weekend reading

(Image credit John Freeman)

Champagne is a wholefood you knew that already right? So I thought I'd tell you about an event I'm promoting as part of my work with Cakes and Ale. Celebrate the festive season with a ticket to this upcoming Champagne Tasting - 17 champagnes, 7 champagne houses, canapes and complimentary champagne flute $100 per person - Saturday 12th December 4pm-6pm, presented by the Independent Wine Store at Cakes and Ale.
Places are strictly limited bookings through the Independent Wine Store ph. 03 5985 4346

BPA free is not all it's cracked up to be

I found Orangette via Pip and could have stayed up all night reading

And then I found Kate Christensen via Orangette and if it weren't for my new rule of going to bed before midnight I would have been up reading til sunrise!

If you're looking to up your professional social media skills, I've recently been recommended Tim Martin's courses...on my wishlist for next year

Am I the only one who hasn't seen The Dressmaker yet? Also on my wishlist

I'm looking forward to spending some time with my Nan on the weekend.

I hope you have something fun and/or relaxing planned. See you back here next week x

catching up

(mural Alice Springs. Pete, River, Sol silhouettes)

Finding time to blog regularly is proving a challenge at the moment.

You see I've made a few new rules for myself and one of them is I no longer go to bed at midnight most nights and let me tell you that makes a million miles of difference to so many things.

It is an easy habit to fall into staying up late while the house sleeps, just so you can have some quiet time to yourself but really nothing can replace good sleep.

Add to that drinking two litres of water a day and you have yourself a recipe for more energy right there!

So, now that I'm going to bed earlier and doing important things like you know watching Madame Secretary with my husband I have to find a new time to blog. And I will! And I'm serious about the watching TV with my husband thing. Spending time together is actually important obvious as it sounds!

The other thing I've done is set myself office hours. The key is, sticking to them. Which I'm doing. This sounds so simple but has been life changing.

Managing your time well when you work from home is one of the trickiest things about working for yourself and working from home.

In my case clearer boundaries needed to be set. There is a time to fold washing, a time to focus on work, time to drink coffee with your girlfriends and time to spend with your loved ones and if you feel like you're constantly chasing your tail it is time to make some changes.

Why am I telling you all this?

Because I just wanted to fill you in on what's been happening, where I've been and because I'm guessing there's a few people reading this who need to set some boundaries of their own. Do it!
It is easier than you think and it pays off in ways you can't even know about until you do it. And it is the small changes that make the big difference.

How is your week? Do you work from home? Tell us your time management tips in the comments. 
I'd love to know what works for you.

weekend reading

If you read one post in this list it must be this one from Veggie Mama about...superannuation eeek. It's good I promise. And fun. Yes, I said fun. (Only Veggie Mama could make superannuation fun).

How does she do it? A great series from Nic at Planning with Kids

My kind of cooking class

Please keep bay fish on the menu

What's not to love about Chocolate brazil nut truffles with figs and orange zest?

Matthew Evans has a new cookbook out and I love the look of his recipe for yoghurt and raspberry cake with elderflower syrup (for me maybe with a little less sugar and made with spelt instead of wheat!)

Anyone been to Nourish cafe in Bundaberg, Queensland? I'm hearing good things.

Onya Magazine is a good read

One for the bloggers

Happy weekending everyone. I hope you've got something fun planned. See you next week! x

thursday recipe: emily rose brott's apple, oat, cranberry and chocolate muffins

Some of you may remember Emily Rose Brott from one of my previous posts, especially those who love Emily's mango sorbet!

I'm happy to share with you today Emily's latest book My Secret Ingredient - don't you love the tagline? 'delicious, healthy, achievable' Isn't that what we all want?

Emily is a Melbourne mum of four (!) and a passionate cook who loves to create nutritious AND delicious meals for her family and friends.

There are over 120 recipes in Emily's new book covering breakfast, lunch, dinner and everything in between. Emily's recipes do not contain refined sugar, white flour, or butter due to Emily and her son being lactose intolerant. You'll be pleased to know Emily's recipes require no fancy ingredients and are easy to put together.

Now, speaking of ingredients you'll notice in this recipe Emily uses rice bran oil and wheat flour. These are two ingredients that personally I don't use, I prefer to use coconut oil, butter or almond oil and in place of the wheat flour I use spelt flour or sometimes a gluten free flour option. You can read more about rice bran oil here and here.

I'm mentioning this to highlight the fact that every family is different and every family is at a different place in their understanding of ingredients, where they come from and how they are tolerated by family members. Emily's recipe is a great foundation to create some delicious muffins from scratch and you can substitute ingredients as you need to.

apple, oat, cranberry and chocolate muffins

ingredients

2 eggs

½ cup (125ml) rice bran oil

½ cup (150g) honey

2/3 cup (75g) rolled (porridge) oats

1 ½ cups (240g) wholemeal (whole-wheat) self-raising (self-rising) flour

2/3 cup (165ml) orange juice

2 apples, peeled, cored, diced

2/3 cup (90g) dried cranberries

½ cup (65g) chopped 70% dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 170°C (335°F) fan-forced.

Whisk eggs and oil together until fluffy. Mix in honey.

Add oats, flour and orange juice, and whisk until combined.

Add apples, cranberries and chocolate, and mix through.

Grease muffin tins with oil, and fill each muffin case three-quarters full with mixture.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Leave to cool for 10 minutes before removing the muffins from the tin and placing them on a cake rack to cool further.

Makes 14

My Secret Ingredient is available as an ebook for $4.99 or paperback for $12.95 Available for purchase here.