If you think a cookbook about pregnancy sounds like a collection of sad smoothies and recipes involving seven different kinds of seeds, Eric Wolfinger and Torie Borrelli Hall have some news for you. Their new book, Eating for Life: A Holistic Cookbook for Pregnancy and a Thriving Family, has carbonara, lasagna, steak, chocolate mousse, and plenty of other delicious food to keep you both satisfied and nourished.
This week on Happy Half Hour, Eric—a James Beard Award-winning food photographer and San Diego native—and Torie, a local holistic nutritionist, join host Troy Johnson to talk about the book, how it came together, and why feeding a family well doesn’t have to mean making food boring.
The partnership started years ago, when Torie suggested Eric change what he was eating for breakfast after noticing his blood sugar was all over the place. He says the tweak didn’t exactly “change his life,” but it did change his energy and temperament enough that, as he puts it, everyone in his orbit thanked her. From there, the two longtime collaborators started building a cookbook around the nutrients Torie wanted people to get from real food: protein, egg yolks, fish, shellfish, organ meats, collagen, and plenty of other ingredients that don’t always make it into modern family cooking. After years of recipe development, photography, testing, and one very optimistic Kickstarter, they landed on 120 recipes, each photographed and tested by home cooks.
And while the book is designed with pregnancy and postpartum nutrition in mind, the philosophy is considerably broader: cook food that tastes good, get enough protein and nutrients, and make meals that work for actual families with actual schedules. The conversation gets into everything from getting kids to try unfamiliar foods (apparently eight to 15 exposures can make a difference) to the role dads can play in cooking during pregnancy, plus Troy’s ongoing battle with his children over the existence of dino nuggets. In other words, Eating for Life is less about eating “perfectly” and more about making good food a part of everyday life.
This summary was provided to you by AI. To hear from the humans, listen to Happy Half Hour wherever you get your podcasts.
