One Yummy Mummy Jolene teams up with Echo.ie
By Mary Dennehy
HOW many times have you watched a cooking programme to discover that not only have you none of the ingredients in your cupboards, but you’ve never even heard of half of them?
What a lot of cooking programmes and celebrity chef books forget is that we’re not all throwing festive parties, summer brunches and decadent teas! We’re living normal lives and trying to cook quick and healthy meals on a budget for many mouths.
This is why Tallaght blogger and mam-of-one Jolene Cox is attracting a lot of support for her relevant food and parenting blog, which is full of easy-to-follow, healthy meals that are not only full of flavour but full of goodness and hidden vegetables for picky little eaters.
Down-to-earth and brimming with enthusiasm and experience, Jolene realised through her work as a live-in nanny at the age of 19 that she had a knack for feeding kids – with her unique blog oneyummymummy.com a reflection of her love of children and cooking.
Originally from Fermanagh, Jolene, who now lives in Tallaght with husband Damian and their daughter Lily Mae, recently won the #TescoFoodieChallenge – with her winning recipe being published in Tesco’s Fresh Value magazine, which goes through every letterbox in the country.
Jolene has also teamed up with The Echo Newspaper and will be from this month writing exclusive blogs for Echo.ie
To mark this new exclusive blog, Jolene took some time out to speak with her local paper.
Where you always into writing as a child?
As a child I loved writing poetry and won a few medals in the county feis. I also got some pieces published in various anthologies. I still get ideas for a poem out of the blue and published one on the blog last year about the worry a mother always has for her child, no matter what age the child is.
Why did you start your blog?
Friends, family and other parents were always asking me for recipes and telling me that I should write a cookbook. I thought nobody would buy my cookbook, sure nobody would know who I was! However, last March I had a lightbulb moment one morning at around 4am and that’s when One Yummy Mummy was born and I haven’t looked back.
Where do you get your ideas from?
I’m always thinking of food. Ideas will just pop into my head all the time and sometimes I look at what’s on special in the supermarket or what’s in season for inspiration. I also love a good “fakeaway” which is a healthy takeaway. I’ve an idea for an easy, healthy, home cooked spice bag coming up in the new few weeks, so watch this space.
In your experience of working with children, what is the most difficult veg/fruit to get them to eat?
You know what, it changes from child to child – all our taste buds are different. The greens can be a hard one to swallow for the smallies, but there’s tricks you can do. My daughter Lily Mae isn’t a fan of broccoli, but she loves my broccoli, butternut squash and parmesan soup.
What has been your most successful recipe with your own daughter to date?
She loves my chicken curry in a hurry and pasta carbonara. She’s still not that great on the greens, so I have to be a bit crafty with them and I blend a few in where I can without overdoing it and overpowering the taste of the whole dish.
Do you find that mealtimes can be stressful for parents when they have a picky eater?
Mealtimes can be so stressful. Trying to get the dinner up and on the plate is stressful enough but when you’ve gone to the effort of cooking a dinner and nobody eats it that can be very disheartening and can lead to you thinking what’s the point? A few tips at meal times is to allow at least 20 mins to eat, but don’t drag it out either. Try and sit and eat with the kids when possible. Turn off the telly and put away your phone. Also, try to avoid saying things like “you’re not leaving the table until you eat that”. Positives always work better like “wow look at you, you’re doing a great job”. Don’t offer treats between meals and remember tomorrow is another day.
What’s the secret to getting a child to eat healthy foods?
I think if it tastes good that kids will eat it. Just like us, kids eat with their eyes and if it looks nice, they will give it a go. If they try it and don’t like it, say “well done for trying” and try them again with it in another few weeks. I would never serve a child a dinner I wouldn’t eat myself and work with what they do like. If they eat spaghetti Bolognese blend a few veggies in the sauce like red pepper and carrot garlic and onion…they’ll never know!
Does good quality ingredients have to be expensive? What is the average price of your dinner dishes?
No not at all. I get all my shop in a local budget supermarket as I’m a mammy on a tight budget myself. I try to keep the budget for each dish to around €10 – and that’s serving a family of four.
If you had to pick one of your dishes as your favourite, which one would you pick and why?
Ohh tough one. That’s like picking my favourite family member! It’s funny because different recipes remind me of different children and different times of my life. Thinking about it though, it would have to be chicken curry in a hurry…I cook it every week and a child hasn’t refused it yet.
What’s your ‘couldn’t live without’ kitchen essential?
You would laugh if you saw my kitchen utensils, everything is so basic. I guess it would have to be my knife, my chopping board and my oven. Sure that’s all you need.
What would be your top cupboard food staples that every family kitchen should have?
Passata, stock cubes/stock pots, olive oil/Frylight, dried herbs and spices, soy sauce and honey.
Your award-winning blog is being really well received, why do you think people can relate to it?
I think people see that I’m a normal mam on a tight budget just like them. I don’t use any fancy ingredients that you can’t get in your weekly shop in the supermarket and I always make sure my recipes are really easy to follow. I also try to have a down to earth approach and I am so enthusiastic about what I do.
What’s the plan for the rest of the year?
I’ve loads in the pipeline and really looking forward to working with The Echo. I’ve been nominated again for “Best Parenting Blog” at the Maternity and Infant Awards 2016 , which has such a high standard of blogs this year – people can vote for me up until August 27! I’m also writing for a few different parenting websites and trying to finish my cookbook (and having a glass of wine in between).
Visit www.echo.ie to read Jolene’s exclusive blogs and follow her on her blog, oneyummymummy.com
