posts

Posted on

Courage to live an authentic life..

People don’t usually wake up one day and suddenly decide they’re not happy with their lives… it’s a gradual thing.. it creeps up on you when you’re not paying attention. It gets down into the crevices of your heart, tucks itself into the secret parts of you that you no longer bother to pay attention to because you’re just so gosh darn busy with the perpetual motion of day to day life.

It often manifests itself in strange and unrelated ways:
– The ‘blah’ you feel when you wake up in the morning..
– How annoying slow people are in the supermarket or on the road..
– The way your ‘fuse’ gets shorter and shorter, or people just become harder and harder to be patient with..

And then you realise: it’s not them – it’s you.

There’s a brief feeling of falling when you realise you’re not excited about life anymore… it’s sort of like you’ve been falling the whole time but you’ve only just realised that the hard earth is fast approaching – and you scramble to open your parachute and then wonder if you even have one.

Because the process of change is a lot like realising you might not have a parachute.. and change can HURT. It’s scary stuff. You might lose friends, lovers, you might just lose yourself.

And the moment you realise you need to change? The ah-ha moment.. the epiphany.. the lightbulb going on above your head?

Its often a glimpse of joy that is so bright, that lifts you up and takes you by surprise and makes you feel alive – that brief moment where you realise that this is how you want to feel. 

There’s a lot of inner work that needs to be done at this point. If you want to capture that feeling again – you need to work out what floats your boat and pushes your buttons.. and you can’t base this around what other people are doing that looks cool, interesting or seems like what you should be doing to be happy. It’s got to come from you.

One of the best parts about your change journey is rediscovering your passions… focussing on the experiences and actions that make you feel alive again. Awake. Fully present and accounted for in your own life. Its a wonderful, truly magical time of discovery and energy.

I often encourage people to write these things down… keep a gratitude journal.. articulate what you are learning and experiencing and feeling – and do this just for you. (The process of writing is another step to manifestation after all)

At this point you are already changing… because you’ve decided that you can’t just go back to sleep now.. you know what you have been missing out on.

But the process of real change is tough. If you want to live a fully present, authentic life then you simply cannot keep doing the same things you’ve always done, you can’t even necessarily keep the same people in your life (particularly if they themselves don’t embrace change, or have any desire to be their best and happiest selves) and this is the hard part: letting go of the people and things you know, to allow space in your life for the unknown. To take the risk because you know that the brief moments of falling can actually feel like you are flying – it’s all a matter of perspective. 

And sometimes you can actually hit the ground, knock the wind right out of you – lie there on your back, struggling to breathe and wonder how the heck you are going to be able to move again… or you can bounce. You can jump up, run over to the plane and head back up into the sky for your next adventure…..

Posted on

Enjoying your own company..

2014 has been a year of change.. a year of contrasting highs and lows. I’m so proud of what I have accomplished, but I know that it’s meant a lot of change both in me as a person, and in my life.

The past couple of weeks I’ve spent a lot of time alone… remembering how it feels to be in my own company. Doing things like lots of walking, taking pictures, getting pedicures, full body massages, re-organising my closets, meditating, enjoying the feel of grass under my feet.. and eating by myself, being fully present in the moment, enjoying and savouring each bite.

I’m happy to report that I still enjoy my own company…

As human beings we crave contact with other people, we seek out others for companionship, to validate us, make us feel special, to avoid dealing with our own insecurities and to hide behind the noise of day to day interactions. When we’re not with others, we’re on social media platforms – we instagram, tweet, Facebook post and stalk, anything to avoid being alone. Alone physically, emotionally and alone with our thoughts.

What is so scary about our inner selves that we constantly avoid our own company?

Why do we buffer our experiences to avoid being alone?

Personally I’ve learned so much about myself in these past weeks. I’ve re-learned the beauty of silence, and spent time embracing my inner voice.. I’ve faced my fears (and still am) and worked out the things that are truly important to me. I feel like I still need to spend some time alone with myself.. and its almost like this sacred time will allow me to move to the next phase of my life. Whatever it may be…

I’m not afraid of what I’ve found when I look within.. and thats an incredibly empowering feeling. When you know yourself and you know your true passions, hopes, dreams and fears.. there is a mastery of self and the ability to live your life in the present moment. It’s not all roses and champagne.. theres a lot of gunk and detritus to work through.. but the end result is the ability to enjoy your own company, and that is a gift you deserve to give yourself.

There is a slight catch – you have to do the work .

