8 end-of-year favourites: a listicle

Dearest Reader, It’s been the biggest year of my working life. Bugger it, let’s not tone it down. It’s been The Biggest Year of My Life. Also the hardest. Also the best. I’m grateful many of you joined me along the way. You kept me honest and steered me where I needed to go. Thank … Read more

what you’re craving is much closer

Last weekend I got super antsy. It was a classic Single-When-All-Your-Friends-Are-Ensconced-In-Relationships scenario: I’d rung around everyone I knew, trying to fill out my weekend with activity…and everyone was busy…with husbands and kids and family barbeques and trips to Bunnings. Or whatever. And I felt abandoned. Then I felt like a loser for caring.

Image via rosencrown.blogspot.com.au
Image via rosencrown.blogspot.com.au

And so on it spiraled.

I work hard to not be a whining single. I largely find single life pretty ace. But something in me was craving intimacy and company. I was needy and the planet could smell it. A Sunday night buddy. I just want someone to watch a DVD on the couch with! Is this asking too much??!!

And, as my antsyiness descended: If I didn’t call my mates to organise catching up and connecting, would anyone call me? If I died…would anyone notice? How long would it take to find my corpse? If a single falls in the forest and no one is around to care, do they make a sound?

Sunday morning, however, I got a grip, got on a train up north and did one of my bush excursions. Fling yourself into bush. Climb a tree. I once had this edict taped to the back of my bedroom door for just such antsy moments.

Life was against me, however. The Northern line was undergoing work, so it took me four trains and a bus to get to the starting point. I’d eaten too much for breakfast and felt heavy. The weather turned. I could’ve given up. But I persevered.

Finally, two hours later with rain imminent, I entered the bush, not a soul in sight. Within minutes my whole energy shifted. I unfurled. I came back home to myself.

And I realized this: I hadn’t been craving other people. I’d been craving me. My little Silly Season-frazzled soul wanted to be taken care of by… me. It wanted to be carted off into the bush, where it feels most at home in the world, for some free thinking and the rhythmic caressing of provided by walking.

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Why i choose green smoothies over juices

I kind of cringe at the fact I’m a green smoothie fan. I never bought into flouro T-shirts back in the ‘80s and I don’t do diets. I try many things, but I don’t like to buy into a “thing”, unless a) I’ve looked into said thing in detail, b) I’ve experienced a substantial improvement in my life from it and, generally, c) I can do it myself (without purchasing some fan-dangled contraption or procedure or whatever).

Choc Mint Whip, recipe in I Quit Sugar
Choc Mint Whip, recipe in I Quit Sugar

Surprisingly, green smoothies tick off my three considerations:

  • The evidence suggests they are an effective way to get dense nutrition into our bodies.
  • I’ve found them to be a really nifty way to eat my greens and notice the difference when I’m not drinking (or eating) one.
  • Green smoothies are not about purchasing a fancy, expensive product in terribly wasteful packaging. I make my own with ease and tote in old jars and reusable cannisters.

Thus I comfortably do green smoothies. Most days. And in different forms.

Why drink your greens?

We need to be eating 5-6 serves of vegetables a day (according to national nutritional guidelines) to get enought macro and micronutrients into our beings. I’d say 6-8 is optimal, especially if you have compromised health. Most of us find this hard to pull off daily. Most meals are packed out with carbs and other nutrient-negligible fillers, leaving little room for greens.

By creating a meal around greens, it ensures you get a good 2-3 serves of the good stuff into your day.

It also “crowds out” the crap. While ever you’re filling up on greens, you’re not eating the nutrient-negligible fillers.

Green smoothies v green juices

The difference between the two is this:

smoothies are made by pureeing whole fruit and vegetables into a thick drink.  Juices extract the ‘juice’ only and the pulp is tossed.

So why do I prefer the former?

  • Smoothies are more filling. The fibre keeps us fuller longer, taking almost twice as long as liquids to leave our guts. Juices can also slow your metabolism (the calorie decrease can send the body into starvation mode, causing you to store energy).
  • Smoothies don’t constipate. Juices can. You need fibre for your gut to move and to maintain the right kind of bacteria to keep

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the most sustainable prawns to buy this christmas

I’m not sure if you’re aware but prawns – or shrimp – are an ecological and ethical disaster waiting for a barbie to be thrown atop.

Image via One Bite More
Image via One Bite More

I wasn’t…until recently. My uncle Pete was a trawler. We ate them every Christmas. And in fried rice when Mum made it for one of my brother’s birthdays most years. But I, like many of us, care more about this kind of thing these days. I care, and I want to act right. So prawns…

As with all my sustainable eating posts, I don’t suggest banning foods. I advise making better/best choices. And using up leftovers and the whole animal/vegetable/mineral. Wastage is the real ethical/eco crime, to my mind. In time for Christmas I decided to research this bottom dweller issue and share what I found, so you too can get real with shrimp!

Why are prawns a problem?

The bycatch is shocking:  I’ve heard anecdotally that

for every prawn caught, 27 other species are caught in the bycatch and tossed away.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) best describes this issue here, claiming:

Tropical shrimp trawling (TST) has one of the largest bycatch rates of all fishing techniques and often damages the ocean´s seafloor.”

