2013 - Page 8 of 14 - Sarah Wilson

so, a few things are going to change around here

May 27, 2013 by Sarah Wilson

I very much like change. I like growing. I like inventing stuff just to see if other people like it. And I love when things (finally) gel and flow and I can invite people onto my little canoe and we can paddle together. Because, while I’m a calcified lone ranger, I also do like sharing and being blown away by other humans and their skill and heart and uniqueness.

Zoe SW

Preamble over, let me share some friggen great news with you all. I Quit Sugar is about to unfurl in some dramatic new ways.

And first up, let me introduce you to our new General Manager, Zoe Eaton. If I could abide emoticons, I’d insert little clapping hands here. She has been on board a total of four days and has impressed us with her colourful outfits (I describe her sartorial personality as “licorice allsort” inspired), her lamb chop lunches and her geek speak. She’s been working in online and marketing for more than 10 years, previously at Turner International.

A little personal context: Zoe and I first met ten years ago when I was editing Cosmopolitan magazine. She was the senior marketing manager on the magazine and we worked together robustly (that would be a fair way to put it, hey Zoe?). We remained friends when we both left the magazine (around the same time) and get together to eat, drink red wine and share Big Ideas. We were doing this over some pulled pork only three weeks ago and she was fleshing out one of her Big Business Ideas. And it occurred to me: Zoe belongs at IQS. We both move fast. We both like change. Only 23 days later and here we are.

Please make her feel welcome!

Over the next few weeks you’ll notice a few changes around here.

* The iquitsugar.com site will be going live in a week or two. If you haven’t already, sign up to the newsletter to be

a glamping roadtrip

May 24, 2013May 24, 2013 by Sarah Wilson

When we were kids Dad would grab the youngest, blindfold them, spin them once and get them to stab at a map of New South Wales pinned to the wall. Wherever my little brother or sister pointed determined our summer holiday fun. “Rippa! Kids, we’re off camping in….Dubbo!”.

paper bark hut 2 copy — This is the tent we stayed in. That’s a meteorite shot by Joanne Paquette the week before.

Oh, the places we visited. Up to eight of us in a four-man tent (my brothers slept in the trailer once it was unpacked). One year it was drought-stricken goat paddock in Jindabyne. Another we wound up in Bendigo (we eventually branched out to the holiday non-spots of greater Victoria). We sat on milk crates. Mum always cooked Hungarian goulash in the big cast-iron pot. It invariably stormed. Flooded. Or there was a dust storm.

And you thought your jaunt to the Lake Macquarie Big 4 with the kidney pool was as good as it got.

I camped all my life. In snow. On the banks of crocodile-infested waters. In the middle of cities. In fact, I was 21 before I stayed in a hotel. I packed a towel and soap and made the bed in the morning, which made my new boyfriend at the time roll around laughing. So, it could be said I’ve earned my camping stripes.

And so, recently I allowed myself the comfort and joy of “glamping”. Glamorous camping. Last weekend I headed south of Sydney with my mate Zoe to try out the glamping deal at Paperbark Camp. I’d heard about this place almost ten years ago, when it first opened. I loved the idea. Turns out it’s now a MrandMrsSmith property.

Please note: I’m an ambassador with MrandMrsSmith and I am invited to try out their properties from time to time for review purposes. The opinions in this post are my own.

Paperbark is about 2-3 hours out of town, in Woolamia near Jervis Bay. It’s a bunch of elevated, luxury tents scattered throughout dense bushland close to the sea. You can hear the roar at night. Along with crackles of the night life going

Slow cooked cinnamon beef cheeks with cauliflower cream

July 31, 2018May 21, 2013 by Sarah Wilson

Gradually, gradually I hope I’m getting you all used to cooking with secondary cuts of meat…yes? The secondary cuts are the ones that can often be discarded because they’re not as fashionable. Which is a waste. The dumb thing is, these secondary cuts – chuck, shanks, cheeks, offal, shin, blade, brisket – taste infinity better than the primary cuts if they’re simply cooked a little differently.

port_vanilla_beefcheeks_01 — Slow cooked cinnamon beef cheeks, recipe below. Image from Eat Drink Paleo

Dumber still, these different cooking methods (slow and long) make the meat much better for you (the slow temperatures don’t destroy as many of the enzymes).Make a difference and vote with your dollar: buy secondary and learn to cook differently!

