my christmas gift guide

This year Jo and I ummed and ahhed about how to do our Christmas gift guide. We get a lot of products thrown at us at Christmas time, and sometimes things can get grubby, with folk wanting to pay me to have their product in the list and sending me guff I don’t need to “try”. So, we decided we’d do a guide, but only include products that we know are authentic, and make life better. They’re bits and pieces that interest bike riders, foodies and people wanting a simpler, greener Christmas. Certainly not exhaustive.

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image via All Things Australian

Instead of accepting  ad cash I’m inviting everyone who’s getting a guernsey in this guide to donate $100 to a woman I’ve recently met who could do with some help this Christmas. Belma cleans my friend’s house and I’ve got to know her while staying there the past two months. Belma recently suffered tragedy and is in a really rough position. You can read her story here.  The gist of it is below:

Sydney cleaner, Belma Wilson has lost everything in a fire that destroyed her home and left her husband with burns to 30 per cent of his body. Ms Wilson, 49, told The Australian Women’s Weekly she was distraught but very lucky to be staying in a friend’s tiny studio apartment with her three children. “We don’t have the documents. Our passports and everything … all gone,” Ms Wilson said. “The clothes we wore on that day are all we have. We’re back to zero again.” Attempts by The Weekly to assist the family failed last night as NSW Emergency Housing admitted that without any documentation the department, like Centrelink was unable to assist. Instead The Weekly was referred to Sydney Multicultural Community Services, a non-Government body set up to assist where families who did not speak English as a first language. However, at the time of publication they could not be contacted. The family, which is in shock, is living on the assistance of friends who have donated food but they have no possessions.

Many of the gift guide contributors have promised their support to Belma and her family and I’d like to thank them heartily for their care.

If you’d also like to donate gifts/food to make her family’s Christmas better, her account details are below. If it feels right. And, no, she’s no relation of mine! My friend Helen and I will be organising food for her Christmas day. I’ll be sure to follow up in the New Year with an update on Belma, too.

Account Name: Belma Wilson
Branch: ANZ
BSB: 012 395
Account no: 487605852

And now to the gift guide!

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For your mum:  the classic herb trio, by Green Thumb Gifts, for $65. This is one of my favourites. The classic herb trio of fresh rosemary, mint and parsley, in quaint pots. These can sit in the kitchen for everyday use. Green Thumb

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I’d hate to plan your funeral

How do you make a man drink? As in, how does a woman convince a bloke of something that she cares about? You can lead him to the water, but getting him to imbibe is another matter. Which is a weird way to introduce a new TAC (Transport Accident Commission) campaign geared at getting women to tell the men in their lives to slow down.

The TAC have paid for an advertisement on my site. I said I would be happy to help spread their message in support because I feel it’s a worthy one. For more information on my advertising and sponosored features philosophy click here.

 [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzAHsJYuTNM[/youtube]

It’s a good issue for us to be thinking about at this time of year when we’re all hopping in cars with the blokes in our lives, in a rush to get somewhere. The facts are these:

  • Male drivers aged 21-26 are 50% more likely to be involved in a car crash due to speeding.
  • Women can be a positive influence on male driving behaviour. If they can get through to them.

The TAC campaign is quite clever – it’s about getting women to talk to men about speeding by using social media, specifically Pinterest. The message is this:

“I’d hate to plan your funeral”

Are you on Pinterest? Here’s the link to their Pinterest board. Have a play and if you want to jump in on the conversation on Twitter, use the hashtag “#slowdown”.

But back to leading horses to water. How DO we get blokes on board? How DO we influence male driving? In my days at

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do what you’re not doing

There’s a long story behind how I came across this poem, written by a second grader*. Social media…it’s a curious thing. The poem, however, is just so perfect and a Thing to Reflect On.

cLvmNKu6 do what you're not doing

So much depends on

busy people in cities

rammin’ on rickety computers

gettin’ really really tired.

I was walking through the city last week, between a few appointments in and around lunch hour, and I felt the weariness of the people upon which life depends. It most certainly is the ricketiness of the computers… and the buzzy hum of the air conditioning and the frenzied anger of the cars that tires us. It grates at us. And, when we tire, we ram even harder. Pushing and pressing. That’s what we do in cities; we falter, we try harder.

For an alien, or a kid, it must look like insanity. Who was it that said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result? Einstein? Yes, I think so.

When we get tired, we have to pull back and ask if we’re rammin’. If we’re being insane. I have to do it all the time. I ram so much that my whole body crunches forward and I do my neck in so that I can ram no more…then I’m forced to rest up a bit.

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5 ways to use whey

OK. I need to share my new “whey” of making lunch. It’s the simplest and healthiest trick doing the laps.

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Yesterday’s lunch…topped with fermented cabbage, carrot and beetroot

I steam or fry (in coconut oil) some chopped vegetables and throw in a combination of the following:  tinned tuna (remember to buy the most sustainable, safest tuna in the supermarket), feta cheese, avocado, an egg, Parmesan cheese, leftover chicken, chopped anchovy fillets, capers, olives, dulce flakes, and mix to heat through, then pour in a bowl.

Then – and this is the bit that counts – I top with some fermented vegetables, which are made by sitting a bunch of veggies in whey to activate the lacto-fermentation process. Why?

  • It is the best thing you can do ON THE PLANET for restoring and maintaining the health of your gut. Forget probiotics. Fermented vegetables are the bomb.
  • It’s great for your metabolism. Fermented vegetables are full of enzymes that will help break down your lunch, so you don’t get lunch hangover and absorb every bit of goodness in your bowl.
  • The sharp taste takes the place of dressing or extra flavouring.

It’s super easy to make your own fermented vegetables. It starts with making your own whey  a process that requires straining one litre of yoghurt to produce about 1/3 cup of whey. The whey can then be kept in a jar in the fridge for up to six months.

Or you can buy some pre-made sauerkraut (just make sure you don’t buy the ones with vinegar!).

What to do with the leftover whey? Why, I’m glad you asked. Here’s a few things I’ve been trying:

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