Outside Inside

Outside:

 Posing for outfit shots is always awkward...so I decided to just go for it and pull a look.

Bird Top: recently bought from a random Sydney boutique

Black top: Hand-me-down from my sister

Belt: Garage Sale in Adelaide (with z and e of course!)

Skirt: sort of embossed with flowers, this is a favourite from an Magill, Adelaide Op Shop

Stockings: Floral pattern bought from er. . somewhere

Shoes: Rubi Shoes, Adelaide from when I was all corporate

Sunnies slipped in at the side: Vintage Shop, Newtown Sydney

 

 B: Top: Glassons

Skirt: Vintage, My mothers

Earring's: Vintage, present from Stephanie

Shoes: Present from old friends about6 years ago!

Belt and Sunglasses: see last outfit description

Max: Outfit from a friend, Shoes Vintage from Aunty Lisa (I believe an Etsy acquisition!), Blue eyes his own.

My sister Tamara & her daughter Keira at our favourite local cafe...

Tam wears a Dotti top which I want to steal.

Keira wears a pink ballerina like dress which I kind of also want to steal ...hehe

  Maxwell wearing the Zara Baby overalls his aunty Lisa sent over for him! So vintage inspired with the leather - I luhuve.

Inside:

 Oh yeah, right, the whole plant food diet.. um.. well you see we want to use up everything in the cupboard first and then House of Humble has this 2 min microwave chocolate pudding thing and well...see we added banana's and nuts so it's healthy right...?

Lamb Pizza? Yeah I know...but we do have all this meat in our freezer you see..and it was quick...and yummy! Thanks Tom for making!

 This morning (and most mornings) breakfast. See. I can be healthy.

This bread is sooo yummy and good for you too. I love putting it with almond butter, organic honey and banana! Do try. 

Oh and let me know if you have any ideas for variations on this!

Feels good to make an effort looking after the Outside and the Inside although constantly on call with Max and his mischievous conquests. This week it's coffe table cubby-houses and laughing at absolutely everything. Perhaps a couple of tantrums starting here and there, but staying positive people!

Carpe diem

bxx

Scribbles on a Saturday

~E xo

Daily dose of giggles

I. Cannot. Stop. Laughing.

~E xo

Ramblings of a foodie

I've been thinking a lot lately about dieting. Or more specifically, how much I don't want to do it anymore.

I come from a long line of dieters with almost all the women in my family being either overweight  or struggling to keep their weight down. From the ages of 8-13 I was obese and ever since I have gained weight with much ease and lost it with much difficulty. I've also tried diets for health reasons, having Type 1 Diabetes and battling with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. No diet I have tried has helped me with my energy levels and the most weight I can lose is 3kg which I gradually put back on without fail. So I guess my main issue with diets is the sustainability of them and the fact that we cannot ignore that we are all genetically different, ie; there is no one way to eat well.

Which has lead me to my new viewpoint. Develop a long term view to healthy eating that you know works for you. Of course, the many diets I've been on have helped me greatly in identifying what works for me and what doesn't. 

I know I shouldn't eat carbs at night. I know that lentils and legumes are without a doubt the best form of carbohydrate for Diabetics. I function better without dairy (with the exception of yoghurt. I always feel good after yoghurt...?) My body likes fish better than beef. Raw Vegies are so important. I can't get away with eating toast for breakfast every morning, even though I want to. 

 Which brings me to this little beauty of an idea which I picked up from I quit sugar.

(This is an amazing site by the way. Definitely go check it out.)

Sweet Omelet

 

This is a sugar free, carb free breakfast (unless you count the fruit as carbs)

Simply make an Omelet with 2 eggs and a teaspoon of vanilla essence then top it with whatever you like.

I used almond paste, bananas, un-sweetened organic yoghurt and a teaspoon of honey.

So, so good!! I'm thrilled to have found this recipe out!

Another great idea that was passed on to me is using cauliflower as a substitute for rice.

Simply grate the cauliflower and boil it for a few minutes. Tastes great with curry!

Being a lover of baking and of life I'm also fond of the 80/20 theory.

That is, eat 80% healthy, 20% treats.

Sounds reasonable to me! Which is why I will continue to post my latest biscuit recipes in amongst ramblings about healthy eating :)

~Love E xo

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants....

A different kind of inspiration.

Always interested in improving my diet without actually being on a diet, I was intrigued when my father, a 73yr old Australian man who has become an Indian food expert, gave me this movie "Forks over Knives" to have a look at. Dad has really started eating well and has cut a lot of his meat intake but increased his lentils and alternatives - thus the love of Indian food. Or was it the other way around? anyways..

Incredible. The scientific research gone into it only backs the obvious. We all know we are supposed to eat our vegetables, and that organic food when available is always going to be the best for us. BUT the interesting point this documentary makes is just how much animal products contribute to diseases - I was particularly interested in it's effect on cancer cells.

This is not some weird push to be vegetarian or vegan; sure it's not nice to kill animals and eat them, but hey on a decent cheeseburger who can really say no? My point is, in the end we have been told how good meat and dairy is for us, yet these things are severely contributing to our bodies weakening and developing diseases. Whether it is ethically right or wrong, whether cutting out meat will help the environment or not, is not what this is about. It is about health.

