Welcome to Meet me in the Kitchen.

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This is where I will share my particular culinary journey, recipes and insights into food and health. 

 

I love cake, and delicious healthy food, and they are not necessarily mutually exclusive. It's all about balance, and knowing how to cook and eat well, so you can enjoy a variety of types of food, and feel that your body is well-nourished.

 

Having been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease this year, I have researched extensively how to improve my health through diet and lifestyle. Opinions vary, and the advice is contradictory. Scientific investigation is inconclusive and ongoing. I have come to think that as long as you eat conservative amounts but abundant variety, and avoid sugar and processed food, you're doing the best you can for yourself.

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I am an inclusive cook. There is almost nothing I will not use as an ingredient. I was a vegetarian from birth until recently, so now I cook with absolutely anything. However, I try to avoid gluten, excessive sugar and refined oils. I don't use a lot of dairy anymore. Having experimented with the autoimmune protocol diet, the paleo diet and a whole range of eliminations, I have drawn some wisdom from each of them, and I have accumulated recipes which initially I used out of a need to restrict, but which have actually made my cooking much more conscious and varied. I am a better informed, more curious and more adventurous cook thanks to my illness. My family certainly benefit from this too. Plus I still make a lot of cake.

 

The most important thing is to be armed with knowledge about what you eat, and prioritise taking care over your diet - it's the best way you can influence your health and well-being. So I try to inform myself about what I eat, the nutrients I need and where to get them, and to cook conscientiously for my health.

 

I will post my favourite recipes and the stories and context they come with - where I got them, how I adapted them, when I make them - and hopefully you will want to try them.

 

Go forth and cook!