All thats well and good – August 2014

This past weekend was quite relaxing – a few Pilates classes, brunch with a girlfriend, long walks in the sunshine with this little one and a “football party” with the boy. Our two teams played one another on the weekend – his team guaranteed a spot in the finals whilst mine missed out this year due to inconsistent form, making the event less exciting for me knowing they wouldn’t be progressing past this round. If I’m being honest, I guess you could say that I am a bit of a fairweather fan – I’m their greatest supporter when the going is good, but when they drop their standards, my attention span tends to fall at a similar rate.

Growing up in a small rural town in Tasmania where watching the footy on the weekend was the norm, I started out as a passionate fan in my youth, but my interest and following of my beloved club and their game started to wane as I approached my teens and found other distractions like clothes, music and boys. My interest however was renewed a few years back however when I entered a football tipping competition at work and surprised myself (and everyone else!) by winning. Figuring that I had some inherent skills when it came to footy tipping, I started paying more attention in the following years to ensure that I kept up my good form – unfortunately this didn’t pay off, as I haven’t placed in the top spot since. This year however, I’ve done much better – consistent with my lack of attention this year – and I’m thinking I may very well have figured out the winning combination to footy tipping – don’t pay too may attention, and always tip the favorite!

In other news, it has been BUSY around here lately – no so much with regards to the blog – but more so with my 9 – 5 job. The IT project we have been working on for the past 8 (!!) years is going live in two short weeks, and it’s all systems go until then (well, we actually stopped all the old systems this weekend just been – but you know what I mean!)

What I’ve been doing

• Eat more veggies competition – The Eat More Veggies competition came to a close earlier this month, the winning dish a delicious baked chocolate porridge with a hidden serving of zucchini. If you follow me on Instagram, you will have seen my recreation of the dish the other day – I was so impressed with the delicious flavour and texture of the dish I asked the winner, Kate, to share the recipe here with you all which she happily agreed to do – so keep an eye out for that one!
• Changing the Way We Eat conference – I attended the Changing the Way We Eat conference in Hobart the other weekend, which was an all day event focusing on healthy eating and living, with a strong focus on ancestral/primal eating. It was great to see a sold-out event like this take place in Hobart, and to see so many people so passionate about healthy living and eating. The key messages I took away from the conference were 1) Eat real foods – no processed junk; 2) Cut down your sugar intake – including healthier sugars – and don’t be afraid of fat; 3) Eat mindfully – something I need to remind myself to do continuously as I am a notorious snacker! and 4) Eat locally and think about where your food comes from.
• Attempting to prefect the white balance in my food snaps – Last month, I mentioned I wanted to work at getting the white balance of food photos right. I have been working on this, though I must say it’s been very time-consuming and frustrating. I’m also not sure I’m actually getting any better at it either, despite downloading Photoshop and buying some grey cards. Still, I am determined to get better, so I’ll keep trucking along and hopefully see some improvement too (though once again – I’m welcome to any suggestions! :)
• 100th post!  – I didn’t actually realise it until after the fact, but I posted my 100th post on here the other day – my Zesty Lemon Cream Cups Which is all the more reason to celebrate and go and make another batch I say! ;)

What I’ve been loving

• New Blog – Wholy Goodness – I’ve been following Jessica on Instagram for a little while now, but only recently started to drop by her lovely blog and started to try out some of her delicious looking recipes, such as her carrot top pesto (which is a fantastic, deliciously simple way to use your carrot greens instead of chucking them in the bin!) Jessica’s cooking approach focuses on vegan, wholefood recipes and centers around an intention to not convert the world to veganism but to dispel the myth that vegan cooking is daunting and ludicrous. And judging by the amazing dishes she keeps churning out, I’d say she was doing a pretty damn good job!
• Mixing up my workout routine – After coming back from my holiday, I realised that I was finding it hard to get back in to my old workout routine. So instead, I have been mixing it up a little. My main forms of exercise at the moment is a half hour HIIT class at my local gym which I try to get to at least twice a week, and Pilates. I have always done Pilates in some form, but I have recently started attending a new Pilates studio which a few friends also attend – exercise that includes socialising is always a lot more fun!
• The Wee Lemon Tree – My favorite new stall at my local farmers market is owned and run by the delightful Millie who sells handmade nut mylks, cold pressed juices and delicious chia puddings every Sunday morning. Definitely check drop by and grab one of her tasty little creations if you’re ever at the Farmgate market in Hobart.

Next months goals and plans

• Continue working on white balance – see point above. Practice makes perfect, right?
• Improving the blog – I’m currently working on improving the content for the blog, as well as making it more user-friendly for all you guys :) This is a work in progress, but you’ll hopefully start to see some improvements over the next few months.

So that’s it for me for the moment – but stay tuned this week for a quick and delicious cookie recipe! And as always, feel free to drop me a line in the comments section below – I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to as well! – D x

Note: the above picture is a snap I took of the Hobart waterfront the other weekend – not entirely relevant to this post I realise, but better than a football-related pic I think! 

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