Sarah Wilson

It’s OK to do drafts

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I’m writing a book. A book that’s extending me in ways I probably wouldn’t have chosen. But I did. So here I am, strapped in, doing the work.

Image via thevintaquarian.com
Image via thevintaquarian.com

I’m particularly attuned to insights about writing and the creative process right now.

A few weeks back I wrote Just do it like a motherfucker. Michelle Barraclough shared this wonderful comment at the end:

“I’m firmly in the Elizabeth Gilbert camp where the motto is ‘Done is better than good’ and to hell with perfectionism. Where the inspiring literary heroes are not the ‘canon of women writers’ whose careers ended in suicide, but the magnificent multitudes of women writers (the Moriartys, Gilberts, Grenvilles, Byatts, Lettes and Atwoods) who shut the door, sat down and put one word down and then another, regardless of the brilliance of those words, knowing that it was just a first draft and all first drafts are shit and at least 3 more drafts will be required (Kate Grenville once did 18 drafts!!)”

Hell, yeah. Art and writing and creativity is about showing up and doing the work. Seth Godin puts it well when he says “real artists ship“. Art is an expression and it must be shared, or shipped. Hovering, hesitating,

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My Simplicious Good for your Guts Garlic recipe

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I am a little obsessed with gut-health. I’ve been banging on about the this topic for a while now. I’ve also recently launched my own Gut Lovin’ Gelatin. It’s no surprise then that my latest book I Quit Sugar: Simplicious includes a stack of gut-healing fixes. One of them being my Good For Your Gut Garlic recipe.

Good for your Guts Garlic. Recipe from I Quit Sugar: Simplicious. Photography by Rob Palmer
Good for your Guts Garlic. Recipe from I Quit Sugar: Simplicious. Photography by Rob Palmer

Garlic has amazing properties and is particularly good for fighting off infections in the digestive tract and lungs, but it can be rough on your guts when eaten raw. Fermenting famously fixes most things, including this issue. Plus, if you hate peeling garlic, then doing up a bunch of heads in one fell swoop makes a lot of sense.

Good For Your Guts Garlic

  • 6-8 heads garlic
  • 1 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
  • 1 tablespoon Homemade Whey or 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano or basil (optional)
  • 1 bay leaf (optional)

Preheat the oven to 90 C. Place the garlic heads on a baking tray and bake for 1 hour or until the cloves begin to pop out of their skins. (Some ovens may take longer, but don’t be tempted to crank the temp!) Cool a little, then simply pop the cloves from their skins, being sure to leave the ends intact.

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I’m giving away my #Simplicious cover outfit

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Well, that’s slightly clickbait-y. But I am giving away a bunch of the sports bras and pyramid necklaces that I wear on the the cover of I Quit Sugar: Simplicious….and that I wear pretty much most days…because that’s the way I roll.

The cover of I Quit Sugar: Simplicious
The cover of I Quit Sugar: Simplicious

To tie it all in to my anti-wastage mission, I’m going to share the below with folk keen to give some of my food waste tricks a crack.

20 x $50 vouchers from Vie Active (my leopard print sports bra)

5 x pyramid necklaces from Jewels by Jacqueline (my triangle necklace)

The Simplicious Challenge:

Make one simple change in the name of sustainability. This could look like:

  • washing out and re-using your ziplock bags
  • saying no to bottled water
  • taking your own reusable bag to the shops and ditching the plastic
  • cooking all your leftover food in a fridge clean-out mission
  • riding your bike to work instead of driving
  • buying local rather than imported produce.

You get the gist. Just do something and share it on Instagram and preferably with your mates and family. My simple aim is to get as many people as possible on this planet pitching in!

  • Do it for a week (December 9 – 16).

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A hiking guide to Hawaii

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Another installment in my series of hiking guides. If you’re new to the series…it’s worth my flagging that I travel to hike. I live to hike. Here’s why and how it works for me.

Napali coast, Kauai
Na Pali coast, Kauai

Hawaii is a hiker’s haven so I’m surprised with myself it took so long to get there. But, then, I was always someone who saved the best thing on my plate until last.

So, a few things to know upfront;

* I went to Oahu and Kauai.

* I went in winter and resigned myself to there being a bit of rain.

* I struggled to find reputable info on the hikes… you might, too. Hence this little guide.

* Note that Hawaiian maps and guides share one-way timings and distances (not the return).

* While I was there I was asked to write a few posts for Expedia.com. You might enjoy to read about The Five Healthy Food Trends to Try in Hawaii Right Now and my Guide to Kauai, which will

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When I see those “Gifts for the hard-to-please” guides this is what I do…

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These articles are popping up in my feed with increasing ferocity right now. For the “hard to please”. For “the person who has everything”.  You, too?

Image via keepcalm-havecoffee.tumblr.com
Image via keepcalm-havecoffee.tumblr.com

Sometimes I look at their list of gift solutions. It’s all Shit No One Wants. Shit That Takes Up Room in Miscellaneous Kitchen Drawers and Precious Resources On The Planet. Like gold-plated business card clips. And, sorry to target Goop, but, seriously…a Nymphenburg trio of porcelain wine bottle stoppers?! For $1900?

I have an antidote. A better solution. A better guide. If someone is “hard to please” it generally means they don’t want/need stuff. So don’t buy it.

