a friday giveaway! 2 x Soup & Co and Breads of the World, valued at $540

I hear it’s cold down your way in Australia! Don’t mean to rub it in, but it’s 43 degrees here in Greece as I write to you.

Soupe Tom yam poulet0760 a friday giveaway! 2 x Soup & Co and Breads of the World, valued at $540

But – and don’t you love this segue – you, too, can get warm and comfortable (I actually do find 43 degress comfortable) by cooking up some healthy, hearty soups. If you’ve checked out my I Quit Sugar Cookbook, you’ll have noticed some great detoxing soup recipes, and I include instructions for making them with a “soup maker”. Yes? Well, today Tefal are giving away

2 x $540 soup making packs, each including a Soup & Co and a Breads of the World

I recently posted my trusty cheesy mish mash soup  video recipe here… which shows how a Soup & Co soup maker works.

In a sentence: you pop all your ingredients in the machine, press a button and 30 minutes later it’s cooked, AND blended for you…seriously!

Read more

how to eat to fall pregnant: a Chris Kresser ebook

I know many of you have asked, what’s the best way to eat when trying to get pregnant.

Screen Shot 2012 06 10 at 4.27.27 PM how to eat to fall pregnant: a Chris Kresser ebook
photo via letsrendezvous.tumblr.com

I’ve since found an amazing resource…which follows the same principles I adhere to. I did a podcast with Dr Chris Kresser, a practitioner of integrative medicine and creator of The Healthy Skeptic blog, last year, and discovered that Chris has compiled a resource pack for preparing for pregnancy.

The Healthy Baby Code is a ripper. Chris has done aaaallllll the work of researching the latest science, to develop the ultimate nutritional approach for fertility, pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Here’s a few reasons to buy it:

1. it’s totally digestible

It includes 6 videos (20-25 minutes each).  You can also read these modules in PDF transcripts or listen to them as MP3 recordings – while you’re driving, or working or…

2. you get no-brainer meal plans

There are two weeks of meal plans and recipes to make sure you’re eating good stuff right from the start. Without having to think about it.

3. find out which foods contribute to infertility

You’ll learn why fructose can be harmful to you during pregnancy (!!!) – for more on this, check out my I Quit Sugar ebooks –  and how to replace foods that contribute to infertility and poor health with whole, nutrient-dense

Read more

13 lush eco beauty tricks

I have a troubled past with makeup. When I worked in magazines I was beholden to the beauty industry, forced to get excited about skin whiteners and lash extenders. It killed me. Well, it wore me down, one blush stroke at a time (previous to editing Cosmo, I’d never worn makeup, never had a blowdry, never plucked my brows). Then, a few years later, I wore toooo much of the gunky stuff while working in TV and literally poisoned myself.  When I got unwell I realised I had to do something about this and swerved to chemical-free beauty and makeup products. To read about my favourites, click here and here.

tumblr lyn2j7a0Ny1qh9m2eo1 500 large 13 lush eco beauty tricks
image via Lyns Tumblr

But there’s also the eco argument that’s worth considering in all this. Not all chemical-free products are ecologically sound. Not all organic products are chemical-free. It’s like food shopping: a knotted ball of competing messages.

But boiled down, it can be simple.

Yes, keep it simple and you generally land at the most organic, eco and chemical-free option.

But to be sure, I asked Maria Hannaford to give her take. Melbourne-based Maria works for an environmental organisation that’s all about sustainable food, and her site Econest keeps popping up on my radar in all the

Read more

perhaps you’d like to get some cute business cards like these ones?

I know business cards are very 2005. But I’m still amazed how many people ask me for one. And how many people still want to fax me something. And how many people use the word “stet” when they suggest I make a copy of something. A copy??!! To file. Who files??!!!

But. To my business cards.

card2 perhaps you'd like to get some cute business cards like these ones?

I thought you’d like to know how I got these done. I get asked all the time because they’re just a little bit cute.

In a link, I use Moo.com.

I’ve used Moo for a few years now. It works thus: you design your own cards in a few clicks. You press “done”.  They’re posted to you in a neat little box.

They’re ace for anyone who just needs a bit of hard copy on which their deets can be shared in the old-school mano-a-mano manner. But who also wants something a bit unique and non-corporate.

I get clever and opt for the mini cards. And hunt down some cool illustrators (you can choose from their list).

Read more

why you should eat sardines…and how to avoid mercury in your fish

I love sardines. They’re good for cardiovascular health, joints, skin, memory, and energy levels. But also, they’re sustainable and low in mercury.

ENDIVE SARDINE 070 why you should eat sardines...and how to avoid mercury in your fish
Endive boats, photography by Marija Ivkovic

In my I Quit Sugar Cookbook I feature the above recipe – my favourite endive boats. You can buy my cookbook by clicking on the button below.

gb6 why you should eat sardines...and how to avoid mercury in your fish

I know a lot of you are confused about the mercury thing. I’ve recently been told I have really high levels of it in my system.  If you have auto-immune disease, it’s VERY important to check your heavy metal levels. I kind of think that heavy metals can cause AI, but they can also mean we are less able to process them when they do enter our system. Either way, it’s something we have to be mindful of.

I’ve now had every possible test done (blood, urine and hair mineral) and the results are the same – I’m hanging on to mercury. And lead. Not good. So avoiding high mercury fish is crucial. (What do I do about it? At this stage I’m not chelating…it will muddy the waters. Instead I’m trialling a course of glutathione recycler called

Read more

the *I Quit Sugar* bundle deal offer!

Well my I Quit Sugar Cookbook has been available for a few weeks now…thank you to everyone who has bought it, and given such kind feedback. I’ve loved seeing all your recipe photos, and hearing your enthusiasm about your own “sugar quittage” journeys. If by chance you don’t have the original I Quit Sugar ebook, … Read more

look who else rides a bike and doesn’t wear a helmet…

How rad. David Byrne from Talking Heads is a big bike banger-on-erer. And he makes a good point. The New York Times just ran a video interview with him. [youtube]http://youtu.be/37IDIUOJA6s[/youtube] I’m a non-helmet wearer (I wear one on big rides or dangerous roads)…ditto Byrne for the same reason. Oh, people get arked up about it…for … Read more

my green cheesy mish mash soup. with a video!

I’ve posted a few of my recipes with videos lately. If you’re new to this neighbourhood, you might like to check out my avocado and coconut water popsicles, and my bacon and egg cupcakes.

But today, we’re going to whip up my green cheesy mish mash soup. From my I Quit Sugar Cookbook.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fovExEaK8HQ&feature=plcp[/youtube]

This is a recipe you can make using a normal soup-making method (that is, fry up ingredients, add stock, and then puree). But just as I was putting together my I Quit Sugar Cookbook, I was introduced to the Tefal Soup & Co soup maker. I had a play with it as I was testing my recipes and found it made my stupidly simple and efficient recipes even more so. So, in this video, I show how you can make it with this soup maker. It basically

Read more