Hi, I’m Natalie!

I am one half of the Deliciously Free duo! My husband, Sim (Deliciously Free’s photographer), and I live in the beautiful Northern Beaches in Sydney, Australia, where we spend every spare minute creating recipes for various dietary restrictions that don’t compromise on flavour. After all, having dietary needs can be compromising enough!

Over the years, I’ve written magazine recipes, had my own baking business and attended countless cookery courses to feed my food obsession while Sim has a camera permanently in hand, photographing everything from events and landscapes to portraits and pets.

Together we share multiple dietary restrictions and have endured a lot of bad, tasteless food. So, spurred on by the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, we decided to put the unexpected extra time and our creative juices together to start Deliciously Free, hoping to put an end to flavourless alternatives. We really hope you enjoy swapping restrictions for delicious dishes with us!

OUR STORY

My dietary rollercoaster began when I turned vegetarian at 10 years old. Growing up in England in a household of carnivores was challenging enough, but at that time, vegetarianism was not widely talked about or known, which only added to the culinary misadventure! Despite the difficulty, my family graciously agreed to take turns rustling up new veggie recipes and adapting old favourites like Sunday roasts and mum’s famous lasagne until I was old enough to cook on my own. Finally finding my stride, when I was 17, I met meat-eating, fish-loving Sim, who couldn’t even fry an egg. And so the time-consuming task of cooking two meals every night continued!

A few years ago, Sim was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetics don’t have to avoid sugar altogether as they inject insulin for whatever carbs they consume. However, understandably, Sim didn’t always want to inject, so finding low-carb or sugar-free alternatives he could enjoy needle-free brought a new realm of dietary challenges into our lives.

Just as I adapted to carb-counting, he was diagnosed with coeliac disease. Now gluten had to go too. With multiple dietary requirements to juggle, I’ve spent countless hours adapting and creating recipes to replace his once gluten-filled diet. Coincidentally, some of our closest friends were also diagnosed with food allergies around the same time, so I quickly found myself imparting knowledge and cooking for them too.

Taking my love for food, my journalistic background, and the increasing encouragement from friends and family to share what I’ve learned, it seemed a natural progression to take the leap and start a blog. I develop and write the recipes and style our shoots while Sim is the chief taste-tester and photographer extraordinaire. We hope you find something on here that helps you!