So what DO we eat?

Whole Plant Foods People!

What could be a more simpler diet?

To get you motivated (gently) after watching the movie, or before:

The Veggie Mamma!

 Featured in Peppermint Magazine, I quickly looked her up again after watching this documentary. So take a look yeah?

eat well

live well

bxx

Never get so attached to a poem You forget truth that lacks lyricism

Here are some pretty things that have caught my eye lately.

Sorry for the lack of links, I tend to forget to make note when I'm floating around the blogosphere!

Oh, if only this room were mine!

Outfit inspiration as Autumn ascends

I have a major thing for blue and white Ginger Jars at the moment. What do you think my chance are of finding one in an Op shop? Slim, I'd say, but one can hope!

Wish I were walking along this street in Paris

I'm 100% not brave enough to wear lipstick like this but I think its incredible!

Found at Lady Petrova

How lovely is this dear? I promise myself I will have chickens one day.

I think these two images speak for themselves!

*sigh*

Song of the week~ En gallop by Joanna Newsom

...So, so pretty

~Love E xo

after adventures, tend to nest

Flowers, Friends, Op Shopping, Vintage finds, Realisations, Flooding and Family.

So what do you think of the Eiffel Tower on our wall? Tom found the perfect spot for it in our little house and I must say I was impressed. Is it odd to have it up though we've never been to France? It's a little present from a friend and the right placement, and our visitors always comment on how striking and lovely it looks.

The purple and white flowers are from my friend Amy's garden - although she is the most amazing florist,(think, roses, foliage, peppercorns and rosemary together - oh yes. so good.) I love that these were straight from the ground. They are in a delightful coffeepot from my sister, placed on top of given and op-shopped books on my 'new' free vintage telephone table! Love love love

I've taken to putting lavender in vases.

I scored an amazing purple pouffe and old metal watering can from a Shellharbour antique shop.

Tom surprised me with my coveted Ben Sherman Bag (used as my bag and a nappy bag - hello space!

The other day I moved all my dresses to a hanging rack. Turns out I own 45 dresses. Yeah.

Motivated by a display at Amy's place I sort out an old book(and a few others...) at an amazing vintage book shop / cafe down south..more on that later...and ended up purchasing a $3 Pride a Prejudice volume 2 of a 3 part series. The funny thing was it turned out to be exactly the same novel Amy had on display that motivated me in the first place!

We drove through a flooded road on our south NSW trip, a first for me. Can't say Max enjoyed being cooped up in the car due to rain most of the time. He did make friends with a dog called Toby, but well, I'm dying to get my film developed so I can share more moments with you.

tb&m

bxx

Marilyn Monroe

I finished this little drawing today. Marilyn Monroe on old French paper, 17cm x 25cm.

The original is for sale for $65 but I will also be doing prints of this one.

~E xo

If you don't care for tea, you could at least make polite conversation!

Bonjour good people! I hope this post finds you well.

Things have been kinda hectic for me lately so I'm enjoying having a moment to blog a little!

Here are some things that have been warming my days lately...

Zen bought me these dear little beauties.

They have legs!!!

What a lucky girl I am.

My Nana is my biggest fan and whenever I send her an email of my latest artworks she prints them off and puts them in her 'brag book' which she then shows to anybody who will look *cringe*

Anyway she showed a friend the Audrey Hepburn portrait I did recently and she loved it so commissioned me to do an Audrey portrait for her. Here it is~

I have since received two more commissions on this french paper!

I think I'm on to something :)

My Aunty is an Op shop fiend with a penchant for vintage coloured glass (she owns at least 150 pieces!) and also for vintage tea towels and aprons which, bless her kind heart, she shares with me!

Here's what I recently scored

 These two are my favorites-

This gluten and dairy free banana bread I made is scrumdiddilydumtious!

Would you like the recipe? If you know what's good for breakfast on a Sunday morning then the correct answer would be 'Yes please!".

150g rice bran oil

100g sugar

2 x-large eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

3 very ripe bananas (or 1 cup), mashed

1 cup Gluten free bread flour

1/2 cup almond meal

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp guar gum

A large handful of cashew nuts

Really good honey

Pre-heat oven to 170 degrees. 

In an electric mixer cream rice bran oil with sugar until well combined then beat in eggs, vanilla and bananas.

In a separate bowl sift GF bread flour, baking powder and guar gum then whisk in almond meal. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and beat until well combined. If you like you can now fold 1 cup of nuts of choice into the mix but in this instance I left them out because i wanted the cashews on top.

Bake for 55min or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. If putting nuts on top, in the last 15 min of baking gently take out the cake and poke it all over with a skewer. Add your chopped nuts then drizzle generously with honey. Yum!

This cake is really moist and doesn't need any butter but if you're anything like me you'll know that banana bread and butter were made for each other.  Don't forget to have a cup of tea as well!

Preferably from a tea cup with legs.

~Love E xo