Episode 7 - Follow Your Gut

**What if eating better didn’t mean giving up the food you love—but simply learning how to make it differently?** In this episode Mel sits down with **Violet Parcha**, creator of *Right At Home*, to talk about real food, family, wholesome cooking and what happens when you start paying attention to how food makes you feel. Violet shares her experience of changing the family’s meals, including the improvements she says they noticed in her husband’s energy, digestion and overall wellbeing. We also talk about the connection between gut health and mental wellbeing, and how food became part of a much bigger philosophy around family life. But this isn't about perfect eating or complicated recipes. With **three young children**, Violet understands that healthy family meals have to be practical. She shares her approach to meal prep, batch cooking, freezer-friendly food and making familiar favourites a little healthier — without making them feel like “health food.” This is a conversation about **real food, gut health, family cooking, meal prep, whole ingredients, raising kids in the kitchen and finding a healthier way to eat that still feels delicious and enjoyable.** - Violet’s journey into wholesome cooking, which began as a teenager - How her husband’s Crohn’s diagnosis changed the way their family approached food - Her experience removing gluten and sugar from their diet - The impact she says dietary changes had on energy, digestion and wellbeing - Why healthy family meals need to be practical, not perfect - Meal prep, batch cooking and making busy family life easier - How to make familiar foods healthier without losing the comfort factor - Retraining your taste buds away from highly processed foods - Getting children involved in cooking from an early age - The influence of Jordan Rubin on Violet’s approach to whole foods and gut health - Her favourite recipe: healthy homemade ice cream - Farmers markets, local producers and her dream of tasting food across Europe - Why her grain mill has become one of her most-loved kitchen tools - Fresh-milled flour, homemade bread, pizza dough and sourdough - Creating family rhythms around food, cooking and community Find Violet’s recipes and food philosophy on her blog, Right At Home, and check out her Substack, where she is offering a 30-day free trial. You can also find *Nourished – Stories From The Table* here: https://linktr.ee/nourishedstoriesfromthetable If you enjoyed our conversation, **follow or subscribe to **Nourished – Stories From The Table****, leave a review or comment, and share the episode with a foodie friend who is trying to make family meals a little healthier. And tell me: **what’s one food habit you’d love to change in your own kitchen?** Thank you so much for listening. Every follow, share, comment and listen helps *Nourished* grow, and I’m so grateful to have you sitting around the table with me. **“You don’t have to change everything. Sometimes, one small change in the kitchen can change the way you think about food.”** **Until next time, I'll see you around the table. 🥂** **00:00** – Welcome to Nourished **00:39** – Violet’s journey into wholesome cooking **01:52** – Her husband’s Crohn’s diagnosis **03:18** – Removing gluten and sugar **05:21** – Meal prep with three kids **08:36** – Gut health and mental wellbeing **12:32** – The influence of Jordan Rubin **17:41** – Retraining your taste buds **20:44** – Farmers markets and local producers **23:08** – Violet’s ideal outdoor dinner party **26:29** – Getting kids involved in the kitchen **28:10** – The grain mill that changed her cooking **30:26** – Why fresh-milled flour is different