Bottom trawling is shocking: it destroys coral and has a detrimental affect on the seafloor. Seafloors are vital to the health of coral forests, seagrass beds, kelp forests and deep sea thermal vents.

Many of the prawns we buy are imported. About 70 per cent of the seafood Australians consume is from OS. Which is an issue because many countries don’t fish their prawns sustainably. Tropical shrimp farms in Asia  – where much of our prawns come from – destroy coastal mangroves.

So, what to look for?

As I say, I’m not about banning prawns. It’s about getting smart and mindful. There are tricks.

1. Look for Marine Stewardship Council– certified. Ask your monger if the prawns they’re selling are as such. MSC is the biggest fishery standard (with more than 200,000 fish covered in over 15 countries) and therefore this first port of call is probably your safest bet, wherever you are in the world. MSC-certified prawns are trawled on sandy or muddy ocean floors and cause minimal impact to the habitat and ecosystem. But, somewhat contentiously, not all their recommended prawns are low-bycatch.

The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) is also setting up certification with farms such as Tassal Operations’ Macquarie Harbour Farm becoming the first in Australia to receive certification. As farms start to become certified by them you’ll be able to look out

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my sustainable christmas gift guide… plus a bevvy of giveaways for you!

I personally don’t do Christmas gifts. It’s something our family agreed to a few years back (after trying Kris Kringles and giving each other World Vision goats). Instead we pitch in to get all the family together – plane tickets and rental houses to accommodate us all. But I do love the idea of mindful, dignified gifting (our family just happens to be bad at it!). Thus, I’ve assembled a bit of a guide, as I do each year. You can catch up on previous guides here, here and here for extra ideas.

Yep, that's me on the left.
This was our family’s gift to relatives one year. THAT’S how bad we are at presents! Indeed, the shot made it into one of Awkward Family Photo‘s books.

I’ll be upfront with you all – it’s an assemblage of brands and people I believe in and want to support and/or products I personally use. Kind of a “Friends of 2013” sharing. Happily, a bunch of these kind people have also offered giveaways to you guys. I outline how the giveaways work at the bottom…

1. The Smith Family’s Joyspreader. $15. This is one of my favourite gift ideas this year. $15 will provide breakfast for a child who would otherwise go without. Breakfast: kids need it!

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2. Buy a mate a few seconds of fame by donating to Sustainable Table’s ‘Waste Deep’ Pozible Campaign. Sustainable Table are raising money to produce a short film about waste free eating. Donate on behalf of the person you’re gifting, and their name will appear in the credits, plus they’ll get a shout-out on social media.

3. An I Quit Sugar 8-Week Program, ready for your spouse/friend/grandmother to take part in January, $150. You can sign up a mate here, just add their name and email address when you pay.

4. The Quad Lock iPhone 5 Bike Mount, $70.  I use mine every day. It’s attached to my bike (the kit also comes with two mounts for the car, too) and I listen to ABC Radio National as I bike between meetings. I also use it for navigating and for doing phone conference calls as I bike around (yep, using FaceTime). Their new armband mount will be available soon, too, and they stock mounts for all iPhone models.

Quad Lock Bike Mount
Quad Lock Bike Mount

Rob from Quad lock is also giving away five Quad Lock Bike Mounts in this guide.

5.  Ovvio’s Vanilla Powder. $19.95. I refer to vanilla powder in all my books and I generally recommend this one. Anthia uses whole

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how to develop your blog voice

I was recently contacted by Srinivas Rao of BlogcastFM to do a podcast with him. His very popular site gets hundreds of thousands of downloads a month, and previous guests include Seth Godin, Tim Ferris, Danielle Laporte and Chris Guillebeau. I got some really lovely feedback on some of the topics I covered and thought some … Read more

five surprising broccoli recipes

Broccoli is good stuff. I don’t need to spell it out much more than that.

Photography by Marija Ivkovic
Broccoli, pumpkin and harissa mish mash salad in a jar – recipe below. Photography by Marija Ivkovic

Why don’t I share a few clever things to do with it instead.

I like to par-cook and freeze mine. I do this as soon as I buy a head. Or two. I simply cook it 60% (in a steamer), let it cool, then store in 1/2 cup serves in zip-look bags in the freezer. It’s ready to then toss through pasta or stirfry or to put in a salad (it will keep things cool until lunch).

I put some in my green smoothie in the morning. Yep. A couple of par-cooked and frozen florets totally up the green factor and create a lovely thickness to things.

In a similar vein, I sometimes puree the par-cooked and frozen florets, freeze in an ice cube tray, ready to add to my smoothie.

I also like to make a pesto out of it…there’s a recipe in I Quit Sugar.

And I like to eat it for breakfast, mostly as an Eggy Muggin or in my Egg and Bacon cupcakes, both of which you can find in I Quit Sugar.

Plus I like to indulge in the following:

1. Broc Bites

  • 2–3 cups cooked broccoli, chopped
  • 1½ cups grated cheddar (or any other hard cheese)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup almond meal
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • sea salt, to taste

Preheat the oven to 190°C and line a baking tray with baking paper. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl then roll bite-sized pieces of the

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