2015 - Page 12 of 13 - Sarah Wilson

My note to restaurant owners about doggy bags

February 24, 2015 by Sarah Wilson

Dearest Restaurateur,

A while back I did a post imploring readers to ask for doggy bags at restaurants. (If you’ve been reading this blog for a bit, you’ll know how I feel about food waste. And if not, you can catch up here.)

A lady I met in Vienna a few years back, with her al-foil doggy bag.

It would seem most people out there really want to take home their leftovers. But what emerged was that wait staff are telling them that they can’t/won’t cooperate because doggy bags are illegal.

If I can kindly point out: It’s legal to ask for, and take home, doggy bags in Australia. And in most of the world, in fact. (Read my previous post on the topic if you want to nerd up on this.)

And subtly remind us all: Food wastage contributes more CO2 emissions than cars and factories.

And implore you: to encourage your staff to do doggy bags.

Many readers shared ways their favourite restaurants are making it easier – for both restaurants and patrons – to make doggy bags more acceptable. Perhaps you’d like to give some of them a crack?

1. Offer leftovers to save patrons the (perceived) embarrassment of asking. Don’t like the term”‘doggy bag”? Try “Would you like

The time I did something mildly generous and it kept going…

October 23, 2018February 17, 2015 by Sarah Wilson

Today I share a lovely story that unfolded over the past two weeks, culminating in a triple donation (and dominoing) of a piece of artwork I auctioned last week.

It went like this. This letter below arrived in the mail on February 4 from someone called Hazel. With no last name, return address or email.

I couldn’t reply to her direct, so I posted the letter on my social media in the hope it might reach her and just because it was such a sunny, funny letter. A number of people linked me to Hazel on Facebook and Instagram (good on you Cosi!) sharing their heart-felt fondness for the girl, illustrating just how good social media can be (which, in conjunction with a similar experience I had yesterday, makes me think social media is slowly becoming a true force for kindness).

We connected over email a few days later and marveled at…the connections. I hope she doesn’t mind

I’ve been parodied.

February 16, 2015February 16, 2015 by Sarah Wilson

This post has been updated. It’s become quite a story. Read to the bottom.

I was recently alerted to this Youtube clip by Kate McCartney and Kate McLennon – a two-chick comedy cooking spoof ensemble. It’s friggen funny. And only made more funnier for me because it squarely takes the piss out of me, without being snarky. This is an art rarely exhibited today. My brothers have perfected the art of this over decades, so I know how to spot it when done well.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UZJRR8OHhY&index=3&list=PLZFXeozdia12APH8n9xsVNhd5qallmrz2[/youtube]

Since this is my blog and I get to have at least a second last say, a few corrections for the two Kates:

* My “rich girl hair” (my God, it’s true!) was smoothed and glossed by TV makeup artists over an exorbitant amount of time. Just to be clear. I wasn’t born with it. Nor a silver spoon (my chip on my shoulder needed to add this one). The photos you use on your shrine to me are from a TV show I did a while back called (have fun with this one!) Eat Yourself Sexy.

* My saccharin smile shits me too. But I find displaying it on publicity shoots maketh for a fast shoot.

Which fermenting starter is best: salt v whey

July 31, 2018February 12, 2015 by Sarah Wilson

I’ve been making my own ferments for a while now. It started a few years back with pickled daikon and sauerkraut and has developed into a passionate hobby. I’ve recently added fermented turmeric tonic, kombucha, ginger-ade soda, cream cheese, beet and turmeric kvass. My next book is going to take things to even mouldier levels!

turmeric fermentation — Three generations of turmeric experimenting… A bug, fermented tonic and then the leftovers puréed to become a cooking paste. And a hoola dancer!

I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ll say it again. Fermenting your vegetables is THE BEST thing you can do for restoring and maintaining the health of your gut. And the stuff is a boon for autoimmune folk like me. I’ve shared before how the process all works, the magic ingredient being a starter culture.

When I first started out, I used whey – a protein derived from dairy products (I make my own) – as a starter culture to get the fermenting process moving along. Whey acts as an inoculant, reducing the time needed for sufficient lactic acid to be produced to ensure preservation of the food.

Using salt, or brine, is the more traditional method of lacto-fermentation. Before the invention of refrigeration, salt was used to preserve foods. Most bacteria need a warm, wet environment to thrive. Salt draws out the moisture in food, denying such a watery

I’m going to start auctioning lovely things for good food folk…

February 17, 2015February 11, 2015 by Sarah Wilson

This is a new idea. Not complex. So let’s see how it goes. You may remember this wonderful painting (below) I shared on New Years Day. My mate Paul from The Art Park in Byron Bay painted it. Paul is a talent. He used to do the poster art for 80s outfits (an 80s word?) like Beastie Boys and the like. We got talking one day about art and disadvantage – worldly things we’re both passionate about – and decided, off the back of this chat, to auction this piece and donate the cash to a charity committed to balancing the life ledger.

Ink on watercolour, by Paul McNeil. Now up for auction. See below.

