Happenings...

Hello! My book project is nearly done, so I will be back babbling on here again in no time. I am dreaming up lots of outdoor crafty projects, as I want to get outside and away from the computer now that the weather is warming up. I'm thinking mosaics! And cement! I have caught the cementing bug :)

We have mostly an Australian native garden here but I still manage to find some colour for a vase

Spring has arrived in the land down under and it is a sight for sore eyes. I think the winter just gone was the coldest ever, or maybe it's just that I'm getting older? I'm not built for the cold.

Another reason for getting outside more is this little guy:

Meet Archie! The cheeky fluff- ball bundle of mayhem! Our newest family member.

And in honour of our not-too-long-ago-passed previous fur babies, I have finally made them memorial stones for their graves in the backyard. That was a project I'd been meaning to do for a long time. I have made it into a tutorial too, as I couldn't find instructions online specifically for what I wanted, so stay tuned for that one.

Another thing that's been taking up a lot of my time is cooking. Miss 6 has been put on a special diet by her integrative doctor which is similar to the paleo/ gaps way of eating. I'd go into why, but don't really want to get into finer details but I will say that I think functional/ integrative medicine is the way of the future! I'm doing the diet too as I just feel so much better when I eat this way. I do it mainly to tackle some niggling health issues that I have. I always believe in addressing the root cause of issues and asking the question "why?" Because I'm never satisfied with "it just is." :)

The authors healed ailments such as eczema and OCD through diet, and this just fascinates me no end.

My favourite cook book at the moment Life Changing Food

Mmmm veggie seaweed crackers and baba ganoush- from the book

Gluten free sausage rolls with homemade tomato sauce (both in the book) with a side serve of steamed cabbage and kombucha

I just wish I could eat this way and not have to make all of it. And the dishes are mountainous! I've started asking the kids to help me with washing up, and they can earn a bit of pocket money on the side.

So combined with puppy mayhem (it's like having a baby again!), masses of cooking, and the kids book I've been working on, things got a little crazy busy. I'm looking forward to chilling out a bit more in the warmer weather and focussing on what's important, and not trying to do everything and be everything to everyone. I think as mama's or even women we can easily get stuck in that trap, until we realise we must do some tweaking for everyone's sanity and ease back on some things. Hence the break from the blog. And I decided, that was OK.

Here's another little snippet from the book:

This dog is quite small within the illustration I did for this page, but I'm interested in enlarging parts I've done so I can see individual line marks and colours. I love seeing brush stories and paint marks.

I'm at the stage now where I'm touching up and editing images, so... nearly there.

Catch you soon,

Jules :)

Creative Life Round Up

This post is one of those bits-n-pieces blog posts. Here's me and my girls before a recent outing :)

Did you know it took about 30 photos to get a decent one!? Kids! They get a camera lens in front of them and they go silly.

My girls made me some flowers for Mother's Day this year.. I'm happy they won't be dying any time soon!

Something I'm working on at the moment (one of the many hundreds of things) is a mixed media painting for the MATS online illustration class I'm taking. (Read about my journey so far here.) The first task was that I had to gather some bits and pieces before I started the artwork. 

As it happens, my eldest is currently doing mixed media art in her art enrichment program at school (a program where kids showing talent get to do extra specialised art classes- she's so excited she got to go!). She had a sick day last week and we did mixed media art together in the studio. I have to be careful not to make sick days too much fun! (The iPad is definitely off limits.)

Her work so far. This is a background she made and she wants to draw and paint a portrait of me over the top. 

Now for some creativity in the kitchen. Last week one of the mornings I was up super early making seed balls (my own recipe), banana bread breakfast muffins, peeling a pomegranate, popping out our homemade fruit juice gummy lollies and picking oranges from the backyard. And incase all that makes you feel guilty, that is definitely not a standard morning. I do try to get up earlier usually to squeeze in an extra hour or so tasks before the kids rise, but many days I keep hitting that snooze button until the very last minute!

These seed balls I made up was from frustration of never having the ingredients for particular bliss ball recipes. This one is totally customisable to what I have in the pantry, and is nut free so school safe. And yummy :) I just have to be careful not to snack on them all day.

I hope you enjoyed that round up. I'll be back soon with more fun stuff for you.

Jules :)

Local Food, Eating & Living

I seem to go through stages. I go through stages in my studio; sometimes I'm painting a lot, then sometimes I'm obsessively making jewellery.

