by It’s the Christmas season and we have a food blogger who specialises in sharing recipes for new mums. She is a mum and someone who is making the best of her time in life. Sunaina Agrawal is a Chartered Accountant and Corporate Tax Professional. According to her, “Soon after, my son was born and again I dived into websites, books, elders wisdom and advice on parenting and taking care of a baby. My entire pregnancy and baby’s first year was like an important project for me, where I meticulously planned each aspect and activity and enjoyed doing it. This involved a lot of research and hard work, and I wanted to share my learnings with others.”
Read more to find out on an interesting mum, recipes shared on her food blog and how changing careers even post motherhood can bring a meaning into who you really are. She is also sharing for us specific Christmas season recipes.
“ I was born and brought up in Kolkata. I have always had a creative bent of mind, and as a child and adolescent, I was into creative writing, painting, craft, dramatics, quizzing and public speaking and have won several awards in inter school festivals in these events. Since my father and sister are CAs, it was an expected and predictable career choice and I went with the flow. CA means a lot of hard work and for three years, I completely forgot about the creative pursuits and focussed on my studies and career.
After qualification, I landed a dream job as a corporate tax consultant in a multinational consulting firm and life could not have been better, at least professionally speaking. My job took me away from Kolkata and comforts of home and mom-made food, to Bangalore, where the weather, language, food and people, all were unknown. This is when I actually started cooking, more as a compulsion, than as a choice. Internet was not as easily available those days, and wifi was unheard of. Whatever I prepared was after consulting cookbooks (I now have a huge collection, enough to build a library) or checking with my mom over phone.
Gradually I started enjoying cooking, and used to look forward to creating something new in the kitchen after work. Since work left very little time for hobbies, I poured all my creativity into cooking, a daily chore, which I had started enjoying as well!
The focus on healthy cooking and eating came when I got pregnant. I think those nine months have been the most happy and healthiest times of my life and when I was the fittest. I elaborately researched on each food item and modified my diet accordingly. Lots of information on nutrition and pregnancy poured in from elders in the family, friends and colleagues. I was like a sponge, I just kept soaking in all the precious information.
The turning point came when my son turned six months, and it was time for me to wean him. A lot of research, coupled with common sense and creativity resulted in me preparing fun, creative and healthy meals for him, which were well-balanced nutritionally. These I shared with a group of friends who were new moms as well. They suggested I document my recipes and parenting hacks/advice into a website, for ease of reference. After a lot of procrastination, my blog urbanmummablog.wordpress.com was born in March 2016.
I use my blog as a creative outlet, and a medium to communicate my ideas, views and take on parenting and cooking. Most of the recipes are quick and easy to prepare, fit for moms of small kids! And it goes without saying that the focus is on healthy cooking. So you will hardly ever find deep fried items, use of refined flour or chemicals in my cooking.
Juggling a profession, motherhood and a blog can be tough, but my mom has been around to help, which has been a lifesaver for me. I am very close to my mother. In fact I treat her more like an advisor, confidante and friend. She is a major influence in my life, and she is my biggest critic! I hope that I can be to my son, what she means to me!”
Talking on food photography too as a skill for food bloggers, Sunaina shares it is with a lot of learning, observation and practice that she now manages largely flawlessly.
(Picture of Rich fruit n cake-eggless by Urbanmummablog)
” Currently I’m on a sabbatical from work and am using this time to bond with my son and concentrate on my blog! Getting ‘me’ time can be tough in the circumstances, but I manage through setting a routine, time management and doing ‘me’ things when my kid is asleep or busy with his daddy.
Christmas is round the corner, so I’m sharing a few easy and healthy recipes that can form part of your Christmas feast. Have a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!”
Recipes from Urban Mumma blog – Sunaina Agrawal.
https://urbanmummablog.wordpress.com/2016/11/01/rich-fruit-and-nut-cake-eggless/
https://urbanmummablog.wordpress.com/2016/10/04/whole-wheat-flour-marble-cake/
https://urbanmummablog.wordpress.com/2016/09/19/dainty-chia-choco-ragi-cupcakes/
We thank Sunaina for sharing her perspective on utilizing her time for a creative pursuit and wish her a happy life ahead.
Beautiful article