 

Posted on

Gluten-free, Organic Blueberry Muffins (w/ Dark Choc Buttercream)

NB: always go for organic blueberries – even frozen, unless these are certified organic, they can be covered in pesticides and nasty chemicals

2 cups ’free from gluten’ self raising flour
1/2 tsp salt (two medium pinches!)
1 large egg
1/2 block Whittakers Dark Cacao Chocolate
1 cup granulated sugar
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup plus 3 Tbsp unsweetened Greek yogurt
1 cup fresh ORGANIC blueberries

Method

  • Remember to save about 1/4 of a cup of smaller blueberries to place on top of your muffins
  • Put cupcake holders into your muffin tin and put this to one side.
  • Preheat the oven to around 220 degrees.
  • In a large mixing bowl or in a mixer whisk egg for 20 seconds.
  • Add sugar and whisk until smooth and thick.
  • Add oil and continue to mix.
  • Add sour cream and mix till smooth.
  • Slowly sift in the gluten free flour, add berries and stir in until evenly distributed.
  • Fold in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a rubber spatula.
  • Do not overmix.

Scoop the batter with an ice cream scoop (or two tablespoons) into the muffin tins. Melt 1/2 large bar Whittakers Dark Cacao Chocolate in a double boiler – then drizzle through the muffin mixture to create chocolate `streams` in the muffins) Bake the muffins for 21 to 23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of each muffin comes out clean.

Cool on the bench. Perhaps test one whilst they are warm tho, just to be sure… 

 

Chocolate Buttercream

  • 60g butter
  • 2 cups of Chelsea Icing Sugar
  • The other half of the Whittakers Dark Cacao Chocolate, melted in a double boiler.

NB: literally just throw the butter and icing sugar into your mixer, and when it starts to `cream` drizzle in the melted dark chocolate.

 

Once your muffins are completely cool you can SCHMEAR this on the top of each muffin, and add a blueberry to the top… I doubled the mixture above, and these still went in around 30 minutes… they are a wonderfully moist delicious treat.

 

 

Posted on

Change: and the important business of being AUTHENTIC

‘Death & Taxes are the only constant in life’ – or so the saying goes.. I’d disagree a little and say that change is the true constant.

Even though I haven’t felt like I have grown/been challenged in a professional sense for some time, theres certainly been a evolution of my spirit and my outlook on life.

I remember back to when I first undertook Coach training, born out of an incredibly deep-seated desire to help people – yet I was so afraid that people wouldn’t take me seriously, or value what I had to offer, that I became so focussed on people perceiving me as professional, and that overtook my real aspects of value:

The ability to empathise

My intuition

My spirituality 

Genuine desire to connect and to help

My (very) cheeky sense of humour

This spilled into my ‘day job’ too, and for so long I was focussed on proving myself, being ‘outcome focussed’ – ‘committed to delivery’ and all those typical phrases we throw around in HR. I wasn’t true to myself and being so utterly focussed on one aspect of your personality is stifling.

A couple of years ago, I got a new boss.. this woman was everything that had been lacking up till that point, she was warm, honest, genuinely looked out for my team and I, had my back, and not to mention had a wicked sense of humour to boot! So for the first time in a long time, I felt as though I could in turn be myself.. and my sense of humour and enjoyment of my job increased exponentially as a result.

When people are genuine and authentic – it encourages others to be authentic in return.

Women in the workplace can feel threatened by other women, they often feel like they need to overcompensate, or even put others down and bully them to make themselves look better.. and it’s damaging. A lot of the behaviour is false, two-faced and downright mean.

We are not robots. We have emotions, feelings – and more often than not, when we are in tune with these aspects of ourselves, and being our full, true, authentic selves – we thrive.

I’ve realised that I have very little energy, time or interest in collaborating with people who insist on playing this game. And through that realisation, and my ongoing desire to be authentic in what I do, I’ve bought authentic people into my life – we can’t avoid the bullies all the time at work, but we can decide how much energy and thought we spend on them.

So as I continue to move towards my passions with greater velocity, I look back with an increasingly clear head about where I am in my life – professionally, personally, mentally, emotionally and spirituality – and I’m proud to say that its been my hard work and determination, combined with an attitude of gratitude for some pretty special people in my life, that has allowed this change… 10 years ago I would have never shared my thoughts and emotions in such a public way, but if by sharing myself and being authentic allows others the grace to do this to, then that will be the most rewarding part of all.