But aside from the creative side of my life, in normal life at the moment I'm in a bit of a stage where I'm being really mindful of the waste this household produces, where my food is coming from, trying to source local food, thinking about reducing time and effort in the garden, and growing some of our own food. (Doesn't help that it really hasn't properly rained for ages, and the forecast shows no rain for at least a week!) I even borrowed a book from the library on raising pigs for food. I would like to think we could do it, but it seems this idea is a little too traumatic for Miss 5. (I can just imagine her now, crying her eyes out whilst savouring a crispy piece of bacon at the same time...)

But first I'll try and focus on growing some veg. We've got the space but I just need to make it a priority. I like to buy organic, and we all know that can get a little crazy-expensive. But I have been scouring the neighbourhood for roadside food; after all, we do live in a farming area.

This roadside stall was a treat. Not only is the produce not treated with sprays, but it's so visually pleasing as well. So cute! The kids had a great time putting money in the tin and then proceeded to hide the veggies in all odd places in the car as a joke on me. Yes, I had cucumbers in my car bin! Lucky it was empty.

I found apples around the corner from me for SO cheap. And I found a Jackie French book in the local op shop. (I had a self sufficiency book from her but lent it to someone and can't remember who.) I love her way of thinking. As a weirdo thinker myself I love reading from other people who question the system. She doesn't believe in digging up the soil, that weeds are a bad thing, or that we can't eat guinea pigs. (Um, I won't be doing that last one but love her opportunistic view!) So I'm rethinking parts of the garden, especially when it comes to removing weeds. Rather than spraying them, can I plant something in their place to crowd them out? For instance, down the sides of the driveway. Otherwise they are great for mulch, compost for soil food, or you just need to mulch more to smother them.

And this is a friend's roadside stall. Lovely tasty tasty colourful tomatoes that didn't last long at all! You can tell she's an Op Shopper. Probably clearing out all the good finds before I get there ;)

I also found two items in my severely neglected garden beds.

We also went berry picking yesterday at our local organic berry farm and stocked up on berries. We spent a bit, but they are cheap in the long run and I won't have to buy any for a while.

We also get lamb from a friend and eggs from another friend (or when she runs out we drive 15 mins up the road to another organic egg farm and buy their seconds.)

It's extra work, but it's so satisfying knowing that you're supporting local people, and I know that our berries have come from up the road and not all the way from Chile. (Seriously!? I was buying frozen organic berries from Chile!)

And as usual I'm still cooking. My latest food goal is to remove all vegetable oils from our diets. It's difficult, but when you make your own snacks and food from scratch it's easier. 

I have broth on the stove using a lamb bone from my friend. I have made current & oat cookies sweetened with applesauce made from the apples I got from the lady around the corner (there's a place vegetable oil creeps in to the diet- it's in dried fruit). And last night we ate free range local pork sausages (Miss 5 was quite happy to eat a pig she hadn't met!). They were really yummy. And I could recognise all the ingredients. No numbers!

(I also made goats milk yoghurt which is fermenting on my bench right now, and mango- yogurt popsicles last night (using these moulds). Dates, mango and goats yoghurt. They are quite yummy if I do say so myself.)

Do you try to source any local food?

Now I'm back in the studio today- in jewellery making mode, now that all my cooking is done for the morning.

Jules :)

A Mermaid Party!

Recently we threw a Mermaid party for Miss 5. It was my "Pinterest Party"! (They're only young once, right?) And in all efforts to stay true to our clean eating I also made a lot of the food.

First, I took one 5 year old and popped on a home made mermaid costume. (She has a pearl headband on too.) Mermaid tail instructions here, and the top was just two green felt shells sewn on to a pink singlet. I got the fabric for pretty cheap. I think this costume cost me all of $10 and didn't take long to sew.

A sweet little welcome sign drawn by Miss 7 to greet our guests. (It's a mermaid walking her merdog. Cute, huh!?)

The party room. Fairy lights, balloons, streamers for seaweed, and paper puff balls feature for decorations.

I made this jelly fish light by covering an old light shade frame with white rice paper, and hanging paper, ribbons and lace from the middle.

The cake! Whilst searching for ideas on Pinterest, I discovered sandcastle cakes! I love the fact that they look really effective, with no food colouring. In fact our party was an artificial-colour-free party, and the cake was made from spelt flour (an ancient form of easier to digest wheat). I made four cakes which I then cut up and stuck together with toothpicks and bamboo skewers. The cake was iced with plain butter frosting and covered in a sand mixture that was made from baked cake crumbs (like how you make breadcrumbs, but with offcuts from the cake), and shredded coconut whizzed up in my thermomix. 

I collected all kinds of sea themed decorations from around the house, like jewellery and shells, and I also found some things in the op shop. The toy shop had some play star fish. The seaweed grapes were another idea from Pinterest. The treasure chest was just a box I already owned. Chocolate gold coins worked well in that.

