It’s not every day that one of your heroes pops around for lunch. But gee I wish it had been another day!

Oh the food I could have prepared if I hadn’t been racing around like a tornado these last few days (weeks?).

But it never happens like that, does it?

Jude and I are preparing for an event tomorrow in Brisbane.

A few months ago she called and said that she’s coming to Brissy for the launch of her new book to run some cooking classes and do a few events. She asked if I would like to do something with her. Of course I hesitated – HA – NOT! I agreed in the blink of an eye . What an honour and privilege to be on stage with this amazing woman who has been such a massive part of my wholefoods journey.

We needed to finalise a few of the details and so she spent the day at my house. It was kid-free so we could hold a conversation for more than 14 seconds!!

And as we worked we talked and as we talked we ate and it was fabulous.

My house was a mess, the car I picked her up in was a mess, I’m pretty sure she saw that pack of store-bought stock (#keepingitreal) in the fridge and we were OUT. OF. BUTTER!!?

I kept thinking if only I’d had more time to prepare. I could have made her my Slow-cooked Shanks, or whipped up my favourite fritters, or perhaps even had the sauce pre-prepared for my Baked Eggs.

But alas, no.

Here’s what went down.

I bought some pumpkin and feta on the way to get her thinking: ‘you can do anything with pumpkin and feta’. I also bought a loaf of walnut and spelt sourdough.

The rough recipe:

I roasted the pumpkin in cubes. When it was nicely caramelised I put it in a bowl and smashed it up with some feta. I squeezed the juice of half a lemon in, sprinkled with salt and added a pinch of dulse flakes. I smeared avocado over the sliced sourdough (what, no butter??) and then popped the pumpkin and feta mixture on top.

It was delicious. And there was Jude photographing MY basic (but real, and delicious) lunch. #pinchme

Throughout the day we had conversations about so much but there were two things she said that really struck me.

The first we spoke about on our Facebook Live chat. She said to me “Lis, when the dam gets full, the dam wall breaks”. She talked about needing down time. And this ‘at capacity’ thing we’ve got going on in our lives is not conducive to health and happiness.

We were talking about ‘soldiering on’ when it makes no sense to. We were talking about the ‘push’ – just pushing ourselves to do and be more and more and then that dam gets full of water and SMASH! Yep, I know that feeling.

From now on I’m going to think about how full my dam is. The dam is my daily life and I know when things are reaching capacity but often I don’t see it coming – it fills up rather quickly! What I need to learn are strategies for keeping the dam at a manageable level and when I am at capacity, how to release some water and get back into balance. That’s the topic of another blog post…

The second thing that really struck me was our conversation around the miracle of food.

Yeah, I know, sounds a bit religious. AND IT IS!

Whatever you believe in, it’s pretty obvious that food growing in the ground, on trees, the cycles of nature, the outright genius of nature – is a total miracle.

Jude spoke about her veggie garden and how it connects her to the miracle.

And I thought about how much I love farmers markets. And how they are growing in popularity everywhere. Is it because, at a subconscious level, we want to connect back to that miracle?

Is it why you are here reading this blog post? Because you have connected to me because I connect you to the miracle of real food?

How distant are we from it? When we enter a supermarket we are not connecting to nature. Now, you know that I’m no angel with food – I try my best but don’t beat myself up for living in the real world – but when you think about it – isn’t it crazy that we would think to buy highly processed ‘food’ in packets – completely DEnatured. Food that has lost any kind of connection to the miracle.

There is something special about watching the passionfruit grow on the vine lining our house. There is something super special about a friend gifting you bananas, tomatoes, broccoli, herbs – anything that has come from their garden. It’s special because it’s a gift directly from nature.

Are we missing, at a very deep level, that connection to nature, to food, to the miracle? What would it mean for us to have more connection?

I’ll continue pondering on this one…..

While it wasn’t the ‘perfect’ day for Jude to come (because in a perfect world my life is not chaos and mess and chasing my tail!) it was absolutely the perfect day.

It turns out Jude didn’t see the mess (or if she saw she didn’t give a toss). It turns out she thought the lunch was yummy enough to photograph! It turns out your heroes are real people too and they can feel just like home.

Blessed am I to spend time with this lovely lady and learn from her. And then teach her things like Facebook live! I know she has changed the lives of many Small Steppers – and she loves nothing more than a Small Stepper coming up to say hello at events to tell her how much that interview meant to them.

Here’s the FB Live chat we had from my couch…

And finally there’s only a few tickets left for tomorrow in Brisbane, so if you’d like to come, check out the details here. Wherever you are in Australia – get along and hear her speak – your life WILL be changed.

Would you like to know what I feed my kids when they come home from school?

It’s not particularly fancy in this house – but it’s got to fill them up until dinner time and stop the incessant asking for food that I have realised happens if I don’t put something in their bellies!

