Pictures: Susannah Blatchford.
She overcame an eating disorder to create the healthy-eating brand Two Raw Sisters and star in TVNZ’s My Dream Green Home, but Rosa Power is now facing her biggest challenge yet.
In March, Rosa – who established the Two Raw Sisters recipe platform with her sister Margo Flanagan five years ago – married her longtime partner, farmer/farm advisor Rupert Power.
Shortly afterwards, the Christchurch-based couple announced their pregnancy on Instagram, with Rosa, 28, writing the words “baby” on her stomach.
“So far, I’ve been really lucky with morning sickness, but I did suffer from terrible nausea during my first trimester,” says Rosa, whose first child is due in November.
The mum-to-be, who’s won thousands of fans on social media for her predominantly plant-based recipes, admits she hasn’t experienced any unusual food cravings to date.
“I did go off red meat for a while and had to prepare dinner in the morning because cooking smells later in the day really got to me,” she tells. “But at Two Raw Sisters, we often speak about prepping food in advance to make life easy, so that wasn’t an issue.”
Picking a name for their daughter, however, is proving to be more of a challenge.
“I had a boy’s name sorted, so when we found out we were having a girl, we struggled a bit. We’re finding it hard to decide.”
Rosa and Margo, 25, are used to living life at full throttle, but this year has been busier than usual. They’ve launched a new podcast and their TV debut, which saw them help Kiwis establish pantries and urban vegetable gardens.
“Being on My Dream Green Home was an awesome opportunity for us. We got to show how we can all live more sustainably,” says Margo. “A lot of people think sustainability has to do with solar panels and electric cars. However, it also involves things such as growing a vege garden and swapping out ingredients in a recipe for whatever you’ve got in your pantry. Sustainability doesn’t have to cost a lot of money.”
The siblings also felt thrilled for the chance to introduce viewers to their favourite concept of “intelligent laziness”, a term they coined a few years ago to save time and money.
“Most of us don’t have the time or desire to be in the kitchen three times a day, seven days a week,” says Margo. “But if you can prep the week’s food on a Sunday by batch cooking, that can save you so much time and money.”
It’s one of the many topics the Canterbury-born siblings discuss in their weekly podcast, which launched in July.
“We talk about everything from nutrition and health to what we’re having for dinner,” tells Margo. “We’re just having lots of banter and laughs.”
For Rosa, the podcast was also a chance to get serious about the eating disorder that plagued her for years.
“I was a middle-distance runner training for a spot at the Tokyo Olympics and completing a nutrition degree. My manic schedule led to disordered eating because I was overtraining and under-eating. I only had 4% body fat, which is why I didn’t get my period until I was 20.”
Margo, meanwhile, was suffering with her own health issues. Contracting chronic fatigue syndrome when she was 17 meant she was unable to get out of bed for 18 months.
Attending a Los Angeles culinary school, where the focus was largely on raw and plant-based food, helped put the duo back on the path to healthy eating. It eventually led to their Two Raw Sisters business.
So popular has their message proved that they’re about to release their fifth cookbook, More Salad. It’s a follow-up to Salad, the biggest selling New Zealand cookbook of 2021.
“We’re not vege or vegan, but we believe in eating everything in moderation,” explains Rosa. “We’re all about creating recipes with good ingredients that make you feel physically and mentally healthy.”
She believes becoming a mother won’t affect the sisters’ strong bond.
“We’ve always done everything together and the baby won’t change that. Margo absolutely loves babies, and is always asking me how I am and making sure I’m eating the right food. She’s so excited to be an aunty.”
The only cloud on the horizon is Margo’s planned move to Melbourne next year with her music producer/musician partner Will McGillivray.
“Melbourne has long been on the cards for us. We want to build the Two Raw Sisters brand in the Australian market,” tells Margo. “And Will wants to explore the work opportunities over there. But Rosa and I have planned it so that we can run our business from anywhere.
“We’ll still be focused on the workshops, the podcast and our app. I’ll also be popping back to Christchurch every few months to see my niece. I can’t wait to see her grow up!”
More Salad ($50, Allen & Unwin) is out Tuesday.
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