Yahoo Lifestyle 
The Sydney mum who hunts her own meat
Three years ago, Kadeja Assaad was an award-winning weddings and events planner, and baker.
Her glamorous life revolved around whipping up perfect parties of all kinds, and flawless, complicated cakes.
But having grown up hiking, fishing and hunting with her dad and brothers, the call of the wild never left the mum of four, and eventually she decided to make a dramatic lifestyle change – and one which challenges a host of cultural gender norms.
"When we were young my dad always took us fishing and hiking and things like that," Kadeja, from western Sydney, told Be. "My dad's a bird hunter – he hunts quails and ducks, whatever he needed to eat.
"Watching him and my brothers going out a few years ago made me feel like, 'I really want to do it'."
Before she became a full-time hunter three years ago, Kadeja was an events organiser.
"I've got the glamour side as well because I used to be a wedding planner," Kadeja explained.
"I used to have a business called Kadz Cakes and Events and I won awards for that. I still help out with my old customers if they need help. It's still within me – i still love decorating and doing the flowers."
As a Muslim woman, Kadeja is breaking down some cultural gender barriers by taking to the field.
"In general, with women, they look after the kids and they cook and clean, but I decided 'No, I'm going to cross the boundaries and I can't just wait for my dad to bring back the meat'," she told Be.
"I thought, 'I want to feed my kids, I want to feed them clean food'."
Kadeja said she doesn't take pleasure in killing – it's about providing for her family.
"We made sure that I had good aim before I first went out because we don't want to put any animals in pain," she said.
And she's raised her children, Noura 17, Sabrina 15, Khaled 11, and Mariam, 9, to know consider hunting a normal part of life.
"I've got four kids. The two older daughters are 17 and 15, my son is 11 and my youngest daughter is nine," Kadeja said.
"The two older ones have their permits, I take them to the range but not in hunting. The oldest one is hoping to get a sponsored to go into the sports side.
"I teach them the safety rules and make sure it's part of their lifestyle. I'm a hunter and a firearms owner, so I've got to make sure my kids know the rules, and I make sure that they understand that you've got to work hard to be a success in life."
Not only does Kadeja hunt her own meat, but she butchers her kills as well.
"It's not an enjoyable thing, cutting them up and seeing the blood and all that," she admitted, "but I just see it as a blessing. Being able to harvest your own meat and knowing what you're collecting."
Kadeja has always considered hunting, and being in the outdoors, therapeutic.
"After my baking I used to go out into the woods to collect myself, out there in the clear fields and the clean air. It's just beautiful being out there," she said.
"Sometimes i come back from a hunt with no meat, but I always call it a successful trip, because it's just so beautiful.
"We're blessed with such a beautiful country, the views out there. I urge everyone to get out there, even if it's just for a bushwalk."
Kadeja's slow-cooked Lebanese venison
2 large venison back straps, diced
5 large onions
1 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
2 tablespoons of butter
Cracked salt and pepper to season the meat
100 ml of pomegranate sauce
4 to 5 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 litre of boiled water
Season the meat with cracked salt and pepper.
Chop the onions – don't cry!
Add butter to the slow cooker, then add the chopped onions, pomegranate sauce and tomato paste. Add one and a half teaspoon of sea salt. Dilute the sauces with one litre of boiled water. Add venison.
Cover, cook on high for half an hour then switch slow cooker to low and leave it for minimum eight to ten hours. Serve with rice.
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