About Me

Yoga!

Hi! My name is Mackenzie. I am an 18 year old who is trying to live every moment to the fullest. I am a dancer and yoga-lover to the max! My passion is cooking and baking, and I love to sit down with a good book on a rainy day! I am living in Cambodia with my parents for the time being. My dad was called as a Mission President for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and so, after living for 17 years in the same house, I picked up my belongings and moved to Cambodia. The experiences I have had here have been one of a kind and I would not trade them for anything in the world. There have been good and bad times. But I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will sustain me and comfort me in my hard times. I am so grateful to be a witness of the truthfulness of this Gospel here in Cambodia!

 I love all things food. In fact, I would much rather spend hours going up and down the isles of a grocery store than shopping at a mall. I first became obsessed with health and natural foods when I quit eating sugar about 4 years ago. I just quit cold turkey. I found it easiest to quit altogether, rather than indulge once a week or something. The first little while was a little difficult. I went from baking chocolate chip cookies every Sunday night to nothing. It did help that my mom was also into health and would bake sugar free cookies and puddings! I soon grew to love not eating sugar and now it is just part of my lifestyle. I don't consider myself to be on a diet, it's just how I live, and I love it!! Taking out refined sugar is what led to my passion for baking and cooking. I closed the door on sugar, but I've found so many more doors now open. I have zero cravings for sugary baked goods and desserts now. Instead I love to experiment in the kitchen and invent new recipes or old favorites in a healthy, nutrition-packed way.

After years of relentless stomachaches, bloating, constipation, etc. I was recently diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome which has dramatically shifted the way I think about healthy eating. I won't go into the tremendous detail about IBS, but I will tell you a little bit about how I eat.  I've quickly gone from avoiding white breads at all costs to embracing them as a staple in my diet (I'm not talking about Wonder Bread; I try to eat mostly freshly baked white breads like french, sourdough). You'll also notice I don't eat a lot of fresh vegetables besides carrots. While raw food is healthy for some, it causes a bloated, overly-full, constipated belly for me. I still try to get in as many vegetables as possible by pureeing, chopping small, and cooking well. Doing so has reduced my stomach pain immensely and I am now able to eat one meal without feeling like I've eaten a five course meal at Olive Garden! I also try to avoid as much dairy as possible and go as light and natural with my sweeteners as possible (dates, prunes, little bit of honey). I warn you before you try my recipes that I do not have much of a sweet tooth. Things that are really sweet to me are extremely bitter to my parents. :)

At the same time I found out I had IBS, I also discovered that I have several food allergies: soy, peanuts, almonds, tomatoes, mangoes, pineapple, oranges, melons. These allergies, along with the IBS diet have added difficulty to what I can eat, but I take it as an opportunity to learn and create my own masterpieces in the kitchen that cater to my needs.

I can't say everything's always been peachy-keen though. I definitely had my ups and downs with issues of weight and self-confidence. Being a dancer it was easy to slip into the mindset of wanting that "perfect body" of a ballerina. I've had my times of depression and whatnot, but with the help of loving parents and counselors, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. And that is what this blog is all about-living a whole life, not only in food, but also in spirit and mind. I am am that journey now, and I'm sure I always will be. But for now, I am happy with who I am, both inside and outside! I hope that this blog will help you do the same!