I’ve been playing with a few different cuts…gradually moving us all via this series of slow-cooked meals (you can check out my lamb shanks with lemon and cinnamon here and my beef with coconut curry here) to cooking with offal. We’re not there yet. But stay tuned.

Today, it’s beef cheeks. These are the facial cheeks of cows (not the bum cheeks!) and are very lean and tough if not cooked nice and slow and languidly.

Some quick pointers before we start…

* You can use a heavy-based casserole pot instead.

No need to buy a special electric slow cooker if you don’t want. You can use a Le Creuset casserole pot or dutch oven on the stove top or in the oven instead. You generally have to add liquid if you do (see below) and reduce cooking time from 8 hours (on low) or 4 hours (on high) to 1-2 hours.

* It doesn’t have to be a big one.

I use a 4.5L one. It’s big enough to make 6-8 portions.

* Halve the liquid if you’re using a slow cooker

If you’re converting a recipe from a standard (oven or stove-top) recipe, halve the amount of juicy stuff and do things

My simple home: what I don’t own

April 22, 2018May 16, 2013 by Sarah Wilson

I’m going to take a step or two back. And explain the “simple” in the My Simple Home experiment. I’d like to be clear.

You’ll notice the series is not called “My Minimalist Home”. Minimalism is a righteous aesthetic, but not always practical. All those ardent minimalists out there can be painful. And their all-in-one gadgets can cost a bomb. I really enjoyed reading this Slate article on how minimalism isn’t sustainable….and how the original minimalist zealots have backed off on their message to something…simpler. You might like this fresh perspective too.

I don’t call it “My Green Home” either. Sustainable timber and chemical-free options are great. But generally green home features and rants suggest more buying…More Stuff, albeit derived from new-growth shrubbery. It’s consumerism dressed up in hemp clothing.

You’ll also notice I don’t speak of “Decluttering”. Decluttering denotes chucking stuff out, and often perfectly good things that are then replaced by a less cluttery version of the original. And complemented by a visit to The Storage Shop to buy a whole heap of containers and filing solutions. Which is More Stuff.

Instead, I’ve gone the simple slant. Simple is minimalist, green, decluttered, low waste, practical, economical and all the rest of that good stuff rolled into one. Well it should be.

Simple has as its mantra one word: less.

Go to the shops less. Buy less. Consume less. Recycle less (recycling should be a last resort). Less furniture. Less gadgets. Use up what you have first. Improvise. Make do. Use the same thing for two purposes. Need less.

Recently Leo Babauta listed what he didn’t own over on mnmlist. I’ve decided to do the same, as prompted by his

The I Quit Sugar Chocolate Cookbook has landed!

May 15, 2013 by Sarah Wilson

Drum rolls and fanfare be silent. The day has come. Yep, the I Quit Sugar Chocolate Cookbook is available today. And thank you for being so patient!

My love of chocolate has seen me experiment madly with different densely nutritious and satiating recipe ideas for two years now. It’s not a bad experiment to sign up for, mind you. This cookbook, as with my previous books, evolved as an experiment as I explored sugar-free living for myself. I say this often: I’m not a scientist. I don’t pretend to be. I’m someone who gave this way of living a crack, found it did great things for my wellness, and now I love sharing what I’ve learned.

To grab the Chocolate Cookbook, click on the button below. If you’ve pre-ordered, your copy will be delivered to you today via email. Stay tuned!