So homemade popcorn, banana smoothies, platters, cakes or cookies are the go. My Basic Vanilla Cake or Choc Chip Cookies are on high rotation.

I didn’t mention in the video, but I often give them a bit of what I was planning on doing for dinner – perhaps corn on the cob with butter or Sweet Potato Skins. Sweet potato skins are genius! After I have peeled sweet potato I coat the skins in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and spread them out on a baking tray – pop into the oven at 180 degrees – turn them once and they are cooked with they are crispy – TOTALLY delicious – don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!)

 

Share your ideas for afternoon tea below!

There’s no denying it for me: if I have a good breakfast I feel empowered, I feel full and I feel committed to eating well for the rest of the day.

I also feel like a legend because life would be easier if I skipped it or just grabbed a piece of toast.

Here are a few things I have learnt about breakfast on my journey to eating more real food:

1. I will NEVER stop wanting vegemite on toast and coffee for breakfast.

2. Transitioning out of old habits takes time.

3. Transitioning out of old habits requires thought and preparation.

4. Change is hard.

5. A few delicious options staring at you in the face is going to make all the difference.

6. If I don’t prioritise my own breakfast as an important meal then no one else will!

7. Leading by example is the BEST way to get kids (and husbands!) to try new things.

8. It’s ok to change things up, to experiment and get it wrong.

9. Breakfast can be fast and delicious and real.

10. It’s ok to have croissants sometimes!

I very rarely blog my breakfast ‘recipes’ because they aren’t really recipes and who has time in the morning to think about taking pics and sharing them!?  I do that sometimes, however, and always get a big response.

Why do we struggle with breakfast?

Is it because we were brought up on cereal?

Pouring a highly processed and (most likely) sugar and salt-laden cereal into a bowl and covering it with (most likely) low-fat milk was the norm.  Or perhaps it was white bread with margarine (oh dear no!) and a spread of choice. Perhaps a glass of supermarket-bought OJ to really help with that sugar-spike first up.

Is it because we’re busy?

The morning RUSH means that there is ‘no time’ to cook, ‘no time’ to beg kids to try something new, ‘no time’ to sit and eat and enjoy a meal that is breaking the night’s fast and setting us up for the day.

Is it because we’ve forgotten that to get through until lunch, with energy and vitality, we don’t actually need coffee – we need food that sustains us and serves us?  Food that is real, food that our body recognises as food.

Whatever the reason, it’s fair to say that many of us get caught in a slump when it comes to breakfast.

So here are some of my SUPER SIMPLE breakfast ideas.

Some for during the week, and some for weekends with a little more time.

• Spinach, cucumber, avocado and bacon (good quality bacon from a reputable butcher) , drizzled with olive oil and ADD YOUR FAVOURITE FRUIT – this one has mango.  

• A smoothie!  Like - my perfect green smoothie or perhaps whizz up a frozen banana, an avocado, a few ice cubes, half an apple or pear, a sprinkling of chia seeds, two massive handfuls of spinach, a cucumber and a glass of water with a few teaspoons of my new favourite product – gelatine.

• Granola.  This recipe is a cracker. If I’ve got this in the cupboard then I can always take it with me in a little pouch (I use the 4myearth brand) if I’ve run out of time.  The kids also like a sprinkling of this on top of their porridge.

• Freshly made Rainbow Juice – celery, cucumber, carrot, lettuce, watermelon

• Egg with bacon or tuna spinach, tomato and sauerkraut.

• This pancake recipe is my absolute favourite at the moment.

• Mamacino has a gorgeous French Toast recipe in her Kids in the Kitchen cookbook and we love it topped with pure maple syrup (oh, ok, and bacon, let’s be honest!)

• I still will never go past an omelette.  So quick and so easy. Small Steppers know that it’s one of my favourite breakfasts – they watch my husband make one in real time. I like eggs SO MANY ways.  But an omelette with delicious fillings like avocado, tuna and feta.  Bring it!

Now, I know that some of you may have clicked on the pancake recipe thinking ‘YES – pancakes it is’ and then been disappointed because you don’t have a few of those ingredients in your pantry.  I hear you.  I was you.  Don’t panic.  If you are making pikelets from flour, eggs and milk and not eating Macca’s hotcakes then you are doing GREAT!  I look for options that don’t include wheat flour when I can, just to change things up.

My advice is always to take small steps.

These might be MY favourite breakfasts right now (it changes all the time) but it’s taken me a while to get here.

Do you like eating raw foods? (I’ll admit I have eaten carrot and cucumber and bliss balls for breakfast before!)  Would you have your leftovers from dinner?  Could your first step be moving away from white bread to a dense delicious traditional sourdough?  Or perhaps it’s ditching that margarine and replacing with butter – which is REAL FOOD!