 

Posted on

Quinoa Salad: Two Ways

We’ve been hearing a lot of talk about Quinoa over the past few years, and it has a well deserved reputation as a ‘super grain’… it doesn’t have to be a pain to make this in your salads, and one of the best ways to prepare the grain of use is through utilising your trusty rice cooker.

Today I made two salads from the same double batch of red Quinoa:

  • Spicy Quinoa & Black Bean Salad
  • Fresh Quinoa, Butternut Squash, Feta, and Spinach Salad

 

Spicy Quinoa & Black Bean Salad
2 cups of organic red quinoa, rinsed in fresh water, drained, then cooked in a rice cooker covered in 4 cups of fresh cool water for 15 minutes. (this will give you soft fluffy quinoa with minimal effort)

  • Put this into a large bowl and let it cool.

In a separate bowl, add the following ingredients:
Finely diced 1/2 onion
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
Juice of two limes
Circa 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1x finely chopped green capsicum
1x tin of drained black beans
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons of the hot sauce of your choice
Finely chopped coriander
3/4 cup finely diced celery

Once the Quinoa is cool, stir through the mixture, combine, add salt & pepper liberally and serve. I also added a couple of handfuls of baby spinach leaves (always try and use up what is fresh in the fridge where possible)

 

Fresh Quinoa, Butternut Squash, Feta, and Spinach Salad
Prepare the quinoa as above, then in a bowl, combine the following:

Finely diced red onion
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1x medium sized diced cooked & cooled butternut squash*
Finely diced celery
Circa 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or sub for white or red wine vinegar at a pinch – not balsamic as it will over power the flavour)
3/4 cup finely diced capsicum
One large handful fresh parsley chopped very finely

Crumble in around 150g feta then add to the cooled quinoa and stir through.

Add to this 3-4 handfuls of baby spinach leaves before serving. Don’t forget to season with salt and pepper – and if you think it needs a kick – squeeze a little lemon or lime juice and toss through as this makes the flavours come alive.

  • Dice the butternut squash finely, into 1cm cubes, coast in olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in the oven on 18 for circa 18-20 minutes or until cooked.

 

 

Posted on

The things we humans obsess over (Part 3)

I’ve had several conversations about this of late, both face to face as well as online… and if I were to define this aspect of contemporary human obsession it would be “online persona“… let me dig a little deeper here and explain what I mean:

You’re in a room gathered together with a bunch of friends, on the pretence of ‘catching up’ – at any one time you will have:
One person texting, pxting or checking their emails
One person wanting to take pics of you all together to post later (once they’ve edited our their dark circles, wrinkles or spots)
One person checking and/ or sending a snapchat, checking into foursquare (for some reason people still use this?)
Three people posting pics of their food to instagram/ twitter / facebook
One person updating Facebook to tell the world that you’re all there in this location, having SO MUCH FUN, tagging you all to articulate that fact..

You’re all there, together, but you’re not.

Since when did posting about what you are doing, rather than being in the moment and experiencing it become more important?!

We are so obsessed with trying to reassure the world that we lead these awesome, exciting, glamorous lives, that we’re not even living them. 

How do I know this? I’m part of it. I blog, tweet, update, instagram, snapchat along with everyone.. but it bugs me that in a room full of people, I can be the only person who leaves their phone in their bag. It’s a sign of respect, of wanting to actually listen and engage with the people you are physically with. And its amazing what it can do for the quality of conversation.

Why are we so obsessed with creating this online persona? This BEST person that we could possibly be? The one with the flawless pics, interesting social life and outgoing winning personality? We work SO HARD on this, and then spend the rest of the time trying to live up to this unrealistic image and expectation that we have created for ourselves…

And we wonder why people are more unhappy now than ever before?

Perhaps if we spent a little more time barefoot, walking on the grass, or dragging our toes across the sand, and left the smartphone at home for a wee bit, we’d start to experience our lives again in an organic way. We could connect in the ways that humans are supposed to, with conversation, listening, smiles, questions, touch and laughter.

 

Rather than WIFI.

 

 

 

Posted on

Sunday Muffins: Zucchini, Mushroom, Onion & Feta

Since I had bought these amazing portobello mushrooms, I was determined to make as many yummy things with them as possible (hence the stuffed mushrooms of Friday morning, and the Brunch Bake with mushrooms today)

We are HUGE fans of my savoury muffins, and they don’t last long around here… I thought that I had actually already posted a recipe for my (literally award winning) muffins before because I have shared this one so many times… turns out, no.. and now (since going through my nutritional healthcare course) I have made a few subs to most things (in particular for this one, subbing out white self raising flour for certified organic wholemeal flour – yus!)

