Things Julia Child has Taught Me (That Have Nothing to do With the Art of French Cookery!)

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Career Change, Cooking, Friendship, Health, Health Coaching, Julia Child, Learn to cook, Passion, Quotes

Isn’t that the BEST pic?
(Original image by Paul Child)

I’m a little bit in love with Julia Child. You could say I have a girl-crush on her.

Don’t know who Julia Child is? – Where have you been?

In a nutshell, Julia was a TV chef and author. She is most famous for adapting complex French cooking for everyday Americans, in a time when cooking was not in vogue, with her groundbreaking cookbook ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking’.

Mainly, I love the paradox of Julia – so very sensible and yet, at the same time, so wonderfully kooky and eccentric.

And, I love that she was middle-aged before she found her true passion. She may have started cooking in her thirties (like me!), but it was much later that this became her driving force. And, she found such joy in her cooking.

Julia Child gives me confidence that I can change direction. In a big way, too.

So, today’s post is a celebration of Julia…

I totally relate to this. I didn’t really start to cook until my thirties, either. But I have always loved to eat! And if you haven’t yet really mastered cooking, it’s never too late to learn!

And, it took me a while to find my cooking mojo. Like any craft – learning to cook takes practice. It’s only by trial and error that you gain confidence.

But, the really great thing about being able to cook is that everybody has to eat.

Sure, some people enjoy food more than others, but everyone eats… And, it’s a skill that will ensure you never have to eat another take away meal again (unless you really want to!).

I’m not a fancy cook. Nuh-uh! In fact, my preference is to keep things pretty simple. Unless it’s a special occasion, of course.

But I do insist on good ingredients. The best I can find. By this I mean – as Julia says – as fresh as possible, minimally messed with (preferably organic), and locally grown if I can get it.

That also means I head to my farmers market every weekend. LM comes with me. So does Bella. And, anyone else I can drag along. I love it. I talk to the farmers. I buy what’s in season. And I get ideas for my cooking experiments. LM is a willing subject!

While I’m a big advocate of keeping things simple, I have learnt that some level of planning is key. Having a good stash of homemade stock (bone broth) at the ready in my freezer means I can always whip up something healthy and tasty, even on those nights I can’t face cooking from scratch. Once a month, I make a big jar of fermented vegetables (TSL’s House Kraut), which keeps my gut happy! And, I’m a fan of batch cooking.

You’ve heard me say it before – Cook once to eat twice or thrice. That way, there’s always something in your larder as back up.

I’ve discovered that I’m really passionate about getting healthy. I’ve been doing this by applying the principles of Sarah Ballantyne’s Autoimmune Protocol.

Over the past two years, I’ve changed the way I eat. I’ve changed the way I approach sleep (hint: it’s a priority!) And, I’m pretty committed to managing my stress levels, too.

Along the way, I’ve been voraciously reading, learning and trying out realistic ways we can apply healthy changes to our every-day lives.

And, it’s been so successful for me that I now want to share that knowledge by working with others to effect healthy changes to their lives. I’ve recently qualified as a Health Coach. I’m in the process of designing my website. And, this blog will eventually migrate over to the new site.

So, you’ll notice a few changes heading this way at Casa TSL in the coming weeks. More on that in a later post. I hope you’ll stick with me…

The more I explore this healthy living gig that we’ve adopted here at Casa TSL, the more I realise that I will never know everything there is to know about it. Impossible.

And, I’m not alone. New discoveries are being made every day.

For example: – even five years ago, we had no idea just how important the health of our microbiome was to our general well-being. We hadn’t made the connection between gut health and how it has the capacity to affect such diverse aspects of our physiology as our mental health and our immune system.

And, I’ve discovered I really like learning about health. It’s such a positive topic – especially when small changes can have such dramatic effects.

So, the wonderfully ebullient Julia Child has taught me a lot. I’ve followed her advice and found something I’m passionate about. And, I AM tremendously interested in it. It’s inextricably tied to cooking real food well. Which is mighty convenient – because that’s also a passion for me. 

Have you found something you’re passionate about?