An Allergic Reaction.

I've started this post so many times. Both in my head and on paper. But I'm never quite sure what I'm trying to say. I guess in the end it doesn't matter, it's the act of writing it down that helps.

A couple of weeks ago I was feeling great. And it had been so long since I'd felt so good that it was really quite strange.

And then I crashed.

A month or so ago I did an allergy test and the results came in last week. Turns out I'm highly reactive to lots of my favourite things. And it also turns out I was highly reactive to this news. Over the last twelve months I've taken huge steps in trying to eat as cleanly as I can. And this was the second time that I've been thoroughly knocked off my high horse and told that my healthy diet could very well be making me sick.

The kinesiology sessions and introspective work I've been doing have started to make me think about things in a different way and I came to the conclusion that the strong reaction and resistance I had to the idea of allergies and the feeling of vulnerability that came with it is most likely because, mentally, it's linked to something big. My kinesiologist wholeheartedly agreed and the next steps are to clear whatever it is that's holding me back. This, of course, scares the crap out of me. But more and more it's also becoming a hopeful, positive and exciting prospect.

So as I'm coming to terms with the immediate future without some of my favourite things (almonds! pineapple! kidney beans! oats! chickpeas!) it has also led to more experimentation in the kitchen. Which I'm always more than happy to do. Even with very simple flavours.


This was an allergy friendly lunch of grilled eggplant and asparagus, kale salad and Choosing Raw's amazing sunflower dill spread.

So now that I've got it back together plans for the weekend include a morning run tomorrow, some very much needed cleaning up of the garden and some long overdue lounging and picnicking in the park. (Questionable segue:) Something I certainly didn't plan was running into a lovely couple and their pet snakes on the way home from work tonight. I can now officially say that I have patted a python. Fact.

Have a lovely weekend!

Small Discoveries

Over the past few weeks I’ve been making a series of small discoveries that have helped make life seem that little bit better.

I’ve discovered that my body actually likes being active. I went for my first run in a long long time the other morning. And was rewarded with the sight of hot air balloons floating over the city. It’s such a beautiful peaceful sight, I plan on making the effort to see it more often. Unfortunately I was also rewarded with an aching body for the next two days!

I discovered that starting a relationship with a new hairdresser isn’t necessarily a bad thing and can be just the shake up I need.

I discovered that mixing powdered mineral makeup with coconut oil makes a brilliant foundation. I’m sure I’m not the first person to do this, but I’m still pretty happy with myself.

I spent a day last week discovering vegan Sydney. And stumbled across a place stocking six different flavours of Conscious Choice raw cheesecakes. For the record I had the chocolate strawberry cream pie and it was absolutely incredible.

I discovered that pumpkin used in sweet dishes is pretty freaking amazing. I made a modified version of this smoothie for breakfast this morning and love loved it. It ended up as more of a pudding really, which was fortunate as all the glasses had mysteriously disappeared and I ended up having to eat it out of a bowl.

And just now sitting in the sun in my backyard I’ve discovered how hilarious it is to watch a worm walk.

And lastly, I re-discovered how much fun it is hanging out with my housemate, retreating into our own little world and just being silly. Perhaps the best discovery of all.

Holy Carrot Cake!

Just a quick little update to say that an innocent glass of carrot juice yesterday turned into a monster. A tasty, tasty monster...


Mini raw carrot cakes! These little guys are freaking delicious!

No recipe (sorry!) because I never measure anything. But it was inspired by a combination of this and this and a recipe from here.

Ground walnuts, lots of flax seeds, coconut, raisins, dates, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, lucuma and about a cup and a half of carrot pulp. The dry ingredients were ground first then the wet ingredients were mixed in until the texture was right. Moist, but able to stick together quite happily. Then refrigerated until firm-ish and topped with a tart cashew lemon icing. Wow.

Luckily I've found plenty of people to give these away to or I would have had to sit down and eat all twelve before they went bad. All for the greater good, of course.

A Happy Hibernation

I don't think I realised quite how fragile I'd been feeling. So I've been spending some down time reading novels and pampering myself.

During my latest kinesiology session my body asked for filtered water and while I was in the homewares department (swoon!) I couldn't say no to these little guys.


Tee hee. I'm seeing heart shaped raw chocolate brownies in my near future.

I had a splurge on a fabulous late 50's (very Mad Men!) dress from Clara Fox Vintage. (Have a sneak peek into the store here) I whiled away an afternoon in there trying on hats and accessories and generally just playing dress up.

I finally bought my second bar of Wild Mane shampoo.


I've been using it since March. Literally the same bar since March. It smells good enough to eat, being mostly made from food, and lasts forever. My hair is particularly fussy about what it likes, and it likes this.

I also got some calendula and oat soap which I am yet to try out, but I expect that it would be just as good.


Kristen threw in a sample of a basil-lime-coconut soap which smells incredible, seriously my whole house smells like this stuff. Thanks Kristen!


Somewhere in mail between here and the UK is a little care package to myself from Raw Gaia. I've used their clay masks before (and they're amazing) but this time I branched out and indulged in an MSM moisturising cream and a floral toner which I'm anticipating will be lovely and refreshing during the upcoming summer.

And finally I picked up some favourites from Raw Pleasure.


I wasn't a huge fan of kelp noodles after my first experience, but I've discovered the magical marriage of kelp noodles + zucchini noodles + olives + cashew cheese sauce. Love. Which is funny, because I hate traditional creamy sauces. A contradiction maybe, but that's me. And I'm learning to be ok with that.

And now it's to bed with peppermint tea and a borrowed Murakami. A very happy hibernation.

