making the most of time

A couple of weeks back I wrote this blog post about the precious gift that time is to us. I guess I'm all reflective being that 2014 is winding down, Christmas is around the corner and the fresh start of the New Year is on the horizon. I'm already making plans for 2015; first stop, the inaugural Summer trip to the most serene place in Victoria, Bonnie Doon.

Bonnie Doon - Winter

Bonnie Doon - Summer

If you look closely at the two shots of Bonnie Doon above you'll notice they are taken at the exact same angle at the exact same place only in two different seasons; almost like a positive and negative image.

Time is something that can't be stopped; it moves, and keeps on moving, it changes, and keeps on changing. And so, we must move and change with time too, or else face becoming stagnant… stale… not moving, not flowing, not advancing. Not anything. 

How can we optimise our time so that we keep moving, keep flowing, keep advancing?

Now, I'm not a time management or organisational expert like the well known Australian, Peter Walsh, but I'm a planner, quite anal retentive, and over the years have managed to combine my skills to juggle multiple jobs at the same time. I've always enjoyed a varied routine, doing different things every day, but living in this way requires me to be super crazily organised. I recently read a blog post by Sarah Wilson on people who are like this, and oh boy, it made me feel so much better about my tendency to get bored quickly and my "jill of all trades" ability that means I'm good at many things but not great at any one thing.

Here are my not-so-conventional time management tips to help you stay in the flow… 

• Keep a record of your daily schedule - mark it down in your diary or enter it into the calendar on your electronic device as soon as you make appointments, book holidays, assign work, etc.
• Carve out time in your day or week for self-care - schedule it in like you do your work, picking up your kids from school, cooking dinner, going out with friends. You are worth making time for. 
• Schedule your activities using the method of pacing to be able to "work smarter, not harder" and achieve more balance.
• Group "like" activities or errands together.
• Single-tasking is the new black - use the Pomodoro Technique to focus on one thing at a time.
• Turn off the TV and get off social media - detox from the electronics every now and then.
• Prioritise your life based on who and what is valuable to you - don't let your to-do list run your life but… 
• To-do lists are helpful - you can't keep everything in your head and not forget something: write it down!
• Use technology to organise and streamline your work - check out Asana for tasks and Evernote for notes. 
• Know your limits - when you reach them either ask for help, practice saying "no", or swap out an activity for whatever activity you add in.
• Create routine in your life; and then be willing to be flexible.
• Regularly take time out to relax, recharge and refocus. 

We all have a different capacity to be able to carry different things in different seasons. But wisdom helps us to discern the "have-to's" from the "want-to's", the chances from the choices, and she whispers ever so softly to us, "Make the most of your time."

Quote for the Road… 

raw chocolate cake truffles

Today I'm sharing these crunchy chocolatey rolly-bally's (I heard this from a kid last week) with you, my dear readers. Bliss balls or raw truffles are the quickest, easiest, yummiest, healthiest snack or dessert for those who can't or don't want to spend hours in the kitchen. Be warned though, you will not be able to stop at just one. Or two. 

Interestingly, I've recently found out from a blood test that my B12 and iron levels have dropped below the normal range. These are generally quite low for me and I've worked hard to include both B12 and iron in my diet both from plant-based sources and from supplements. Regardless, these levels are currently the lowest they've ever been in my body, which explains my "relapse" this year from my long recovery from ME/CFS or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Basically, fatigue on top of fatigue!

The most interesting thing about it all though is the cravings I've been having for iron-rich sources of plant-based foods including cacao, prunes and tahini - all three of which are in my raw chocolate cake truffles below! 

Our bodies know what we need and communicate to us through our cravings; if we are willing to listen then we can facilitate healing in our bodies. 

The richest plant-based sources of iron include:

1. pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
2. sesame seeds (or tahini)
3. wheat germ
4. soya beans
5. mung beans
6. lima beans
7. pistachio nuts
8. lentils
9. broad beans
10. sunflower seeds
11. chickpeas
12. haricot beans
13. millet
14. parsley
15. peaches
16. pinenuts
17. linseeds
18. almonds
19. rolled oats
20. prunes

It's particularly important for women to make sure there is an abundance of these foods in the diet (if you don't have any allergies). Otherwise you can't go wrong with dark green leafy vegetables and green smoothies! 

