Hello!

Just letting you know I'm now 'mini-blogging' over at http://teaandtofu.tumblr.com/

Hope to see you there! xxx

5 dream careers

If money and circumstances were no object, what would your dream career be? I'd have a tough time choosing between:

1. Magazine editor

I have always wanted to be the editor of a magazine. I got to second interview stage for an editor role on a travel mag about five years ago, and probably would have moved to Sydney to follow my dream if I wasn't too scared of being away from my family (who I'm very close to) and uprooting my partner and furbabies. And now, after a few crazy years working as Managing Editor for a book publisher, I think I've had enough of super-high-stress jobs - so it's unlikely I'll ever get to do this!

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2. Freelance editor/writer

How wonderful would it be to work in a little home office like the one below, and have the freedom to set your own hours and be at home for your kiddies - and be able to exercise whenever you like! There are two things holding me back from this dream: my own brain (I'm the world's biggest procrastinator, and fear I would end up bumming around in my pjs avoiding my desk) and the security of having a regular income (I will probably be the main breadwinner when we have kids). Maybe one day!

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3. Cake decorator

Decorated cakes make me swoon! I'd love to be a cake decorator - it seems like such a fun and creative career choice and I'm sure it would be right up my alley. But, there's an awful lot of risk involved in this one, too. Plus I'm sure I would experience side-effects such as an ever-expanding waistline! I did look into starting my own cupcake decorating business on the side - but there is so much red tape to get through when setting up a food-based business that it put me off. Again, maybe one day!

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4. Beauty therapist

Weird fact about me: I absolutely LOVE things that make other people squeamish, such as popping pimples, cutting nails and cleaning ears and bellybuttons! (I know, ewwww!) I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy being a beauty therapist for this reason. But, again, the money thing - and I'd be scared of ending up with shallow, nasty colleagues! (That's probably just a stereotype though, I'm sure.) I would love to open up a beauty salon for 'real' women one day - somewhere those who do not necessarily have perfect bodies/skin can come without feeling intimidated.

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5. Stationary designer

I am obsessed with stationary (particularly from companies such as Kikki K), and love reading stories about designers and crafters who have 'made it' in the world of stationary design.  I don't have any design training so it's pretty unlikely I'll ever score a job like this one - but it's fun to dream, right?

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If money and circumstances were no object, what would your dream career be?

To market, to market

I live just outside the central city of Melbourne, but I'm secretly a bit of a country girl at heart. I often daydream about packing up M and the kitties and moving somewhere with clean air and and green spaces, and adding a couple of dogs and some chooks to our menagerie.

I've already spoken about my frequent trips to visit my family near the Yarra Valley (where I grew up, and lived until 2004 when I moved in with M in the city). But I also take every chance I get to enjoy a bit of country life when it comes to the city.

Yesterday I spent my morning at the gorgeous Collingwood Children's Farm, where each month there is a farmer's market. What a lovely way to welcome the weekend!

Who would think this is right next to the city centre?

I came away with a huge haul of organic fruit and veg for very little $: a big bunch of truss tomatoes; celery; several bunches of fresh herbs; huge bag of carrots; celery; cucumbers; spring onions; apples; and, maybe best of all, a carton of amazingly delicious free range eggs.

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit some of the farm animals while I was there :-)

... and swoon over the amazing fruit and veggie gardens:

All in all, it was a lovely morning and I've marked it in my calendar to come back next month!

Do you enjoy visiting farmer's markets?

How to be a meal-planning master

For me, organisation is a necessity when it comes to healthy living. Without it, it's all too easy to come home tired after a long day at work, stare baffled into the pantry, and decide to tuck into a big bowl of cereal for dinner because it's the easiest option. (Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with supping on cereal, once in a while - but it is an issue for my carb-hating body, especially if it turns into a several-times-a-week occurrence.)

This morning when I was in the staff kitchen at work slicing up some tomato and avocado to top a couple of Kavli crackers (yummy snack!), one of my colleagues piped up that I 'always eat so healthily'. He continued to tell me that as much as he'd like to be healthy, he just doesn't have time. He is just so busy he doesn't even have a spare moment even to drink the water from the pitcher on his desk! 'I envy you!' was his closing remark.

