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Friday 31 October 2014

Easy dips to make in a flash


Many people say they feel stuck for snack options when it comes to real food - it can be so easy just to grab something on the run. But the perceived convenience of store-bought dips can overshadow what's inside - often, fake sugars, preservatives, hydrogenated vegetable oils and more. Not to mention the wasteful packaging.

If you have a high-powered mixing device of some kind, making your own dips is really quick and budget-friendly. You can also make extra and freeze it, ready to pull out if you have somewhere to go or people coming around (or hungry kids!).

This hommus recipe is one I used to whip up in the Thermomix before work and the beetroot and walnut dip is a current fave.

Hommus

400g cooked chickpeas (if going canned, choose BPA-free if you can (see what I did there?!)
2 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons tahini
Juice of 1 lemon
Small handful fresh coriander (optional)

What to do

Add garlic cloves and coriander (if using) to blender and blitz up, then add chickpeas, tahini and half the lemon juice. Blend together until the chickpeas are the desired consistency. If it looks a little dry, add more lemon juice. 

If you have any leftover lemon juice, add it to a glass a water for a refreshing drink!




Beetroot and walnut dip

2 large beetroot, roasted (you can do this in advance when you're using the oven for something else, then refrigerate)
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 cup walnuts
Half a large brown onion
Half teaspoon dried cumin
Small handful fresh coriander
Juice of half a lemon 

What to do
 
Peel and chop roasted beetroot and set aside. Add garlic, onion and coriander to blender and blitz up, then add all remaining ingredients and blend to desired consistency.
 

Real, simple food made easy.
 

Friday 24 October 2014

The problem with perfection



When we want to make changes in our lives, the gap between where we are now and where we want to be can often feel overwhelming. Commonly, we go in with grand plans, give it a red-hot go for a few days, and then life takes over and all your best intentions have fallen by the wayside. I’ve done this time and time again – in the quest for perfection, I’ve gone in too strong, set unrealistic expectations of myself, and failed.

Earlier this week a bunch of lovely people came along to my first film screening, of Overfed and Undernourished. Many were well on the path of eating whole foods and ‘ticking the boxes’ of living well, so to speak. Others were just embarking on their journey of cutting out junk and overhauling their lifestyle and one lady during the Q & A asked,  “Where do I start?” To this person I say: begin with the end in mind, but be gentle on yourself.

It’s so easy to get caught up in what we all ‘should’ be doing, Marketing hype about the latest super food products, and how everyone should go Paleo (I kid!). What we often forget when we dive straight into these things, is how sustainable they are long-term, because that’s what really matters. Start with your pantry, fridge and freezer and clear out anything that no longer serves you in your commitment to getting and staying well. Focus on buying real, whole foods and keep it simple by trying one or two new recipes each week. Can’t muster the energy or time to make your own version of LCM bars for the kids this week? Check out some ideas on Wholefood Simply but if you don’t get to it until next week or the week after, that’s okay. Just set the intention and follow through. Change doesn’t have to happen all at once – and in fact I’d argue it’s more sustainable long-term if it doesn’t.

What matters is progress. If I’d waited until I had 15 minutes of quiet time to myself each day to do yoga, I’d never have a daily practice. And so often, it’s just five minutes,  often with a toddler mimicking my moves, or climbing all over me! The same can be said for this website - it needs a lot of work, but i'm not going to stop writing and sharing just because it doesn't look or function as well as i'd like it to. 

Do what you can, with what you have and be kind to yourself! 

Monday 13 October 2014

Wellness Family Summit: Free online event


Attending the Wellness Summit in Melbourne was a life-changing event for me. In the two months since, I've cut out gluten from my diet completely, I practice yoga every day, and I have a renewed sense of purpose and direction. This experience has demonstrated for me just how powerful knowledge and commitment can be in taking charge of our own health.
An event based in the US, The Wellness Family Summit brings together 30 experts in the field of health and wellness to deliver talks on autoimmune disease, thyroid and adrenal health, how food affects children's behaviour, reversing leaky gut and much, much more. A free event running October 13-20, this is an amazing opportunity to expand your knowledge and create change for yourself. Below is a snapshot of just some of the presentations that are going to be available. 
If you register for the event, you'll be able to stream any presentation you like for a 48 hour period. After that, you can purchase digital access for unlimited viewing if desired.
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The event has been organised by Katie from www.wellnessmama.com who says,  “I wanted to create a resource that would make the journey easier for other families than it was for me, and that would be a one-stop resource for switching to a healthier, more natural lifestyle without breaking the bank.”
I can't wait to get stuck into it! If you're interested too - register now

Thursday 9 October 2014

Not so plastic fantastic

Eight broken 'clam' pools, three kid's potty's, and countless pieces of water-swelled furniture are just some of the things I noticed on the nature strips of my neighborhood while out walking this morning. Each day the piles grow larger in anticipation of the council hard-rubbish collection, which happens each Spring in metropolitan Melbourne. They grow smaller too, thanks to opportunistic folk like us who cast a discerning eye over other peoples castoffs in search of something worth nabbing (a potty has been on our shopping list!).

I find I'm equal parts horrified and excited when hard-rubbish season rolls around: it's the ugly underbelly of mindless consumption en masse, where the spoils of planned obsolescence are in plain sight for all to see. The trouble is, we don't really see it for what it is. The broken printers, cheap plastic, unfashionable gadgets which were once so shiny, new and coveted, are simply replaced by more shiny, new and coveted things and so the cycle continues. 



October is Buy Nothing New Month and i'm sure it's no accident that it coincides with hard rubbish collection in many municipal councils. Keeping things out of landfill and giving them a new life is one of the great joys of hard rubbish season, I'd just love to see more conscious awareness of our consumption habits in the first place - Australians spend over $10 billion each year on goods we never use, clothes we never wear and food we never eat.

Often, mindless consumption happens because we're looking to fill a void in our lives and so we plug that void with material things. Marketing tells us that our self-worth is tied to doing or having stuff. It's all around us, and even if we're aware, it's challenging to detach from this way of thinking because in Western culture today most of us have been inoculated into a materialist consumption mindset from early childhood. 

The 1999 film Fight Club is a confronting example of the excesses of materialist consumption and this quote from the film, while bleak, sums things up pretty well I think:


"Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes. working jobs we hate, so we can buy shit we don't need." Tyler Durden, Fight Club 
So what to do? Get in touch with your true values, ask yourself if you really need or desire that next thing on your wish list, bring awareness to your spending and look to buy secondhand or borrow from a friend. Most of us have too much stuff, cluttering our homes and our minds (me included!)
Affirmation: 
"I make purchasing decisions with conscious awareness, understanding that my happiness depends on the work I do on my internal Self, not on the things I acquire."