Thai Green Papaya Salad With Tofu And What We Learned From Our Mom's Health Scare

Thai green papaya salad with tofu. A light, refreshing one bowl meal ready in 20 minutes!

About a month ago, we received a call from our dad letting us know that our mom had suffered a heart attack and was in the hospital. Living an ocean away from our family, that's the one thing we always fear the most: that something like this will happen, and we won't be able to just jump in the car and go to the hospital.

Thankfully, she was treated right away and was able to recover with minimal damage and no further complications. Regardless, we flew home to Barcelona to spend some time with her and help her with the recovery.

This was (for her as well as for us), a true wake up call. We're talking about a woman who has been a vegetarian most of her life.  Never had any major health issues. No high blood pressure, cholesterol or diabetes. No family history of heart disease, at all. She did, however, smoke ( a bad habit that she started in her early 40s) and is constantly under a lot of stress. Staggering, if you ask me.

Everyone knows how incredibly damaging smoking is. And most people, like our mom, accept the fact that they have no choice but to quit, when they have a health scare like she had. Stress however, is a completely different story. Just because it isn't something that we can physically touch or see, doesn't mean it isn't there, and doesn't have to be dealt with. And unfortunately, most people don't.

If we didn't realize that before, we sure do now. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is worth losing your health over. So:

1. Don't sweat the small stuff. Sounds cliche, I know, but it's true. Things won't always go our way, that's life. But at the end of the day, if it doesn't affect your life in a major way, it's not worth stressing about it. JUST.LET. IT. GO.
2. If you stop for a minute to take a look at your life and realize you are mostly unhappy, with little bouts of joyfulness here and there, do something about it. Make changes. Do whatever you need to do to reverse that ratio. Because if you keep doing the same thing, it will always stay the same. Albert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results. The man was pretty bright, so I'm pretty positive that the quote is accurate. STOP BEING INSANE.
3. If you don't like where you are, physically or emotionally, move. You're not a tree. (I read that quote somewhere once, so I can't take credit for it. It's a good one though!).
4. If something (or someone) no longer makes you happy, causes you stress and literally sucks the life out of you, let it go. You will feel like a huge weight has been lifted off your shoulders, and you might start to breathe again. JUST. LET. IT.GO.
5. If you don't take care of yourself, no one else will. So be selfish when it comes to your health and your overall well-being (as long as you're not harming another living being in the process, of course). And believe me when I tell you this, if you don't do this voluntarily, life will make you do it. And probably not in the most pleasant way.

We hope you find this little piece of unsolicited advice somewhat useful! And if that's not the case, at least enjoy this fabulous Thai Green Papaya Salad with Tofu recipe 😉

How to cut a shred green papaya:

1. Cut the green papaya in half lengthwise
2. Remove and discard the seeds
3. Peel it using a vegetable peeler
4. Shred it using a food processor or by hand using a box grater (using a food processor will make your job much easier!)

Other Vegan Thai Food Recipes

• Vegan Pad Thai Noodle Salad
• Vegan Thai Lettuce Cups with Peanut Sauce
• Thai Coconut Soup

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