Hi, I’m Amanda

I’m Amanda, a professional chef, recipe developer & food photographer. I’m all about health and happiness through food. My food journey started at about the age of 10. I loved to bake and present food in a manner that made people feel happy and loved. Sunday high-teas with cake were my favourite. Unfortunately, I didn’t follow my dream of becoming a chef until much later and many years on. I am a wife and mother, a qualified school teacher and explorer of the world. My husband and I, together with our 3 children, have lived in many amazing places over the past 15 years. We started in Eritrea, following onto Ghana, Zambia, Johannesburg, UK and Mauritius.

I did my chef training in the UK at Ashburton Chef Academy. My chefs at Ashburton were the most encouraging, dynamic, inspiring group of people. I would highly recommend this institute to anyone wanting to follow their dream of becoming a chef. Once moving back to Cape Town, I took up a position as chef at Chez Gourmet, which was a teaching /catering institute. This job took me from the pot to the frying pan! A huge challenge which I embraced. Today I am blogging and recipe testing, as well as learning the skilled art of photography and loving it! 

My philosophy

I love all things healthy and unique. Ashburton in Devon instilled an amazing insight into sustainability and traceability of food. With the many food allergies, food fads and health issues around at the moment, I love finding tasty, unique and healthy ways of making food – often surprising myself! 

This Blog

I am gluten intolerant, so many of my inspirations and creations are aimed in that direction. Where I can I will give the gluten free version as well as the regular methods of preparing the food. Many of the recipes online and in recipe books have not been tested accurately, which to the untrained hand can be a frustrating and costly exercise. 

My Pics

I shoot all my pics off my Canon EOS70D and my iPhone 6. My happiest place is either in front of my stove or behind my camera.