the *I Quit Sugar* bundle deal offer!

Well my I Quit Sugar Cookbook has been available for a few weeks now…thank you to everyone who has bought it, and given such kind feedback. I’ve loved seeing all your recipe photos, and hearing your enthusiasm about your own “sugar quittage” journeys. If by chance you don’t have the original I Quit Sugar ebook, … Read more

look who else rides a bike and doesn’t wear a helmet…

How rad. David Byrne from Talking Heads is a big bike banger-on-erer. And he makes a good point. The New York Times just ran a video interview with him. [youtube]http://youtu.be/37IDIUOJA6s[/youtube] I’m a non-helmet wearer (I wear one on big rides or dangerous roads)…ditto Byrne for the same reason. Oh, people get arked up about it…for … Read more

my green cheesy mish mash soup. with a video!

I’ve posted a few of my recipes with videos lately. If you’re new to this neighbourhood, you might like to check out my avocado and coconut water popsicles, and my bacon and egg cupcakes.

But today, we’re going to whip up my green cheesy mish mash soup. From my I Quit Sugar Cookbook.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fovExEaK8HQ&feature=plcp[/youtube]

This is a recipe you can make using a normal soup-making method (that is, fry up ingredients, add stock, and then puree). But just as I was putting together my I Quit Sugar Cookbook, I was introduced to the Tefal Soup & Co soup maker. I had a play with it as I was testing my recipes and found it made my stupidly simple and efficient recipes even more so. So, in this video, I show how you can make it with this soup maker. It basically

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are you feeling social media-obliged?

A few weeks ago a bunch of “followers” on Twitter arked up about the fact I don’t follow all the people who follow me. One tweet (twit?) said I was arrogant for not doing so. For keeping my “follows” so low.

Screen Shot 2012 05 31 at 2.28.38 PM are you feeling social media-obliged?
image via beachbungalow8

Funnily, the brohaha was sparked by my tweet that shared how I seek more nourishing conversation from humanity…and engagement that gets down to the real heart of our vulnerability…the “ugly private stuff”. Mum and I had been talking about this during my visit back to Canberra. She got up to make some tea and so I tweeted where we’d got to.

By “ugly private stuff”, I mean the stuff about us that isn’t easy to gloss over. You know when you go home late, after a party, and catch yourself in the mirror and you look in your own eyes and you see yourself fully. No guises, no persona, no show. No empty conversations, no platitudes, no filling gaps. That’s what I want to see in others, to know about in others…

It takes a fair bit for me to get fired up about anything gossipy and nasty-ish online. Mostly I just treat it as a ball flying towards me…and that just passes me buy… and fizzles to a flaccid, uneventful plop somewhere in the distance behind me. It comes from years of working in media and learning that the best way to deal with nasty

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Beetroot and liquorice soup…with a twist. Our competition winners!

A few weeks ago I posted a recipe competition – bloggers who blogged about one of the recipes from I Quit Sugar Cookbook had the chance to win three copies of my cookbook to give away to their readers.

beetrootsoup Beetroot and liquorice soup...with a twist. Our competition winners!
beetroot and liquorice soup, photo by Susan Papazian

So many of you entered and it was so much fun looking at your dishes. But – in the words of a certain former MasterChef hostess – there can only be one (actually, three) winner(s). If I call out your name, could you please step forward…

Susan Papazian

Susan made the beetroot and liquorice soup, with ground fennel seeds. (I love the photography!) You can see Susan’s winning post here.

Megan from Veggies and me

Megan made the coriander pesto, and sweet potato soup (pictured below). I also loved the sneak peak into her

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A Friday giveaway! 25 Loving Earth “almond butter bark” packs

Because it’s a Friday. And because you might be in a baking frame of mind, with the weekend looming…I thought it might be nice to do another giveaway. This time Loving Earth are generously giving away

25 almond butter bark packs, each valued at $20 

Each pack contains coconut flakes and cacao nibs, to help get you geared up to make my almond butter bark, one of the sweet treats in my I Quit Sugar Cookbook.

