2011 - Page 11 of 27 - Sarah Wilson

Tuesday eats: some healthy mish-mash meals

July 31, 2018July 26, 2011 by Sarah Wilson

One of my favourite things to do is to come up with a meal from… nothing. It’s a sport. And I find myself competing in it often because I travel almost weekly and have to empty my fridge of random ingredients. Oh the thrill of it!?!

recipehealth pantry wheatbe Tuesday eats: some healthy mish-mash meals — Pic: Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

So I always have a few staples on hand that can stretch out the random fridge surprise ingredients. Eggs, tinned tuna, tinned sardines, frozen spinach, peas and broccoli (I steam, bag and freeze myself, as explained here), capers and activated nuts and seeds (which I keep in the freezer…they keep longer and stay crisper).

Me, at the moment I’m loving these ideas:

* Freezer spinach, pea and parmesan surprise: Take two cubes of frozen spinach (I buy the one that comes in a pack of 6 cubes) and a handful of frozen peas in a bowl and microwave (I know, not ideal, but frozen spinach is dodgy in a pot and this meal works best in a microwave) for a minute or so. I drain a little water out and stir through one egg and some grated Parmesan (which I store in the freezer) and heat for another minute or so. Breakfast!

* Mushroom mush: I saute mushrooms in a pan and some shaved ham (I keep a container in the fridge for such moments) and swirl through some lightly forked eggs, a splash of milk and some chia seeds.

* Broccoli and ….: I steam broccoli cut up pretty fine (as mentioned I do this in advance – a head or two at a time – put in containers and freeze ready to grab) and add: some shredded chicken (I buy 1/2 a chook and use it across 3-4 meals), a few anchovies and some garlic, a tin of tuna and an egg…I swirl it through the hot broccoli and it “cooks” into a cheesy bind. Sometimes I toss in some finely cut celery and swirl through some whole-egg mayo (sugar-free). And some activated pepitas (again, which I keep in the freezer). And bang. Lunch. Or breakfast (the other day I took it on the plane with me on my way to Sydney at 9am).

* Meffins (meat, veggie and egg muffins):

Brene Brown: how do you get “deliberate” about your life?

October 20, 2015July 24, 2011 by Sarah Wilson

This week in Sunday Life I get deliberately vulnerable

23d373f9fa5690a22aec2eeb004b3a04 Brene Brown: how do you get "deliberate" about your life? — Illo by Erik Marinovich

I love the number three. It’s a thing (as they say on Twitter, preceded by a “hashtag”). When things come in threes – three knock-backs, three mentions of the same person in a week – I’ve learned to take note. And something always comes of it. There’s nothing particularly woo-woo about this predilection. I’m a wary, hesitant person – it takes three strikes, generally, for me to notice and trust something, and then to act.

This week University of Houston scientist Brene Brown told me she’s a three kind of a kid, too. Of course, I got around to watching Brown on TED.com only after three people mentioned her to me. Her talk on vulnerability has since become one of the most popular TED presentations ever. And so I contacted her to see if I could interview her for this column on Skype. And whattayaknow, she replied immediately to say she was due in Sydney the very day I was also going to be in town.

Woo-woo? Or just weird? Whatever. We met.

Can I just say, I was more excited about meeting Brown than anyone I’ve encountered in my weekly journey for this column. Three hands down. Brown’s spent eight years studying thousands of people to determine how best to live a wholehearted life.

It drills down to this:

my new TV show: Eat Yourself Sexy (why don’t ya!)

July 21, 2011 by Sarah Wilson

A little while back I finished making a TV show. It’s a nutrition makeover show. It’s called Eat Yourself Sexy. The premise is simple: I take 8 average Australian women and show them how to eat their way back to wellness in 8 weeks. It’s all it takes. And they wind up eating MORE than they’ve ever eaten before. Here’s a sneak look… and below some behind the scenes shots from the shooting of the promo.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIbnt1wVGCg[/youtube]

Where can you see it?

Lifestyle YOU (Foxtel and Austar)

When?

August 25, 8.30pm

Why?

Because it’s a show that spreads REAL eating advice and is wholly accessible and all about pointing at the telly and saying, “Wow, that’s me, I do that” and, “Wow, that’s not complicated or hard, I can make that change”.

The women are mostly size 14-16, with kids and jobs (REAL). I swear, we see ourselves in all these women and their food and body dilemmas. We don’t whisk them away and lock them in a house and put them through artificial boot camp misery…

Inspired gifts – just a nice idea for a Wednesday…

November 6, 2018July 20, 2011 by Sarah Wilson

It’s always someone’s birthday or wedding. And – separate thought – I think it’s always nice to give something that helps others in need. Because, I mean, who needs another Jo Malone candle!? So I thought I’d share UNICEF’s Inspired Gifts program…where you can buy a bike for your loved one…that goes to someone in Africa!

via goldsnowdrops

Tip: Flag this post so you have a gift idea ready to go (perhaps add it to instapaper…I have a file called “gifts’ filled with ideas).