This is a mobile I received last year for a Mother's Day gift. Mermaid-y, yes? The fishy back drop was from the girls' dress up box.

Jelly cups were the natural coloured kind with a bit of the 'sand' sprinkled on the tops. Cookies were homemade in the shape of starfish and sand dollars. (Recipe here. Although I did use spelt and an extra cup or so of flour.) I used a star cutter for the starfish, and pinched each point skinnier to get a more realistic shape. (Thank you for that tip Steph!)

White and milk chocolate seashells with 'sand' were made a few days before the party.

The craft. A kids party will not be held at my house without a craft!! There was so much glitter and sequin-y goodness :)

Ta-da!

A painted shell for cute mermaid-y photos was propped in the corner. A bubble station provided some sparkly fun too :)

Party favours included some handmade shell necklaces with pearl beads & glitter, and some cute mini mermaid brooches I got from Etsy.

The party bags were paper (because paper is recyclable & if there's a more environmental choice, I will choose it. I struggled with buying balloons, as they don't degrade), stamped with a seahorse stamp that I made years ago with wash tape around the top. I included a couple of 'natural confectionary' lollies, but other than that there were the necklaces, brooches, hair clips and sea themed stickers. I hope the other parents appreciated the lack of extra sugar!

We didn't have one lolly on board (except for in the party bags) but the kids were really happy and there were no complaints. There was still chocolate and jelly and bikkies and fruit.. and cake! :)

I like to take my time and put thought into the best food choices for the party. For example, we had plain chips cooked in sunflower oil and seasoned with sea salt (a much better choice than cheezels, for example. I do lots of reading of labels in supermarkets.) We had homemade meatballs and chicken nibbles with a homemade marinade. Homemade bbq sauce, and an organic tomato sauce. We also had star shaped sandwiches which neglected to be in a photo. We had biscuits, cheese and a homemade basil pesto dip for the grown-ups. Our cutlery and cups were recyclable or compostable. Me being me, I can't do it any other way! I torture myself, I swear.

Oh, and we had a cute mini beanie boo turtle for the pass the parcel prize! I was going to make something for the prize (like I did for a dragon party we had in the past, but I ran out of time.)

It was a lot of work but careful planning got me there in the end. And then I collapsed into a heap when it was done.. And napped. I hope Miss 5 remembers it. I'm planning on getting a little album printed for her as a momento. 

I hope all the kiddies had a great time as I may never plan another party like this again. Although... how cool would a woodland themed party be!?

Jules :)

Recent Paintings and My Latest Health Experiment

You can find these mini canvases in the shop. I had a lot of fun painting these ones. The top one is called "I am nature" and the bottom one is titled "The narwhal, the unicorn and the magical journey". 

At the moment I am busy working on some orders for necklaces and stamp sets, but I'm hoping to get back into painting again soon! I always work in rotation; once I get back into painting I churn a few more out again and then move onto the next pressing project.

In other news I have embarked upon a health experiment. I have recently been to my worst place in all the world- the dentist. And, gasp! I have a cavity, and some other suspicious areas in my mouth. (Thanks to some receding gums because I brush with gusto. Get the job done, man. This is boring already!!) Now, me being me, I had to research this and stumbled upon information of people out there that have actually healed their cavities. Through diet. From the inside, remineralising the body. What the!? I know, right!? 

So off I started on my strange experiment of a nutrient dense diet including lots of bone broth, fermented cod liver oil, and totally grain and sugar free. In a nutshell. It's been 11 days so far, and although this diet is not my ideal way to eat, I'm interested to know if it will work. It's kind of similar to paleo. 

Here's a couple of photos showing some of the things I am ingesting of late (I have since ditched the kombucha as although it's filled with beneficial probiotics it's also very sweet):

Mmmm, lots of bone broth soups..

Organic eggs and butter for their higher nutrient content.. and veggies. Lots o' veggies.

I will post my result! So weird. But then, that's what I do. Sometimes I wish for an easier life where I didn't have to question  everything. But it's part of my personality and something I am working on trying to accept! 