And so it was I stumbled upon The Inside Out Organic Soup Kitchen. Based in Sydney, IOOSK – as they’re affectionately known – has been running since 2010. Their mission is to provide wholesome organic foods to those who need it most. They provide free organic meals each Wednesday night at St Canice’s Kitchen in Kings Cross. But now, IOOSK is about to launch their IOOSK School for Young Mums with Red Cross – a program that teaches disadvantaged young mums the benefits of cooking good, wholesome food, and they are raising money to ensure that they can get it up and running. Which is where we step in.

If you would like to donate money to the program you can transfer money to the following account:

Account Name: St Canice’s Kitchen
The BSB is 062 784. Account number: 535 5005
Please write in description – for Organic Soup Kitchen

This week I will be holding an Instagram auction to sell “Happy Everything” and donate the proceeds to the School for Young Mums.

Here’s what you need to know:

The piece of art is 300 x 320 mm.
It’s ink on watercolour paper.
RRP $400.
Bidding will start at $300.
Read more

Your solitude is profound. In case you’re despairing.

July 31, 2018February 10, 2015 by Sarah Wilson

I honestly have no idea where I came across this quote. I’ve been reading a few heavy philosophy texts lately. It came from one of them, I think. Loneliness, aloneness, craving humans while also needing to flee… these are themes I explore a lot here. For me, finding the right balance between being in and outside of the world is a journey I’ll be on for life. All the while, of course, I try to find peace with my need for solitude as well as my discomfort with being around people at times. And so this quote resonates…

“Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition. Man is the only being who knows he is alone, and the only one who seeks out another…

“His nature – if that word can be used in reference to man, who has ‘invented’ himself by saying ‘no’ to nature – consists in his longing to realise himself in another. Man is nostalgia and a search for communion. Therefore, when he is aware of himself he is aware of his lack of another, that is, of his solitude.”

― Octavio Paz, The Labyrinth of Solitude and Other Writings

Digested that? Sat with it?

To be aware is to know you’re alone. And yet the process of being aware involves seeing ourselves in others. Two

10 reasons why coffee might not be great if you have autoimmune disease

February 6, 2015February 6, 2015 by Sarah Wilson

Coffee is good for us, yes? I reckon there’s a fair bit of evidence now saying it’s so. But what about if you have an autoimmune disease? (New here? I have Hashimotos and I often write from this particular POV.) Me, I drink coffee – about 2-3 cups per week. But I’ve been starting to wonder if I might want to back off even more. And so I dug around. Figured you might like to know what I came up with…

10 reasons why you should think twice before drinking coffee

1. Coffee can mess up your blood sugar. Caffeine impairs insulin action. In young, healthy folk, moderate intake of caffeine is unlikely to affect blood sugar levels too much, but for some AI types, drinking coffee causes both insulin and blood glucose spikes after meals. Over time, your insulin sensitivity goes down, making it harder for the body to respond to blood glucose spikes when they occur. Ergo, havoc.

2. Coffee disrupts your sleep. I don’t sleep well at the best of times. It’s one of 3984928374 AI symptoms. Further, cell damage from AI mayhem is repaired during sleep, but only once our bodies have attended to everything else we’ve put into it during the day. Which requires solid sleep.

3. It boosts stress hormones.When stress occurs, cortisol is released to make energy available – so you can fight or flee. When stress ceases, the body goes back to its normal state. But when stress becomes chronic, as it can do with drinking coffee regularly, our body is continually exposed to high levels of cortisol which have been linked to (among many other things)

The second IQS chocolate cookbook is here!

February 3, 2015February 3, 2015 by Sarah Wilson

Life happens. Chocolate helps. And one sugar-free Chocolate Cookbook wasn’t enough for me and the I Quit Sugar Team…so we made another. And as of this minute, you can get hold of it!

Zucchini Mud Cake with Chocolate Ganache and Salted Caramel Popcorn

Yes, yes, yes, this is a gratuitous post to get you to buy the book. And truth be known I’ve chosen the photo above because I think it’s the one most likely to get you to comply! (It’s the goo-ey bits!). Which feels a little grubby, given I’ve not posted for a while.

But, a) I think it’s always better to get to The Point,
and b) I’m back on deck posting again as of this week,
and most importantly, c) it’s chocolate.

For the sake of fairness and efficiency, a very quick rundown of what you might want to know about the book:

* The book features 80 sugar-free chocolate recipes.

Debating doing the 8-Week Program? Here’s how it’s helped others

January 19, 2015January 19, 2015 by Sarah Wilson

I get asked regularly about the benefits of quitting sugar. Personally, quitting sugar has helped me a tremendous amount with my autoimmune disease. While a lot of you ask regularly about the weight loss component – sugar does help you shift weight if you need to (I lost weight I’d put on as a result of my disease) – what I really love is that by the end of the 8-Week Program people are commenting more about their energy levels, consistent moods and their glowing skin.

Wondering if the 8-Week Program will work for you? Why not check out some of the testimonies below.

Peta + Damien: “Our moods are overall better on a daily basis – which has seen us argue less! People randomly ask me if I’ve done something new to my skin. And my body fat score has dropped from 24-19 with no adjustment to my 4-5 times a week gym routine.”

Dionne: “I have been suffering for years with IBS (first of which I thought was a gluten/wheat intolerance) and over the past eight weeks, my body has never felt better. I’m no longer bloated, no mad panics to the bathroom, no trapped wind! The whole process has changed my life for the better and I cannot advocate it enough to people that either have digestive concerns or who just need to