I often make this as a refreshing, hydrating drink, but it’s particularly lovely during the postpartum period.

Hibiscus is naturally rich in antioxidants and contains vitamin C, nettle is traditionally used as a nourishing postpartum herb and ginger brings warmth and can be supportive for digestion.

I like to serve this at room temperature or gently warmed for postpartum women, but it’s also delicious served cold with ice.

Ingredients

• ½ cup dried nettle

• ½ cup dried hibiscus

• 1 knob fresh ginger, sliced

• 2 tablespoons raw honey

• 3 litres water

Method

Place the hibiscus and nettle into a large stainless steel pot.

Add the water and sliced ginger. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and gently simmer for approximately 1 hour.

Strain the tonic and leave to cool.

Once cooled to room temperature, add the raw honey and stir well until dissolved.

Serve at room temperature or gently warm before serving. It’s also delicious chilled and served with ice.

You can store in the fridge for up to 5 days - I like to store in glass jars. x

I often make sour cherry or pomegranate jellies, or even mango and ghee ones! But I find this recipe a little more refined and perhaps one more for the adults. It’s especially supportive for pregnant or postpartum mums.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons grass-fed gelatin

• 1 tablespoon dried nettle or 1 nettle tea bag

• 1 peppermint tea bag

• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

• 400 ml water

Method

Place the nettle and peppermint into a saucepan and pour over 400 ml of boiling water. Leave to brew for around 1 hour, depending on how strong you would like the flavour.

Remove the tea bags, or strain the tea if using loose-leaf nettle. Add the maple syrup and stir through.

Sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the tea and leave it to bloom for around 5 minutes.

Place the saucepan over low heat and whisk gently until the gelatin has completely dissolved. Avoid bringing the mixture to a boil.

Pour into silicone moulds, ice cube trays or a shallow dish. Transfer to the fridge and leave to set for a minimum of 3 hours.

If using a shallow dish, once set you can slice the jellies into cubes or strips, or use small cookie cutters to make shapes.

Enjoy! x

Beetroot is one of my favourite postpartum ingredients. It’s rich in nutrients, fibre and antioxidants, and adds such a beautiful earthy sweetness to this dish.

I like to use Nimbin Valley ‘Dryland’ brown rice for this recipe, as it’s grown locally to us and creates a lovely soft, almost ‘risotto-like’ texture.

We usually eat this as it is, or serve it alongside some extra protein such as wild salmon, halloumi, chicken or steak.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown rice (soaked for at least 6 hours) then drained

• 4 small beetroots, grated

• 2 onions, finely diced (or 1 leek)

• 3 garlic cloves, finely diced

• 3 sage leaves

• 2 cups chicken broth/ stock

• 1 cup filtered water

• 1 lemon, juice and zest

• 1 tablespoon butter

• Salt and pepper, to taste

• Baby spinach or beetroot leaves, optional

• Goat’s cheese, to serve

• Extra virgin olive oil, to serve

Method:

Drain and rinse the soaked brown rice, then set aside.

Heat the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and sage leaves and cook until soft and golden.

Add the brown rice and stir to combine.

Pour in the chicken broth and water, then add the grated beetroot and the juice of half the lemon. Increase the heat and bring to a gentle boil.

Cover with a lid, reduce the heat to low and simmer for around 40 - 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. An extra splash of water may be needed.

Add a handful of baby spinach or beetroot leaves, if using, and cook for another 5 minutes, or until the rice is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed.

Serve with plenty of fresh lemon juice, a little lemon zest, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and crumbled goat’s cheese.

Enjoy, and please make for a new mum x

I have a seven year old and a three year old, and I’ve been a full time stay at home mum throughout these years. I’ve always wanted to create something that could genuinely help other parents, something I wish I’d had when I first entered the world of starting solids.

So, with my now three yea old often on my lap, I slowly made it happen. In between naps, late at night and in whatever little pockets of time I could find, I created this ebook.

The Starting Solids Complete Guide is 65 pages of practical information, recipes, ideas and guidance to help you start solids feeling confident and without all the overwhelm.

I intentionally didn’t want it to be hundreds of pages long. There is so much information out there when it comes to feeding babies and sometimes more information just makes everything feel harder. I wanted this to be something you could actually read, use and come back to - a supportive guide that gives you what you need without making starting solids feel like another thing to get “right.”

