Outside the kitchen Archives - Soren's Purple Plate

A Writer and Mom on Raising Kids and Being Herself

February 10, 2017 by Natasha Leave a Comment

Dear working moms, stay-at-home moms, expecting moms, aspiring moms, grandmas, grandmas-to-be, and anyone interested in the thoughts, actions, choices, feelings, struggles and joys of the wonderful mothers I know or yet to get to know.

I’m opening my Interesting Moms section today with a stellar woman – my dear friend Stacy Suaya. The photo above was taken on a casual, yes casual, stroll with the kids when Soren (here shamelessly with a pacifier) and I visited Stacy and her two wonderful boys Tiago and Valentino in Los Angeles last year. I’m way overdue with this post but you know, better now than never.

To the world Stacy is known as a Los Angeles-based writer with an emphasis on food, fashion, wellness and travel. She has contributed to the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Angeleno Magazine and AFAR.com. Her debut novel, represented by Michelle Richter at Fuse Literary, is coming soon.

To me, she is an incredible human being, an old soul, the most genuine person I know, direct, honest and caring friend. She is someone who lives to learn and improve herself and the world. She is always hungry for new ideas and trends be it in the realm of raising kids or preparing healthy foods.

The quality that I admire in her the most is that she is in tune with herself and is not afraid of judgement of others. She doesn’t fall into the trap of a self-pitying mommyhood. When she’s had it with her kids, she calls for help right away. To her, being emotionally vibrant and healthy for her children is top priority.

Here is what Stacy had to share with me. Keep reading.

Do you love/value yourself more now that you are a mom?
Yes, I feel less selfish, more loving, and in general, I have new dimension. I’m reading a book right now called Quantum Wellness, and the author says that engaging your multiple intelligences (whether musical, mathematical, intuitive, or as yet undefined) you light up different areas of the brain, creating more space for a broader breakthrough. Since I’ve had children, not only am I engaging a new skill set by mothering and learning about childhood development, I’ve also recently taken up cooking as a conduit for feeding the whole family healthier foods. I can only imagine what will happen if either of them develop an interest in music or art! It’s such a fun adventure.

What would you like you kids to be like when they grow up?
At peace with whatever choices they make, and strong enough to meet all the challenges that come their way.

Do you compare yourself to other moms?
Only if it’s constructive, like taking cooking and nutrition lessons from you! Other than that, I try to remember the phrase “keep your eyes on your own paper.”

How do you treat yourself? What do you do for yourself to relax and get away? How often?
I’ve recently gotten into meditation. I highly recommend that. I try to go to a guided group meditation for 45 minutes at least once a week, and I’ve been meditating for 10 minutes a day with the Headspace app. It’s like a mini-vacation.

What advice would you give your younger self on what not to worry about during pregnancy/birth/raising kids?
Pregnancy: Plan something exciting or relaxing for the time surrounding the due date. Even if it’s binge-watching some show you never had time for or treating yourself to multiple spa dates. I gave birth a week late during both pregnancies, and I was so desperate to get each out, it was all I could focus on to try everything in the book: spicy foods, walking, etc. None of it works!

Birth: Don’t try to be a hero! If you’re getting an epidural, ask for it before your pain is excruciating, since it takes a few minutes for them to prepare it. I waited too long, trying to impress my husband and mother with my pain tolerance. I regret that!

Raising kids: Be present. I know everyone has short attention spans these days, but zeroing in on them and really watching them bloom is a miracle.

Hello world….

July 31, 2016 by Natasha Leave a Comment

It is a sweltering New York summer day so I thought why not today. Why not get courageous enough to open up this little blog to the world. After three years of thinking about it, I’m actually doing it. You’d think having a baby would postpone the realization of any personal ideas until a later, much freer future but to my own shock, I find myself more focused, determined and generally productive these days. I’m sure most mothers can relate, especially those who are out of the pure chaos of the first six sleepless months. Congrats on that!

There will be lots of food on these pages with plenty of instructions, suggestions and tips. I’ll gladly share all I have learnt since the time I didn’t know how to cook at all. I read numerous nutrition books and articles, watch food documentaries, which influence the way I treat my body and food. I hope you will benefit from my knowledge and research as well. I’ll share my story of Baby Led Weaning (what is it) in hopes of alleviating the stress of many first time moms who don’t know where to begin and how and what to feed to their baby. I really wish to inspire you to eat healthy and offer the most nutritional things that also taste good to your family and especially your kids.

But this post is not about ingredients, healthy eating, any food trend or how to best feed your kids. It’s about no rules, improvisation and following your intuition. The best things in life come from the heart and from breaking the rules. That’s how I like to cook. I can barely follow a recipe without adding something of my own or changing it entirely, of course at a certain cost especially with baking! But it’s fun and more often than not you become an inventor of something unique and delicious. I hope my posts motivate you to create your OWN food, be it through trial and error. There is a huge satisfaction to be found in making something on a whim that actually tastes good to you, your family or your neighbor (I have some lovely neighbors who peek in once in a while to steal a cookie or two). If your husband, wife, child or friend comes for a second helping, it will leave you with a smile for the rest of the day. If you are just starting out, you might be surprised at how fast you become good, or it might take you just a bit of time to build up essential skills and knowledge before you start to rock in the kitchen.

Oh, and trust me, we as a family go way off course quite often. It is fun and it is encouraged: a balanced approach makes healthy eating sustainable, especially for those who haven’t yet learnt to love the “good-for-you” foods.

So follow along my journey of mommyhood imperfections, healthy kitchen adventures and attempts to raise a self-reliant, food-loving, soulful human being.

A little about me and my eating beliefs here.

Our first real Halloween in NYC

November 2, 2015 by Natasha Leave a Comment

I grew up without Halloween and even when I moved to the States, I haven’t really actively gotten into it until I had Soren. I mean I have always liked the atmosphere, the parades, the decorations, the costumes, the silliness and the fun but I enjoyed it as an observer rather than a participant. That is to say I never had a cool costume.

New York City throws some of the best parades in the world. It’s an incredible show of fantasy, imagination, extravagance, daring, and boldness. It’s messy, exhilarating, provoking, loud, colorful, and never-ending (can last until the morning). This is how adults celebrate:

And as much as children do not associate with New York, it is actually a very kid-friendly city. There are tons of activities of all kinds for the little ones especially around the holidays. This year Lincoln Center (home to the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic and American Ballet Theatre) opened its plaza to the invasion of the little monsters. There were trick-or-treating, endless costumes, also endless tantrums and sugared up toddlers running around like crazy.

It was our first real Halloween. I was tempted to make Soren a cute little animal but knowing that he would never ever agree to wear a costume with a head piece, I decided we would be vampires. Honestly I went with the easiest option there was: just bought cheap costumes at a nearby pop-up shop. Next year, and in the years to come, I really need to step up my game. No more laziness. I’ve got to get more elaborate and funny and unique. But I have to admit we ended up with one funny Dracula running around the house and the Upper West Side. We gelled his hair back with Dad’s gel while he was eating breakfast (his favorite hobby) and distracted him with a banana when putting on the costume. The morning was fresh and warm as we headed towards Lincoln Center stopping by the famous 69th street. It’s a street in our neighborhood that gets closed for the day for everyone to enjoy the out-of-this-world house decorations and trick-or-treating.

Here are a few shots from the day: