When in Chiang Mai: Elephants & Ziplining

November 26, 2014 1:30 pm , 1 Comment , lizniland

As part of my Chiang Mai adventure with Paleo Nick, Steph from Stupid Easy Paleo and a whole gang of culinary ninjas, I had the opportunity to not only meet the gentlest giants of the animal world, but also to fly through the trees suspended by little more than unwavering faith in steel.

For an incredible elephant encounter, we did the 1-day Mahout training program at Baanchang Elephant Park. The park is a not-for-profit organisation all about elephant rescue and rehabilitation and is situated in the pretty jungle-y hills a fair way outside downtown Chiang Mai.

While I was warned by friends back home not to wear short shorts (apparently touching a hairy elephant with one’s upper thigh is not so pleasant) we got to wear these darling 100% polyester suits instead (which I swear just about hit melting point in full sun).

All jokes aside though, this was a great experience which went above and beyond what I was expecting. Once we’d learned the commands and gestures to work with the elephant (including what to do if it bolted. Tip: hold on tight!) we went for a bareback jaunt around the expansive park. Each elephant’s real mahout (they stay together for life!) was never far behind us and my elephant’s mahout even made me this delightful hat out of a teak leaf while we meandered along.

Our other exposure to the rainforests of Chiang Mai came in the form of a trip out to the Flight of the Gibbon ziplining park. Similarly to the elephant park, it’s quite a way out of town and – warning to anyone with motion sickness – is located at the top of a very windy road. Here we are (looking like the new cast of Survivor!) hanging out on a made-for-group-photos ledge over a waterfall in the wilderness surrounding the park.

After we strapped into our harnesses and helmets, it was time to take on the course of 33 platforms, 18 ziplines and 3 Indiana Jones-inspired bridges. The idea of putting all your trust in a steel hook certainly had some of the team quaking in their sneakers but once we’d nailed the first few, it was an exhilarating way to experience the tranquil (other than the occasional squeal or Tarzan bellow!) surrounds.

I’m sure some, probably my mother included, may be a little suss on the safety and quality of something like this but I didn’t feel unsafe at any point. Our “Sky Rangers” looked after everyone and were great at supporting even the most fearful ninjas to step outside their comfort zone enough to make it a memorable challenge (rather than a memory to be repressed!)

The bloke on the left in the shot below was one of our Sky Rangers, Woody. He works at the park 6 days a week, lives onsite and told us that other than cooking, he has no real hobbies beyond zipping around the rainforest. It doesn’t get much closer to lives-and-breathes-the-job dedication than that!

Other than the photo of me with the teak leaf hat & the one where I’m copping a big neck smooch from a little elephant, photographer extraordinaire Anderson York captured these moments. The above shot was even taken while he was flying along, mid-zipline!

Have you ever got up close & personal with an elephant? They’re such incredible creatures!

Posted in: Life , Tagged: adventure, chiang mai, nature, travel

When in Chiang Mai: Yi Peng Lantern Festival

November 25, 2014 12:40 pm , 1 Comment , lizniland

If spending a week in Thailand’s Chiang Mai with Paleo Nick, Steph from Stupid Easy Paleo and a bunch of other top notch types wasn’t enough, our Culinary Adventure just happened to coincide with the incredible Yi Peng Lantern Festival.

I’d heard of the festival before (mainly because of this video) but I was totally unprepared for how moving & downright bloody amazing it would be to participate in it.

My photographs of the event don’t do it justice at all and I’m actually happy about that: it really is something that needs to be experienced and felt, not just seen.

I loved being down near the river watching people prepare their lanterns for launching into the night sky. In the crowds, couples young and old, groups of travelling friends and local families alike gathered around to cast their intentions for the coming year & let their worries float away with their glowing paper tube.

The Buddhist lantern festival in Chiang Mai usually coincides with Loi Krathong, a festival which occurs throughout Thailand and involves the floating of colourful floral arrangements down the river. Combined, these events make Chiang Mai an incredibly vibrant place to be at this time of year!

Parades, fireworks (both official & otherwise!), parties, a beauty pageant and street markets galore are spread throughout the city making it impossible to hide from the joy of it all.

If you ever have the opportunity to participate in the Yi Peng Lantern Festival, I highly recommend you make sure it happens. It is, without a doubt, one of the most incredible things I’ve ever experienced.

Here’s a little video of us sending off our lantern. Unfortunately the couple trying to do likewise next to us don’t have quite as much success…

Have you ever experienced the Yi Peng Lantern Festival? Have you ever participated in anything that unexpectedly blew your mind or overwhelmed your senses?

Posted in: Life , Tagged: chiang mai, travel

Chiang Mai: Culinary Adventures

November 25, 2014 12:35 pm , 7 Comments , lizniland

A well-timed post on Stupid Easy Paleo while I was in a grumpy I-haven’t-been-overseas-for-years mood, saw me, along with Michael and my mate Jess, join Paleo Nick, Steph from Stupid Easy Paleo & a bunch of other new friends, on a Culinary Adventure in Chiang Mai.

I wouldn’t describe myself as a particularly spontaneous type but alas, around 6 weeks after I read that post, we had our bags packed and were en route to the airport. Sometimes things just feel right & you just gotta roll with it, however wild it might seem!

Getting to Chiang Mai took around 10 hours flying time from Sydney: we flew to Bangkok (9 hours) and then hung out in the airport briefly before continuing on with a short flight (1 hour) into Chiang Mai. I picked up #GIRLBOSS to read on the plane, as well as The News by Alain de Botton & Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg.

We stayed at Eco Resort Chiang Mai which was delightful. It was a little way out of the main city but it had a really leafy setting, a deluxe pool and a pretty tasty breakfast buffet!

Each morning we had the option of waking up for a workout at Crossfit Chiang Mai. I only skipped one day & loved having my first taste of Crossfit, especially with athletes like Nick & Steph on hand for tips on lifts & activities I hadn’t really done before. I tried not to fan-girl out too hard when it came to meeting Steph… and I ~~hope~~ think I succeeded! Her blog has been a staple resource since I first tried my hand at paleo – more than a year ago – so it was cool putting an actual person to the name & face.

After posting last month during my macro-focused challenge about being ready to get back in the paleo saddle via Steph’s ebook, The Paleo Athlete, this trip was perfectly timed too – the 12 weeks finished last week. Hello again #paleolife!

Of course being a paleo-focused group, food was never far from our minds! I’ve got a bunch of photos to show off my favourite Chiang Mai eats, the Thai cooking classes we did and all the delights from the markets. I’ll also be posting about the streets of Chiang Mai, the conveniently timed Yi Peng Lantern Festival and our elephant park and ziplining adventures.

Update: Jesse Kahle, the strapping gent on the far left of the photo above, is a superbly talented videographer. His camera rarely left his eye and we are all so lucky to have the below video to capture the spirit of the amazing trip.

To Be Found from Jesse Kahle on Vimeo.

Thanks to all the Culinary Ninjas for a fabulous adventure. What a fantastic crew of individuals! Here we all are, as snapped by our official group photographer, Anderson York (who therefore, was unfortunately not in the photo).

Have you been to Thailand? Chiang Mai is the only part of the country I’ve explored (12 hours in Bangkok Airport doesn’t count as far as I’m concerned!) and I really enjoyed it.

Posted in: Life , Tagged: adventure, chiang mai, exercise, paleo, travel

Recipe: Peanut Butter Raisin Protein Slice

October 13, 2014 10:16 pm , 2 Comments , lizniland

Want a powered-up protein snack that’s actually delicious and full of #cleaneating goodness? I took these High-Protein Oatmeal Cookies and hacked them to macro-meeting perfection.

They’re most definitely not paleo but they did the job for me when I was getting a little tired of eating so much animal protein on a macro-focused food challenge.

Peanut Butter Raisin Protein Slice

Serves 20 | Macros per serve: Calories 159, Protein 14g, Carbs 15g, Fat 5g

2 cups of puffed buckwheat

2 cups of oats

4 teaspoons of Natvia

8 scoops of protein (I used AboutTime Cinnamon Swirl Whey Protein Isolate)

1/2 cup almond meal

1/2 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes

1 cup of raisins

2 tablespoons of cinnamon

1/2 cup unsweetened apple puree

1/2 cup egg whites (I use Puregg Simply Egg Whites)

1/2 cup of plain fat free yogurt (I used 0% Chobani)

1/2 tablespoon of olive oil

5 tablespoons of peanut butter (I used Mayvers Organic Crunchy – get one with nothing more than peanuts and maybe a little salt)

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

Blitz the first 6 ingredients (the dry ingredients) in a food processor or blender to combine.

