifts from dear ones. I treasure my spoons.
Investing in good cookware is important! I like to diversify what I cook my food with and on: cast iron, enamel-coated cast iron (for tomato-based sauces since the acid can damage and cause metals or iron to leach into the food), 18/10 stainless steel with hammered copper on the exterior (I love this set!) I have an oil-free cooking pan too which I love.
I also love my waffle maker, my frother for morning lattes, a sprouter for sprouting microgreens and mung beans at home, my Berkey water filter (hands down the most used item in the kitchen!).
Essential cookbooks?
Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes from London's Ottolenghi and Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi, My New Roots and Naturally Nourished by Sarah Britton, Vegetable Kingdom: The Abundant World of Vegan Recipes by Bryant Terry, The First Mess Cookbook by Laura Wright, Minimalist Baker’s Everyday Cooking by Dana Shultz, Feed Your Fertility by Emily Bartlett and Laura Erlich, The First Forty Days and Awakening Fertility by Heng Ou, Amely Greeven, and Marisa Belger, Ketotarian by Will Cole, Ayurveda: The Science of Self Healing: A Practical Guide by Vasant Lad, High Vibrational Beauty by Kerrilynn Pamer and Cindy Diprima Morisse, and Wildcrafted Fermentation: Exploring, Transforming, and Preserving the Wild Flavors of Your Local Terroir by Pascal Baudar.
Other individuals in the food and holistic nutrition industries that inspire you?
So many! Carter Reid, Lisa O’Connor, MJ Renshaw, Georgiana Johnson, Matthew Ravenscroft, Fran Allen, Sarah Britton, Sophia Roe, Zoey Gong, David Zilber, and Sandor Katz.
favorite restaurants and spots for take-out?
Nutbar, Prairie Boy Bread, Actinolite, Friday Night Delights by a friend and Chef Matthew Ravenscroft, and Almond Butterfly (for gluten free bagels). For takeout, it’s not a regular occurrence, but other favorites include Banjara (Indian food) and Golden Turtle (Pho).
Your go-to recipe?
Winter: Squash pancakes. Spring: Broths and vegetable soups, kitchari. Summer: Vegan cesar salad and galettes galore. Fall: Tomato sauce pastas, sweet potato gnocchi, more soups.
all images provided by tonya papanikolov
interview by marina sulmona