The Rainbow Connection

Lots to catch up on this week! I had another session of kinesiology on Monday. It was far less confronting than the first, partly because I knew what to expect and partly because it headed in a different direction. I do believe that this therapy will help me unravel the tangled web of chicken-and-the-egg emotional and body issues that I've felt trapped in for far too long. And while that prospect scares the crap out of me, it feels like the right time. I've got another session next Monday, so I'll see where that takes me.

Since finishing school I feel so much lighter and more than one person has commented that I've got my glow back. Which makes me happy. More strange things have been happening to me lately too, I met one of my favourite artists by accident last week when he overheard me talking about him to a total stranger in a record store. Forgetting my wallet in one of my (many!) favourite health food stores led to making friends with the guy who works there that I've had a mini-crush on for ages (tee hee). And I walked home in the rain from work tonight and loved every minute of it - largely influenced by the spectacular rainbow that popped up to accompany me.

That wasn't it, obviously, but it was stunning all the same. Spring is most definitely in the air.

As far as food goes, of course there has been a lot of it. I've always eaten healthily, but around twelve months ago I became enthralled with clean eating and raw food in particular. And I loved it. It opened up a whole new world of flavours and textures and ideas to me. However lately a few different things have led me to stray away from raw. Winter would be the obvious one. Another is that when the raw craze hit me I was still eating meat occasionally. I happily made the decision to officially stop eating it earlier this year and kept up with a high-raw diet, but I feel like I missed out on an intermediate step.

When it became colder and I began to fall under the fog of stress and general gloominess that I allowed to engulf me while I was at school, my attitude toward my food changed. I was stressing over every meal and trying to keep things raw when I really didn't want to and put far too much pressure on myself. It got to the point where cooking was almost (almost!) a chore for me, and that made me sad. So, now that I've got my mojo back I'm really excited about putting some love back into my food, eating what I really feel like and allowing myself to actively explore the wonderful world of 'vegan food'. It's not about kicking raw to the curb, in fact with warmer weather on the way raw will most likely begin to make a comeback, it's more about transitioning in a more forgiving and logical way (because Virgo's love logic!).

And while I am not strictly vegan and don't want to label myself, it is the closest and easiest thing to say (unless there's a shorter version of high-raw-wheat-free-dairy-free-but-eats-honey-and-bee-products-and-the-occasional-egg?). So with a copy of Veganomicon on it's way to me in the mail and loads of fantastic food blogs to help light the way I'm venturing deliberately into vegan cooking. Let the feasting begin!

In other news, my housemate and I are going to this tomorrow night:

A little excited!

Happy weekend!

Back on Track

I'm back!

And with big news! I bought a juicer! Eep!

I knew exactly which juicer I wanted, I'd done the research, scoped around for the best price and made the decision. And then...nothing. Places were either out of stock or not getting back to me. And then completely by chance (luck? design?) I found one listed for sale on my local Raw Food Meetup messageboard. Yes please! Less than twelve hours later, it was mine!



If you look closely you can see (a very excited!) me reflected in the glass.


Yum!

Current favourite combination: broccoli, cucumber, spinach, orange, pineapple and ginger.

Now that school is over I've been spending a lot of time with different things to get me back on track. Spending time by myself is nothing new for me, but the concept of spending time on myself is something new. Over the last week I've seen my osteopath and naturopath and embarked on a six week detox (hello juicer!).

I also had my first experience with kinesiology. Again this was something that just fell into place at the right time. It was, in a word, confronting. On a few different levels. Not knowing much (read: anything) about the therapy before the session I had no idea what to expect and to be honest, now that it's done I'm not quite sure what just happened. I do however have a feeling that it can, and will, help me move past a lot of the things that are holding me back.

So while my internal world has been getting a tune up, my external world has been far from neglected. I finally made the time to catch up with these lovely ladies and have made many more plans for the near future. Long walks in the park, a decadent raw dessert day and an upcoming craft market to name a few. There have been a few dinners around town and with a little help from a borrowed copy of this I have reignited my passion for creating in the kitchen. So all in all things are looking up. It's amazing what a difference a week can make.

This week my plans are to finally get around to cleaning out my wardrobe, the pantry and the kitchen to make room for my new little friend and to get back on track with the Raw Food Rehab initiative which has somewhat fallen by the wayside. And to take more photos!

After far too long of feeling like crap things are finally falling into place for me. Happy coincidences have been following me around for the last week or so and I have a good feeling they're here to stay.

News From The Cocoon

Hey woah! Yes I am still alive.

I've been hibernating in a little cocoon of biology homework. Not such a fun cocoon, but the end is in sight and I'm just about ready to emerge and start living again!

Look out galleries and craft markets and test kitchen and sewing machine and knitting needles and reading novels ...here I come!

It hasn't been all about the books though (in fact nowhere near as much as it should have been!).

I had a chance earlier this week to make a batch of oat yoghurt. Here it is fermenting:


And a couple of days later in my bowl with yacon, apple, pumpkin and sunflower seeds and blueberries.



Green smoothies had been my breakfast of choice for a long time, but quite frankly I've had enough. So experimenting with new breakfast options is my new favourite thing. Now as this is my first batch of oat yoghurt I'm not entirely sure how it's supposed to taste. And I'm not sure what the texture is supposed to be like either.

Either way, mine came out thick, sour and somewhat doughy. And strangely delicious.

I'm not sure if it's supposed to be doughy, maybe it was because there wasn't enough water (or too much?) or because I kept stirring it while it was fermenting or because the middle of winter is hardly ideal fermenting weather, but I'll definitely be giving it another shot!

Not much else happening in test kitchen this week. It's kind of difficult when my kitchen table looks like this. Sad face.


Although maybe I shouldn't complain, later today I'm heading to this raw food class. Even though I should be studying. Naughty.