We spend two weeks in the breakfasts module in Small Steps to Wholefoods.  Two weeks learning about different choices and implementing a few new ideas.  But two weeks isn’t going to break habits of a lifetime.  That takes time!

Armed with ideas and inspiration, however, many past participants have had brilliant results in changing their breakfast routine.

The biggest tip I have for you is to try as much as you possibly can to sit down and eat your breakfast.  Give this meal a little respect people!  Sit and eat and enjoy it.  Chew it. Be as present as you can.

Appreciate the gift that this food will give you.  Change your relationship with breakfast and your days might start to feel a little different.

Comment below with what you can start making for breakfast that is totally delicious and doesn’t take a stack of time to prepare?

x

Don’t forget that the EARLYBIRD price for Small Steps is closing soon – don’t miss out!

Last week my mum visited from Melbourne.  It wasn’t really a holiday for her – it was a hands-on-deck help session.  How blessed am I that I can call on this woman to help me out in times of need, and she will jump on a plane to be here.

(Can I just say upfront that if you live far away from your mum, or your mum has passed over, or your relationship is a little complicated, that I am sending you lots of love – because I cannot imagine how hard that must be. xx)

Last week was ‘launch week’ this new website was due to launch, and Small Steps to Wholefoods was due to go live for promotion too.

Big. Week.

My husband was going interstate for work so I called in the trooper herself.  I needed extra hands.

And of course she brought more than that.  Way more that just what her hands can do (ironing and cuddling).  She brought warmth, reassurance, love, energy.  And she brought a big fat cushion for me to slump on to.

She saw me at my best and worst last week.  I will not go into all the dramas that were taking place around my children, but let me just say – ear infection and separation anxiety.

It was all getting a bit much.  I consider myself a pretty competent and relaxed mother.  I ‘get’ my children.  We have our moments but we have our rhythm and we all dig it when we’re in sync.

But sometimes things get out of sync and mum saw it in its full glory.

Over on the Mums Who Get Shit Done Facebook page we have a lot of fun talking about ways in which we can be mums but still get stuff done.  We talk about how hard we find it to strike a balance with competing demands on our time.  It’s a tough freaking juggle.

So I asked mum what the biggest difference is, in her opinion, between mothers of today and mums of her vintage. (Wrong word?  Sorry mum!) And the answer was surprising and not so surprising.

Mum on the pace of life from Lisa Corduff on Vimeo.

She talked about ‘the pace of life’. Interesting.

I haven’t known anything different.

This ‘busyness’ that we’ve grown accustomed – is it a choice?  Wasn’t it always this frantic? How can we simplify?  How can we take some of that pace away?

Because it’s not doing us much good!  I tend to think I thrive on it, but the reality is that there are things going on in my body when the adrenalin is pumping 24/7.  After we recorded that video mum said “you are going way too fast darling”.

And it hit me.  I have a choice.

The discussion underneath the video was interesting too – “how do we get more done if we slow down?” And the fact that life wasn’t less complicated back then, but we have to remember WHAT’S IMPORTANT.

So tell me – what’s most important to you?

I started this blog a few years ago to document the changes I was making to our families diet as we tried to incorporate more real food into it.  I created it because I love connecting.  I care so deeply about the health of my family and trying to make good food choices, because I can see the difference it makes in our behaviour and our health.

But the humble blog has become a business now, and it’s so bloody exciting that I can barely contain myself.  And it’s made life busy.

So I started thinking about what was important and reconnecting with it again. Instead of being constantly distracted by work I am practicing being the present mum that I want to be.  I am giving in to a few things and trying to find more flow.

Because when that person who knows you so freaking well pulls you up and says “you’re going too fast”, well you listen – and if you’re smart you act!

I now have a ‘no work’ policy on weekends.  Or if I do need to work it is contained to a one hour block.  I’m reconnecting with my husband and that feels so great.

I’m getting creative in the kitchen again and stopping relying on sausages and roast veggies for every second meal!  (A great whole foods dinner if they are good snags, but everyone was getting a bit bored).  I am thinking about the foods that we can eat as a family, to ensure we stay as well as can be through the cooler months (yep, socks went on yesterday in Brisbane….brrrrr….lol!)

It meant deadlines were pushed out, but you know what – the ride is worth it.

To me – the health and happiness of my family is number one, and that includes my own health.

So grateful we went down the wholefoods path.  And so grateful I have created a business around helping others do the same. Because it matters!

Big thanks to my mum for being such a great teacher.  Isn’t it funny that no matter how old we get we still look to our mums for guidance and when she said “you’re one of the best mums I know”, well nothing could mean more. And I have little people who will look to me too, which still freaks me out.  So I better be an example I’d be happy for them to follow.

Tell me – are you going too fast?  How’s the pace in your life? What’s your biggest priority and is it being met or pushed to the side?