ALMONDBUTTERBARK 243 A Friday giveaway! 25 Loving Earth "almond butter bark" packs
photography by Marija Ivkovic

I’m a fan of Loving Earth – their products, and their ethos. Everything is sugar, dairy and gluten free, as well as being minimally processed, and not made with synthetic fertilizers, chemical pesticides, or herbicides. And if you’ve bought my cookbook, you’d have noticed a lot of their products throughout!

To be in the running to win one of these packs, simply buy your copy of the I Quit Sugar Cookbook by clicking

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what I pack to travel…15kg and I’m outta here

I’ve been asked too many times to share how I pack to travel to not document things as I packed for this trip. And, between you and I, I’m glad there are others out there who get odd satisfaction from discussing this kind of stuff.

what I pack to travel...15kg and I'm outta here

(Of course, by the time you read this, I’ll have departed overseas. The magic of WordPress scheduling!)

As a rule, I travel carry-on. I can survive with one small case for up to two weeks. But this time I’ll be away a few months, and I’ll be in different climates, so I have to get a bit indulgent.  That said, my aim is to keep things under 15kg. Why? I can only say I’m ludicrously obsessed with streamlining my life and travelling light. My mates have responded to all this by saying, “Oh, it’s better to buy it over there”. Hmph, I respond. I probably won’t even do much of that. I just find stuff so heavy….

Some basic principles

These are some of the tricks entailed in my light travelling, especially when travelling carry-on:

* wear all your heavy, bulky gear on the plane (boots, jacket, jeans)

* pack thin layers (wool and silk is best)

* pack a cardigan that can double as a scarf

* streamline your beauty case. I use Jojoba oil for cleansing, face cream and body cream, for instance. I also drop into department stores and ask for “testers” of my favourite face scrub.

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how to publish an ebook

Consider this more of a “do as I say, not as I did” kind of instructional manual. For, if I can say upfront, it’s a requisite of publishing an ebook to make mistakes, not know what you’re doing, get frustrated, bounce between different designers, programmers, programs, formats….oh, my! Enter this world and know this! And also be kind to yourself once ensconced. Everyone gets it wrong! No one knows what they’re doing! Just enter the fray and play, I say.

wreckthisjournal1 how to publish an ebook
Image by Kimberly Ripley

It’s also a tricky topic to actually find information on. This saddens me: many folk are very guarded as to how they do their ebooks, presumably because they’re hesitant to share their secrets to their success. And it has astounded me how often Jo and I encounter people who try to get “inside info” from us in the most tricky, surreptitious ways…instead of just coming out and asking for help. I’m more than happy to share what I know, and my contacts…although, it’s still a working experiment for me. I’m still playing in the fray.

I’ve published two ebooks now:

* I Quit Sugar ebook

*I Quit Sugar Cookbook

And both entailed very different approaches. My next ebook will be done differently again.

But hopefully these tips will help you get started…

The first step

Decide whether you’re going to release your book just as a pdf (a document that you scroll down and can be read on a computer as well as on eReaders, but only as a pdf document). Lots of folk are happy with this option.

Or whether you’d also like to release it in the eReader formats (that is, readable as an ebook specifically designed and programed for the ipad, kindle, Nook etc). When you release in the eReader formats (called epub and mobi) they can also be uploaded and sold on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ibookstore etc.

One thing to bear in mind: the eReader formats are a lot more clunky than the pdf versions. With the latter you

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snacks of the great scribblers

I recently found this article in the New York Times. Artist Wendy MacNaughton is obviously as obsessed as I am with famous writer’s daily routines and has compiled some illustrations of the quirky stuff pen folk turn to to get the right jolt of energy as they tap away.

Screen Shot 2012 05 24 at 3.48.15 PM snacks of the great scribblersI like that Maynard eats lime popsicles. Which just happens to be a recipe in my I Quit Sugar Cookbook.

Screen Shot 2012 05 24 at 3.49.00 PM snacks of the great scribblersI like that Walt…actually I just like Walt…eats protein. Ditto me.

Screen Shot 2012 05 24 at 3.48.51 PM snacks of the great scribblersI, too, drink tea from a glass. Always.

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