Friday 4 June 2010

I sew, I eat, I deteriorate....

I discovered the artistic side of sewing late in 2005. 
What an amazing discovery it turned out to be! Through 2006-2008 I had the best time collecting quilt magazines and sewing everything that caught my fancy. I taught Blossom to embroider and quilt and soon we were both hooked. 
Being a teenager however, Blossom went through stages of discovering and excelling in, many different crafts. Soon it was just me that lived and breathed my life amidst the quilting minions. It consumed my mind day and night, fabric was my drug of choice. 
Designing my own things took off early in 2009, and bless my socks, magazines wanted to publish them! This encouraged me even more to lay aside 'other' things in life and focus on the tactile delights of bringing my own ideas to life in quilts and stitcheries. I was as happy as pig in mud. 
But when you allow one thing to consume your time, other things have to pushed aside. I still spent lots of time with my family, and the washing was up to date, but in the last few months I have become increasingly aware that the nourishing meals I used to plan and prepare for my loved ones were appearing less and less on the dinner table, and sub-standard replacements were fast becoming regular guests.
Reduced health and vitality was being noticed by all...
Something had to give.

Now, I'm not going to stop sewing or designing...that would be detrimental to my mental health and probably send my husband batty, but I am going to step back a bit. Balance is what is needed, but with the scales tipped more towards the family and our improving health.

So where to start?? I enrolled in an on-line course through The Nourished Kitchen, dusted off all my neglected 'healthy' cookbooks, and went shopping! This is the second load of groceries I brought home today...
I also bought some great vegetable storer bags for the fridge...
...and pulled my pantry apart!
Six hours later it looked like this (sorry, no before photos - I forgot!) - just a couple of shelves to give you an idea of how organised I like to be...
 Having all my ingredients labelled and ordered helps me to see at a glance what I can use for a meal.
I used to do this in my pre-sewing days because cooking was my 'craft' and healthy bodies for my family and myself was very important.
Its so sad to admit that I left all that behind. I still dabbled in a healthy diet, but dabbling is not committed.
More news is that Blossom will be leaving school and returning to homeschooling at the end of June. Part of her education from July will be nutrition - she wants a large family (12 children!) so she is keen to learn how best to prepare meals for all age groups.
While I restocked the pantry shelves I baked a wholemeal banana and date loaf for afternoon tea...
...and as a 'fond farewell' to all those nutrition depleted ingredients I wanted to toss out, I made a lemon delicious pudding for dessert tonight. All ready to go into the oven in my very old enamel bowl...
I love old enamel bowls! Just having them to cook with makes me feel like I'm reclaiming those days past when as a child my grandmother used them for every meal. Actually, I don't ever remember my grandmother cooking from a packet...she made everything from scratch and I can still taste those wonderful meals if I close my eyes and journey back in my heart.
Good foods, wholesome ingredients, loving hands given to preparation, healthy family. Yep, that's my plan.
Join me in my quest?
I'll share all my successes and failures along the way, plus there will be laughter and good food (plus recipes!) too...
Y'all come back now, y'hear!
Hugs
Jenny
xxx

14 comments:

Pauline said...

Ohhh! How wonderful! I would love to "join" you on your journey!!! I am going to look into some of the books you have listed and mention and I DO hope you will post your recipes!!!!! Please "O)
Blessings!

barb's creations said...

Your story sounds so like mine.I too want to reclaim the home cooking and the feel good feeling I used to get by providing me and my hubby with nutritional meals and snacks.I used to delight in planning a weeks menu ,Will keep an eye on your new blog with great interest :) Barb.

Jeannie said...

We women really love to just do it all and do it all perfect!! Which leaves us in a very tiring place instead of a happy place. I'm glad to see you taking care of yourself and coming back to that happy place :)I like your word moderation!
Hugs to you!

darcey said...

Go, Jenny, Go! Can hardly wait to read your recipes....and by the way, Sarah wants a large family, too. We're going to be busy grandmas.
Darc
xxoo

Anita said...

I wish you luck and hapiness with our healtier live. I have planned to do the same.
Anita
http://avander.web-log.nl

sophie said...

Isn't it amazing how by just DECIDING to pay attention and eat healthier, things immediately become easy to do ... and the positive feedback from our bodies is almost immediate. Kudos to you for taking a breath, figuring it out and moving forward on a healthier path.

I recently noticed too much sugar, dairy and bad fats creeping back into my life and flipped a switch myself. Now that I have decided on making some changes, I can't wait until tomorrow's Farmers' Market to fill my fridge with fresh produce.

The Memory Keeper said...

You go girl! How many of us are telling the same story? I'll be here to encourage you on...you encourage me!

Dawn said...

Jenny this talks a language that I have needed to hear... I love to sew but at the end of the day my Family are no 1 to me..their health is important and cooking great healthy meals needs to be a daily occurance... thanks for encouraging me yet again.....
Hugs Dawn x x x

Dot said...

Me too! Me too! Really!

Seriously Jenny, everything you have written could have been about me. I would love to join you on your journey and hopefully we can all regain some health and teach our children a few good things along the way.

BTW, my family are also kicking and screaming along the journey but I assure them it won't be as painful as it sounds. LOL

Terri said...

Oh Jenny.....If only you could come here and help me to get my pantry to look like yours....I just might be able to pull this off with you! Wanna' come to the States?

sewjournal.com said...

Hi Jenny
You might find Catherine Saxelby's website http://foodwatch.com.au useful. She has heaps of articles and FAQs on Healthy Eating. She also has a Resource Centre you can join for a one-off fee - lifetime membership. She has two books I would recommend Nutrition for Life and Zest - the Nutrition for Life cookbook. I know Catherine well and will give her your URL as I think she might be interested to see it. Oh by the way it is worth signing up for her free newsletter too.
Good luck with the journey!
Munaiba

Robin in New Jersey said...

I'm here, following along, gleaning what I can from your excellent wisdom!

quilterfaye said...

Oh Jenny,you are so organized,I'm envious. I'll be follwing your blog and try to modify my /our diets. Hope you will post some of your recipes.
I love your stitching. thanks for your encouragement.

Jeanette said...

Hi Jenny,
i'll be eagerley following you journey back to nutricious cooking. I've been so wanting to do this myself & following you might give the kick start to do so. Hugs, Jeanette