ABOUT

I'm Joselyn, a Canadian Russian Mennonite who grew up in Belize. A very unique cultural combination resulting in a diverse variety of food recipes.

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The Mennonite values of hard work and hearty homemade meals has deeply impacted my love and skill in cooking. Paired with the Belizean culture of delicious flavorful Caribbean food made from basic ingredients is just the best recipe for a perfectly delicious budget friendly life.

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My mom taught me the basics of cooking when I was very little and I just added experience and confidence with years of cooking. I am married now and still cook everyday for my husband, family, or larger groups of people. My husband is the hero. He's my taste tester and approves of my new developed recipes or the recipes I write down for the first time in generations, since great grandma just added a pinch of this and a bit of that with a generous amount of... 

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In 2021 I published a main course cookbook called Mom's Unwritten Recipes. The cookbook wasn't ever planned... Nor was this blog. God had my life planned before I was born. Literally. And here's how I know...

 

I was born with Accessory Navicular, a hereditary condition in both my feet. As a child I was living with extreme pain and too tired to stand or walk. Because I was unable to participate in many normal activities due to pain I was very susceptible to depression from a very young age. BUT my mom wouldn't let that be an option. She made a great effort to keep my occupied. She came up with many things for me to do to keep me occupied (I had absolutely zero screen time, since my family didn't  have a TV, internet nor any smart phones at the time) One of the things that needed to be done was organize my mom's collection of recipes. I started typing the recipes in Microsoft Word as something to keep me occupied. Later when recuperating from multiple surgeries, I continued to type those recipes. After years of part time typing, I finally got my cookbook printed at a local printer. Just three copies. For myself, my mom, and my sister. Some family members found out about the book and asked to buy a copy. I was aware of too many mistakes in the book. But I started planning to redo it someday and to get it published. I got married and moved away from all my family. After moving to a city in Canada (quite the culture shock) I started experiencing Vertigo which at the time wasn't diagnosed yet but it completely crippled any normal life I attempted to have. I was unable to have a job.  Lonely and dizzy, once again I started editing the same document I started with years earlier when I was around 12 years old. And then grief hit hard. My oldest brother (18) was killed suddenly. Back to the cookbook manuscript I went and pushed through the final publication process trying to deal with my grief, without depression. Then I got a camera, and began experimenting with food photography. With encouragement from my husband, I decided to include pictures for each recipe. I soon discovered that including pictures, took this project to a whole different complexity, to a level I never would have imagined I would ever reach. The cookbook, recipe blog, social media platform and food photography wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been born with this extremely painful genetic condition which led to surgeries. It wouldn't have taken off to this level if I hadn't fought years of crippling vertigo and been drowned in grief and loneliness, missing my family. It wouldn't have happened if I didn't have the best mother in the world fighting for my success and mental health (while she was totally oblivious that it even was a thing)

This blog is a result of something good coming out of the worst experiences in my life.