You can literally use this muffin recipe and sub in and out your favourite things – the key binding ingredients and the stuff that makes them moist and delicious just must remain the same, in the same quantities:

2 cups organic wholemeal flour
2 eggs (beaten lightly with a fork)
1 cup light milk
1/2 cup sour cream or aioli
2 cups grated cheese

You literally just combine all the above and add what you want for the unique flavours… for these ones I added:

Finely diced onion
Finely diced streaky bacon
Roughly diced portobello mushrooms (remember that mushrooms naturally shrink when you cook them)
Finely diced zucchini
150g crumbled feta
Cracked pepper, and circa 1/2 teaspoon salt (most people don’t season their muffins, bread etc and it makes them BLAND.. trust me, this makes a HUGE batch and therefore it’s not a lot of salt given the size of the mixture)

I combined the above, stirring till fully combined, and then used two spoons to put into the muffin cups.. when full to the top (remember – there is no raising agent so fill them to the top) I put a small handful of pumpkin seeds on top (these toast beautifully and add a crunch and butteriness to the muffins) I have also used pine nuts and sesame seeds before.

Best to TRY and let them cool down, as they are quite gooey when they come out of the oven… these should be baked around 180 for circa 12 minutes or when they go golden brown on top.

This combo NEVER FAILS. I have made muffins with chorizo, with carrot, sausage, you name it – whatever flavour combos you love can be combined and this mix will make them MOIST and delicious.

 

Posted on

Easy Breakfast Bake

After consuming the better part of an easter egg for breakfast this morning, I decided we needed something a little bit more nutritious for brunch… this took circa 5 mins prep (chopping, fetching ingredients) 7 mins in the pan, and a further 10 mins in the oven (which was ample time to get the vogels into the toaster!)

INGREDIENTS/ METHOD
Finely diced 1/2 medium sized onion
Circa 100g streaky bacon sliced finely (helps it cook faster)
1x large zucchini diced evenly

Toss this all into a large frypan, start heating through…

5x medium sized portobello mushrooms (diced about the same size as the zucchini) thrown into the pan, continue heating through
Add circa 1.5 teaspoons of basil pesto
Then crumble around 100-150g feta and fold in (don’t stir as you want this chunky as it melts)

Pour everything into an oven proof dish (which you will serve it in) then make two ‘wells’ in the dish – crack in two fresh eggs into the wells, and pop the whole dish in the oven on high…

This is the part where you clean as you go… the vogels goes in the toaster, you wrap up/ store/ refrigerate any ingredients not used, wipe your benches, and then put out the cutlery and finely dice fresh parsley for your garnish.

Serve with cut and buttered toast on the side, little plates, spoons for digging in – and don’t forget to pop a wooden chopping board underneath the dish!

Enjoy 🙂

 

Posted on

Spicy Thai Chicken & Basil Mince on Cous Leaves

So I found a recipe for this dish, which I LOVED in Thailiand… and I changed it, this traditional dish is called LARB.

INGREDIENTS
500g Chicken Mince
3 cloves minced garlic
2x thumb sized nubs of fresh ginger chopped as fine as you can get them
4x teaspoons crushed chilli
2x small pinches of kaffir lime leaves
2x tablespoons oyster or fish sauce
circa 1x teaspoon minced lemongrass
2x tablespoons chicken stock (powdered)
1x tablespoon brown sugar
3x spring onions roughly chopped
small handful coriander roughy chopped
Large handful of fresh basil roughly chopped (which goes in right at the end)

METHOD
Add the garlic, ginger, chilli to a wok with oil, once this softens, add the chicken mince and turn to high. Cook through and as this is cooking add the stock.

Slowly add the remainder of the ingredients – stirring continuously: fish sauce, brown sugar, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, spring onions, coriander… just before you are ready to serve, add the basil so it’s fragrance will be one of the first things you smell…

I then spooned this mixture onto washed/rinsed cous lettuce leaves, onto a platter and you’re ready to serve.

This was my first time trying the dish and I have to say, it was AMAZING.. as with anything, follow your instincts, taste as you go, and don’t forget that thai dishes are all about balancing your sweet, sour, freshness, crunch, and spice…

This took about 10 mins to prep, 15 to cook in the wok and 3 mins to serve up…