Cooking has always been an integral part of Esther Selman’s life from the time she was a little girl.
“My mother used to take me to cooking classes with her,” she said. “When I left here to go overseas to study for college I was supposed to do computer technology.
“But one weekend this woman conducted a health fair in Alabama and the Monday I changed my major to dietetics. A lot of people told me I was crazy, there was no money in it; but I did it and have no regrets.”
Carving out a career as a dietitian was second nature for Esther, who had fostered a love for natural foods and wanted to find a way for the body to get the best out of foods.
“I like colour and as you look at fruits and vegetables you can see the wide array of colour in them and the nutrition that the body can get,” she says.
It should come as no surprise, therefore, that in addition to her work as a dietitian, Esther has also written a book – Breakfast Like A King.
“This is something I’ve wanted to do for some time. I was encouraged to write by my husband and my daughter,” Esther revealed.
“Since my daughter came back she has been pushing me to get started. Hence Breakfast Like A King was born.”
When asked why she decided to focus on breakfast, Esther touted its importance to the human body.
“A well planned breakfast with your family creates a cheerful atmosphere,” Esther says. “You will also get nutritional needs for that time of the day. Breakfast helps kids to get better test scores as children will score higher.
“You’re better able to concentrate on the job so you need to make sure the brain is well fuelled for that.”
Though one can’t negate the importance of breakfast, many children and adults tend to skip this meal.
One study that tracked nearly 10 000 young people from adolescence into their twenties found that not only did skipping breakfast lead to being overweight, but people who missed out on their morning meal also increased their eating at fast food restaurants. The study showed that both of these unhealthy behaviours caused them to gain weight.
Esther makes it difficult for people to skip breakfast by providing quick, easy and tasty meals they can prepare using all natural ingredients.
In the book there is a recipe for creamy rice cereal where you cook the brown rice and then add your plant milks and fruit, Esther said.
“We also have oatmeal pancakes that can be used with fresh fruit sauce. We use simple fruit to blend and it’s all natural. The recipes also have no cholesterol so it’s beneficial for people as well.”
As a dietitian and nutrition counsellor it was important to Esther to create meals that had good nutritional balance for the body, but still tasted delicious.
“For persons who are diabetic, these recipes are high in fibre so there is slow-releasing glucose,” Esther said. “Research has shown that when diabetics follow low glycemic foods it gives them better glucose cholesterol.”
Esther is particularly proud that many of the recipes in her book use natural foods that are grown locally.
“We have to learn how to use our own foods; we focus a lot on overseas foods,” she said. “In one of my recipes we have baked sweet potato patties. Using more of our ground provisions we can be creative.
“I can take the sweet potato and have pudding, and then I can take that same sweet potoato and put it in a patty.
“There is so much versatility with food. We can use yam a lot of different ways. Instead of eating chips, we can use breakfast chips from breadfruit. We need to go back to basics.”
With this book, Esther has proven that her career choice can have a big impact on others.
“I can counsel a patient, conduct a wellness fair, be an author . . . that’s the diversity of this profession,” Esther said candidly. “I think the Lord really directed me. I’ve accomplished a dream with the book, but stay tuned because more books are coming out.”
