04 Jun Introducing: The Gutsy Kids Cookbook

The new cookbook journey…

In less than two weeks, I will be launching my fifth cookbook, The Gutsy Kids Cookbook, and what a journey it has been! As the title might suggest, this book celebrates healthy guts and gutsy kids. The recipes and stories it holds are very much a part of our family and I hope that reading it feels like hanging out round ours. It contains all our favourite, gut-loving recipes, the ones that nourish us day in- day out.

The Gutsy Kids journey saw me become a nutritionist (with a practitioner’s diploma), a publisher (publishing under my own imprint, Food and Fable) and a book designer (I created it in Indesign, a programme I had never used previously). And that’s just to name a few of the hats that I have been wearing over the past year! One day, I will delve into all these aspects of the book journey. I want to unpack it all, but it’s too soon as I’m still very much in it. For now, I would just like to focus on this book that I love so much that’s coming out on 16th June.

The gutsy art work

Gutsy Kids has been brought to life by the talented Rhi Moxon, who also created gorgeous illustrations of our family. I am sharing just one, for now, to show you what I mean. These illustrations bring joy to my heart every time I see them (and I have been seeing them all day every day for quite while now). The recipe art is just as amazing, blending collage with a fun retro style and even a few East European influences. I’m planning to print some of the illustrations out and frame them, because they make me so happy. I hope that they will brighten up many a kitchen.

The gutsy recipes

I’ve been working on improving our family’s gut health for quite a few years now. I breastfed both my girls until they went to school (yes, that’s about 8 years of breastfeeding). Many people are shocked by that, yet for me, it was way of knowing that they were getting all the vital pre and probiotics without having to plan anything. While I was adjusting to motherhood and forging a career as a food writer it felt like the easiest option.

As the girls got older, I knew that I had to get my act together and start thinking more consciously about nutrition. However, as soon as you start doing something like that and your kids see you care, the power play starts: “I don’t want to eat that, it looks yucky”. So, I had to find ways around that. In large part, this is what The Gutsy Kids Cookbook is about. Every page has something interesting on it that gently coaxes your kids into getting involved in the kitchen. Firstly, you have the stamps that show them why this recipe is “gutsy”. Then, each recipe has traffic lights to show at a glance when they can get involved. This book is made to pique their interest. Here, the girls are making “Oh I do like to be beside the seaside” cupcakes. Just having fun, while making something full of both pre and probiotics.

The gutsy research

There is a ton of peer-reviewed research coming out right now about the impact of developing gut microbiomes on the brain and body. After the publication date, I will be sharing all the research that made an impact on me and this book. I promise to make it as fun and digestible as possible, in the spirit of Gutsy Kids. While doing the research, I realised that luckily, I’ve been doing many things right. The cooking knowledge handed down from my mother and grandmothers, as well as the Polish diet from my childhood, rich in diverse whole grains, fruit and vegetables, and involving the longstanding tradition of fermentation in my culture, were keeping our guts in decent shape.

However, new knowledge also had a few things to teach me. The most important thing I learnt during the nutrition course and the research I undertook was that we were not eating enough fibre. By that, I mean my family and probably all of us. Only about 7-8% of people in the UK are (it’s even less in the US). Adding more fibre is not difficult to do, yet it’s not something that I want to be taking up my headspace either. Counting anything, whether it’s daily calories or plant varieties we have eaten that week is not for me. Therefore, one of the big aims of Gutsy Kids was to add the fibre, diversify the plant foods and include probiotics, but without any fuss (or counting).

The Gutsy Kids Cookbook coming soon

I hope that you love my new baby. All my books are like children to me. The birthing process of a human and a cookbook share many similarities. Both are more challenging than you expected. Both require you to step up to new roles and both produce something that is a huge part your life. The Gutsy Kids Cookbook feels like a reflection of the past few years of our lives. It’s a colourful and fun book to read, play and experiment with, rooted in a deeper knowledge that healthy guts produce strong kids, and that the time is now.