new beginnings: 5 things I never thought I would do

during the past five months i have experienced many things that have completely transformed my life. it has been really scary and super exciting all at the same time.

here are my top five. 

1. myreallifekitchen. it began with this blog back in december 2012. after several months of procrastination, thinking and questioning i finally coughed up enough courage to click 'publish' with my first post. the chatter in my head was who's even going to read it and no one will be interested and all that other self depreciating stuff that dampens our creative spirit. but i did it and am here to share my personal and confronting journey with you. 

2. business. this week i completed an 8 week online business course. to those of you who know me well enough to know that businessy things are not for me and have just fainted after hearing this for the first time, im sorry. but i did it. and it was great and inspiring and enriching and all that other stuff. and well, i am about to embark on my exciting new business venture so watch this space!! 

3. veganisim. i just spent the past 5 weeks on a vegan diet. yep, that's right - no meat, dairy, eggs etc. i did eat fish on three occasions out of necessity  but other than that it was veggies, beans, veggies, veggies and quinoa. what was it like? AMAZING! my whole outlook on food and eating has changed and my body is eternally thankful for it.  

4. social media. this was a biggie for me. id never really been a online media participant. in my mind it was always a place for other people to share their photos, thoughts and ideas. but then i clicked 'share' on facebook and let you all into this place; a secret place i'd been hanging out in for a while. i can now say that i have officially embraced social media. my instagram account is in full flow and i will, in the near future, post my first (small steps please) comment on twitter. until then... 

5. read a manual. this one is dedicated to my husband and sister - both  are avid manual readers. they, along with you too now, know that i DON'T do manuals. not for anything; kitchen appliances, gadgets, electronics, NOTHING! in fact, even if something has malfunctioned and hindered me from getting an important task done i still wouldn't read the manual! 


however, on the weekend i just so happened to become luckiest new owner of a super cool camera. this camera was an early birthday present from my love. 

it came with a manual. 

i have never before been this excited to read anything. Ever.  

What gets on your nerves?

Lately there has been something in my life that has seriously been getting on my nerves, like literally. By lately I mean for the past year, however I have only recently figured out why. Story goes, about 24.5 years ago, courtesy of my parents, I was born with an extra rib. Yeah, thanks mum! Docs call it a cervical rib because it arises from lowest cervical vertebra. It is completely useless and exists in my body simply to be annoying. Some people (it could even be you) may have one of these extra bones and go through their whole life without even knowing it. Luckily for me I couldn't ignore the unexplained pain and weakness in my arm (that and my husband got sick of me whining about it) so after countless PT appointments I was finally sent for a xray.

Cervical rib? Confirmed
Thoracic Outlet Syndrome? Confirmed 

What next???

What this cervical rib actually causes in my body is a serious compression of the area where nerves, arteries and veins run down the neck and into the arm - it simply kinda blocks the flow. Numbness, weakness, aching, headaches and tingling are just a few of the daily symptoms and there really isn't anything that I can do about it other than stop doing the things that aggravate it (which is only slightly impossible when your daily doings include- piano playing, painting, cooking, exercising and computering). i am currently in the process of getting to the bottom of the exact cause of the pain (nerve, or other) and deciphering whether or not i can continue to coexist with this bone or have to have it removed. 

so this brings me to the question that i have been asking myself lately; what do you do when faced with the reality of chronic pain? you know, the kind that is with you all day and night and doesn't go away even if you try to fight it off with drugs. I am lucky enough to have never experienced such pain before and am learning how to deal with it the best I can....

This is what it has taught me so far:

• pain demands your attention and forces you to be present. you cant ignore the fact your arm isn't working as it should be. 

• it makes you learn new skills and rewire your brain- its quite amazing how quickly we can become ambidextrous when forced to.   

• It makes you slow down and feel the sensations in your body and connect to real time and space at any given moment. 

• it makes things ok. ok to sit and rest, ok to let the dishes wait and ok to not be doing a thousand things at once.

• it teaches you to be kind and gentle with your body and not even for a minute take it for granted.  

So to anyone out there who is suffering... and unfortunately there are a few special people in my life that are... remember to surrender to what is. your body will persevere if you give it the time, care, kindness and space it needs. treat it well and it has no choice but to do so in return. and in the meantime, the washing can wait. 

