This website started for many reasons but one of the most important was that I wanted to be able to contribute to helping other individuals and families to live healthy lifestyles. I think what you feed your body is just as important as exercising and an integral part of taking care of your body. Giving your body the nutrients it needs can help to ward off illness and disease and contribute to a more balance mental and physical state.

Take food, old and new, that is packed with nutrition, antioxidants, contains elements that are proven to fight cancer, etc. and you can bet that I will be at work figuring out ways to incorporate them into my family's food intake. It's fun and I think it's really inspiring to know that you are working towards your family having a happy, healthy future.

Look around at the supermarket for healthy food you've never tried and new ideas for food and/or dishes you have tried to inspire you. Ponder how to use something that catches your attention as you go about your daily chores and activities. I don't mean get in a car accident because you're not paying attention! I mean as you do your gardening, wash the dishes or wait at the doctor's office, just let your mind wander back to whatever it was that interested you and see what kind of ideas come to you!

Try it as many ways as you can: work with it, tweak it, have fun with it and if all else fails, mask the taste of it! Find something that works because there's no way around health. However, there's ways around taste and the individual tastes of those in your family. That's what you have to work at and around.

Push the limits! Think about food without the constraints of stereotypes that you've been taught your whole life. Think in a completely unorthodox way. Some of my family's favourite creations have come from a random idea to transform a traditional dish into something unique, healthy and amazing. With practice, this will just come naturally to you.

Don't sweat the small stuff! When you're trying out ideas of your own, sometimes it will work out and sometimes it won't but you will learn from it regardless. Working this way, mistakes are bound to happen but you just have to know that it's worth it and part of the process. Find the ones that work really well and hold on to them!

Lastly, I would like to say that I really encourage you to include your family in your healthy cooking and baking. Make it a fun and memorable bonding experience for everyone. Remember, what you teach them now, whether they're aware they are learning or not, will stick with them long after their time at home with you. One day when they are starting their own families, you want them to feel comfortable and confident carrying on without you and helping their families live happy, healthy lives!