The start of my little garden..

 A few months ago I wandered off to the local nursery and picked up half a dozen little flowering plants to pretty up my backyard. They were inexpensive and easy to plant which is exactly what I needed. I am not a green thumb, I tend to kill plants rather than nurture them, so this little project of mine was, in most people's mind, destined for failure.

I am pleased to announce that my little garden has grown and flourished even under the harshness of the Australian sun and our scorching hot days. I have always loved the thought of picking fresh herbs, veggies and even flowers from my garden, but I just didn't think I had it in me.

Now that I know that I am not ALWAYS going to kill these poor plants, I decided to start up my own little veggie/herb patch. I have in the past (thanks to Pinterest) researched the different types of gardens I could have but all options looked daunting, time-consuming and expensive. I visited a friend a few weeks ago and noticed her thriving little veggie patch. It wasn't a conventional garden, but each plant was in a bag, a special bag for veggies and herbs. It seemed like such a perfect idea. It has handles so it is portable to ensure it has the right amount of sun, they were inexpensive and not at all time consuming.

I had to get my hands on some of those babies. At the time I was extremely busy with final exams at uni, so I decided to wait until they were over and I had time I could devote to caring for my little plants. Last week I jumped online and ordered these "vegie bags". They arrived yesterday and today I decided to give them a go. I've planted Sweet Basil and Baby Spinach, two items I know I will eat. I plan to venture into lettuce and tomatoes and possibly even strawberries, but for the time being these two will keep me busy and give me a taste (no pun intended) of what it is like to grow my own.

I am excited!
P.S. they look like they are wilting, but I just watered them and they kinda just fell like that. I don't mean to pretend I know what I am talking about, but I think they will spring back up again... I hope!

Old chums and good times...

Photo from google images: http://www.thefoodpornographer.com/2007/07/14/another-couple-of-dinners/ 

Lately I have been feeling a little lonely. I left my job last December to take up full time studying, and while I am enjoying the study, meeting new people and creating new friendships, I miss my old pals. I worked full-time at that place for many years and believe I have made lifelong friends, but not seeing them 3-4 times a week makes me a little sad and a little lonely.

I was able to have them over for a few drinks on Saturday night and it was just so much fun, so chilled, I really enjoyed their company and realised how much I missed them. Last night I joined them for $5.50 chicken schnitzel at our local club, a tradition they started a few months ago. It was such a delightful affair, to get together with friends and share a meal, I hope the tradition stays.

Something different...

Flipping through my recipe books I could not come across a salad that appealed to my fussy eating habits so I decided to create one of my own. A combination of leafy salad greens, beans, chicken, avocado. mango and potato. I had no idea how it would turn out but I thought I would give it a shot anyhow.
So I roasted the potato, fried the chicken, cooked the beans, sliced and diced the avocado and mango and placed them all together in a bowl. No dressing, just the juices, flavours and textures of the ingredients. For myself, I went one step further and cut the beans even smaller so that I could eat them without gagging, yes I do realise I have a problem ;-)
It turned out just fine and I felt fantastic after it. After a weekend of party food, and birthday brunches I am looking forward to eating healthier this week. I'm ready to try new recipes, new flavours and new foods to try to find meals that are both easy to cook and are delicious to taste.

Community

Early in the evening I hauled myself off the couch and went for a short run through my neighbourhood. The sun was setting, but it was still amazingly warm making the run an enjoyable one. The thing I loved most about my run though, was seeing the families out in the street. It's halloween here and while it is not widely celebrated in Australia - and in some cases frowned upon - there was a real sense of community in the air and it had me smiling from ear to ear. 

Healthy start...

Mmmm...

So here is a bowl of chopped up pear. Simple and healthy, but truth be told I am almost fairly certain that this is my first fresh pear in my entire life. If I am being honest I am sure I was fed these as a child, but I do not have any memory regarding these. I have however had plenty of tinned pears, which taste nothing like the pear that I ate. Again, if I am being honest, I have to tell you I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I would eat an apple over a pear any day of the week! 

I think my biggest achievement is that I tried something different. I didn't hate it, I just didn't enjoy it as much as other flavours I have had. Last night I also decided to try something a little bit different. I chopped up some avocado, mango, red (spanish) onion and coriander (cilantro) and mixed it together with some lime juice to come up with an Avocado and Mango Salsa as a side dish for my satay chicken. I have never really liked onion, but I thought I would give it a go and maybe I would enjoy it. I am still not a massive fan, but maybe I would enjoy it in smaller portions. The recipe for that can be found on this website.

Here's to new beginnings and moving forward!

A change in the wind..

I haven't had the most positive few months, in fact I've been feeling rather blue lately. I realised a few days ago that change needed to happen in my life, what I was doing was not getting the results I was wanting and I also found myself emotional more times than I care to admit. I really have never been the emotionally unstable kind so when I found myself crying at the intro to Gilmore Girls, I knew I needed to do something about it.

A few months ago I had the pleasure of meeting up with a long lost friend from my childhood. I hadn't seen her in almost 15 years, so there was plenty to catch up on. We got to talking about our lifestyles and her passion for all things natural sparked curiosity inside me. It was not the first time I'd had a conversation about 'alternative lifestyles', nor was it the first time I had been intrigued by somebody else's way of life. We got to talking about my poor nutritional habits and how they might be affecting me.

For a little bit of background I am a shocking eater. I don't enjoy eating vegetables, so I don't eat them. I forget to eat fruit, even though I love it I'm more inclined to buy chocolate. My idea of dinner is either take away or spaghetti and other easy meals with hardly any nutritional value and for many years, until recently, my preferred drink was soft drink - soda for all you Americans :) - or juice. Looking at this list now, I can see how bad it actually is.

So you get the point, I love pretty much any type of food that is considered bad for your health. So after meeting with my friend, I tried to give up sugar, well added sugar anyhow. I decided to cut out chocolate, lollies, soft drink, sugary cereals and basically any food that contains added sugar. Giving up soft drink was honestly one of the easiest things to do, now I don't even crave it, the other stuff, well that did not work out so well. Considering my recent blue mood, I decided to take charge of my life and start to make changes especially with my diet.

To change my diet is huge, and while I know it will be better for me, it's going to be hard to get used to. I enjoy eating and I enjoy the tastes that I am used to but I know I can do this, I used to not like the taste of water and now I am proud to say it is my preferred drink. I am tired of waiting and I am tired of expecting. It is time I grow up and take control of my life and my body and start the change, it can only get better from here. Even now as I sit here and type I feel different, I feel more positive about the direction my life is going. As I told another friend earlier, I am excited, and scared but it's good.

Crescent Head

So here we are up north and the weather is just divine. I was even wearing a singlet top today and still feeling the effects of the sun.

It's nice to be up here with some friends as well just relaxing and enjoying the sunshine. The boys are out surfing and I've been taking some photos of them.

We walked up a small cliff and gazed out to sea watching the swell below us and hoping to see some whales. Unfortunately there weren't any out and about perhaps they have already been past?

Here are some photos. enjoy!