Cuppow!

yay, finally bought some cuppows! off to buy my wide-mouthed Mason jars now... oh, fads.

Instagram food etc.

It would seem i've fallen into the instagram food trap. Instagram app trap. you see, I am one of those people. I like to connect with others through food, people who i possibly will never meet, people who dream and drool over food constantly, eat bountifully from their own gardens, witches in the kitchen spreading the carefully scatted supergreen, wholefood amalgamation alchemy. i do love it. It means i can gleefully share a comment with the likes of My New Roots and Earthsprout, Nirrimi and Mexico and try to somehow stick my bare toe into their world. It fills a little space.

at the same time, i thought i'd join in with Pip and Kate in this little tag-along. 

Making : mustard beanies, a cabled sweater for myself in dove grey. 
Cooking : a raw cashew dreamcake. tomorrow. 
Drinking : green juice with garden add-ins. cannot get enough. 
Reading: my travel journal from last year. yearning. 
Wanting: a forest to envelop me and fill my ears with the depth of nature. 
Looking: through the window at the dark sky, pocked with stars. 
Playing: loud music in study breaks with my brother, dancing like wild things. 
Wasting: time on the internet. pinterest you are a beautiful well of doom. 
Sewing: Melton wool cosies onto jars. 
Wishing: I was in the Tarkine Forest, TAS. 
Enjoying: The honey pickled beets I made a few days ago. 
Waiting: For my Broad Bean flowers to become edibles. 
Liking: The early morning frosted sunlight of late Winter. 
Wondering: What the upcoming federal election will bring. 
Loving: Shopping for dry goods at Terre Madre each week. 
Hoping: The Greens win the election (it can be a far-fetched hope, right?)
Marvelling: At the moon's constant wax and wane, drawing time along with it. 
Needing: shoes. All of mine leak. 
Smelling: Like coconut oil every day and loving it!
Wearing: Layers of handknits. Go granny!
Following: The bloggers who fill me with joy and inspiration. 
Noticing: The warming days. 
Knowing: I need to write more, from myself, for myself. 
Thinking: About a dear family in a hard place. 
Feeling: Healthy, full of life. 
Bookmarking: Recipes for more kitchen experimenting. I'm loving the kitchen lately. 
Opening: Packages. Joy!
Giggling: With my brother. Sibling in-jokes are the best. 
Feeling: Like I want to do so many things in life, right now!

x

Where to start?

I have been putting off the post Japan blog for a few weeks. i apologise. it's just impossible to choose a segment to start with. here are a bunch of photos to feast upon meanwhile. ok, embarrassingly i just tried to upload 46 photos and that was just the beginning so i'll break it up. ha. 

No GMO!

 I spy Lisa Mitchell and Jordan Wilson!

A few weeks ago a crowd of 1000 or more gathered in the bustling Melbourne streets to discuss and stand against Monsanto and genetic modification. It was heartwarming to see how many people took the time to come and gather. Powerful stuff, this solidarity! We marched very peacefully around the block in Melbourne's CBD, sitting calmly in front of trams whilst the clockwork-run corporates dodged stiffly around us. There were shared ideas, inspired passion and a warmth in this crowd, not too much hype or anger. My favourite poster was one that said 'Farms not Pharmacies!'. Nature for nurture is a fairly big belief of mine, and i was glad to see it up there as a main discussion.  
check out the links below if you want to know more!
x

http://www.march-against-monsanto.com/
https://www.rebelmouse.com/MarchAgainstMonsanto/

Making almond milk

Yesterday I decided to make almond milk. I had been drinking soy milk previously but decided it was making me too blocked up and sinusy so I wanted to give almond milking a try. It was so easy and perfectly delicious. I simply put a rough handful of almonds into my blender with 2 ish cups of water and blended on high for 3 or 4 minutes. Then lined a large jar with a fine cloth and poured the milk + almond meal through the cloth and squeezed until all the milk was extracted from the meal. the fresh almond meal i then dehydrated in the oven on low for a while to use in smoothies and baking. The milk I made into a Latte and saved the rest in the fridge. Perfect for these chilly autumnal mornings and doesn't make me blocked up like milk and soy do. Since I've been playing around with what i eat, what feels good in my body and what I feel right about eating, I've been so much busier in the kitchen. Every day I come home from uni and experiment with whatever is in the fridge and it's really opening up a new world of food-making to me.
At the moment i am loving:
kale and silverbeet from my garden
salads with nuts, seeds and dried fruit on top
soups with nuts and seeds on top (actually anything with nuts and seeds on or in it!)
grated Kohl Rabi (seek it out if you don't already love it!)
cinnamon and honey in warm water
these crisp mornings and all the rugged-up, woollen people at the station
Offspring is on again (i know, i know)
seeing edible weeds everywhere after the rain

speaking of edible weeds, I did a weed walk a few weeks back and it was amazing. the leader, Adam Grubb of VEG (very edible gardens) walked with a group of us along Merri creek to demonstrate which weeds are safe to eat (and which are not!). There is so much good, nutritious food to be foraged in and out of the city area, wild kale, dandelions, plantain, nettle, wild lettuce! my favourite was wild kale or cabbage, a yellow flowering brassica which grows wild, tastes like kale, is more nutritious than the domesticated versions and is completely free! I have already started to try to include some 'weeds' into my diet as some of them are highly nutritious and can be 'shopped for' in your backyard! so nifty
does anyone else forage for weeds? i'd love to learn about mushrooming. we should have a weed feast.
x

Jung love

Whenever we touch nature we get clean. Savages are not dirty-only we are dirty. Domesticated animals are dirty, but never wild animals. Matter in the wrong place is dirt. People who have got dirty through too much civilization take a walk in the woods, or a bath in the sea.

-Carl Jung

I love feeling the dirt under my bare feet, in the same love category as sand between my toes or smooth river rocks underfoot. instant calm. they say if you get out of the plane after a long flight and walk to some (non-concreted) earth and stand barefoot on it for five or so minutes, your jet-lag is significantly decreased. piece of trivia for you there. 

p.s. didya get the pun in the title!?

p.p.s. my woollen (handmade) leggings have knee patches! (i can tell you how i made them if you want to know!)

x