I had the pleasure of interviewing Donna, from Whole Food Bellies before Christmas. Her blog is full of incredible recipes that are filled with whole, nutritious foods, and shares her Secrets To Having A Happy Belly among other things.
Below she shares what her quickest, easiest, most delicious go-to meal is, what her best dinner recipe is for impressing her guests, and what her daily blogging routine is, so if you’re ever stuck on what to make for dinner in a pinch that the whole family would love, if you want to impress your guests at your next dinner party, or if you are a blogger or curious about blogging, read on….
Why did you start your blog?
I have a number of reasons. One of the main ones being that when I moved from Australia to the U.S. my younger sister no longer had anyone to cook for her. When I was living in Australia, she would come over nearly every day, and we would have impromptu little cooking classes whilst my daughter napped. Whole Food Bellies was a way to keep doing that from the other side of the world. Not that she cooks anything anyway 🙂
What is your dream career?
This. I was working in the corporate world before having kids, and had my sights set on big things, and lots of money. I went on maternity leave when I had my daughter, moved to the U.S. and started my blog, and I have never felt so fulfilled. I would love to open a very small cafe one day, with a huge veggie patch attached so we can grow a lot of our own produce, and offer cooking classes for kids. But for me, for now, I am living my dream 🙂
What’s your favourite hobby (aside from blogging!)
Aside from blogging, I love gardening, reading, hiking and travelling (that’s a hobby right?). We just moved into a new place with a huge garden, and lots of fruit trees, so all of my spare time goes into that, and working on plans for our new veggie patch.
What do you love most about where you live?
The produce. Seriously, the produce here is amazing, and so so cheap! I also love that it’s still a smallish city, but we have access to so many awesome places without having to travel too far.
What is your best dinner party recipe?
Hmmm, this is a hard one. We have two young kids, so our dinner parties are usually fairly informal. I tend to make my Homemade Rotisserie Chicken (http://www.wholefoodbellies.com/homemade-rotisserie-style-chicken/#.VmcYekLbjOU), and make lots of sides (think guacamole, salsa etc) for a Make Your Own Taco bar.
What is your go-to meal that you make most often?
My go to meal is definitely my Rainbow Brown Rice Sesame Bowl. It is super quick, easy and delicious, and I always feel light and energised after eating it. The kids love having a tasting plate of all the different components, so they feel like they are choosing what to eat.
Any travel plans for 2016?
Yes, we are heading to Hawaii for a family reunion with my husband’s family. I can’t wait 🙂
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be?
Kauai in Hawaii. It is the most beautiful place I have ever experienced. It’s not very touristy at all, the food is amazing, there are farmers markets on every day, and it is super cruisey.
Who inspires you?
Lots of people inspire me. But I would have to say, the person that inspires me the most is my husband. He has so much energy, patience and drive. He also drives me insane though, so he has his flaws 🙂
What does your daily (blogging/health) routine look like?
Ahh it changes every day, depending on how inspired I am feeling. There are days when I wake up and have a million recipes rushing through my head. When that happens, I will spend as much of the day as possible just creating in the kitchen.
On a normal day though, I will do twenty minutes of yoga in the morning with the kids (they are pro’s at downward facing dog), followed by an hour of social media networking/promotion for the blog. We then head out for our morning adventures, where we run around as much as possible.
At nap time I write/take and edit photos/cook. We have afternoon cooking classes every day, where my daughter helps me with dinner/recipe development, and my son plays drums with whatever he can get out of the cupboards. After dinner, we have gotten into the habit of having a mini dance party in the living room, to get all the wiggles out before the kids head to bed. Once they are down, I have 5 minutes to myself for a shower and some meditation, before working on the blog for another hour or two. On weekends, we tend to go for a hike, or at least a nice big walk, and always hit up the local farmers markets.
I think Donna and I could be friends!
If you curious about any of here recipes like this BAKED ALMOND CRUNCH FALAFEL BOWL WITH TWO SECOND DRESSING, or for more Secrets To Having A Happy Belly, check out her site here.
Do you have any Secrets To Having A Happy Belly? I would love here about the in the comments below.
For more energy and a healthy snack, drink this!
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Here’s to your Health, Wealth, & Happiness!
