Coming up with creative, healthy recipes to make for your family every day can be hard. That is why today there are a number of recipe developers to help busy families navigate through their day-to-day lives and Payal Ramdhial is one of those people.
Ramdhial is a full-time mum of two boys and the founder of “The Healthy Plate", a dynamic lifestyle-oriented start-up blog that is dedicated to promoting well-balanced eating and recipe creation of wholesome balanced meals.
The Umhlanga resident said she was inspired to start the blog to keep fit and live longer because she had small boys.
“As parents, we are all our kids have and with the way the world is changing the safest place is for our kids to be with their parents hence we need to make sure we eat correctly and live a better lifestyle.
“My brand also was a way of healing after the sudden loss of my parents. Cooking made me heal and remember them. I went through the journey of discovering different ways of eating but realised we just got to eat everything in a balance,” she said.
Ramdhial’s love for cooking was inspired by her late mum who would make the most amazing meals to suit everyone’s taste buds.
“She was a full-time mum of five kids and grandchildren. No matter how busy she could be even if we went out to eat she would love to come home and experiment with ingredients and research recipes and people loved to come over just for her freshly cooked delicious meals.
“I grew up in a home where cooking was an important part of everyday life. You somehow develop a way of cooking from your heart,” she said.
Asked how her journey has been so far as a blogger, Ramdhial said it has been difficult being a full-time mum.
“At times I would feel unmotivated but I do not give up. Being a full-time mum can be challenging. No journey is easy. We all face challenges which lead to steps closer to our goals.”
“The best part about food blogging is you get to meet and become friends with other food bloggers even just via social media.
“You get to work with all the amazing brands. Just being able to try out new food brands before anyone else can buy them and launching them on your site is amazing,” she said.
On her journey to help busy moms and to inspire more people to make healthy food choices, Ramdhial recently launched her first mini recipe book titled “The Healthy Plate”, which was published by That Food Guy.
Available on purchase online as a hardcover and as an electronic book, the recipe book contains 15 amazing and easy recipes for the whole family to enjoy.
Commenting on the recipe book launch, she said it is “a start leading to greater success and growth”.
In advising upcoming food bloggers, Ramdhial said: “Never compare yourself to another blogger. This is your journey and your brand. There will always be ups and downs.
“Remember in order to reach goals there will always be failures and setbacks which allow us to learn and turn it into a positive to reach that goal. Cook from your heart and just be real.
“Cooking should not be a perfect picture, people want the real deal of life. Bring out the reality and passion.”