Eating well, loving our bodies and embracing organic for September

Food is one of life’s greatest pleasures. And eating good quality, often organic food, as a family is a treat I’ll never tire of. When I talk to the girls about appreciating what their little bodies can do the subject often comes back to food. We enjoy eating and cooking and, for me, this is a huge part of laying the foundations for a positive relationship with food as the kids grow older.

This month is Organic September, a month-long celebration of all things organic run by the Soil Association. If you’ve never bought organic before now’s the time to try, as there are load of offers on organic food, events where you can try organic and tips on going organic. Plus there’s a chance to win an organic break in my home county of Devon! 

We don’t buy everything organic, but we are pretty fussy about where we source our meat. We also grow quite a bit of our own veg (it’s one way I can persuade the girls to eat more of the good stuff – particularly Effie who is mega fussy) and we like to eat seasonally. Autumn is one of the best times of the year for seasonal produce, with the hedgerows bursting with blackberries – not to mention all the windfall apples around for my favourite sausage and apple firecracking casserole.

Freya went back to school later than Effie’s pre-school started this year, giving us a rare couple of days just the two of us. One of the things Freya was really keen to do was to go blackberry picking and to bake a cake with the ingredients she picked. It took us a whole afternoon to fill our containers with juicy berries, before coming home to make a blackberry Victoria sponge. Tip: turn your blackberries into a blackberry coulis for the filling and use organic mascarpone cheese flavoured with vanilla paste to make a banging coulis accompaniment!

It took me a while to get into eating organic, mainly because of the misconception that buying organic was so much more expensive. Also, back in the day, I saw it as just another food fad to avoid – I’m never one for big trends when it comes to food. But the thing is, buying organic doesn’t necessarily cost more. Plus, organic food means lower levels of pesticides, higher levels of animal welfare and more environmental sustainability when it comes to farming the land. And did you know organic wine contains less sulphur dioxide meaning you get less of a hangover?!

I’ve been working with the fantastic kids’ food brand Organix for a few years now and LOVE their attitude to creating tasty, healthy foods for babies and children that contain no junk. The snack tin is full of Organix treats for the lunchboxes and after-school snacks as the girls go back to school, which seems like a great way to celebrate Organic September as all Organix foods are made from organic ingredients.

The other thing I love about Organix is their commitment to research and education. Their website is a great place to find practical advice, recipes and tips for introducing good food at every stage.

And if you’re after some easy ways to introduce more organic food into your family’s menu then the brand has some great ideas on that too…

Now the kids are back to school and the summer holidays are officially over I’m excited about getting back into cooking some tasty autumnal recipes this September. I’m all about the casseroles, stews and slow-cooked curries in autumn when the weather turns cooler. Do you have any good recipes to share?

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Thanks to Organix for commissioning this post. All copy, photography and opinions are my own. For more information about how I work with brands check out my Work With Me page. This post is written as part of the #NoJunkJourney campaign – there are lots more family friendly meal ideas and thoughts on food in the Eating section of this blog.