10 Years Of Mix Taste Eat

Last night, it came up on my Facebook memories that I had started my new little food blog ‘Mix Taste Eat’ as a way to share all my cooking adventures, separate to the lifestyle blog I already had. It’s funny that, even if I go and look for it now - it’s still here (here on Wordpress)

I’ve been reflecting a lot lately on MTE and not only how far this little food blog as evolved from a place where I can share what I’m cooking to and actual place I can share what I’m cooking, but with the anniversary of the Cyclone Alfred floods just past how much my vision for this business has evolved.

The idea of MTE initially started as a way to create a community with my local Thermomix customers when I lived in Moranbah. Ten years ago I would never have imagined it evolving to me completing a whole Nutrition degree and starting a business that really connects people through all food.

In my home kitchen, 2016

When we moved to the Sunshine Coast I worked hard to rebuild my Thermomix community, with the help of my wonderful team of consultants. These women (and a few men) became some of my closest friends, as we often gathered our community of customers and inspired them with new recipes. Really, it’s just another excuse to get together and enjoy good food! One of our team members offering her home for our monthly cooking workshops….

Before we knew it, we’d outgrown the space and had to hire somewhere bigger. We then moved to the Boardrooms in Bli Bli, having our smells go through the office building.

Then something else happened. I auditioned for MasterChef Australia.

I had already had a few friends go through the show and when they came out the other side I remember asking what their next step was, after spending so many months away, being immersed in food and learning so much. At that early stage, they weren’t quite sure (however now, they’re all very successful in what they do!). When I was chosen to cook for the producers (thanks 2021 and Melbourne COVID restrictions preventing me from cooking for the actual judges), MC flew me to Adelaide and the minute I walked into Sprout, I knew exactly where I wanted my Nutrition degree to end up.

While I was disappointed I didn’t make the top 25 (12 that year, as they’d brought back 12 previous contestants - so much harder to get in!), I already knew that I wanted to grow MTE from our monthly workshops to something more. I worked three jobs, adding a Food Presenter for Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food to my resume, saved every penny I could and opened the first Mix Taste Eat studio.

The journey of owning MTE has been one of the most exhilarating and exhausting things I’ve done - next to parenting! When I first opened I was still working 2 other jobs, had just become a single Mum and was saying Yes to every opportunity that came my way, creating classes for the homeschool and the disability communities on the Coast. I was giving Nutrition talks at Retirement Villages, High Schools, running classes outside of my studio weekly for a term while running back and forth between a retail job that I still needed to cover the bills. When people tell me they start a small business for the freedom, I’ve learned to bite my tongue! It’s working everyday from waking to sleep and constantly wondering what more I could do to make this small venture successful.

Eventually, life started to even out. I was able to leave my retail job, build the wonderful MTE community we have and felt so comfortable in where we were going. I knew good things were going to happen.

I didn’t know a flood would bring them.

This past year has been a journey all on its own. While my dream was drowning, it’s the community that saved me. People turned up on the street offering to help. Past students, strangers, family. And then the process of building Mix Taste Eat started all over again….

Never in my wildest dreams, 10 years ago, would I have imagined that starting a little blog to write about food would bring me to where I am today. So much has changed, life looks very different now on the Sunshine Coast than it did when I’d take photos in my kitchen in Moranbah. And while it’s been a ride, I wouldn’t change any part of it.

And while I have some amazing ideas for where MTE will be in the next 10 years, I also now know that I’m not always in the driving seat of what happens. I’ve learned more to say Yes when I can and be open to all the amazing opportunities that come our way.

Thank you to everyone who I have ever cooked with. My initial friends and Themomix customers, bringing their machines into my kitchen to simply cook together to friends and students who now come every week to cook with me. I feel so privileged that I get to share some of your food journey with you and hopefully inspire you to create something delicious at home with your family.