Well, when I say "About Us" and I mean, About Me. My name is Jay Rogers and I'm The Moodie Foodie. I have two beautiful daughters, Elly and Mia, a very understanding husband (Mr Moodie Foodie) and a cairn terrier, Missy who is my constant kitchen companion (although not out of love of cooking, but rather what falls on the floor).
I'm a self-confessed moodie person - not of the tantrum throwing, foot stamping variety, but rather of the mood following variety. I have possibly 20 different perfumes, each one expressing a mood; 10 black jumpers, again each one slightly different and expressing a mood; I don't know how many pairs of jeans, again with the mood. So you won't be surprised to hear that I am especially moodie when it comes to food. Everything I eat pays homage to a mood, even if it's boiled eggs with dippers the mood is consulted. Over the years I have learned to listen to the mood. On those occasions that I have made the incredibly idiotic mistake of skipping mood consultation and eaten something not-mood-friendly (NMF), I end up eating twice as much (NMF plus the mood satisfer). Much regret follows not to mention disappointment at a chance to talk to myself, which I do a lot....
I am the ultimate food lover; not the ‘foodie’ type that can’t have anything other than wagyu beef darling, but a lover of all food. Sure I love 14 Hour Poached Lamb Shoulder with Garlic Borlotti Bean Puree, Langoustine with Spiced Duck and the rest of the good stuff but I also love burgers, pizza and yes, sometimes I’ve been known to have a piece of deep-fried chicken from you-know-where. Gasp, but I said it, it’s out there and I feel cleansed. The fact is though that my love of all things edible has led to some pretty depressing moments in front of the mirror and I am ashamed to say, tears and a tantrum or two.
It was during one of these tantrums that I began unconsciously creating The Moodie Foodie: rewriting classic recipes to remove unnecessary fat and kilojoules; writing new recipes that tasted fantastic without the fat and calories; and re-creating renditions of amazing food that I had experienced in restaurants that I could eat every day guilt-free. And of course, packaging them up into food moods so I could access them easily when the mood struck. Each recipe has been tested, tested and tested again with the only rules being:
If it tastes like low fat food it’s out
If it’s too hard to cook, I won’t cook it
And that's how The Moodie Foodie came to life; through my selfish need to eat what I wanted, indulge without guilt and not spend too much time in the kitchen (even though I love it).
I hope you enjoy cooking from my site and if you have any moodie stories of your own I'd love to hear them. I love a good chat with other moodie foodies.
The Moodie Philosophy
Moods are good for you: if you are anything like me, cooking and eating is about creating a feeling of contentment as well as filling an empty stomach. There’s nothing worse that eating something you just don’t feel like so just listen to the mood!
Diets are pointless: not to mention boring and self-esteem stealing. Like most women I have been on just about every diet there is with the requisite short successes and long-term failures. The one thing that I found all diets to have in common is some form of deprivation-by-elimination. I don’t know about you, but the moment I feel deprived is the moment rebellion kicks in. I love food in all its forms, even junk food, but it has to taste great and not stop my heart literally. Flavour is key and there are so many fantastic ways of infusing food with it while going easy on the fat and calories.
There’s no such thing as a delicious no fat anything: - unless it's the first strawberries of the season... The Moodie Foodie is not about diets but rather a celebration of how we all want to eat: indulging without guilt and eating without deprivation. Low in fat, you can cook these recipes everyday without remorse. There are plenty of seemingly naughty recipes including cheesecake, chocolate brownies and hearty stews with the absolute necessity of creamy mashed potato. There’s even a section for hangovers – all the taste and relief without the deep fried torture. The Moodie Foodie is for people who love food.
If it’s too hard, I won’t cook it: Recipes have to be easy. No matter how good a recipe looks, if it’s too complicated I move on. Who’s got the time for hours of beating, steaming, chopping and sautéing? For the average person, half an hour is too long to spend in the kitchen. The Moodie Foodie recipes are quick and easy – some take 3 hours to cook, but the preparation time is only 10 minutes.
Indulge without guilt
Eat without deprivation
Embrace food moods
Eat what you want