 

true love for herbies

my love affair with herbies herbs begun a few years back while I was living and studying in Sydney. I would frequent the store of an afternoon between uni and yoga - yes, the store is physically situated between the two. (Isn't Balmain Rd/ Darling St Rozelle a real gem of a spot)

image via scandifoodie 

At first is was cinnamon. My obsession with this spice, which only gets stronger by the day, began here with the most fragrant and warming cinnamon i could find. It was all about the health benefits at first - cinnamon is a natural blood sugar regulator, anti-inflammatory and great for digestion. However it quickly grew into a 'cant have breakfast without it' addition. 
- cinnamon and honey on toast
- cinnamon with natural yoghurt
- cinnamon on my muesli
- cinnamon in my tea
- cinnamon in banana bread .... You get the point yeah?

My herbies addiction then escalated to buying cardamom pods and cloves to make my own chai tea and many attempts to learn how to use turmeric in my cooking that resulted in staining all my cooking utensils and appliances in the process. 

Now I have what I call a healthily obsessed and tastefully spicy relationship with herbies. I ONLY use their herbs and spices! And when you try them, if you haven't already you will ONLY use them too! Not to mention how amazed you will be when you walk into their store and realise that that many spices actually exist in the world. 

Which brings me to last nights dinner. Now as most of you would know I come from a Macedonian background so cooking with spices pretty much depends on PAPRIKA!! Smoked, sweet, hot, anykind. and yes, i love the stuff. but it isn't very useful when you have asian cuisine on your mind. This is were the amazing herbies Chinese Stir-fry blend comes into it. Inspired by the tasty quinoa san choy bow i experieced at the cute and quirky vegan eat-house Nourishing Quarter in Sydney, I made my version of spicy stir-fry veg quinoa>>>>here is the recipe

ingredients.


cooked quinoa -i soak mine for a few hours first and then cook
garlic
fresh ginger
red and green hot chilli's
herbies chinese stir-fry spice
carrot
celery
peas
sesame oil
mirin
soy sauce - gluten free
oyester sauce

what to do. 

stir-fry onion, chilli, ginger and garlic in sesame oil. add the veggies and continue to fry. then add approx 2 teaspoons of chinese stir fry spice. combine until fragrant and then add quinoa, soy, mirin and oyester sauce. add a little extra sesame if needed. stir-fry until well combined and flavoursome! 

a beautifully somber weekend

the clouds rolled over and filled the sky on saturday morning. i couldn't think of a greater welcoming to the weekend. the QLD sun is harsh. abrasive and relentlessness to the point where even five minutes of it is more depleting than invigorating. im really not complaining, i do know i have it pretty good. but it has felt so calm and safe with an extra roof in the sky. even our little screechy has been basking in the grounding tranquillity.

he has been at peace and quiet and still as well as taking naps during the day which is a rarity for this bird as he suffers from chronic uncontrollable hyperactivity.

so, saturday happens like this...

chores. 
a fresh batch of coco - nutty muesli. 
stuff.
picnic lunch of leftover veggie pasta salad

followed by more stuff. 
gym. 
dinner of lentil soup and late night movie watching - life of pi. beautiful. 

sunday gets even better!!

breakfast baking - dairy and gluten free coconut berry drops. 

Recipce inspired by ohsheglows.com 

followed by creamy dairy free pumpkin and cauliflower soup.

and then, dinner with friends. the best. 

message to take home - don't hate on the weather. ride it. its a much more enjoyable journey. 

leftover veg pasta salad + extras

roasted red capsicum

grilled zuchini 

sautéed mushrooms - garlic, thyme, oregano, parsley, garlic, olive oil, white wine vinigar

caramilsed onion

extra virgin olive oil

salt pepper

toasted almonds

gluten free pasta

what was added for lunch>>

avocado

vine ripened tomato

cannelinni beans

chilli infused extra virgin olive oil

creamy dairy-free pumpkin and cauliflower soup

onion

garlic

olive oil

butternut pumpkin

califlower head

potatoes

allspice

nutmeg

fresh bay leaf

black pepper

salt

coconut milk

fry off the onion and garlic until soft. add the cauliflower, allspice, nutmeg and pepper and stir until combined and fragrant. add the potatoes, pumpkin and bay leaf. cover with water and boil. allow it to simmer for a little while. add salt to taste. remove bay leaf and blend in batches until smooth. place back on heat and add coconut milk. 