Add the last 7 ingredients (the wet ingredients + raisins & cinnamon) and stir to combine into a batter. Add a few drops of water if it’s a little dry (and if you use a pea protein, it might be).

Pour the batter into a lined 8 x 8 pan and pop in the oven for around 20 minutes, or until the slice is lightly browned on top. It should still be a bit fudgey.

Let it cool before slicing into 20 squares & store in the fridge.

Posted in: Recipes , Tagged: bodybuilding, Recipe

Life lately: Measuring macros

October 12, 2014 10:19 pm , 2 Comments , lizniland

When I discovered paleo a little over a year ago, I excitedly swore off rice crackers, low-fat yogurt and calorie counting and had never felt better. In the last few months though, I’d been considering doing a Whole 30, sugar detox, or some other reset program to recalibrate and rediscover that sense of inside-and-out wellness.

As it often does, the universe was listening in and by September 1, I was roped in for a 12 week challenge at my gym, Gritshed. With a focus on bodybuilding-style nutrition, the program involves a 4-week metabolism-boosting period, 4 weeks of gradual carb reduction and then a final 4 weeks of carb cycling.

I’m just starting week 7 now and while I’ve been encouraged to eat some less paleo-friendly characters like brown rice, oats and a couple of supplements, I’m lifting heavier, gaining muscle and dropping body fat all while never feeling hungry. Bit of a win! I’ve always been curious about macros and I’m always willing to try something new for the sake of an experiment.

Things I’ve learnt so far:

Carbs post-workout are important for recovery – it’s not just about the protein
How many calories I need to eat to keep on keeping on
Eggs are far better when they still have a yolk
Counting calories and staying on top of your macros takes a lot of time
How much protein/carbs/fat are in the foods I regularly eat
Bodybuilders have to eat a lot. A LOT.
Approximate grams to portion sizes of different foods
I can survive without chocolate and hot chips for weeks at a time (sometimes it’s good to be reminded of that)

All that said though, it hasn’t taken me long to be over lean turkey mince and egg whites and craving roasted chicken thighs and homemade mayo! I’m looking forward to closing out Week 12 so I can start following Steph’s teachings in my recently purchased e-book, The Paleo Athlete.

Photo credit: kReEsTaL via photopin cc

Posted in: Life , Tagged: bodybuilding, gritshed, life, paleo

Review: I Quit Sugar For Life by Sarah Wilson

August 26, 2014 9:54 am , 2 Comments , lizniland

I’ve been loving this book sick since the day I bought it. So if you’re reading this to get a yay-or-nay on its worthiness for purchase, the 4-word review is: Go and buy it. It rarely rests in the bookshelf, usually perched next to my knife block ready to be splattered and tattered again.

DIY Sauerkraut | I Quit Sugar For Life by Sarah Wilson

A fan of Sarah Wilson since her magazine days, I enjoy her writing and style but, I have to admit, the passion for the “I Quit Sugar” movement had started to grate. It kind of surprised me how much I love this book and what it stands for. I don’t know what drew me to it given I didn’t buy the first book, didn’t do the online program and never really understood, as many don’t, why the goal was to “quit sugar” but the recipes popping up from the quest to do so were simply subbing the refined stuff for stevia or rice malt syrup. It had always sounded very SWYPO for my liking.

Choc coco-nutty granola | I Quit Sugar For Life by Sarah Wilson

While IQS for Life does offer up “A chapter of chocolate” and “Celebrations and treats with which to impress the sceptics”, it is more of a lifestyle book (which just happens to include awesome-sauce recipes) with tips on everything from ayurveda to DIY sauerkraut and minimising food wastage. Be prepared to be converted to the rice syrup after learning who’s who in the sugar zoo but, more interestingly, you’ll learn how to (& have a desire to!) gut a batch of sardines, bake the most delicious faux KFC and cook up a rad paleo loaf. It’s not a paleo book specifically but, when you eat unprocessed, low fructose, whole foods, well… give or take some quality dairy and that’s what you’re pretty much left with!

Paleo inside-out bread | I Quit Sugar For Life by Sarah Wilson

When you figure out how sweet life is when you’re running on fat and protein, rather than on the never-ending treadmill of sugar peaks and valleys, it’s hard not to evangelise the shiitake mushrooms out of it all. Sarah Wilson is on a mission to get the world on board and IQS for Life is the perfect introduction to life without the 3pm slump, especially if you’re sceptical or even sick of the down-with-sugar message.

“KFC” and coleslaw | I Quit Sugar For Life by Sarah Wilson

It’s a shame Sarah often gets slammed for being anti-fruit, and down-right anti-fun, by characters who don’t understand the impact a processed diet high in sugar has had on the population. (If you need convincing on this point and don’t want it from Wilson, watch The Men Who Made Us Fat)

The main thing I love about IQS for Life is that it reaches beyond the sugar substitutes and encourages an extra serve of greens, enough dietary fat, a focus on preparation and a life of shareable food experiences.

Yeah, there’s some anti-banana sentiment and no, you can’t escape without seeing a green smoothie recipe but, all-in-all, these are recipes and life tips for normal, everyday people (regardless of whether you fully expunge your pantry of honey, maple syrup & dark chocolate chips).

Posted in: Eats, Review , Tagged: Cooking, paleo, sarah wilson, sugar

Quick wins for a better life #1: Hold out for lunch

August 19, 2014 9:54 pm , Leave a Comment , lizniland

#1: Hold out for lunch | Quick win for a better life| lizniland.com

Original photo by By Rayi Christian W

It’s 11.15am. You had a good breakfast, even downed a coffee an hour or two ago, but now you’re hungry. Legit hungry. Hungry like that fruit bowl/emergency nut stash/co-worker’s lolly jar is not looking like it will survive much longer.

Thing is though, lunch is coming. You know you only need to hold out for another hour and you can chow down on your beautifully balanced, nourishing lunch.

Can you wait? Can you make a cup of tea or refill your water bottle and just hold off eating until lunchtime?

Of course you can.

You might not want to believe it, but you can. If you can keep doing continuous power cleans until the bell, if you can keep running until you reach the end of the street, if you can keep nodding and smiling through that horribly awkward dinner date; you can wait another hour for lunch.

It’s that well-known battle of mind over matter. With our instant gratification culture, we’re always wanting more before we’re done with what we’ve got. Yeah you could scarf a handful of nuts (healthy fats right?) or get a treat from the fundraising box (it’s helping the children, afterall!) but really, what’s another hour?

Stick to your plan.

Sarah Wilson does good words on why unnecessary snacking is bad news for both body and mind. She refers to it as “pre-eating” saying:

“…it could have a lot to do with being scared of restraint and lack. Many of us fear that feeling of missing out and the feeling of ’emptiness’, for a whole quagmire of really messy reasons. We shove food down on top of hunger, hoping it will silence all other emptiness or flutteriness we might be feeling.”

If you’re ravenous all the time though, that might be another story. Steph from Stupid Easy Paleo has great tips for making sure your diet is doing its part of the deal.

This week I’m working hard to actually be hungry when I show up to my meals. I’m making sure I’m hydrating adequately and checking in with myself to make sure I’m really hungry (& not just stressed or bored). It also gives me an incentive to put more effort into making sure my meals are worth the wait.

Are you a snacker? Or do you prefer to stick to three solid meals. I used to graze constantly but since moving to a paleo eating template and upping my protein & fat intake a bit, my blood sugar seems to have really evened out which helps me avoid the dreaded hangries.

Posted in: Life , Tagged: food, life, Lunch, paleo, quick wins, sarah wilson

Week of eats: A batch of winter breakfasts

August 13, 2014 7:49 pm , Leave a Comment , lizniland

Breakfast is my favourite meal. There, I said it. Like a mother declaring the favourite child, here I am announcing where my heart truly lies – let’s hope karma doesn’t make me ruin my dinner now!

