Aurelie Micah-Pearl, my daughter, came into this world at dawn on a mid-summer day in San-Diego, California. I knew that our journey together would be quite an unusual one.

Her soul came to talk to me at the very beginning of my pregnancy with an important message about her. I understood from it that her presence would bring a deep spiritual experience to my life; a meaningful, heartful journey was ahead of her. I had no idea how incredibly true this would turn out to be.

I found out she had Down Syndrome 4 hours after her birth. It was not really a surprise but more an: “Oh, that’s what she meant!!” It brought a deeper understanding of our Mission together.

At birth, she was very fragile. Being born a preemie among other challenges, she required a nasal feeding tube. Nourishing her became the one and only activity of our days with very little relief and this for a whole year. It was very demanding but it also bounded us very deeply. I was having to be overly attentive to her needs, she was being extremely dependent of my care for her survival. It took to explore and gather deep inner resources of strength to manage the extreme.

It turned out to be our vision quest for better and healthier ways to nourish her fragile body. There were wonderful coincidences that kept us moving forward and offered indubitable confirmations of the health choices I was making for her. It was a challenging time but also a very beautiful and rewarding experience.

What I was not able to avoid was the trauma that the feeding tube left on her memory cells, making it very hard for her to accept any solid food. It is so that she kept requiring pureed food years after years. For me, that meant having to prepare larger and larger quantities of these precious ingredients that went into her food. All organic vegetables, gluten free grains, detoxified meat, spices, herbs, all cooked from scratch. I started to learn Chinese Medicine nutrition to have a deeper understanding on how to balance a meal and how the food could be used to heal the body. 

I found that certain combinations of food taste better than others once blended together. Aurelie was the perfect judge on these adjustments and my recipes were given 4 stars by the time she was showing extra interest and excitement for them.

At this point in time, I have to prepare 7 to 8 cups of pureed food every single day as my daughter has grown into the beautiful teenager she is today.

Soon, it became difficult to prepare such large quantities of pureed food every day. Even though I felt rewarded in seeing how great my daughter was doing, I was experiencing increased pressure and stress. My anxiety level had risen as I had to constantly be on top of this 24/7. Was I having enough food at home? Will I have enough time to cook and get it ready before we have to leave? Could I trust myself to always find the energy and courage to do so? What if I would get too sick to cook, what if there is a shortage of power just when I need to blend? I remember having to pack for a long trip oversea and prepare all the food she needed for our long journey. There was a strong storm that night and the power went off. I got so stressed out as I knew I could not leave without her food. Fortunately the power came back after a few hours, but I only got to sleep 2 hours that night. I remember these days, when having unexpected delays would throw us off as there really was no time left extra to stay on top of things. Coming home later than expected would turn out to be very stressful as so much would still need to be done before we could have a meal.

I remember how I could not be spontaneous and would have to turn down some social events as they came too short noticed for us to get the extra food prepared. Taking a vacation was hard if not impossible with all the extra work it would take to get her food ready. It was hard, I felt exhausted all the time and socially deprived. So I started to think about ways to get ahead of myself. I froze some extra food, the challenge was to get it unfrozen at the right time or keep it fresh after that, not even talking about warming it up in a restaurant. It was also awkward to arrive with large heavy bags of food rapped in ice blocks. On top of it all, the texture would get so different, my daughter did not like it. 

Then I came with this idea of dehydrating. I got the best dehydrator on the market and put myself to work. I encountered some challenges. After some research and a few set backs, I found a way to make it perfect.

From that point on, everything changed. When in need of quick food, I scoop a few tablespoons of my “Sunny Puree” into a bowl, add some hot water, wait just a few minutes before placing a serving of warm, healthy and nourishing food in front of my daughter with a happy and relaxed smile!

One day, we were traveling back from Europe to the US and due to bad weather, had to spend an extra night in Chicago. Earlier, it would have been a nightmare as I would not have known what to give to my daughter for dinner and breakfast.  I was very lucky—I still had some packages of my “Sunny Puree” that I had taken with me on my trip. After ordering a cup of hot water in our hotel, I served her these meals with a sight of relief. We then were able to enjoy the extra adventure.

“Sunny Puree” gave me Peace of Mind. It has opened up new doors in my life as it lifted up the limitations placed on us by a special diet. It allows me to be ready to turn my face towards positive changes and have the space needed to live my life fully.

I want to pass it on to you!