The beauty of cooking from scratch🤎

One of the greatest changes our family has made over the years has been choosing to prepare more of our meals & snacks from scratch. No takeaways. Restaurants every now & again. This allows us to minimise our intake of ultra-processed foods, added sugars & unnecessary additives—while giving us complete control over the ingredients in our foods.

For us, cooking at home isn't about creating perfect meals or spending hours in the kitchen every day. It's about returning to simple ingredients, slowing down & understanding exactly what we're feeding into our temples.

Most convenience foods & refined/processed products are made to be quick & long-lasting—this is not healthy & also a major contributor to why peoples’ health is so bad in this day & age. We are told what is healthy for us from societies norms- instead of actually doing the research for ourselves & understanding nutrition or how our own bodies work.

In today's fast-paced world, we're often encouraged to believe that food should be quick, convenient & ready in minutes. As soon as we wake up— “we need to eat” is a common myth we hear quite frequently & quite often what we even tell ourselves! This couldn’t be further from the truth… Our bodies do not need 3 meals a day. When we feed our bodies too much, constantly, it has no time to heal or signal what it needs or wants correctly. This is a massive contributor to why a lot of us struggle with feeling ‘sluggish’ I believe we over feed our bodies way too much with food— would you fill up your car with so much luggage that you can’t even see out of any of the windows? No. So why is your body any different?

Morning time routines.

You immediately reach for the fortified cereals made with only wheat flour & sugar to feed yourself & your children in a morning but this is actually doing more harm than good—there is absolutely no nutrients there at all! Starting your day off with refined carbs & refined sugars, causes rapid blood sugar spikes- resulting in internal/mental crashes & food cravings throughout the day… & let’s face it- those cereals have no nutritional value what so ever (apart from the fortified vitamins they put back into our food because they take it out in the first place—make it make sense!) They’e packed with rubbish & they damage your internal temple over time.

What we really need is a gentle start to the day🤎

—starting the day with a large cup of spring water with freshly squeezed lemon, pinch of quality celtic sea salt & a couple of dates, followed by a homemade daily health smoothie packed with nourishing whole food ingredients doesn’t seem like a lot but actually, is doing the most for your digestion. Overloading your body as soon as you wake up actually causes the body stress & sets you on the wrong path for the rest of the day. Here’s a good way to activate your digestive system & create a good ritual to start your day:

(Please note: everyone’s bodies are different & have different requirements. The more you are in tune with it—the more you have an understanding of what it requires.)

• Dates

  are naturally sweet fruits that provide a good source of dietary fibre—supporting healthy digestion, making them a nourishing addition to a balanced diet. They contain energy & are rich in antioxidants.

• Lemon water

  a simple but effective way to rehydrate after breaking your nighttime fast. It supports the digestive system & is such a nutritious/refreshing way to begin your day.

• Homemade daily health juice/smoothie

  another easy way to include a variety of nourishing ingredients first thing in the morning. By blending fruits, leafy greens, seeds, veg & botanicals—you can increase your intake of vitamins, minerals, fibre & plant compounds that contribute to overall health.

  I choose to add chai seeds to my health smoothies- for plant based omega 3s. I also take a tablespoon shot of local honey, combined with fresh tumeric, black pepper & olive oil- for my daily anti inflammatory. I take a quality lions mane tincture for mental clarity. I put my desired homemade herbal tea blend, fresh ginger root, bee pollen, organic botanical powder such as (moringa, baobab, etc), flaxseeds & whatever other goodies my body is needing for that morning—into my smoothies. This makes it so much easier to take the hard work out of eating the good stuff as a singular item on its own. It’s all about finding hacks & easy ways to incorporate your healthy routine into your diets!

Fibre-rich ingredients are especially valuable because they help support a healthy gut microbiome—the community of beneficial bacteria that plays an important role in digestion/overall well being. A varied, nutrient-rich diet also provides many of the vitamins & minerals that help support the normal function of the immune system.

For us, this isn't about following strict rules or chasing perfection. It's simply one small way we choose to nourish our bodies & begin the day feeling refreshed, energised & ready for whatever the day beholds.

Trading health for convenience🤎

“While convenience has its place, alot of life's most nourishing moments happen when we slow down.”

Washing fresh veggies, kneading bread dough, slowly simmering a homemade bone broth or soup or perhaps even, harvesting botanicals/wild fruit from the land around us, to prepare for a family meal/desert—invites us to pause & be present. These moments allow us to connect with our food, our temples, appreciate where it comes from & enjoy the simple act of creating something with our own hands.

When we slow down to take care of our nutrition; when we slow down to cook, we often become more mindful of the ingredients we choose & the care we put into each meal. Cooking also gives us the opportunity to involve our children, pass on family recipes, exchange knowledge, educate & create memories & life skills that last.

Food & drink has always been about more than simply filling our stomachs to cure the hunger:

1. It's about wellness.

2. It's about good health.

3. It's about well being.

4. It's about nourishing our bodies, minds & our relationships.

In a world that rarely slows down, choosing to prepare a homemade meal can be a gentle reminder that not everything valuable needs to be rushed.

Many processed foods (freezer meals, pre packaged, tins, sachets, etc) contain: added sugars, high amounts of salt, flavour enhancers, preservatives, colourings & emulsifiers that are not the greatest for your health…

• When you prepare food from scratch, you're in control!

• You decide which ingredients go into your meals!

• You choose the quality of your oils & fats!

• You decide how much sugar or salt to use.

You can include more fresh veggies, herbs, spices & whole foods that suit your family's tastes & internal needs.

There are no hidden ingredients—just food you recognise—chosen yourself! Not by some mass producing freezer food company that doesn’t have your families health best interest at heart.

Cooking from scratch & eating clean, helps us reconnect with food & our own selves in a way that modern life often encourages us to forget. Instead of simply opening a packet & throwing it in the oven to heat up, we learn how ingredients come together, where our food comes from & how simple, wholesome meals can be incredibly satisfying & tasty too!

Children benefit from this too.

When they're involved in baking bread, preparing homemade soups, making their own healthy snacks or helping with family meals, they begin to understand that food doesn't magically appear on supermarket shelves. They learn valuable life skills, develop confidence in the kitchen & often become more willing to try new foods because they helped create them.

Cooking together also creates something far more valuable than a meal.

1. It creates conversation.

2. It creates memories.

3. It creates confidence.

4. Most importantly, it creates lifelong habits.

As children grow into adults, the ability to cook nourishing meals from simple ingredients becomes one of the greatest gifts we can give them. It's a skill that supports independence, encourages mindful eating & helps them make informed choices about the food they eat throughout their lives.

For me, cooking from scratch has never been about achieving perfection.

It's about making the best choices I can for our health with the time, ingredients & resources available & creating a home where food is prepared with care, shared with love & enjoyed together.