A little while back I got the chance to meet Jacinta, creator of Nourishing Our Health. The idea was based on her love of sharing whole-food recipes, and passion for investing in the health and nourishment of her family, her customers, and herself. Word of mouth + social media + yummy food = the business is continually growing and evolving. As I love nothing more than chatting to people who are doing what they love, and doing it well, I sat down to have a conversation over coffee with the gorgeous Jacinta...and here is some of what we talked about...

On her reasons for starting...

Being pregnant with her third baby, and having worked in finance for 10 years, Jacinta was looking to move in a new direction. Having always been conscious of what her family was eating, and wanting to be sure she was making the right choices for them going forward, she knew that whatever direction she took it would have to be flexible and fit in with her number one priority of being a Mum.

Photos provided by Jacinta of Nourishing Our Health

On what the first step was...

Jacinta took a course that fitted in with her commitments at the time, studying to become a Health Coach. Having always been interested in nutrition and experimenting with writing recipes, and tweaking traditional favourites to become healthier without losing their taste...she found she enjoyed the health/nutritional focus of the course a little more than the psychology/coaching side.

On what Nourishing Our Health is...

Because sharing recipes to encourage others to become healthier has always been a big part of what Jacinta loves, starting "Nourishing Our Health" was the perfect avenue to pursue this passion. She now provides cold pressed juice cleanses and nourishing wholefood lunch packs to the Bendigo area via a delivery service and the occasional pop-up event. Above all else, she just wants to promote healthy living to you and your family, whilst providing a convenient source of nutritional food/drink...in addition to inspiring and educating via her online presence.

On what is actually involved...

A lot of work and a nice big kitchen bench! She creates the recipes and meal pack ideas, and then sources all the ingredients from the best possible sources (she loves local!)...and then puts everything together herself. That's right, down to sauces, dressings...and of course her popular cold pressed juices...she believes in knowing exactly what is in your food and prefers to make everything she can from scratch. Pause for a moment to appreciate that! Then, she packs it all up and delivers it in and around the Bendigo CBD. The delivery side alone takes about three hours...the brainstorming, creating, testing and making all happens first. it would be fair to say that Jacinta is the perfect example of someone who has a strong belief and passion for something, and that drives her through all aspects of the approach from start to finish.

So, how many meal packs does that mean?

Initially she had plans to cap the orders at 45, but after moving into a house that had a bigger kitchen she found that number increasing to 60...and recently a little closer to 80...so if you're following her on Facebook and you want to become a regular, you need to get your orders in ASAP because it doesn't take long at all for every available place to be filled. She's only human after all :)

On creative meets technical meets love...

That the whole thing is both creative and technical at the same time. Think of the math involved in figuring out how much of each ingredient is required for all those meal packs, what changes can be made for different dietary requirements Then there's ensuring the nutritional content is balanced and maximised for her customers, and the planning that goes into creating juice cleanses...it sounds like a lot because it is :) But then, Jacinta has been smitten with cooking ever since she was small, so nutritional value aside, those meals and juices are also jam packed with love!

What she loves the most...

Meeting her customers! Her smile becomes extra glowy when she talks about the little pockets of "Nourishing our Health" devotees that she's discovering all over Bendigo...and particularly getting a peek into what their days are like. There's a bit of mutual appreciation involved because some people can't leave their jobs to source lunches like those Jacinta has made for them, and clearly get excited by her visits. Yet she is witness to their professional dedication, for example when visiting Bendigo Health, and has a deeper appreciation of their work days as a result.

On her online presence...

Social media is an essential part of Nourishing Our Health, allowing Jacinta to make connections with her customers and reach new ones. Building relationships based on a common interest is what she's all about...and recipe sharing, communicating about orders, giving behind the scenes looks into her world of writing and testing recipes...plus providing inspiration and education...it all all comes together into a beautifully real social media feed.

On her favourites...

She loves a good green juice, particularly the one that she's incorporated into her pressed juice cleanse...which uses apple, lemon and ginger to make the beautifully intense nutrition of the greens tasty. When it comes to a favourite recipe or ingredient combination? She really just focuses on what is seasonal as that helps with finding the best produce. But she can't go past a good rainbow salad in summer :)

What Jacinta wants you to know...

That eating well and looking after your nutrition is not as complicated as it might feel, even when our days seem to be short on time and our arms are busy juggling family, work and life in general. You don't even technically need a recipe. Combining whole-foods into filling and nutritious combinations can be a simple as you need it to be...and she'd love nothing more than to help you with ideas and practical approaches to living a healthy life.

What I love about her...

Not only does she include something sweet-but-healthy into her meal packs (because you know I'm all about the treats!) ...but her enthusiasm and cheerfulness is infectious...you can tell she's doing something she loves, and it's growing as a result. And that, dear reader, is just about my favourite thing to discover and write about.

Where can I find Nourishing Our Health?

Pop on over to Facebook to find out everything you need to know, and to respond when she posts about ordering. You can also see what she's been up to lately on Instagram @nourishing_our_health and she also has an official website. Keep an eye on her social media for recipe sharing, and a potential recipe book may be in the works xx

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