serve with extra salt and pepper and the most important - a drizzle of chilli extra virgin olive oil.  

chocolate 'gelato' .... for breakfast!

one of the best breakfasts EVER!

frozen banana

frozen blueberries

avocado

100% organic cocoa

almond milk

shredded coconut

chia

in a blender until it looks like this>>>

beans

i had a proud moment last night and i even said it out loud, much to my husbands surprise. for about 8 months leading up to last nights dinner i had been putting off making this particular dish for fear of failing miserably.

(really, how hard can it be to make baked beans right?)

but it wasn't just about the beans. it was kinda about the whole bean legacy that i had to live up to. i come from a family of great cooks who have been perfecting this staple macedonian dish for years. and here i am with my wheat intolerance and all, which im sure falls into the not acceptable due to failure to comprehend category in most macedonian homes (eg. my grandmother still believes i get sick because i dont eat normal bread) in desperate need to make baked beans! i reference wheat here because the staple side to beans, and any macedonian meal for that matter is of course bread.

so, its monday morning and im thinking about dinner and as we are consciously trying to consume less meat in our home i realise that what better way to start the week than with beans! i finally suck it up and commit to it for dinner. by commit i mean - pour the beans in a bowl and cover with water so they can soak all day until time to cook.
* let it be known that at various times throughout the day i tried to come up with alternatives for dinner and convince myself that i should cook the beans tomorrow.
but 5pm comes and i realise that i should probably start getting sorted to cook so i reluctantly wonder into the kitchen and get started.

instructions as outlined by my mother on various occasions- none of which i was paying full attention


step one. boil beans rapidly for 5- 10 minutes. easy.

step two. drain beans and add them back to pot this time with a whole brown onion, a few cloves of garlic, some olive oil, a couple of fresh bay leafs and the most important ingredient red dried chills (from deli/grocer). cover with water and some. let it simmer gently until......

step three. when you think its time, take out the whole ingredients- garlic, onion and chilli and cut/smash (ideally in mortar and pestle) until mushy and combined put into a little pan with some olive oil and fry away until it starts to smell really yummy or until you run out of patience...

place this in a baking tray and begin to add your simmered beans and broth (add enough so the beans can simmer and all of the liquid). 




step four. so by now your baking tray of beans in ready for the oven. the last thing to do is make the zapraska - pronounced za/prash/ka. this gets added to almost every dish in a macedonian kitchen and consists of flour ( i just use an all-purpose plain gluten free flour or buckwheat flour, much to my grandmothers despair) and olive oil. you fry it off in a small pan until the flour dissolves and cooks away and begins to turn a caramel brown colour. for this particular dish i add some hot/sweet paprika to the pan and as soon as that is mixed through and bubbling its ready to be poured onto the beans. stir this through and it will instantly thicken the liquid ideally you would top this with fresh parsley before putting it in the oven to bake.. but i had none :( 

macedonian baked beans (grav) with cabbage salad and asparagus

ok. so its not the most glamorous meal, but the taste was truly amazing!! oh and i ate wayyyyy to many beans in one sitting. 

friday night

basil pesto pasta (g-free). with asparagus, feta and chilli.

..... on the floor in front of the tv. perfect. 

basil pesto - basil, pine nuts, oregano, parsley, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper.

pasta - organ brand gluten free multi-grain quinoa pasta. best supermarket gluten free pasta.  

our first dinner

finally home after a busy trip back to my home town of wollongong. i spent time with friends and family- long overdue. attended a beautiful wedding. visited galleries. ate yummy food at great restaurants...thanks alphabet st!! partied at my beautiful nieces 2nd birthday. and went for long walks along the beach which were a real treat.

north beach wollongong

birthday bunny amaya

it was such a fun filled trip yet i just couldn't wait to be home by the end of it. i couldn't wait to be back to my quiet, serene and simple space. my space that houses me and my little family (husband and pet bird) my work (a blessing to be able work from home), my pantry (gluten free), my thoughts (home as a daily thinking ground) and my experiences (all things good and bad that happen; life). 