I’m hoping you’ll love it. Here’s what you’ll find inside:

Minced meat and broccoli stir-fry (and 4 other mince-y tricks)

August 10, 2018May 14, 2013 by Sarah Wilson

Blogger at The Stone Soup and food scientist Jules Clancy has been in my orbit for a while. She shared some nifty recipes using five ingredients or less here a while back. Recently we shared our love of meat. From a sustainability POV, it uses up perfectly good off-cuts. From a budget POV, it’s cheap. From a convenience POV, it’s radical. Jules also adds that from a cooking POV, it’s “forgiving”. Which is to say, it’s hard to fork it up!

Screen Shot 2013-05-13 at 2.57.06 PM — Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry, recipe below

Here she shares six ways to max your mince experience, beyond the spag bol usual.

1. Stir fry it.

Mince is brilliant in stir fries because it cooks quickly and has lots of surface area to absorb the flavours of your sauce and other ingredients. It also saves you from having to thinly slice your meat.

Next time you’re planning to cook your favourite stir fry, use minced meat instead of your normal chicken breast or thighs.

Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry

Serves 2- 3

500g ground (minced) beef
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
2 heads broccoli
4 tablespoons oyster sauce (soy or Tamari, if you’re sugar free)
1 bunch coriander, chopped

Preheat a large wok or frying pan on a very high heat. Add a few tablespoons neutral flavoured oil and stir fry the beef. While the beef is browning, finely slice the broccoli stems and chop the head into bight sized trees. Add garlic to the beef and continue to cook until well browned. Add broccoli and a few tablespoons water and cover the pan. Continue to cook on a high heat with the lid on, stirring every 2 minutes until the broccoli is bright green and tender but still a

I’m an online dater and it changed me

October 23, 2018May 9, 2013 by Sarah Wilson

There are a few things you learn when you do online dating. You learn about the different faces of humanity’s heaving, aching loneliness. You learn just how lonely you are. You learn about the opposite sex. You learn about how much your ego can take (from the incessant rejections; on most sites you’re alerted to who is checking you out…followed by a loud silence when they don’t make contact; on one site one works their way up the “most popular listing” by responding to all contacts, which results in a lot of automated rejection emails). But mostly you learn about yourself.

I first gave the phenomenon a go a few years back. And I approached it as just that: a phenomenon. With my journalist’s hat on, I used my need for a column topic as my excuse for entering the fray. But, really, my excuse was that I was lonely and the tactic, frankly, was cowardly. In the resulting column I wrote about how online dating is a great way to learn to be thoroughly yourself. That is, the forms you fill out to join the various services are a great way to remind yourself of what you like doing, what your values are, and so on. I stand by my theory, even if the pretense was a cop-out.

But I learned more this time. This time I signed on to two sites. I’ve been on them for two months.

About men, I learned this: they like to hold fish up high in the air, go to a lot of events on boats toting bottles of boutique beer, “hit the gym”, watch Two and Half Men and Shawshank Redemption and read the Sunday papers. They’re “laid back” and “easy going” and “down to earth” (what Australian man isn’t!?), but “don’t do the club scene any more”, don’t have time to read (except for aforementioned Sunday papers and Bob Marley’s biography), get into a bit of the Foo (as in, presumably, Fighters) like it’s 1997, and take “selfies” in bathroom mirrors.

I also learned that young men with tribal tatts wearing muscle tees living in outer suburbs with Mum and Dad (a detail I gather by the bathroom accoutrements I can see in the reflections of their selfie portraits) are overly represented in the single scene. Actually I didn’t just learn this. I already knew it. It’s just that on online dating I’m connected with them (they’re overwhelmingly my main pursuers on the sites). I’ve written about how educated, career-orientated women in their late 30s and early 40s are overly represented in the Western world today, while for men it’s this younger, blue-collar demographic. It’s the result of “hypergamy“. And it leaves a huge disconnect in the dating market. Although, frankly, I find this kind of bloke more authentic and open with their intentions and overall spirit than a lot of the polished men working in finance, divorced and in their late 40s and 50s.