I put out this notice explicitly to those around me. I’ve told most of my loved ones, don’t buy me

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Check out the recipes that you guys helped me with!

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It’s time to say thank you. My latest book, I Quit Sugar: Simplicious, was a mammoth project. When you create a book so big, you get folk to recipe test your creations along the way. I decided to invite the community to help me with this task and am very glad I did.

Screen Shot 2015-09-27 at 3.48.04 PM
Image via Pinterest.com
Foodies around the globe joined me on my mission, passionately testing and tasting. These people are strangers who chipped in and opined and guided me. I’m grateful to them all…

Miss Marzipan 

Stockholm-based mum of two Marisa is a long-time supporter. She’s an ambassador for the I Quit Sugar 8-Week-Program and has been featured as a #followfriday. One of the recipes Marisa tested was the Pull-Apart Caterpillar Birthday Cake you see in I Quit Sugar: Simplicious. She did her antennae so much better than me!

IQS_cupcake_recipe_test_notes (1)-1
Marisa’s test version of the Pull-Apart Caterpillar Birthday Cake

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Should I be eating gluten if I have hashimotos? I mean, really?

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Oh, it’s a hoary one. I’ve swung a bit on the subject over the years. Here’s where I’ve arrived, but I’d like to get your thoughts, too. Did you watch ABC TV’s Catalyst program last night on the topic? Do so. It fleshes out the issue simply. Catch it on iView.

Image via NourishedKitchen.com
Image via NourishedKitchen.com

My reasoning, however, goes like this.

* If you’re coeliac, you should never ever eat it. 

* There is a connection between coeliac and Hashimotos. In a recent study by Alessio Fasano, MD, a recognised celiac disease expert, one half of the people newly diagnosed with celiac disease also had thyroid disease.

* I did the coeliac test – I’m not coeliac. FYI it’s a tricky test. It entails going back onto gluten for several weeks before doing the test. I’m not coeliac and I don’t carry the gene.

So, where does this leave me given I have Hashimotos?

Is there anything further to be concerned about? Yes.

* Gluten is toxic. Humans didn’t “evolve” to digest gluten – we don’t have the “molecular scissors” to

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I’ve seen my future and (I hope) it looks like Leo

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Lately I’ve been reassessing what matters to me. Like really looking at things fully, and prepared to “put a bomb” under things. This happens for me every few years.

Jo sent me this video, randomly. And it arrived with impeccable timing.

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/96642599[/vimeo]

I’ve no idea who Leo is but what about these synchronicities (here’s my theory on synchronicity).

Leo wears the one pair of green shorts. Me too. (Although he has seven pairs; I have one.)

Leo wears the same outfit every single day. I almost do. (I’m back to living out of one suitcase again). 

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Why I’ve produced my own gelatin powder

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Good morning friends. This post serves two purposes.

  1. To announce that, yes, I’ve produced an I Quit Sugar gelatin powder – my Gut Lovin’ Gelatin. And you can buy it now.
  1. To explain why I’ve done so, in the context of my vocal aversion to the practice of contributing to More Stuff on The Planet. (Flick straight to the orange highlighted bits below!)
I Quit Sugar Gut Lovin' Gelatin
I Quit Sugar Gut Lovin’ Gelatin

What is Gut Lovin’ Gelatin?

It’s a pure natural collagen powder made from beef bones and connective tissue that is the biggest, most nutritious boon in town for healing the gut. It’s used to make jelly, fruit gummy snacks, pannacotta and a stack of kid-friendly snacks.

Unlike other versions on the market, this one has been painstakingly crafted such that it’s:

  • 100 per cent natural
  • Produced from pasture-raised cows
  • Made in Australia
  • Made with ethically and sustainably raised beef
  • Lactose free
  • Housed in responsible packaging
My gelatin gummies, in I Quit Sugar: Simplicious. Photo by Rob Palmer.
My gelatin gummies, in I Quit Sugar: Simplicious. Photo by Rob Palmer.

What’s the deal with gelatin powder?

About a year ago I stumbled upon gelatin powder in my relentless quest to heal my gut. I tested it, I

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Just do it like a motherf*cker

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Before Cheryl Strayed became That Wild Girl, she was an agony aunt at Rumpus.net. She went by the moniker “Sugar”, it so happens. In light of my recent posts about writing like no one cares, the joy of lowering your expectations and faking it until you make it, I thought today I’d simply run a response Strayed wrote to a reader with creative block some time back. I’ve run the whole lot, question and answer, because it’s a great read. But I’ve ital’d the bits that hit nails for me. Enjoy and discuss below.

Image from meditationtemptation.tumblr.com
Image from meditationtemptation.tumblr.com

Dear Sugar,

I write like a girl. I write about my lady life experiences, and that usually comes out as unfiltered emotion, unrequited love, and eventual discussion of my vagina as metaphor.

And that’s when I can write, which doesn’t happen to be true anymore.

Right now, I am a pathetic and confused young woman of 26, a writer who can’t write. I am up late asking you a question, really questioning myself. I’ve sat here, at my desk, for hours, mentally immobile. I look up people I used to love and wonder why they never loved me. I lie facedown on my bed and feel scared. I get up, go to the computer, feel worse.

David Foster Wallace called himself a failed writer at 28. Several months ago, when depression hooked its teeth into me, I complained to my then-boyfriend about how I’ll never be as good as

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