wholefood mama: Catherine

I hope you are enjoying meeting wholefood mamas in this series as much as I am. Today it is a pleasure to share this interview with blogger and wholefood mama Catherine who blogs at A Time To Create. I love Catherine's gentle and honest way on her blog, her beautiful photos and her talent for crafting beautiful handmade gifts. One of the first things that drew me into Catherine's blog was that she puts her goals for the year right there on the sidebar for all to see, brave lady! 

Now, make yourself a cup of tea and settle in to read Catherine's wholefood story and enjoy her beautiful photos. Thank you Catherine for taking part in this and inspiring mamas on their wholefood path xx

A little bit about Catherine:

"I lead a simple life with my husband and two daughters age 13 and 8 years old and our cute little dog Molly in our little renovated Queenslander. My working life started out in the classroom teaching both in child care and in schools. Perhaps in time I may return but for now I'm embracing how my life has evolved to encompass different creative pursuits. My days are spent caring for my family, cooking, gardening with a goal to be more productive, creating gifts with my hands and my most recent passion photography which I hope to develop more."

1. How did you become interested in wholefood cooking? 

I think my interest in whole food cooking started with Meagan's blog This Whole Family.  It was through her posts that she opened up a whole new world for me such as fair trade, organic, environmental and ethical issues and also whole food.  It was also through Meagan's blog that I first learn about Heather.  I frequented her blog often, her pictures and calm words kept me returning.  When the next whole food workshop came up I decided to give it a try.  I love to try new recipes and I knew Heather's knowledge would be valuable to me for now and for a healthy future.

2. What are your favorite things to cook?

At home I cook a variety of different foods.  I like to balance up the week with meat and vegetarian dishes, if I had my way there would be more vegetarian but I try to keep all of us happy.  Each week I put aside a day where I will cook a cake, some biscuits and a slice, something healthy to put into our lunch boxes and for snacking on.  If I had to pick what I enjoy to cook the most it would have to be new vegetarian dishes especially when I find one that everyone likes, that one is then book marked and cooked often.  Our favourite vegetarian dish at the moment is pumpkin and feta rolls with a side of salad, it's always a hit.

3. Can you tell us about the online wholefood cooking course that you did over at Heather's blog Beauty That Moves? 

The whole food workshop was well worth every cent I spent to be a part of it.  Heather breaks down her course into weekly modules focussing on areas like grains, preparing your pantry, lunch boxes and enjoying the family. The course written by Heather gives you a concise and a detailed collection of information, recipes and resources to guide you when starting your whole food journey.  I found it to be one of the most valuable steps in our journey and I am so grateful for having that knowledge that I can now share with my husband and daughters.

4. Do you have any tips for encouraging children to eat well/dealing with fussy eaters?

I find this a tricky one, I do get some resistance from my family both small and big when it comes to food.  What I found with one of my fussy eaters is that she loves to eat finger food.  Foods like homemade nuggets, vegetable patties, soft tacos and homemade pizza.  Hiding vegetables and seeds in these dishes helps to make sure they are still being given the necessary nutrients they need.  I also try and provide things that are healthy that I know they like such as salads, fresh fruit, milkshakes hiding fruit and seeds and most of all just keep trying.

5. Who inspires you in the kitchen? any favorite cookbooks or websites?

My mother inspires me in the kitchen, she's always been someone who loves to try new dishes and always cooks from scratch, it's seldom that she buys takeaway.  The cookbooks that are my favourite go to are Feeding Fussy Kids, there are so many healthy dishes to choose from and many have been a hit with my girls especially the chicken nuggets.  Also my trusty Day to Day Cookery book that has simple old fashion favourite recipes that always work.  As I've mentioned I love photography, just recently I found a blog that combines both my love of food and photography called Honey and Jam, it's quite beautiful.

6. What is your go to meal when you are short on time? 

We have a few simple meals that we enjoy when we don't want to eat anything too complicated.  We have our own chickens so we often have an abundance of eggs in the fridge, we make scrambled eggs adding some herbs and tomato served with grain toast. Our other favourites are pasta with tomato sauce and a big hit here is vegetarian fried rice.

7. What are you loving about your life right now? 

I'm loving keeping things calm and simple in my life, I'm not one for lots of busy ness.  The time that my mother in law gives us to nurture our relationship as a couple and the interactions and relationship she has developed with the girls.  I'm loving watching my daughters grow and seeing them change and develop their own interests and lives. I'm loving my enthusiasm for the new year, my desire to grow and to try new things.

Here's one of our favourite recipes for you to share with your readers:

Vegetarian Fried Rice

Ingredients

- cooked rice (we love to use basmati)

- olive oil

- 4 eggs

- 2 cloves crushed garlic

- 1 teaspoon grated ginger

- soy sauce

- chilli sauce

- vegetables of your choice (we like carrot, corn, capsicum and peas)

1. Put rice onto to cook now using what method you feel comfortable with. We cook our rice in a rice cooker so I put this on first so when the vegetables are finished so too is the rice. 

2. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan. Crack eggs into a jug and beat till combined. Add eggs to frying pan and swirl to cover base.  Cook until egg is firm and brown.  Remove egg from pan and cut up into squares.

3. Heat some more oil in the frying pan and add garlic and ginger cook for 1 minute then add vegetables.  Cook vegetables until they are tender but not too soft.

4. Once your rice is cooked add to the vegetable mixture and stir through.

5. To add flavour to the rice we add soy sauce and chilli sauce.  I don't measure so add what ever amount you desire.  Enjoy!

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