I’ll start this round up off with the only brekkie here that I didn’t make: a beautiful vegan rice porridge from my favourite weekend haunt, One Penny Black. Accompanied by a long black and a good tabloid newspaper, it was a delicious way to start off my Sunday! Michael’s doing a 10,000 steps challenge with his work at the moment so after we chowed this breakfast down, we went for an epic walk. So epic, in fact, that he doubled his goal for the day!

Three, sometimes four, mornings per week I train at Gritshed before the sun has even sensed that its alarm is about to go off. I don’t eat before I work out so by 7am when I get home, I’m ravenous! I’m never satisfied with just a smoothie, especially on a training day, so I decided to start serving one up with some quick fried eggs topped with a scoop of homemade sauerkraut. This is a fun colourful breakfast that is guaranteed to keep my belly happy.

It’s been almost a year since I cut out the grains and dairy but I’ve recently been introducing buckwheat into my morning meal to great success. I find soaking it overnight & then warming it up with some creamy coconut or almond milk in a porridge is a beautiful way to kick into gear on a cold morning. Give my dairy-free buckwheat, chia & maca porridge a try for yourself!

If I have oven space & a few minutes to spare on the weekend, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll find me putting a batch of granola together. I always experiment with whatever flavours I have available. This one was made with coconut flakes, buckwheat puffs and a few other scoops of fruits and seeds. If you haven’t made one for yourself before, give my Grain-free fig and hazelnut granola a crack and then start experimenting.

Want some more breakfast ideas? Here’s my round up of squeaky-clean paleo breakfast options.

What’s your favourite thing to have for breakfast? While I love my eggs & savoury brekkies, I’m really enjoying a good porridge lately – I blame winter! A guy I work with can’t even stand the thought of breakfast – that could never be me!

Posted in: Eats, Latest eats , Tagged: Breakfast, food

Recipe: Dairy-free buckwheat, chia & maca porridge

August 13, 2014 7:39 pm , 1 Comment , lizniland

I’ve always been all about the eggs for breakfast. Even as a kid, no sleepy Saturday morning was complete without dippy yolks and buttered toast soldiers. And although I wouldn’t say times have changed, the wintery cold mornings of late have definitely had me thinking about warming bowls of creamy porridge.

Enter buckwheat. Is it paleo? Nope, not if you’re all hardcore about your anti-grain movement (it’s referred to as a ‘pseudograin’). But, if you follow a more paleo-inspired approach, I’m with Chris Kresser: if it works for you, soak it & psuedo on.

Even though it’s gluten-free, buckwheat is still a starchy guy so it’s a good option on days where you need a bit more energy – I usually only have this breakfast on training mornings. It’s not necessarily a great option if you’re trying to trim some kilos (same goes for spuds, rice and any other carbolicious eats) but hell, it has got to beat a croissant, right?

To keep it kind to your insides, minimise the anti-nutrients by soaking your buckwheat groats overnight in a bowl of water. I sort this out the night before and leave it covered with plastic wrap on the bench. So yeah, you need to plan this one the night before. C’mon now though, your future self will be thanking you so hard for laying the groundwork for such warm creamy goodness.

Recipe: Buckwheat, chia & maca porridge

Serves 2 hungry humans | Start it the night before

1/2 cup of buckwheat groats, soaked overnight (go for natural groats, not the toasted ones)
1 cup of almond, coconut or other milk of choice
1 grated nashi pear (or just use an apple when the nashi is out of season)
1 tablespoon of chia seeds
1-2 teaspoons of maca powder (yeah, it’s a ‘superfood’ but it’s quite delish!)
Hearty sprinkle of ground cinnamon
4 sliced dried figs (or a small handful of raisins or similar)
For garnish & added deliciousness: a little pile of blueberries, fresh or frozen-thawed

Drain & rinse the soaked buckwheat and combine it, along with everything except your garnish into a saucepan on low-medium heat.

Stir regularly as it all warms together and thickens for around 5-10 minutes. If you need any extra liquid to get it to your desired consistency, slowly add either some more milk or water.

Turn off the heat, stick the lid on & let your porridge settle into that creamy puddle of awesome you’re craving. Meanwhile, get your blueberries & serving bowls ready and make sure your breakfast buddy is out of bed.

Dish it out & get stuck in, without burning your tongue.

If you give this recipe a try, hit it with a filter & tag me in it on Instagram. I’d love to know how you go!

