Cooking has always been therapeutic for me. I could cook all day long if I had the time (and someone to clean up after me) . Cooking grounds me when life gets too hectic, it reminds me of my grandparents, well my nans in particular. My mum’s mum would make everything from scratch. Her pantries would be overflowing with preserves, pickles and freezers full of meals she had prepared in advance. My dads mum would serve a simple wholesome dinner and it was always followed by a home made dessert.
I didn’t realise how much cooking followed trends until I was looking at one of my Nan’s old cook books. Recipes and methods of cooking all changing over the decades. Her hand written books, filled with newspaper and magazine cut outs, starting with recipes from the 1950’s through to the late 90’s. The stews, condiments and pickles are wholesome and made from scratch.
Over forty years worth of her favourite recipes and its something Im lucky to have in my possession. I have now started to add to it myself. My recipes replacing the white sugar with other natural sweeteners and the white flour for whole grains or even vegetable substitutes….what would she think if she saw me making chocolate ganache with raw cacao, dates, avocado and maple syrup? Im pretty sure she would be pleasantly surprised. I have even had the approval of my Italian in laws who are very traditional in their tastes. I love their reactions when they taste my recipes.
In my clinic generally most of my clients with digestive complaints are placed on specific diets catered for their individuals needs. I base my programs on the GAPS diet – a diet designed by Dr Natasha Campbell- McBride. The diet is usually based on bone broths and stocks (will be writing more about these later), vegetables, meats and fermented food, other ingredients vary from client to client. This is something that can be daunting to incorporate at first but I have designed a program and recipes that make it practical to prepare in their every day lives.
Having said that – the rest of my recipes are simple ways to incorporate whole food choices into your daily routine. Some are grain free, some are free from dairy, soy, nuts or gluten and all are free from artificial colours, flavours, preservatives and refined sugar. They are based on whole foods, as close to their natural source as possible. I want to help people realise how easy it is to make home cooked real food recipes every day, eliminating processed foods from their diet.
I will be constantly adding recipes and information to my page so stay tuned…I hope you enjoy experiencing it as much as I have enjoyed creating it. This is only the beginning.
