Three Mighty Food Kitchen principles for a healthy life

By Vicky Taylor, mighty foodie and MFK founder

Can a healthy and not too serious approach to food reflect the way you approach life too? We think so.

We love working with food.

It’s such a core part of life, health, energy levels, enjoyment and happiness. A key part of coming together with friends and family – and for some it’s an art form. Justin, (husband and fellow MFK founder), loves experimenting with different combinations and flavours; while I love knowing that people out there are sharing and loving the things we’ve created.

Seeing the business grow has been great – it means people like what we do and are eating our food. But of course, things are busy! Like most people, we’re juggling heaps of things, from long work days to making sure we spend quality time with our boys, trying to fit in some exercise (and more than occasionally settling for a nice glass of wine instead). In fact, we’ve been so hectic recently we decided it was time to pause and reflect on the core principles we had in mind when we started The Mighty Food Kitchen. Those principles continue to influence the ingredients we use and the food we eat, and they actually hold true when we apply them to life in general. It’s been a good reminder to me, so I wanted to share them with you!

Our three principles

Principle One: Take out what you don’t need

We’re dedicated to the idea of taking out what you don’t need; keeping things simple with real ingredients. Taking out what you don’t need can apply to many aspects in our lives, not just the way we eat. Sometimes we just need to stop and think rather than try to fit more stuff in.

One of my ways to keep focused on what’s most important is making sure I spend time with the people who are most important and positive in my life– not just responding to events and invitations that come my way! Otherwise before you know it you’ve been to a work dinner, a reading group, a PTA night and the neighbour’s house-warming, but not seen your best friend. It could also be taking a break from the constant bombardment of social media. For me, simplifying also means reducing the clutter of material possessions. I’m a big fan of this, and even bought my sister the Marie Kondo book on the Art of Tidying… there’s nothing better than clearing things out!

I’m realising that any time (and especially when you’re at your busiest) is a good time to stop and think about simplifying your life.

Principle Two: Stay curious

We love exploring new ingredients and flavours. It makes coming up with new combinations for our granolas one of the best parts of our job, and for me, it’s a constant joy when travelling. We’re planning a family trip to Japan later in the year that will be full of inspiration, and the opportunity for our boys to try different foods. Being Japan, it will be as much about presentation and consideration for the balance of ingredients as it will be about taste.

After all, who wants to eat the same thing day in, day out on a strict regime? No one! In fact, trying a new food every couple of weeks can have a positive affect on your health. Studies have found that just by being more thoughtful about one thing on your plate – like when you consciously taste and evaluate a new food – this can make you less likely to overindulge.

Principle Three: Enjoy, and share

What’s the point in staying healthy if you lose the joy? When we made our granolas, putting serious enjoyment into the process (and the final foods) was just as important as getting the nutritional balance right. We loved getting our friends and team to try out and give feedback on our granolas as we developed them (and they loved it too).

Social ties have been found to be hugely important to health and can even contribute to living longer. That’s all the excuse I need to book in a great night with some friends, yummy nibbles and a couple of bottles of pinot.

Want to win some clean-eating granola goodness to try?

Each month we’re drawing one wonderful mighty foodie to receive a pack of the variant of their choice – and all you have to do to enter is subscribe to our blog.*

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*We’ll email the winner at the end of each month to let them know and get address/flavour choice. Monthly giveaway runs from April 2016 – end September 2016.