Nourish From Within

01/04/2026

March was a huge month for me— cooking away, tailoring menus to each client’s individual needs, and enjoying a really beautiful rhythm with regular customers. There’s something so special about creating nourishing meals that truly support people where they’re at.

I’m currently cooking for such a wide range of people — postpartum families, those in recovery and healing, busy families, couples, and individuals — all with different needs, preferences, and seasons of life. I really love the diversity of it and the care that goes into each menu.

Slowing down abit in April ⛱️🌊💛

13/02/2026

Today I cooked in one of my favourite kitchens — honestly one of the most beautiful homes I get to work in. Everything is always ready, organised, calm.

This was a family-style bulk cook, so they selected four mains:

👩‍🍳 Apricot chicken with millet
👩‍🍳 Beef bourguignon with greens
👩‍🍳 Chicken coq au vin
👩‍🍳 Saffron lamb with roast vegetables

I portion the mains into family trays and pack the sides separately so they can serve them fresh each time.
In total — 16 family dinners that nourish them over about five weeks, three nights a week.

Knowing these meals will be pulled from the freezer on busy evenings and shared around their table is the part that means the most to me. A little less stress, a little more presence, and food made with love waiting for them at the end of the day.

27/01/2026

👩🏾‍🍳👨🏽‍🍳 FULL TIME COOK & FLEXIBLE KITCHENHAND!
Positions available for immediate start 👏🏾
Feel free to share this post with anyone you know, that may looking for work in the kitchen and would love to be apart of a warm & welcoming team.

We're very excited to welcome more to the OC family 🌿🫶🏾 drop in and ask for Reinee or Jamie
or introduce yourself via email along with your resume
olcoterie@outlook.com.

📍 66a Farnborough Rd Yeppoon - the lil orange building.

16/01/2026

A few photos from my week in the kitchen 👩‍🍳
Lots of conversations, good ingredients, and meals made with love, especially for some very special clients.

18/12/2025

This week’s cooking ✨

Slow, comforting food made to nourish busy bodies.

🍗 Plain oven-roast chicken with golden roast potatoes
🍜 Beef stroganoff with rice noodles
🥩 Chinese beef cheeks with creamed potato
🍊 Orange + ginger chicken with rice
🍲 Miso soup with chicken meatballs

And something sweet, because balance 🤍
🍠 Cinnamon-roasted sweet potato & choc + cardamom pudding with poached pears.

Real food. Simple flavours. Thoughtfully prepared.
This is the kind of cooking that fills fridges, freezers and lightens the family life load.

Crafted with care, created with intention ✨

03/12/2025

✨ Family-Style Nourish Day ✨

Today I cooked for one of my beautiful regular families in Rockhampton. They choose four dishes cooked fresh each visit, with each dish made into four trays, and each tray giving four generous portions. Plus sides to match.

This family now has 8 different meals stocked in their freezer from the last two visits…
and I love how they use them:
three family dinners each week, all stress-free, wholesome and ready to heat.
These meals will comfortably last them the next two months.

Their menu today:
• Beef Bourguignon with creamy mash
• Lamb Madras with fluffy basmati rice
• Olive + Chicken with parsley + roasted chat potatoes
• Chicken + Vegetable Healing Broth

Their freezer is now packed with nourishing, slow-cooked, real-food meals — ready for busy nights, after-school chaos, or those moments they simply want to eat well without the effort.

Always a pleasure cooking in their beautiful kitchen for such a grateful family.
These are the homes I love to nourish. 🤍

FreezerMeals WholefoodChef RockhamptonMums YeppoonMums CentralQueenslandEats NourishingFamilies MealPrepChef RealFoodLove

21/11/2025

Just a little top-up cook for my clients yesterday:

🍪 Big batch of cookies
🫐 Macadamia & Blueberry Breakfast Slice
🧀 Mac n’ Cheese
🍗 Sticky Ginger Chicken + Rice
🐟 Lemon & Garlic Fish with Greens

Fresh, simple, nourishing. 💛


❤️

20/11/2025

29/10/2025

Today I cooked for a regular — a beautiful menu designed to be light, nourishing and full of flavour. 💛
My client eats predominantly plant-based, low dairy, low fat, and with wholesome ingredients, so I built her menu around those needs.

✨ Ginger + Orange Fish with Brown Rice
🍄 Mushroom Parcels with Parsley & Cauliflower
🎃 Pumpkin Lasagne
🥔 Sweet Potato & Tuna Bake
🫐 Blueberry + Lemon Muffins
🍑 Upside Down Plum Cake

some Keto Crackers for a snack (perfect with a dip!)

The total ingredients came to $182.71, all fresh and real — no additives, no shortcuts, just food made with care and intention.

I love creating personalised menus like this — each one tells its own story, aligned with how my clients want to feel in their bodies and homes.

22/10/2025

💛 Postpartum Meal Prep Love

Today I cooked for a mama who’s just a few weeks away from meeting her baby.
Her family — all the way down in South Australia — wanted to support her from afar. Normally, they organise a meal train after she gives birth, but since she doesn’t live nearby anymore, they all chipped in to gift her a postpartum meal-prep voucher.

They made sure she’d be nourished and cared for in those sacred first weeks — and it meant she received over 70 portions of food, plus banana bread and Ayurvedic rice pudding.

It’s such a powerful reminder that love and community can still hold us close, even across distance. 💫

🍲 Family-Style Smoky BBQ Beef Mash & Veg
🍗 Mango Chicken & Rice
🥩 Osso Buco with Dates & Ginger
🥣 Nourishing Golden Daal Soup
🥣Lemon & Pumpkin Soup
🍌 Ayurvedic Rice Pudding with Cinnamon & Baked Pear
🍞 Banana Bread with Dates & Walnuts

Happy Birthing & Easeful Postpartum Wishes 💖

18/10/2025

Every 3 weeks I step into my longest clients calm, welcoming kitchen — it’s one of those spaces that just feels good to be in. We’ve been cooking together for just over two years, and every session is a beautiful rhythm of nourishment and care.

My client follows a low-sugar, gluten-free, dairy-free, no onion or garlic diet, so her menus are always thoughtfully tailored — wholesome, balanced, and full of flavour.

This week’s line-up included:
🥧 Chicken Pie
🍛 Fish Curry with Rice
🌭 Curried Sausages
🍗 Ginger & Orange Chicken with Sweet Potato Mash
🍋 Lemon & Blueberry Loaf
🍖 Whole Roast Chickens + Roast Veg

Sourcing the best produce from Doblos, Glenmore Seafoods, the local butcher, and Woolies, it’s always a labour of love from start to finish.

Cooking here reminds me why I started Nourish From Within — simple, intentional food prepared with care, in spaces that feel like home. 💛

14/10/2025

Looking for Plant-baded meals? Highly recommend PlantFoods Yeppoon Made by Chef Mel 👩‍🍳

Menu's UP 🥘🍲🥗🥣
Contact chef mel direct for more details 🌱💚
Orders in by 6pm today for this Saturday pick ups 👩‍🍳
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