Hello!

Ok, here’s the dish on me. I am a middle aged momma to two large and mostly grown men-children. I’m wife (28 years) to a devoted and loving husband, and doggy mommy to a lovely but quirky elderly border collie, named after one of my favourite foods, Brie.

I started this blog for a few reasons. I like to write. I like to cook. I like to eat. I love to create pretty things, including food photos. I am in my kitchen, and my garden, a lot so I figured I might as well share what I’m doing in there for my kids and for anyone else who is interested. I also figured that by documenting what I am eating I am more likely to pay close attention to it. 

Putting it out there means paying more attention to what I’m putting in my mouth.

We’ve always eaten well. When I cook, it is nearly always from scratch. My kids recently commented that we are one of the only families they know who regularly sit down at the table for a meal most of the time. If you are home, you sit with the family to eat and you eat real food.

I come from a family of pretty decent cooks too. When I was a kid my step dad was always ‘throwing stuff together’ in the kitchen (making a huge mess in the process). My mom always said she was a good candidate for food pills – not so adventurous, and my father was boldly brewing kombucha in his kitchen (something I’ve recently started doing), long before this current resurrection. When a new food arrived in the grocery store, we were always up for trying it. Because of that I grew up eating artichokes, escargot and starfruit. It was definitely never just meat and potatoes in our house, though there were plenty of ‘Brian sized’ steaks!

I have recently been making a conscious effort to take a more whole foods or primal approach to eating. I don’t have some sort of miracle healing story to tell you about why I am focusing even more on whole, primal foods and less on anything packaged, sugared or grain filled. I am doing it because it makes sense, and because I’m getting older, and because though nothing miraculous has happened I do feel better. I’m slowly getting lighter, folks comment on my skin, and I feel good.

I want to age with grace and ease rather than with medication and intervention and I believe that this way of eating gives me the best chance.

I’m not fanatical about it and I have found that to allow myself the occasional indulgence works best. I drink a glass or two (ok, maybe more) of wine each week because although I know it may not be entirely healthy, I really enjoy it. 

I strive to eat grain free, sugar free, dairy free and as much as possible, chemical free. None of this seems easy to me, especially the dairy part – I can do without milk but man, do I love cheese! I’m still working on the dairy free (I did mention that I named my dog after cheese right!?)

The food that I share here is what I feed to my family. Many of my recipes are ones that I have used for many years and have adapted over time or am working to adapt to fit a paleo approach. If I remember where they come from I will credit them. The images are my own.

I invite you to join our family table, cut the crap and eat real food.

Mia