Today is an important day!
This morning Rob set off bright and early to Tesco to collect our click and collect order.
Why is that so important? I will tell you!
The next big project we are working on is The Vegan Online Coach – Vegan Recipe Book. The deadline for the manuscript is June 🤣 before we go to Cyprus!
The book is planned, recipes written, etc. There is still work to do and the biggest task now is testing! Every recipe between now and then must be cooked, checked for portions, protein, carbs, fat content, and that it tastes good! I refuse to let food be wasted just by cooking it for the purpose and thrown away, which is what allot of recipe book authors do, or they never actually make the recipes themselves only on paper.
Hence the next twelve weeks me and Rob legitimately will be cooking and eating every recipe from the new book, and todays Tesco haul is that first week!
I would never have thought I would be writing a recipe book, I am not a foodie. Truth be told without Rob I wouldn’t be writing a recipe book, so he is getting so much credit in the new book!
I was brought up by my single mum, in a council house and my mum was disabled. She couldn’t physically stand for long periods to cook, so when she did it was casseroles etc, which could be done and left. Now we were not neglected, I will make that very clear, we ate, my older brother was the main cook of the house, he cooked pasta in sauce, rice from packets, frozen food in the oven, etc.
This was the start of my bad relationship with food, food was seen as quick, of little value, something which had to be done so we could eat, there was no enjoyment to cooking. It was a means to an end.
It was also where my emotional eating patterns developed as a kid, because we didn’t cook a variety at home; meals out, celebrations, treats, cakes, sweets, all developed deep connections to emotions, celebrations, sad times, etc. If you are joining me next Wednesday at 7pm for the free Zoom Emotional Eating Masterclass, we will talk more about those emotional eating connections then.
When I left home, and when I worked in Australia, I took with me these same eating patterns and my lack of cooking skills, everything came from a packet, or I ate out (on company expenses lol)
Having my mini stroke, kick started my need to value food as medicine, its when I became fully vegan, but I was terrified what would I eat, I didn’t know what half the things in the recipe books were, let alone how to cook them. Every recipe seemed like it needed a degree to read and a whole day to cook. Plus recovering from my mini stroke, I like my mum years before, couldn’t stand, or coordinate to cook for long periods of time.
That’s when I studied nutrition as part of my journey and learnt the nutritional value of food and cooking healthy simply.
Years later, now with Rob, we eat healthy, but I will be honest I have become lazy. Rob is an epic cook; he is good at it and he enjoys the creative process. So, I leave it to him.
Its only looking back at all these factors when writing the recipe book, what I can cook and what I like to cook, that lots of this history around my connections with food came back up, our personal food story going back to childhood goes hand in hand with our health, emotional and physical (e.g., weight) story.
Over the next 12 weeks, we will be definitely be sharing the ups and downs of the recipe development and some sample recipes from the new book with you all. All the recipes are designed to be healthy, balanced, simple and not need hours to stand cooking! If I can cook them, anyone can!
For me personally over the next 12 weeks, I am looking forward to the challenge, the process, sharing the experience with Rob and most of all reconnecting with and realigning my food story.
Oh, and the picture? Well, the first “hurdle” was we needed to press tofu for tonight’s recipe, but broke the Tofu press, so the good old books, and plant had to improvise!
Best Wishes
Gary Ⓥ
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