Lovely Jo sent this quote to me the other day as a sort of “hey, it’s you” alert.

It’s from Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman, an American woman who, at 48, took off to discover the world. She sold her possessions and became a nomad, living in a Zapotec village in Mexico, sleeping with sea lions on the Galapagos Islands, etc. From the preface:

I am a modern-day nomad. I have no permanent address, no possessions except the ones I carry, and I rarely know where I’ll be six months from now. I move through the world without a plan, guided by instinct, connecting through trust, and constantly watching for serendipitous opportunities.

Up until very recently – like two months ago – it didn’t occur to me what is really rather obvious to most: I wander a lot and don’t like to settle. I’m a nomad. It was nice not being aware. I blindly went about dismantling all the expectations of adulthood, one commitment at a time, convinced I was merely being efficient and practical.

I was mostly unaware because it was a gradual disintegration of commitment. Not a sudden about-face. One by one, I dropped off everything that pinned me down unnecessarily.

Oooh, it’s so close! My I Quit Sugar Cookbook is almost here.

bacon and egg cupcakes, photo by Marija Ivkovic

And so I figure I might share this recipe from the book: bacon and egg cupcakes! Yes. Two ingredients + some clever assembling = fun breakfast. Astonishing stuff!

You can watch the video below, which was shot by my good mate Faustina (you might have seen her on The Voice?!) at Rokeby Studios in Melbourne.

While I have your attention, I’ll also point out that

today is your last chance to pre-order the cookbook and get 30% off + a special gift

Just click on the button below to take advantage…

Let’s continue with this Paleo series I started a few weeks back. I’ve written about eating Paleo here and here…. with more recipes for breakfasts here… But I’ve had a few requests for kid’s meals, so here you go: some paleo school lunches, and a CLEVER flower power egg invention! It’s really not that faddish or draconian…more of a way of eating that cuts out processed crap.

photo via apronstringsblog.com

 flower power eggs

Donna and Anne from Apron Strings Blog came up with this pretty and clever idea.

* 3 x capsicums (bell peppers), in red, green and orange

* eggs

Cut the capsicums into 1.5cm rings; place in a non-stick lightly oiled skillet. Now crack an egg in the middle of each ring and cover and cook over low heat until done. If you like your yolks runny, just cook over low heat until whites are done. If you like your yolks firm, break the yolks and then cook over low heat until both whites and yolks are firm.

13 tips for making paleo lunches:

1. Pre-order my I Quit Sugar Cookbook, due out soon! It has a chapter on kids’ recipes, most of which are paleo (ask your kids if they like the sound of coconut popsicles!).  PS, if you pre-order you will receive 30% off, plus a gift. Plus you’ll get the book before everyone else.

2. Make sandwiches with this great Paleo bread from Deek’s bakery. Available online. 

All Deeks products are grain free (including the absence of rice and corn), are additive and preservative free. They are

Slide into your Birkenstocks, tie on your recycled bamboo apron and turn up Steely Dan on the stereo (or tune to Portlandia on ABC)  because today we’re sprouting legumes!

If you were the kid with the mushroom kit or the Venus flytraps on your windowsill that you’d race home from school to just sit and… watch, you’ll love sprouting. If you rather like watching any creation you’ve made grow, you’ll love sprouting, too. So much veiw-able gratification as they do their sprouty thing.

The rest of you? Read on to see why it’s a good idea to try this cooking technique. And scroll below for some recipes. Me, personally, I avoid eating too many legumes: I find them super rough on my guts. Sprouting is certainly the best approach I’ve found for making them a smoother experience.

First, why sprout?

Sprouting kills toxins

Phytic acid, a toxin found in the fibre of legumes, leaches calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc from our bodies. Not great. Sprouting neutralises this nasty acid (as does soaking before cooking). It also inactivates aflatoxins -  potent carcinogens – in grains.

Sprouting increases vitamins

It increases the amount of B vitamins and carotene in the little beady things. Vitamin C is also created in the process.

Sprouting (almost) fixes the farting issue…

….because the complex sugars responsible for intestinal gas are broken down into simpler glucose molecules.

Have you caught Agony Aunts on ABC yet (Wednesdays 9.30pm…or iview if you missed the first ep). It’s a lovely show.

The producer Adam Zwar(he made Wilfred) and I met about 10 years ago when we both wrote a relationship-ish column in the Sunday Herald Sun. Funny to come full circle. He’s an ace guy with a delicate touch. The series Agony Uncles was friggen amazing. The guy really knows how to drill down into hearts to get intimate answers.

I thought I’d share this “outtake” about wing women. I’m sharing it, in part, because it’s an interesting example of how CRAP I can look (despite having profressional makeup on) when my thyroid is playing up. I know there are a lot of images of me out there looking all fancy and shiny and GOOD. But how about I balance things out a little!

Yes. This is what happens on a thyroidy day: my face puffs up, my eyes go wonky, I get strained, my skin sends makeup funny shades (um, oompah-loompah woman!) and I develop a lisp.

But don’t let that put you off watching the series…ep 2 is this Wednesday night.

I’m facing a big challenge at the moment. It’s something that’s been building up for a while: finding out what life is like – and what I’m like – when there is no “something next”. When nothing is about to happen.

photo by Aquabumps

Boy. What would that feel like? I’m always onto something next. Surely I’d be a shell of a human if I had no more happenings to forward onto?

I find life almost inconceivable without this relentless scheduling voice in my head, steering me on to the next thing, slotting in activities all day, timing how long it will get from here to there and what phone calls I can return while I’m transit. I rang my brother the other day. I was riding up a hill carrying groceries on the handlebars. “Geez Sarah, do you ever uni-task?” he asked. He’s 21 and he shakes his head at me.

When I was a little girl living in the country I would jump with excitement when the phone rang and physically ached to hear the sound of a car rumbling up our long driveway. I would climb a tree and wait and listen. For something to happen.  Someone’s coming! Something’s about to happen! I don’t think this anxious, incomplete anticipation has ever left my bones.

My biggest impediment to reaching something  resembling a meditative state each day when I sit in lotus is the constant diarising and scheduling more things to happen. I revert to this as soon as there’s an empty moment.

I thrive in disasters, because something is happening.  I always know what’s around the next corner…because I’ve anticipated it, planned it, scheduled it’s very possibility. Arghhh….it never stops.

I schedule, therefore I am. It’s my default cognitive position.

It’s got me places, this over-eager embracing of possibility and activity. Lots of things have happened in my life. Great jobs. Awesome opportunities. Excitement.

But it’s now starting to drive me mental. This, I know, is because it no longer serves me.

Whenever something no longer serves me, it all starts to become a noise that gets louder and brighter in my head, more irritating, until I just have to do something about it. I have a bunch of pink elephants in a room sitting opposite me. Staring at me. And demanding I act.

It’s time to act.