If you like this blog post and want to keep in touch I'm now on Pinterest and Twitter as well as Facebook and Instagram. Follow me on social media to keep up-to-date with all the latest in the world of wellness and of course, healthy vegan recipes. 

raw chocolate cake truffles

1 cup almond meal
1/2 cup prunes, pitted
1/4 cup raw cacao powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
handful of goji berries
1 Tbsp black tahini
1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
handful of raw cacao nibs
desiccated coconut, to roll
hemp seeds, to roll

Combine the almond meal, prunes (dried plums), raw cacao powder, ground cinnamon and goji berries in a food processor (or in small batches in a high powered blender) until the mixture sticks together. Scoop out the mixture into a medium bowl and add the black tahini, maple syrup and cacao nibs. Mix together well with clean hands. Roll the mixture into bite-sized balls and if desired, roll in either the desiccated coconut or the hemp seeds. Store the truffles in a covered container in the fridge or the freezer. Devour! Makes approximately 12 truffles. 

Quote for the Road… 

the precious gift of time

My church, Planetshakers, launched our new worship album this past week, This Is Our Time. I've had the privilege of being involved through our awesome church choir: recording crowd vocals for the album and being part of the crowd for the acoustic session videos. Anyway, the title of the album's got me thinking about one of the most finite and elusive part of our lives that seems to get a pretty bad rap these days, and that is time. 

I don't want to ruffle any feathers with this blog post but I do get a bee in my bonnet when I hear the term "time poor" thrown around as freely as confetti at a wedding. 

The word poor means to have a very small amount of something. As far as I am aware the time we all have in a day is 24 hours. Shouldn't this make time a great equaliser amongst people? I don't think time actually warrants the word poor when all around the world people are living in poverty struggling to meet basic needs like feeding their family, staying warm in winter and accessing clean water to drink. The team at the Melbourne-based company Thankyou (along with many other organisations) do an outstanding job shedding light on such issues and providing hope and resources for those who need a helping hand out of poverty. 

Time poor? I don't think so.

But maybe, we feel the limitations of there being only 24 hours in every day. We make ourselves so busy (and hey, I've been there, done that!) that all the joy is sucked out of life. For me, I am a prime candidate for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. For most of my life I have gravitated towards the Type A personality end of the spectrum. That is, until I became chronically ill. Type A's are very driven, don't like to waste time and struggle to stop for respite. Now I am moving along the spectrum towards the Type B end. My oh my, the relief that comes with letting go, slowing down, and releasing the (often self-imposed) pressure valve!

That's not to say there won't be busier seasons in life (of course there will be) or that we won't feel like our time, through the circumstances of life, has been lost or stolen. Sometimes things happen that are beyond our control and all we can do is ride the wave until we make it to the shore. But for all of us, our days are numbered. We don't know when our time on earth will end. The best time is the time we have now, the present - this is our time.

So let's start to ask ourselves, What do I want to make space for? Decide what's important to you at this stage of your life. Do my priorities need to be reordered? Try to let your values, not your to-do list, influence how you spend your time. Can I let some things go? Maybe your life is cluttered and all you need to do is to practice saying no for awhile. All these questions are asked to bring more wholeness to you, to your loved ones, and to all those within your sphere of influence.

I'll leave you with one last thought. I've discussed time as it pertains to our earthly existence, our ability to create order in our lives through the passage of time. But there is an Author of Time and above all else I trust that He, God Almighty, is able to redeem our time and walk with us through all the seasons of our lives, every day in every moment. 

 2 Peter 3:8, NIV; But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 

What a precious gift to us time is. 

Quote for the Road… 

healing foods for your tummy

Probiotics = for [not against] life. Otherwise defined as live micro-organisms that populate your gut to produce health in your body. Probiotics don't just come in an encapsulated form (although supplements can be helpful to restore the good bacteria in your gut especially after a course of antibiotics); probiotics also come in the form of what we eat and drink.

Heal your gut, heal your body.

Good bacteria is the key to good health. Probiotic foods are healing foods for your gut, your body and your life. If the balance of good and bad bacteria in our digestive tract is dominated by the bad bacteria then we are more susceptible to disease, food allergies or intolerances, digestive disturbances and even depression. Yes, depression. They don't call the gut the "second brain" for nothing. Your gut and brain are intricately connected by the enteric nervous system. Did you ever wonder why you get "butterflies" in your tummy when you are nervous? Well now you know!

So, how can we help to heal our guts?

First, we need to start to eliminate or reduce the triggers that contribute to poor gut health such as the use of antibiotics, chronic stress, the overuse of antibacterial products and the overconsumption of highly refined and processed foods, such as table salt, table sugar, refined carbohydrates and artificial junk "foods".