I don't want to sound preachy (I'm sure I probably thought along similar lines a few months ago - though I wouldn't say it aloud to a colleague!), but I felt like telling him I could see right through his excuses. For one, I'm just as busy as he is, but I MAKE time to take all of three minutes a day to slice up my fresh tomato and avo, and refill my water bottle (which literally takes 30 seconds!). It's really about priorities and organisation. Before, I didn't really value my health, so taking a few minutes out of my busy morning to prepare a healthy snack did seem a bit indulgent. But now, I see the benefits in doing so - and I know I'm far less likely to crave a sugar-laden lunch or slump at 4pm if I take this time. And I don't think I should be made to feel guilty or indulgent for doing so!

Anyway, back to the topic of this post. To me, meal planning is the ultimate way to ensure I am organised and able to fit healthy living into my week. I've been a meal planner for quite some time, and would feel a bit panicky without my little Saturday planning and shopping ritual, I think. I'm not one who can stick to a strict regimen where my breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks are mapped out each and every day, so I've come to know the balance that works for me - my routine eliminates the stress of being faced with an empty pantry while leaving me room to switch around meals if I want to, and choose snacks I feel like on the spur of the moment.

I thought I'd share a couple of the simple tools and tricks I use to make meal planning as simple and streamlined as possible. Even if you are an old hand at meal planning, hopefully you'll find it interesting to see how I do things!

1. Google Calendar and Excel.

I use Google Calendar to schedule all of my appointments, coffee dates, reminders and even workouts for the week, so I know which nights I'll be out, when I'll need a quick and easy dinner and when I'll have more time to prepare a more involved meal.

Then, I use a simple calendar template I created in Excel to fill out any activities/events that will influence my cooking (in the grey column - see below) - and then I fill out the 'lunch' and 'dinner' columns (often I will take dinner leftovers for lunch the next day, and try to squeeze as many meals as possible out of each 'batch' of food we cook - quite easy when there's only two to cook for). I don't plan my breakfasts (they're usually much the same - protein smoothie) or snacks (because I like to have a bit of freedom to choose my snacks freely).

And then, most important, I stick the menu on the fridge where it's easy for me (and M) to see it! I also print out any new recipes I'll be trying and pin these to the fridge too, and make sure recipes in recipe books are flagged and accessible.

2. Mealboard iPhone app.

Some time ago I purchased this wonderful app which has seriously simplified my grocery shopping. It's only a couple of (Australian) dollars and worth every cent!

It is basically a meal planning and grocery shopping tool that, after a bit of preparation to set up, makes shopping an absolute breeze.

To start with, you need to add your recipes to the app - which involves listing each ingredient and quantity. It's a bit time-consuming, but once you've set it up with your favourite recipes you only need to add new ones when you cook something different.

Then, each week, you can use the app to 'schedule' your meals for the week.

(Obviously, the above is not mine - it's the example off the app! I'm usually lazy and just punch in my meals one after the other rather than organising them by day, since I've already done that bit with my Excel menu.)

THEN (and here's the exciting bit), you go to the 'shopping cart' page, and hit 'sync' - it then totals up all the ingredients you'll need for the week and even lists them by supermarket aisle. Super cool! You can then add any extra items you need - toiletries, snack foods etc - to the list.

Then, as you put items in your shopping trolley, you simply check them off on your phone and they move to the bottom of the list. Easy peasy!

So, that's my meal planning routine in a nutshell. It's all pretty simple, but hopefully it has you some ideas that will make your meal planning a little less painful.

Do you plan your meals? Any tips for making the meal planning/grocery shopping process easier?

Friday photo fest

I own a Canon digital SLR camera (without a working lens at the moment - boo!) and a little Canon point and shoot, but without doubt the camera that gets the most use is the one on my iPhone. Even though the quality isn't great, I love being able to pull it out and take a sneaky photo of the things that make me smile throughout the day.

Here's what made it onto my phone this week:

Last Friday night I whipped up a few homemade dips to pair with veggie sticks and falafel balls for a super yummy footy-watching feast. My team lost :-( but it was a fun and nail-biting game to watch.

Umbrella. Anyone in Melbourne will know why I'm thankful to have this big guy at the moment!

M's innovative sunglasses storage :p

Just me :-)

My babies, pretending to love each other. (They started brawling about 10 mins later!)

Tiffany tram!!!

Sooty, in a playful mood, just before he started shredding the catalogue :-)

My fave snack right now: Kavli crackers (the thin ones) topped with cream cheese and ripe, juicy cherry tomatoes. Yum!