Basically, you buy a gift for someone that goes to someone else in need. A goat. Or a bike! I do this at Christmas. My family and previous partners have always groaned at first. But then been grateful. We used to wonder how the goat was going, living its little goat life in Namibia or whatever. (I once wrote a “sponsor letter” from the goat and posted it six months later…”thank you for my life, milking time is always fun”…).

Three of my favourite gifts:

A Bike! $87. UNICEF has found that in some parts of the world a bike is one of the most important modes of transport for villages. It is particularly helpful for health workers to reach vulnerable children in remote communities. It is often used to transport other Inspired Gifts like the vaccine carrier.
Measles vaccines: $31 will protect 100 children from measles.
Family water kit: $127

Here’s what others’ gift-giving antics delivered around the world last year:

what’s your definition of the perfect relationship?

October 23, 2018July 19, 2011 by Sarah Wilson

I’ve been thinking about this a bit. In part to understand what I’m seeking. In part to understand my friends’ relationships…some of which I don’t fully…get.

photographer javier lovera what's your definition of the perfect relationship? — Pic by Javier Lovera

I used to believe there was a One.

I now believe arranged marriages can often produce better relationships than when we’re left to our devices. We create our love, once we decide. For a VERY interesting discussion of this see Sheena Iyengar’s book The Art of Choosing (she compares different relationships and finds the arranged ones are far happier 20 years down the track. It’s a terrific read.) I’ve put her TED.com talk below…as a sideline.

So the point is…we choose love. We choose to make the relationship work.

I used to believe relating was about facing each other and seeing each other in each other’s eyes.

I now believe relating is about travelling side by side, looking in the same direction. Every now and then we look across at each other and prod each other on with a kind smile.

I used to believe we found our match.

my Sunday Night interview with the Dalai Lama

July 17, 2018July 18, 2011 by Sarah Wilson

I interviewed His Holiness for Sunday Night on Channel Seven. Here it is… I mentioned on Twitter at the time…afterwards I was in the hotel lobby working on my laptop and he and his entourage bustled by. HH gave me a double thumbs up and a wink. Life highlight. The next day he blessed me … Read more

Why your arguing is backfiring…

July 17, 2011 by Sarah Wilson

This week in Sunday Life I quit arguing

dont cry its only sunblock Why your arguing is backfiring... — via powrightbetweentheeyes

If I had my time again I wouldn’t have asked Dad’s permission to see Nightmare on Elm Street 4 when I was 15, thus spending the next five weeks arguing why he was wrong to say no. I would’ve just gone, like my friends did.

At a guess, I spent approximately 11/15ths of my teenage years arguing My Point to my parents. Which handed my five younger siblings incredible unscrutinsed freedom to do what they liked. They – wisely – took the line, that I only learned much later in life while working for Kerry Packer, “Don’t ask for permission, know how to beg for forgiveness”.

It’s an interesting point to explore right now. Because, frankly, everyone seems to be arguing to flaccid effect. If you’re not throwing the remote at journalist Andrew Bolt’s head on the telly, you’re throwing it at Dick Smith’s or Gwyneth Paltrow’s or Lord Monckton. And Federal politics has descended into a My Point-scoring scrum. One where the ball was lost long ago. It’s like we’re all standing in front of my dad. I say this, because my dad was supreme at not relenting to Another Point.

A Gen Zer asked me at a Coal Seam Gas rally the other day if there was any point to arguing. A Gen Yer wouldn’t have asked such a question. They’re the quintessential younger sibling in the equation (with Gen Zers a sort of second-rounds eldest child). I took on his question quite seriously (as Gen Xers do; we also still attend rallies) and this week explored it further.

Dispiritingly, a lot of the research dedicated to the topic finds arguing a point doesn’t work. Worse, it leads to what has been dubbed “The Backfire Effect” by US researchers.

My oprah necklace giveaway/charity thingo

December 26, 2011July 14, 2011 by Sarah Wilson

I asked last week what you thought of giveaways. I loved the feedback – thank you for taking the time to be clear and honest with me about it. It’s a tricky issue. And thank you for the suggestion to tie giveaways in with giving to those in more need than those of us reading this site.

34441 1 468c My oprah necklace giveaway/charity thingo — via The Trendhunter

Since I have no need for the pink diamond necklace Oprah’s team sent recently (the one valued at $450 and handed out during her visit), I thought I’d give it away. Sort of.

are you ready to meditate?

October 23, 2018July 12, 2011 by Sarah Wilson

The best thing I ever did was to learn to meditate. As in properly meditate.

For years I flim-flammed around trying different techniques. They gave me the shits. I never “got” it. I then bit a bullet and tried Vedic meditation. I’ve talked about this style before here and here.

When I first met Tim I was wary. I was in a fug at the time – no job, sick, broke, lost. He told me things would turn around in a few weeks of meditating. Within six weeks they did – I got the MasterChef gig out of the blue. I asked him why he was so confident. He replied:

“Sarah, you are trying to go forward with your life with the handbrake pulled full on. Don’t keep trying to put your foot on the accelerator to go forward – it’s a pointless exercise. You’ll just keep burning yourself out. You need to learn how to take the hand break off. Meditation will help you do that. The rest will start to happen after that. “

So I thought I’d share that Tim my teacher is holding a weekend course up here in Byron Bay this coming weekend.