The next step is to start to incorporate more healing foods into your diet to inoculate your gut with the good bacteria again. These healing foods include fermented vegetables like kimchi and sauerkraut and fermented beverages like kombucha and water kefir. You can easily make your own versions at home, which are generally better than store-bought versions as they may be pasteurised (i.e. heat-treated) and therefore be devoid of the good bacteria you want for your tummy! Also, you can incorporate prebiotic foods into your diet (avocado, asparagus, brussel sprouts, garlic, raw onion, sweet potato, yacon syrup), which are foods rich in soluble fibre, to help create a sort of fertiliser in your gut for the good bacteria.

As you consume healing foods your inner eco system is being built up to help heal your gut and heal your body. And if you are fortunate enough to be in good health these healing foods will ensure that you maintain your good health.

If you are kind to your body, your body will be kind to you!

Here is a list of healing foods and recipes you can integrate into your diet to help heal your gut… 

• Apple Cider Vinegar Tonic
• Coconut Milk Yoghurt
• Coconut Water Kefir
• Cultured Coconut Popsicles
• Fermented Cashew Cheese
• Healing Miso Soup
• Homemade Kombucha
• Moroccan Preserved Lemons
• Perfectly Pickled Plants
• Polish Sauerkraut
• Rejuvelac Grain Milk
• Ultimate Korean Kimchi

Quote for the Road…

vegan friendly eats in melbourne

One of my talents is being able to find a health food store anywhere I go. I know where they are all around Melbourne. As well as health food stores there are many vegan cafes and restaurants (and more are opening up all the time), and also allergy-friendly places to eat, which cater for meat-eating friends. Although I do find most people don't mind eating vegetarian food every now and then (especially when hanging out with plant-eating friends!).

Admiral Cheng-Ho - creamy mushies on cornbread

Shokuiku - raw patties and raw tacos for dinner

Little Big Sugar Salt - cacao pops with coyo & berries

Here is a growing list of mine if you are in Melbourne and want to eat out at places that are organic and/or serve plant-based or allergy-friendly food…

1. A Caterpillar's Dream, Kew
2. Admiral Cheng-Ho, Abbotsford
3. Aum Shanti Vegetarian Cafe, Frankston
4. Barry, Northcote
5. Blood Orange Cafe, Hawthorn East
6. Blue Buddha Cafe, Melbourne 
7. Brothl, Melbourne 
8. Combi, Elwood
9. Earthly Pleasures Cafe, Belgrave
10. Fare Enough, Euroa
11. Feast of Merit, Richmond
12. Foods with Benefits, Lilydale
13. Green Press, Melbourne 
14. Grumpy's Green, Fitzroy
15. Heal.Thy Self Co., Yarraville
16. Himalaya Bakery and Cafe, Daylesford
17. Il Fornaio, St Kilda
18. Invita Living Food, Melbourne 
19. Kofi Beans, Croydon
20. Las Chicas, Balaclava
21. Las Vegan Cafe, Collingwood
22. Lentil As Anything, Abbotsford, Footscray, Preston, St Kilda
23. Little Big Sugar Salt, Abbotsford
24. Magic Milk Bar, Northcote
25. MannaFest Cafe, Yea
26. Mister Nice Guy's BakeShop, Ascot Vale
27. Monash Wholefoods, Clayton
28. Monk Bodhi Dharma, Balaclava
29. No 35, Sofitel, Melbourne
30. nourished:385, Prahran
31. Nutrition Bar, Richmond
32. Petty's Orchard, Templestowe
33. Radhey Kitchen and Chai Bar, Fitzroy
34. Raw Trader, Melbourne 
35. Red Robyn, Camberwell
36. Rivers of Yarrambat, Yarrambat
37. Shakahari, Carlton
38. Shakahari Too, South Melbourne
39. Shokuiku, Northcote
40. Sister of Soul, St Kilda
41. Smith & Daughters, Fitzroy
42. Sprout Cafe, Hawthorn
43. The Bear Cafe, Fitzroy
44. The Brighton School House, Brighton
45. The Farm Cafe, Abbotsford
46. The Giddy Goat Cafe, Yarck
47. The Kettle Black, South Melbourne
48. The Lilydale General, Lilydale
49. The Merri Table, Brunswick
50. The Organic Food and Wine Deli, Melbourne 
51. The Porridge Bar, Prahran
52. The Roundabout Cafe, Warrandyte
53. The Rumour Mill, Croydon
54. The Scented Garden Cafe, Croydon
55. The Sprout and the Bean, Geelong
56. The Weekend Local, Euroa
57. Vegie Bar, Fitzroy
58. Wide Open Road, Brunswick
59. Wildcrafted, East Brunswick
60. Wombat's Chai Cafe, Healesville
61. Yardmill, Toorak
62. Yong Green Food, Fitzroy

The Scented Garden Cafe - baked beans on toast!