A purse I made in a sewing class recently. It was fun to make!


What is your favourite everyday camera?

Know thyself

It is wisdom to know others;
It is enlightenment to know one's self.
Lao-Tzu

I sometimes wonder what I would be like without my history of obesity and self-esteem issues. Would I have grown up sporty, confident, the life of the party? Or would I still be an introvert, thoughtful and quiet, as I am today?

A few months ago I started a new job, and the team I joined is full of very outgoing and social folks - quite different to what I'm used to, with my background in publishing. (I'm used to being surrounded by lovely bookish types, who were usually very much like myself!) In this new job, I seem to be constantly feeling like a social misfit. The negative self talk is running rife, and it seems to peak on Fridays, when my colleagues spend half the afternoon talking about their plans to booze and dance the night away. (All the while I am secretly looking forward to my night of a yummy home-cooked dinner, blog reading and snuggling up on the couch to watch Better Homes & Gardens!)

In my late teens I drank and danced many a weekend away, but these days I much prefer going out for brunch or to a delicious dinner with friends, having fun but also getting home at a fairly decent hour (I love my bed!). I'm also quite shy, although I hide it well (I think - most of the time, anyway), so the thought of socialising with people I barely know really does strike fear into my heart.

But at the same time, a part of me is curious and a bit envious about my colleagues' plans. I always think, maybe I should make the effort to put myself out there and make new friends rather than heading home to my comfortable little life? But usually, my terror at the thought quickly puts an end to any fantasies of the sort. LOL

I keep finding myself wondering if this is really me - if I'm just growing up and past the partying stage - or is it my weight and my lack of confidence talking? If this is really me, I should feel happy about staying true to myself and try to work on quietening those evil thoughts that tell me I'm not good enough. But to deny myself adventures and fun nights out purely because I am lacking in confidence and embarrassed about my weight is another story. The thought of that makes me very sad indeed.

So, what to do? I guess only time will tell - perhaps as I continue on this healthy journey I will feel more like meeting new people and putting myself out on a limb. In the meantime, I will keep trying my best to ignore the shouty, negative thoughts in my head every time I'm very obviously the only girl in the office going home to my couch, my lovely man and my cuddly kitty cats.

Do you suffer from social anxiety? Have you reached the stage where you prefer nights at home to big nights out on the town? Help me feel like less of a social pariah - please!

Tofu 101

One of my lovely friends asked me the other week if I'd write a post about how to cook tofu. I thought it was a great idea! Tofu can be a pretty scary ingredient when you first encounter it – but I promise, if you buy the right type of tofu for your dish and you will fall in love with this simple-to-cook, protein packed ingredient!

Tofu can be found in a couple of different places in the supermarket - but I always go for the ones in the chilled section. If you shop at a big supermarket you will probably find a rather intimidating stack of different types of tofu on the shelves – it can be a bit overwhelming, looking at all the different varieties! Here are a few of the main varieties I cook with:

Hard stir-fry tofu

As the name suggests, this is a great style of tofu for stir-fries. The brand above (my favourite) comes in large pillow-like cubes with an almost spongy texture, and little discernible flavour of its own – and it is brilliant at soaking up other flavours (e.g. a delicious stir-fry sauce!). I just chop it into small cubes and add it to the stir-fry just after the onions/garlic/spices are softened. (This type of tofu is already cooked, so you really just need to warm it through and let it absorb all the yummy flavours in your dish.)


Silken tofu

People often make the mistake of buying silken tofu to use in stir-fries – and then are sorely disappointed when their tofu turns into a crumbly mess! Silken tofu (even the 'hard' varieties) is not suited to stir-fries – it breaks down very easily. It is, however, excellent to use in dips, spreads and even sweet puddings!


Flavoured tofu

Another pre-cooked variety (but this time also pre-marinated!), this type of tofu is similar to the hard stir-fry tofu, except it comes pre-marinated. It is also excellent to use in stir-fries – although you'll need to choose a flavour that complements your dish. My favourite way to use this type of tofu is to fry some up and add it to a salad, with some toasted sesame seeds. Delish!

(By the way, this Asian-style tofu coleslaw is amazing – I will share the recipe soon!)

Do you eat tofu? How do you like to prepare it? (I am very keen to try grilling it, a la Kari!)