I learned I don’t like internet dating, but I stick to it to see if it can surprise me. I find attending to “criteria” is not how I want romance to strike. And the point being, I want to be struck. I want to be pursued, courted. Knocked over. It’s going to take that…a real blow to the kneecaps from a guy who’s brave enough to come that close. Which leads me to…

How to buy toxin-free nail polish

April 22, 2018May 8, 2013 by Sarah Wilson

*Updated March, 2016.

Let’s kick off with this: most nail polish is made with the same gunk used to make car paint. Yep, a toxic melange of solvents, film formers, resins and plasticisers. Whatever they are. But shall we move on? And see if there is some light at the end of this fumey tunnel?

Image via Favim. — Image via Kester Black.

I’ve written before on toxin-free cosmetics, safe fake tan lotions and toxin-free sunscreen, so I figured it was time to take a closer look at nail polish. I personally don’t wear the stuff. This is my strategy for avoiding toxins in most beauty products. But I know many of you out there do, so consider this a bit of a community service post!

For this reason, too, I’ve asked some of my expert toxin-free friends to weigh in on this stinky topic. It’s a combined effort.

1. Know your nasties.

Maria Hannaford at Econest works for an environmental organisation researching the impact our food system has on the environment and our health. She says most brands promoting themselves as “safe” these days will list themselves as “3-free”. This means they’re free of the top three nasty ingredients listed below. She explains:

Formaldehyde. It’s the stuff they use to preserve dead things. I should know, I worked in a lab for many years and let me tell you, there is a strict protocol around avoiding getting it on your skin or breathing in its fumes! It’s a known human carcinogen and can cause ear, nose, throat and skin irritations.
Dibutyl Phthalate. It’s the most controversial of these ingredients; it’s a known reproductive and developmental toxin, and is linked to hormonal and long-term fertility problems in newborn males. It’s banned in the EU. [But is apparently safe enough for Australians? – Sarah]
Toluene. A possible reproductive and developmental toxin that causes headaches, dizziness and fatigue. It can cause liver, kidney and brain damage, as well as damage to a developing foetus.

Irene Falcone is the creator of Nourished Life, a site specialising in selling eco-chic natural and organic beauty, children’s and home and lifestyle products. Irene also suggests you avoid nail polishes with parabens, phthalates, solvents (ethyl acetate and butyl acetate), nitrocellulose, acetone and heavy metals.

What to do?

If this chemical info is all too much, simply look for “3-free” labelling PLUS ensure there’s no ethyl acetate – a known neurotoxin and the worst of the additional nasties Irene lists – in the stuff. Many of the brands labelled as “3-free” still contain it.
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how to slow cook lamb shanks #2 (plus 8 super easy recipes)

August 10, 2018May 7, 2013 by Sarah Wilson

A few weeks back I shared my recipe for slow cooked lamb shanks with lemon and cinnamon. Have you tried it yet? Today, I’m getting slippery swift ‘n’ efficient and sharing a shank trick that’s fast, versatile and can stretch ingredients further. Oh yes, you’ll be shanking me for this shanky share!

Screen Shot 2013-05-03 at 11.35.40 AM — Par-slow-braised lamb shanks…recipe below

So. It works like this. Shanks can be rather large, often 400g each. Which, even when the bone is removed from the equation, I personally think is too much meat in one sitting, for both sustainability and health reasons.

Also, one often buys shanks in bulk and one might not want to cook up a whopping great casserole with six or eight of the buggers. One might, instead, want to use the meat in different ways. Or one might only have two shanks to one’s name, which you can’t really justify slow cooking for 8 hours in a slow cooker.

Which is why I’ve played around with this idea:

par-slow-cooking the shanks first…

…then splitting up the meat, freezing it and using it in a variety of dishes.

Yeah, I love the idea, too.

The recipe below uses three shanks, which can then make 5-6 different meals (recipes below). Here’s how to do it:

Par-Slow-Braised Lamb Shanks

2-4 lamb shanks
2 tablespoons olive oil
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We have to book in our buffers ourselves.