Welcome!
I’m Rachel
Christian, wife, mom, and nurse
Winding Row Cottage is where I share simple, from-scratch ways to care for your faith, your family, and your home- from my perspective as a (really very nerdy) nurse and my utmost desire to live the way God designed.
Here you’ll find many of my Biblical reflections mixed with practical, everyday things you can actually do: cooking real food, growing what you can (even if it’s just a little), making simple remedies, raising babies (and chickens and hopefully rabbits soon), and creating a home that feels calm, full, and lived-in… not perfect.
I’m not doing it perfectly (not even close). I’m learning as I go, but always striving to be better, sharing what works, and inviting you in too!
To all the curious, slightly awkward lifelong learners, looking for the ways God reveals truth through growing food, raising children, and living faithfully in the ordinary.
Behind the blog
How it all started
I grew up sitting in front of the TV, eating Kid Cuisine microwave dinners alone while my single mom worked tirelessly to keep a dilapidated roof over our heads. I barely knew how to boil an egg. After college wasn’t much better, I was too focused on my career to think much about nourishment.
But after I got married and my first son was born, we faced his many health issues after a 3 week NICU stay and months on at-home oxygen. Something in me shifted. I wanted to do better for him, and for all of us. I started reading every food label, swapping out products, and buying all the “clean” and “green” brands I could find. But soon I realized: living healthy and intentionally didn’t have to be expensive or complicated. It just had to be simple and doable.
So I went back to the basics. I began teaching myself to cook from scratch using simple, whole ingredients. I stopped chasing “natural” marketing labels and started making our own soap from three simple and inexpensive ingredients. I learned to bake bread from freshly milled flour, to clean with vinegar and lard soap, and to grow what I could right in our backyard.
But, even more importantly: while keeping my family healthy is an noble goal, it is not something to obsess over in a wrong way! It will always be secondary to our spiritual health and relationship with Jesus.