Posted in: Eats, Recipes , Tagged: Breakfast, Recipe

Darwin must-do: Humpty Doo Hotel & Jumping Crocodiles

August 6, 2014 9:53 am , Leave a Comment , lizniland

For me, no trip to Darwin was going to be complete without seeing a crocodile in as close to its natural habitat as possible. To achieve this, our local friends recommended we hit up a Jumping Crocodile Cruise and work in a stop off at the historic Humpty Doo Hotel along the way.

We left just enough time to pull into the iconic pub on the way out to the cruise. This was where we squeezed in that delicious lunch of croc, buffalo and barra burgers.

Sure, the dog races were on the flatscreen TVs and they’re happy to take Eftpos for your lunch payment but you won’t leave feeling like you’ve missed out on some original 70s charm – the pub’s been standing its ground since 1971, even withstanding the destruction of Cyclone Tracy in 1974.

After scarfing our lunch and taking some photos, we got back on the Arnhem Highway and headed out to the Adelaide River to find us some crocodiles. While I’ve seen crocodiles at various zoos and the like, seeing one swimming along in the river or lazing on the bank is (thankfully) not an experience I’ve had. And wow, there were crocs aplenty here!

The boat we were on was a comfortable, yet still close-enough-to-the-action, size and it was easy to see the creatures sunning themselves or nosing up to the boat to peruse their lunch. The crew narrate the trip, talking about each of the crocs by name and giving some history and facts about crocodiles in the waters of the Northern Territory.

As the crocodiles jump to grab the steak-y offerings, you can see how enormous and powerful these animals are. According to the crew’s fun facts, the halfway point on a crocodile is its back legs. In other words, it has a whopper of a tail which helps give it power jumping up out of the water. So that means that only one quarter of the toothy guy in the above snap is visible. Hearing this, its easy to understand how farm animals, pups and even unsuspecting people get taken so easily. Note to self: never camp near croc-infested waters!

Towards the end of the trip, one of the crew members flung a handful of diced bait into the air, summoning pretty much an entire flock of kites. This was absolutely nuts! I flicked my camera to an auto sports mode and just rapid-fire clicked as birds swooped all around to try and collect a late lunch. This picture had no zoom on; we were literally inches from copping a bird to the face! So interesting to see such a major bird up close – well, at least in the photos anyway! They were flying around so fast it was hard to see much at the time.

Darwin really is fantastic for getting back to nature – even the kind of nature you don’t really want to get too close to!

Have you seen my other Darwin must-do adventures? We loved Litchfield National Park and Mindil Beach Markets for more hearty serves of what nature in the Top End has to offer.

Posted in: Life , Tagged: adventure, darwin, nature, travel

Pork Ewe Deli + Endive, fig & root veg salad

August 3, 2014 10:16 pm , Leave a Comment , lizniland

An epically delicious wagyu bresaola at our favourite Spanish restaurant, Barrio 2304 (post to come!), led us to check out the new-to-town charcuterie, Pork Ewe Deli on Saturday morning.

Situated on Maitland Road, Mayfield, this deli brings the best flavours from around Australia and Europe to Newcastle in the shape of amazing cheeses, cured meats, terrines, pate and pretty much any other deli-cacy (see what I did there!) you can imagine.

We snaffled up a slim wedge of Beaufort cheese (a French raw cow’s milk cheese) and a pile of freshly sliced capocollo (dry-cured pork neck) but wow, everything in the cabinet looked absolutely delicious.

While we certainly would’ve been happy to kick back and chow down on our purchases straight up for lunch, in a bid to get some more nutrients into the mix, I put together a hearty salad to accompany our unpasteurised French cheese & mouth-wateringly awesome-sauce deli meat.

Recipe: Endive, fig & root veg salad

Root vegies of your choice (parsnip would be great, potatoes, turnip, swede & onions will also work a treat)
A bunch or two of baby endive
~10 fresh mint leaves
Handful of dried figs (sliced & soaked in a little bowl of water for 20 minutes)
Dressing: 1 teaspoon of pomegranate molasses + juice of half a lemon + olive oil + salt & pepper

Roast a pile of whatever root veg you have floating around – I opted for chunks of sweet potato & swede with a sliced red onion for good luck. I find that you can never roast too much veg – I always try and roast double what I think we’ll need and it never seems to go to waste.

