If you want to be Popular...

You'll 'Like' Lemon Living on Facebook!

kidding, sort of

I love this (old!) ad, not because I agree that there's anything wrong with skinny girls, or think that a tablet to make you bigger is a positive thing (can I get a 'hell no'?), or that I want to put pounds of 'welcome weight' back on my 'skinny figure', but because it's a great reminder of how what's popular is always changing.

Eat whole, nutritious food in moderate portions, exercise regularly and keep your health in check. If you have these things in line, the number on the scales is irrelevant.

Stay well & be happy!
Nat x

The Week in Food

Another installment of 'The Week in Food'.

This week sucked. M & I are both sick and have been off work stuck indoors for 2 weekends in a row through this gorgeous weather. We had to cancel our express lunch at Embrasse yesterday, and today we were meant to go to Vic Market for the annual Food & Wine Fest stalls they set up so you can try a zillion different amazing foods.

What are we doing instead? Sitting in our separate studies, drinking tea and wasting time on the internet. Oh well! If that's the worst of our problems, we're doing well.

My eating for the past week has been a bit crazy, my body has been craving the strangest things through being ill (strange for me is like, white bread and white pasta, and masses of milk chocolate), but I've just listened to it. When I'm sick, I don't care what I eat (within reason, still no packaged stuff or fast food, but I would never crave that), as I think a few days of eating white pasta or some honey, as my body asks for it, is not going to hurt my otherwise clean diet.

I even had half a glass of diet coke for the first time in about six months. I know! Vice totally gone, and it does not taste good.

Anyway, here is my week in food....

Can you believe this is vegan, free of added sugars and just ridiculously tasty?
Soaked Oats with banana, pecans, cinnamon and pure maple syrup.
Try it and tell me you don't love it. SO good.

Mushroom & Asparagus Risotto (in the making)

Complete with Parmesan rind floating in the middle.

Mum & Dad got me this

Semillon is my favourite white wine.

Brown Rice with Lentils and Vegies, and a can of Salmon.
When I started to get sick, I started shoving in nutrients.

Miso Soup

With tofu, broccoli and mushrooms

Spaghetti Marinara

White - how M likes it.

I hadn't had a toasted cheese sandwhich in years.

Confession; Mum used to make them on white bread with loads of butter and cheese when I was a kid.
I made it on grain bread with no butter and a little low fat cheese.

Not the same. Not good.

I've had the biggest craving for Blue Cheese this week.

This one is Castello.

M made me dinner which made my day!
Ricotta & Spinach Agnolotti with Walnuts, Pumpkin & Herbs

Impromptu Creme Caramel making.

Feeling terrible on the couch on Friday night and someone made it on tele, so then we went and did it.

So easy. SO good.

(Comment if you want the recipe)

If you're going to eat sugar, eat something sweet!

Buckley likes to bathe...
SO CUTE.

Did you eat anything interesting this week?

Did you get involved in the Food & Wine Festival?

We are considering the Yarra Valley Food & Wine Festival as we missed out on Melbourne thanks to this insane virus.
Does your cat like to bathe? I've never seen a cat do this.... he seriously has a daily bath.

Have you liked Lemon Living's Facebook page? Come on over!

Stay well (and don't get this virus!)
Nat x

Become a Facebook Fan!

The time came for my darling little blog to mature.

Now that her mother is going to uni to make sure she's fed the highest quality things she can be, and so her opinions will be taken more seriously (self-taught know it all doesn't go far on the resume, these days), it was time to her to get out and spread the word.

10 minute Photoshop knock up banners were made, (oh the shame), and a dodgy photo of me eating breakfast in Port Douglas uploaded, and Lemon Living's Facebook Fan Page was born.

(enter dodgy photo-shopping)

CLICK HERE

Click and start telling me things you want me to hear, or write about, or asking me questions or tell me I'm annoying and a bit spammy, I don't care.

See you there!

Nat x

Introducing; Peach

Please welcome my friend, Peach.

She told me she is feeling lonely and that even though she is cheaper than many of the other fruits at the moment, she is still left sitting on the shelf well past the broccoli and pears being sold out. Be gentle, she bruises easily.

She's super yummy crunchy straight out of the fridge. Also, rarely, she'll slice herself in half and take a bit of a shower in some sugar or honey, try and sweet talk her into hanging out in your griddle pan or under your griller after that and she will be all yours!

She loves cream and ice cream, but she's been mingling in some traditionally savoury salads lately and has made a few friends.

Please adopt Peach today!

Original peach image from Photography Blogger

PS. I'm a big fan of myself because I am happy, become a big fan of me on Facebook, here, here or if you're especially fussy - here.

Reasons We Eat

To celebrate beautiful occasions....

One of my gorgeous best girlfriend's, C, and her equally lovely husband, A, during their first dance as a married couple to what M declared the best ever first dance song, Metallica's Nothing Else Matters.

Ya-huh I cried like a little girl.

It was beautiful.

Caesar salad, vegetable stack & mini pav accompanied my tears.

May they have a million meals together!

Stay well,

Nat x

The Week in Food

Some snap shots of my food for the week, including the clean eating I did today....

The Sunday Afternoon Cook Up
I have to do this now as I am so insanely busy during the week I often don't have the time to cook, but it's good for people who don't have the discipline to prepare healthy lunches and sides during the week, too. This was a big pot of brown rice with some peas, leak and mushrooms to go through it that could be a side or a lunch, (with legumes, tuna or egg) for the week, and a chickpea and vegetable 'tagine' / stew.

A lunch of the chickpea tagine, some lettuce (it's all we had), and some Vitawheats with hummus.

A banana smoothie (1 banana, put in the freezer for 20 minutes, 1 cup milk, cinnamon galore, drizzle of agave nectar, ice), with my afternoon study.

The following was part of today's 'clean eating' to try and get rid of my cold. Basically not many carbs, no sugar, no packaged food and small meals.

Breakfast - oats soaked in water with berries, cinnamon and pecans.

Hard pear (my favourite!) with crunchy natural peanut butter.

Asian inspired salad - coleslaw mix with chickpeas and a dressing of soy sauce, orange juice, sesame oil, chilli, mint and sesame seeds. Oh and fish sauce (just 3-4 drops, so strong!)

Baked flake with garlic, parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, with sweet potato mash (mashed up with chilli), and green beans.

There were some walnuts, a 'bliss ball' and about a half a cup extra of oats in there as I was hungry. Never a point in being hungry.

How was your eating this past week?

I am happy as my new desk arrived last week and now I have a laptop desk and a studying desk (in front of my window), a cork bored for inspiration, a new printer, and I am understanding the silly science I never thought I'd remember.

I have a crazy cold, but I am thankful it's forced me to chill in trackies all weekend.

Stay well,

Nat x

World Kidney Day - March 8

A quick video that tells you why it's important to look after your kidneys, and how to look after them as simply as possible. (Wego Health posted this on Facebook. I will be doing a blog post a day challenge for the month of April!)

Note that everything you do to look after your kidneys also benefits the rest of your body. Instead of thinking that an unhealthy diet and lifestyle leads to obesity, I want people to start realising that it's actually harming their body and making their organs sick. This is why those thin people that eat KFC every 4 minutes are not healthy (and usually don't look it).

So after you've appreciated the women in your life for March 8, appreciate the kidneys in your body!

Stay well,

Nat x