My plan is to release a series of guides over time, created to support mothers through different seasons, make mealtimes a little easier and share the recipes, ideas and inspiration that have helped me along the way.

The Starting Solids Complete Guide is now available to download through my website.

I hope it brings you a little ease over this next chapter with your baby. x

That changed when my daughter developed a severe allergy to buckwheat at 12 months of age, which meant we could no longer have buckwheat in the house.

Since then, I’ve adapted my bread-making and now regularly make a millet and quinoa loaf. More recently, I discovered a wonderful red lentil loaf, which has also become a favourite.

So, I thought I’d share all three recipes with you: the original buckwheat loaf, my millet and quinoa loaf, and the red lentil loaf.

They’re all simple, wholesome loaves that freeze beautifully and make a lovely alternative to conventional bread.

Read more

This week I also had the honour of cooking for a beautiful baby blessing, so it felt fitting to keep everything aligned with that same nourishing, Ayurvedic approach.

On the menu was a probiotic-rich raita, beetroot curry, kitchari and a fresh little salad on the side. Simple, delicious and made with lots of love.

These meals are perfect for anyone, especially those who are postpartum.

I’ve shared all of the recipes below.

Note: These recipes feed approximately 4 adults.

Probiotic-rich Raita:

• 1 cup goats yogurt

• 1 large cucumber

• 1 tablespoon of sauerkraut brine

• salt and pepper to taste

• Big drizzle of olive oil

Method:

Place the yogurt into a dish, grate the cucumber and mix together.

Once mixed through, add the sauerkraut brine, salt and pepper and mix again.

Once ready to serve add a nice amount of olive oil.

I love this side with curries, but can be used for anything!

Kitchari and Sweet Beetroot Curry

Kitchari:

• 1 tablespoon of ghee

• 1/2 cup mung dahl

• 1/2 cup basmati rice

• 2 teaspoon cumin seeds

• 2 teaspoon fennel seeds

• 1 large knob freshly grated ginger

• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• Pinch of black pepper

• 2 pinches of asafoetida

• 2 teaspoon mustard seeds

• 3 curry leaves

• 3 cardamom pods

• 1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt

• 1 whole leek

• 6 cups of water/ bone broth

Method:

Wash Mung Dahl and rice then soak for 8-12 hours in filtered water (in separate bowls).

In a pot warm ghee on medium heat. Sauté cumin, fennel, curry leaves, cardamom, fresh ginger and any other herbs (not powdered herbs) in the ghee until the seeds start to pop.

Add leek and cook until slightly golden.

Strain Mung Dahl & rice, add to pot with approx. 6 cups of water (might need to add more water. Can also add 1 cup of chicken broth), and add the remaining powdered spices.

Bring to the boil on medium heat then simmer with lid on for about 15 mins.

When almost cooked add spinach/ zucchini/ any other greens, black pepper and salt.

Continue cooking and stir. You may need to add more water.

When cooked garnish with lots of fresh lemon, fresh coriander and raita

Beetroot curry:

• 4 beetroot’s cut into cubes (I like to use yellow beetroots if you can find them)

• 2 carrots

• 2 potatoes

• 1 red onion

• 1 teaspoon turmeric

• 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

• 1 teaspoon coriander

• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds & mustard seeds

• 3 curry leaves

• 1 can coconut milk

• 2 cups of water/ broth

• ½ lime

Method:

Mix all spices, carrot, potato and beetroot in a bowl.

In a medium pot heat ghee.

Next add thinly sliced onion and grated ginger and cook until translucent.

Add the beetroot mix, coconut milk and 2 cups of broth.

Bring to the boil then simmer and add salt, pepper and the juice of the lime.

I cooked on low heat for about 45 mins.

Fresh Side Salad:

• 1 red onion

• 1/2 bunch coriander

• 1 large tomato

• 1 small red chili

• 2 table spoons apple cider vinegar

• Pinch of salt and pepper

• 1 teaspoon raw honey

Method:

Dice the onion, coriander, tomato and chili quite small and place into a nice dish.

Next add the apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper and raw honey and mix well.

Leave to sit for approximately 20 mins before serving, so that the red onion becomes slightly pickled.

Serve with curry, kitchari or enjoy with anything!