Thanks for reading :)

Food & Our Way of Eating

Hello!
Thought I'd make a post about what I generally do with a lot of my time. Spend it in the kitchen! I don't really like it, and resent it at times... but I do have a passion for learning about health, food and nutrition, and so that equates to a bit of time preparing food in the kitchen to put it all into practise. We try to eat organic to as much as we can afford (and organics are scarce in this country town) and as additive free as possible. We don't eat a lot of meat, as organic is expensive so I do try to make it stretch when I get it. I can get two nights meals out of 500g of mince. We drink almond milk instead of cows milk. I try to sneak as many veg into my girls' meals as I can. Last week I substituted a layer of pasta in our lasagne with cabbage leaves. I got away with it too! And the sauce was chock full of celery, carrots, mushrooms and zucchini. My girls aren't scared of anything green (who would be when your Mum serves you up green smoothies!?) and so I have also discovered a layer of spinach on their spelt based pizza's gets gobbled up too. We also try to be wheat free. I give veg as snacks while they're being hypnotised by the TV. I put spinach in their choc smoothies! We grow a veggie garden. They love it all. Well.. most of it ;) I just never give up with them. If they don't like something I keep serving it until they do like it!

Here are the cheeky chickens eating spelt pancakes with organic blueberries, coconut cream & maple syrup. This was a treat breakky! :)

Most of the time I use my trusty thermomix and Quirky Jo's website as my recipe book. She really has changed the way we eat. Thanks to my thermie I make a lot of things from scratch including sauces, ice creams, ground nuts & seeds for meals & flours and a range of homemade cakes, muffins, snacks and meals in a quarter of the time it would take me to do it without a thermomix. And let's be honest, I just wouldn't do most of that if I had to do it from scratch. As much as I love to eat additive free foods, I don't want to spend all my time in the kitchen. And if I have to make something that requires a bit of skill, it usually fails! But I am getting better! And whilst I don't really love all the work that preparing healthy food takes, there is a satisfaction that comes with sitting down to a homemade fancy and healthy meal that everyone loves. Makes me feel like I am looking after my family.

So here's a sneak peak into my fridge.. I swear I didn't rearrange anything for this shot, this is just a general everyday shot of my fridge contents. It's very personal! We have soaked almonds at the top for making almond milk (Reason for soaking), there's bone broth in a glass that I make from our left over chicken carcasses, nuts, seeds, fruit & veg, a gluten & sugar free carrot cake in the middle made from our own home grown carrots.. organic milk for tea & coffee, tahini for calcium, whey that I extracted from yoghurt to make kvass (in next photo)... and a bit of scunge!! See told you I didn't do anything in there before I took the photo!

Here's my kvass. This is the first time I have made this. It's a fermented beetroot drink I made this morning which took me all of five minutes to make. If the kids like this I will have to make it more often. Lovely colour! It'll take two days to ferment apparently then it'll be ready for the fridge. 

We've come a long way in the last few years with our diet and lifestyle changes. I felt overwhelmed with what I started to read about in the past but I have made changes slowly, and one by one. And little changes over the years all add up to a completely different way of life. Some of the changes we have made have been removing our microwave & swapping all our teflon cookware for stainless steel. We've ditched so called healthy vegetable oils with coconut oil, butter and ghee. We've also ditched white sugar, boxed cereals (regardless of whether they are 'healthy') & wheat. We've switched from normal salt to himalayan salt. We eat more fruit and veg. I've learnt a lot. And there's still so much more I want to do! 

So there you have it, a little personal snippet into our lives, our tummies & something I am passionate about. Might have to go and eat now, I've made myself hungry...

Hello :)

Hello & welcome to my new blog!
Those who used to follow me would know me as Julie Knoblock, but I am now Jules Madden.
I am excited about blogging again after around 5 years break! My kiddies are growing up fast and I am able to squeeze in a bit of time for myself. I miss the connections I had from when I used to blog; and I'm excited about new possibilities and sharing my art journey with you guys. My first post is not going to be about art, but about my other love... eating healthily. I don't really like to cook, I'd be so much happier if someone else did it all for me, but I really love to provide wholesome, healthy food to my family. I have gone all crazy and hardcore over food and nutrition in the last few years!! It all started from around the time I read the Changing Habits Changing Lives book by Cyndi O'Meara. Then a friend introduced me to the documentary Food Matters, and my now health guru Phillip Day. It's been all uphill, or downhill from there, depending on your perspective! It certainly isn't an easier lifestyle, but it's one I can feel proud of.

Check out yesterday's bounty from the veggie garden! Spinach & lettuce, mmmmm. We eat heaps of salads and juices and smoothies which greens all get added to. Yummers. There is a bit of prep work that goes into how we eat... here I was getting ready to make sauerkraut. It's bubbling away in the cupboard now. Every time I see it I think "bubble, bubble, toil and trouble". The paw paw in the tub went in the freezer. I'm thinking I could make it into a frozen dessert or just chuck it in smoothies.

That's it for now. I promise my next post will be about art in some form!