how do i sum up my gladness to be home? this easy and tasty homecoming dinner of pork cutlets with roasted potato and sweet potato and baby spinach and grilled asparagus salad. 

pork marinade

garlic

fresh rosemary and oregano

olive oil

salt

pepper

hot paprika

rice wine vinigar/lemon juice

dijon mustard

balsamic vinigar

toasty.

breakfast was so good this morning i had to share it right away. simple and beautiful. 

quinoa cooked in oat milk. 

topped with 

nuts - i used cashews, macadamias and almonds toasted in a pan with coconut oil, shredded coconut and cinnamon. 

and fresh blueberries

try it. 

christmas catch up

ok. so i know christmas was a while ago now but if i dont post these recipes i will totally forget all about them and never cook them again. and then i will be in trouble because according to the man pork crackling is THE. BEST. THING. EVER. 

so here it goes.

christmas eve prawns>>>

home grown tomatoes.  garlic. tomato paste. olive oil. sugar. salt. pepper. rice wine vinegar/white wine vinegar .. i forget which one??

cook this sauce and set aside.

salt and cracked pepper the prawns. cook in olive oil. slightly under-cook.

add sauce. some butter. and parsley.

christmas breakfast>>

wake up late.

open presents.

spend 3 hours completely entranced by my surprise ipad.

realise the time and eat what would now be classified as lunch.

(lunch was a bit of a non event from memory...cheese on toast i think??) 

christmas(early)dinner>

my first attempt at crackle! and it worked, in some spots. well it was enough to satisfy the craving for crackle and did not allow for crackle overload!

pork- no bone. salted for 24 hours. then salted again before placing in the oven. some fresh thyme sat in the tray underneath the meat while it cooked- for a few long hours.

the meat was juicy and soft and quite simply delicious! definitely wont be waiting until next christmas to cook again!

a tale of two... lovebowls

a recent trip to Japan has enlightened me. It has shown me the way to a simpler existence. Not through its high tech gadget obsessed midnight games room madness culture, but through its ability to make more with less. Don't get me wrong, there are many things that are OTT about the place. Or perhaps it was just my perception of the place being warped by what life wanted to shout out to me next. Nevertheless I have arrived home a simplified version of myself.

during my trip I demonstrated making more with less with my ability to consume rice three times a day for 14 days straight. (I would never even eat the same breakfast two days in a row at home!)We spent 14 days on the north island Hokkaido and were out snowboarding each day so nutrition was important. Ingredients however were limited. We had our staples- rice, milk, butter, apples, cabbage, bananas, eggs, jam and honey. And any additional things we could muster up from the convenience store of an evening was a treat but all in all it was simple ingredients with rice at its best. 

breakfast:  
rice with honey, butter and banana. 
rice with milk and honey. 
rice with milk and banana. 
rice with milk and jam. 
rice with scrambled egg.
rice with milk, egg, banana and honey.... Endless possibilities right? Dinner was quite the same minus the fruit and with added veggies and soy sauce.

you see, for someone who struggles to eat leftovers for lunch the next day and has a pantry filled with enough to feed me for a year this was a real food experience and it made me happy. I was happy eating consciously and slowly with chopsticks out of a small bowl that contained no more than 5 ingredients at a time. It was simple and it felt good.

I brought this feeling home with my two lovesbowls- thats all we need, one for him and one for her.

and if we have guests? Well lucky they came with hats!

stir fried (whatever i could find in fridge) with coconut rice

my plan since iv been back? To not unnecessarily complicate and over consume things. And this doesn't just apply to food and the kitchen. It simply means think less, buy less, do less. Be more.  

green breakfast in a cup. 

banana 

pinapple

avocado

kale

lsa

coconut milk

greek yogurt

chia

blend it all up and chill.

top with..

shredded coconut and pepitas

summertime lunches

my man discovering the simple yet amazing taste of tuna + cabbage salad dressed in home-made red wine vinegar and olive oil

 tuna + quinoa + veggie salad

macedonian home-grown veggie salad 

greens + corn+ egg+ feta salad

all the veggies you can see + my put it on anything herb pesto