Sprinkle your favourite selection of seasonings on top – I went with olive oil, sesame seeds, ground cumin, hazelnut meal, some dried thyme & dried chilli flakes – before throwing it all in a hot oven to soften up & crisp nicely around the edges.

While the oven is doing its thing, slice your dried figs and get them soaking. When they’re in season, fresh figs would be ideal here.

For a dressing, I kept it simple with pomegranate molasses, lemon, a crackle of fresh salt & pepper and a good glug of olive oil. Whisk it until combined, or better yet, put your ingredients in a little jar & shake it like a polaroid picture.

Once the veg is done, toss everything together in a bowl & serve it up.

While I’m sure the French would be shaking fists that such a delicious cheese be served without a baguette, I can report that making a little taco out of your capocollo and filling it with tangy endive is a sure-fire way to keep your tastebuds onside.

If you’re a Newcastle native, or even in town for a visit, be sure to support this new local superstar. Pork Ewe Deli is definitely a new favourite of ours!

Posted in: Eats, Latest eats, Recipes , Tagged: food, local favourite, Lunch, newcastle, Recipe, salad

Darwin must-do: Mindil Beach Markets

August 2, 2014 5:51 pm , Leave a Comment , lizniland

If you’re visiting Darwin in the dry season (& from what I hear about the wet season, you definitely should visit in the dry) a trip to Mindil Beach Markets is a non-negotiable.

As you can probably gather from the above photo, the big attraction here isn’t necessarily the markets. While the sprawling collection of (mostly food) stalls is hard to beat, they’re merely there to fill your belly while you wait for the real show.

The markets are held on Thursday & Sunday evenings with hoards of locals and tourists alike hitting the beach from around 5pm onwards. We spread out a tarp between families building sandcastles and tucked into a ripping good laksa (which you may recall from my Week of Eats Darwin round up) and a few cheeky rice paper rolls.

It’s a reasonably long beach so as long as you get there early enough, there’s plenty of room to spend the afternoon relaxed with friends and family, regardless of how many kids are flicking sand about. Tip: Don’t forget your sunnies! Otherwise you’ll have stinging retinas until sundown.

I took so many photos as the sun was setting – it was tough culling a handful down to put in this post! Watching the sun set over the water is probably the most magical thing about Darwin.

You don’t realise how different it is to our east coast sunsets until you’re sitting there watching the fire in the sky gradually slide into the ocean.

With the tide all the way out, there were some amazing photo opportunities and I certainly wasn’t the only one lining up my camera on the sand! For any DSLR camera users, the settings that I found gave the best results for the sunset were shutter speed of 1/15 (this was when it was on the tail end of the sunset), aperture of f/16 and an ISO of 100. The only photoshopping the above image received was to shrink it down to size – things don’t really get more photogenic than that!

Darwin really gave us so many back-to-nature experiences (check out our Litchfield National Park trip) and this was definitely the most impressive sunset I’ve ever seen.

Have you witnessed a Darwin sunset? What’s you tip for best ever sunset?

Posted in: Life , Tagged: adventure, darwin, food, nature, travel

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Author Archives: Lizniland

When in Chiang Mai: Elephants & Ziplining

When in Chiang Mai: Yi Peng Lantern Festival

Chiang Mai: Culinary Adventures

Recipe: Peanut Butter Raisin Protein Slice

Peanut Butter Raisin Protein Slice

Life lately: Measuring macros

Review: I Quit Sugar For Life by Sarah Wilson

Quick wins for a better life #1: Hold out for lunch

Week of eats: A batch of winter breakfasts

Recipe: Dairy-free buckwheat, chia & maca porridge

Recipe: Buckwheat, chia & maca porridge

Darwin must-do: Humpty Doo Hotel & Jumping Crocodiles

Pork Ewe Deli + Endive, fig & root veg salad

Darwin must-do: Mindil Beach Markets

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Author Archives: Lizniland

Peanut Butter Raisin Protein Slice

Recipe: Buckwheat, chia & maca porridge

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I'm Liz & this is my life, in words & pictures.

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@lizn on Instagram

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