Tag: cooking

Making Memories with Discovery HealthyFood Studio + Recipes

Making Memories with Discovery HealthyFood Studio + Recipes

Motherhood is a funny thing, it changes your life completely, not just from a “look after children” point of view, but from a personal standpoint. It can leave you isolated and in need of connecting with like-minded women. That’s why I love groups like “Mama Meet Up” so much. It’s a chance for a group of diverse women, with children of all ages, to come together in something they enjoy. Whether it’s make up, cooking classes or a luxury spa day. It’s a chance to network, to connect and to share in each other’s lives.

The October Mama Meet Up was held at the Discovery Vitality HealthyFood Studio, a place I have been itching to go to! You don’t have to ask me twice to attend a meet up that involves women and good food, particularly when we get to cook our own food in a kitchen filled with all the top appliances!

Set in the heart of Sandton, The Discovery HealthyFood Studio offers you a chance to take part in fun, interactive cooking lessons, learning about fresh, seasonal ingredients. The emphasis is on educating people on how to make easy, healthy food in their own homes. As a person who loves to cook, it’s like heaven and as a mother who dreads deciding what to feed her family every day, it was the perfect opportunity to reignite a love for the kitchen and a chance to get inspired with new recipes.

We started off the morning with tea/coffee and some sinfully delicious sugar free snacks (I really found that hard to believe), while we did introductions and had a brief demonstration in the kitchen. After selecting our preferred recipe’s we got stuck into attempting to create some lunch. Bonus point for me is that the Discovery HealthyFood Studio is both Kosher and Halaal friendly.

I was in my absolute element surrounded my KitchenAid’s finest appliances, the food is of the finest quality coming from Woolworths as is the elegant crockery and cutlery. There were several different options but I chose to make the chickpea patties, I adore chickpeas but as apart from Hummus, I never really know what to make with them.

The range included dips, main meals consisting of meatballs and Mexican tuna salads (I could literally eat it every day) to desserts that were gluten free! Who knew healthy treats could be so delicious? I will give you my top 3 recipes at the end of the blog.

I had such a fun morning, one of the best meet ups I have attended so far (and we have had some good ones). After all the cooking was done, we sat don’t to a buffet lunch sampling all the recipes of the day.

I have already booked a date night with hubby at the Discovery Vitality HealthyFood Studio and would highly recommend it for a fun day out. The quality of the food and recipes used are incredible, you can also pick your “theme”, ranging from a course on chicken, to festive feasts and a plant based one menu as well. Kids courses are quite popular with the age range running from 8 to 12. This would make the perfect end of year outing with your mates. They are current running a “two for one” special, for every ticket you buy you get to bring along a partner for free! Perfect for my date night 🙂

Thank you “Mama Meet Up” for bringing together such a diverse group of women. I have truly loved every second and getting to know so many strong creative women has been the highlight. The next, and last Mama Meetup for 2018 is taking place on Thursday November 15th. Check out their Facebook or Instagram page for more details.

Now for all of you waiting for those recipes here we go:

 

All Images taken by:Tanya Kovarsky, Co- Founder of Mama Meet Up

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE

LOVE, this blog is owed to love, not only the mushy stuff but the passion that drives us in our day to day lives. Love is such a funny, complicated, beautiful, thing. There’s so many different ways to love. For instance, I love my family, but that love is different than the love I have for my friends… and those are both different than the love I have for my boyfriend. Love is a hard word to define… Maybe it was Paul Mcartney’s recent nuptuals that inspired me…

I used to day dream about having one of those cooking shows, the kind with a set that looks like a fully-equipped kitchen, even though it’s really no more than a stove, sink, and countertop surrounded by big cameras and people holding up cue cards just out of sight. I would have endless conversations “cooking” over the stove teaching “the wall” how to make some dish. Of course I’d have a crew that was responsible for all of the peeling, chopping, and washing (I’d volunteer my sister to do this job any day). They would prepare my ingredients for me and put them into separate bowls, so I could whip together any unbelievable dish in a matter of minutes and look like a master chef! Pulling out something that was “prepared before”,  I’d end with looking at the camera to tell my viewers at home: “For more delicious recipes, be sure to tune in next time”                    I LOVE COOKING!

Most recently, I came to a very important conclusion, I am just not a “flats” girl. I like my heels. For so long I have tried to deny myself this silly little truth, I couldn’t do it anymore. It got me thinking… Is it ever really about the “shoes”? Or am I one of those compulsive “Shopaholics?” It’s no coincidence that the Shopaholic Book is written about a young women named Rebecca, yep that’s me 🙂 Although I may be in denial I am not a “shopaholic” I merely like to surround myself in “nice things” , luxury. (I think that’s a Leo trait).For me an outfit is based on the shoe, Entirely. It’s the first thing I think of when getting dressed, what shoe will I wear? The shoes signify accepting who I am and owning it. I LOVE SHOES!

For anyone that closely knows me they will know that I have a very “eclectic” Family. From family psychics to levitations, “singing to the sun”, “snake hunting” top if off with a Rasta brother and me, the Muslim daughter, we are pretty much a bunch of Hippies. We don’t “talk” we “shout” but hey it works for us. We also live on every continent in the world. We are pretty much proof that one family can have completely opposing viewpoints and general opinions.If we can disagree we will. But under all of that, is LOVE, a huge amount of it. Love for each other, love for fun, but mostly love for the family unit, and I can’t wait to have my own crazy family one day. I LOVE MY FAMILY

Then we have my partner….. He’s my best friend, a helping hand, a good listener, a comedian, and the love of my life. I met him high school, cliché right? Ten years on he still makes me laugh every single day. He is my right hand person for everything, yet we still have our own individual lives. We tease each other, we argue over who is making the tea (I always end up doing it), we argue over doing stuff on the weekend (he is a homebody and I need the outdoors, I need people) but more importantly my love for him grows every single day. Don’t get me wrong, no relationship is perfect, far far from it. However I’ve found the person that I want to fight with  The one that acts like a hard ass but is really the softest person ever. And yes I LOVE HIM 🙂

 With all this LOVE I also want to talk about GIVING BACK LOVE… This week I’m going back to Lambano Baby Sanctuary. Something that has been very close to my heart for many years. I’ve gotten caught up in “life” recently, and yes even though I have been involved in various projects none of them were constant or have been about “Building relationships”. So on Saturday I’m taking a couple of people from work to go and spend time with these orphaned kids, most of which are HIV+. What makes the most of “giving back” is “giving time”. More than anything underprivileged people deserve your time. I remember in University I did a research project on Homeless people in Johannesburg but above anything, when I approached these people to talk to them their faces lit up when someone took the time to acknowledge them.

So GIVE YOUR LOVE BACK! Be appreciative of your crazy family, don’t be afraid to Love. You will feel that no matter how big your problems are, the world is a better place! One step closer to living the dream x