The Roundabout Cafe - brewed chai lattes

Rivers of Yarrambat - raw vegan berry cheesecake

I think this list will keep both your hearts and your tummies happy for a little while! If you've been to any of these places in Melbourne please share with us your culinary experiences, as I'm still working my way through this ever growing list… it's so great to see the tables turning - if we keep asking for healthy food and a healthy life, well, that's exactly what we'll get.

Quote for the Road… 

why diets just don't work

Using just one word I can summarise why all those "diets" you've tried over the years just don't work. And that word is deprivation. As soon as we label certain foods as off-limits with the end goal in mind being weight loss, we have already failed. Just try removing chocolate from your diet and I bet you end up thinking about, dreaming about and seriously craving chocolate.

All we need to succeed is a shift in our mindset. First up, let's make the end goal in mind this: better health. Next, let's change our vocabulary. Instead of saying, I can't eat that, reframe your words to, I can eat that but I choose not to. Then, we'll start to "crowd out" the less healthy choices with the more healthy choices. If we are filling up on plant-based whole foods (fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds) first we'll be so very nourished and satiated that we won't have much more room for the less nutritious foods. Let's focus on adding more nutritious food in and swapping less nutritious food out, never removing or depriving yourself of your body's need for macronutrients: carbohydrates, protein and fats.

And lastly, listen to your body. I don't include animal products (meat, dairy, eggs) in my food intake because these foods are very taxing on my digestion, make me feel ill and do not appeal to my palate! I am not depriving myself of food or nutrients and I am very careful to make sure my plant-based "diet" (my food lifestyle) is balanced. I've done the research but I've also listened to my body. I create meal plans for myself based around plants and follow guidelines to make sure I am nourishing my body. Just like the seed bearing fruit: one-day meal plan I've set out for you below, my meals are mostly raw, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, with tons of greens and whole healthy versions of treats and sweets!

You can find more recipes in the archives of this blog. Why not try to add some of these recipes to your daily meal plans, start to "crowd out", and listen to what your body says? Remember to be kind to yourself along the way and be persistent on your journey to better health. Your body will thank you for it.

I love all the allergy-friendly cafes around Melbourne!

seed bearing fruit: one-day meal plan

Drink: 1-2 cups warm filtered water with freshly squeezed lemon juice

Breakfast: jaffa buckwheat pudding 

Snack: fresh fruit or green vegetable juice

Lunch: green galor-a-saurus salad

Snack: brooke's bliss balls or vegetable crudités with brooke's hummus

Dinner: zucchini fritters with grated root vegetable salad

Dessert: berry nice cream

Drink: 2-3 litres filtered water, herbal tea and kombucha between meals

Quote for the Road… 

jaffa buckwheat pudding

Last week I wrote here about why I finally wrote down my bucket list. I'm still adding to the list and I'm ticking them off. Hence the purple ukelele below!! How are you going with your bucket list? Any wins?!

Today I am giving you a healthy version of a Jaffa - you remember the orange coated chocolates?! - in pudding form. Holy yum - this is definitely a win-win. Delicious and nutritious breakfast or dessert that is a raw vegan buckwheat pudding with an orange chocolate twist. Not only is it super tasty but there is also a low-sugar version and this pudding is naturally gluten-free as buckwheat is a faux grain - it's actually a fruit seed that is related to rhubarb and sorrel.

I mean, what else would you expect from the seed bearing fruit blog, but seeeeeds???!

#13: Learn how to play the ukelele

Delicious brunch in Belgrave after an intense workout at 1000 Steps!

jaffa buckwheat pudding

raw vegan gluten-free dairy-free soy-free

1 cup raw buckwheat, soaked for 30 minutes
100 mls coconut milk or nut milk
1 frozen banana (low-sugar substitute: 1/2 medium avocado & liquid stevia, to taste)
1 orange, juiced
1 Tbs raw cacao powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
coconut yoghurt, to serve
cacao nibs, dried orange slices, dried shredded coconut, to garnish

Soak the buckwheat for at least 30 minutes in filtered water. Rinse the soaked buckwheat before adding to a high-powered blender with the coconut milk, banana, orange juice, cacao powder and cinnamon. Blend until smooth and creamy or almost smooth for more texture. Serve with coconut yoghurt and garnishes in a glass jar. Refrigerate until consumed. Serves 2. 

Quote for the Road…