Enjoy! xx

Traveling with kids comes with its challenges, but when you add severe allergies into the mix, it brings a whole new level of stress, vigilance and preparation. It can be especially challenging when you’re constantly on the move and far from the comfort and familiarity of your kitchen back home.

Here are a few things we’ve done to help minimise allergen exposure (for us, that’s nuts, buckwheat and egg), while also making sure both girls continue to eat nourishing food throughout our trip ~ with a few treats thrown in along the way :)

Plane Food

This may seem like a lot of food (or even slightly excessive!), but as most parents know, kids snack constantly, especially when they’re bored.

We had around 36 hours of travel, so I wanted to make sure we had plenty of safe options on hand. We choose not to eat the airplane meals, both because of the uncertainty around ingredients and to minimise allergen exposure, so bringing our own food is essential.

Fresh food is always my priority, especially for the first half of the journey. I pack whole fruits and vegetables rather than chopping them, as they stay fresher for longer. I also use plastic containers lined with paper towels to help absorb moisture and reduce plastic exposure, then simply throw the containers away as the food is eaten to lighten our load throughout the trip.

And yes, I use single-use storage containers while traveling. It’s one area where convenience outweighs sustainability for us.

We also bring a soft cooler bag to help keep food fresh for longer. It does take up some of our baggage allowance, but it’s worth it.

Note: We’ve never had any issues taking this food through customs. Items like bircher muesli can sometimes raise questions as they’re semi-liquid, but I explain that it’s for my children, and we’ve always been allowed through.

What We Packed ~ Fresh Food (eaten first)

• Whole cherry tomatoes

• Whole blueberries and strawberries

• Baby carrots and cucumbers

• Whole avocado (uncut)

• Plain pasta

• Spelt cheese, hummus, and cucumber sandwiches

• Sour cherry jellies (these can melt, so we eat them early in the journey)

• Roasted chickpeas

• Frittata

• Pitted olives

• Sweet potato brownie

• Pancakes

• Bircher muesli

Dry Goods

• Rice crackers

• Tin of tuna (for our layover)

• Jerky sticks

• Seaweed

• Miso soup sachets

• Herbal tea

• A tiny jar of sea salt to add to our water throughout the flight

Ideas for Road Trips and Shorter Domestic Flights

• Crackers

• Local cheeses (bocconcini, Gruyère, Parmigiano Reggiano)

• Cucumbers, carrots, capsicum, snap peas, radish

• Apples (or any fruit your children enjoy)

• Olives

• Dates

• Sourdough sandwiches

Safe Foods from Home

I also pack a selection of safe foods from home, e.g brands we know and trust that our daughter has always tolerated, just in case we get stuck without suitable options for her.

For example:

• Olive oil seaweed sheets

• Fish Forever tinned fish

• Gluten-free pasta

• Jerky

• Rice crackers

Honestly, I’m so grateful I brought these. They’ve been incredibly helpful on shorter stays and travel days when I haven’t had time to prepare more food. Even if they did take up one whole side of my suitcase, they’ve been worth it!

Other Helpful Things to Bring

• A small reusable lunchbox

• Reusable water bottles to avoid buying plastic bottles every day. Thankfully, where we are, we have access to spring water fountains.

• Antibacterial wipes to clean surfaces when eating out or in transit and help remove potential allergens

• Hand sanitiser

• All medications, creams, and homeopathic remedies stored in an insulated travel first-aid bag that we carry with us at all times.

Not all of this will be relevant if your family doesn’t manage food allergies. But even without allergies, I still want to make sure my girls are eating nourishing food while we travel and not relying on packaged foods.

With a little planning, it’s actually much easier than it sounds, and it makes travelling so much less stressful.

We stay in airbnb’s or with family. This means we have a kitchen on hand so preparing food isn’t that hard. Unfortunately we can’t rely on eating out, but I enjoy cooking with fresh local produce from the regions we stay in anyway.

Our flight home won’t be quite as prepared as our journey over, but I’ll still make sure we have plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables and other nourishing food to enjoy on the flight home.

A little preparation goes a long way, and having familiar, safe food on hand makes traveling so much less stressful for both us and the girls, but particularly for our daughter with food allergies.

Here is an example of how simple a travel snack box can be; organic ‘bio’ veggies and raw reggiano cheese.