Ok, so firstly I have to admit that committing to a weekly blog was a bad idea. As much as I want to, I just don’t have the free time at the moment to write every week, but I’m certainly going to work on it. But I am also not a fan of blogging for the sake of blogging - so maybe I’ll just go back to my old haphazard ways - only time will tell!

I got sick in the week leading up to Christmas, which was totally miserable, but also a bit of a blessing in disguise,. Because I was forced into taking time out. I literally had to sit still for 3 days and do nothing but watch dodgy movies on Netflix, drink lemonade and eat toast. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was just what I needed and a timely reminder that I need to give myself permission to do literally NOTHING, much more often.

Since then, I’ve enjoyed several weekends where I’ve resisted the urge to fill my diary with to-do’s just for the sake of being busy. For someone who suffers anxiety and usually needs to keep busy, this is a big achievement, and I’m proud of myself for being able to let go and switch off. My favourite day was the one where I drove down the road to a lovely riverside spot, bought an ice cream, sat by the river, had a dip and then read a magazine. It was a perfect moment of solitude and enjoyment of my own company. I need to do much more of this in 2019!

In the weeks since Christmas I’ve spent a weekend away in Harrington with family, I spent days at the beach and I took my parents for lunch and to see Mary Poppins Returns, which was a delightful day out. Never underestimate the healing powers of a choc top and a Disney Movie. It’s good for the soul, I tells you!

I think over the past few weeks I’ve realised that I spent way too much time in 2018 working and madly trying to save money for my holiday that I forgot how to have fun, and I ran myself into the ground in the process. It’s really important to schedule time out, time to switch off and have fun. I’m making it my mission to religiously set aside time to for rest (in whatever form is needed) this year.

In the Morgan & Meg space I’m back at the markets again, and I’m focusing my energy and time on building a following at the Laurieton Markets. Just before Christmas I started working out of a proper commercial kitchen at the new Port Macquarie Food Hub. The kitchen is totes profesh and is inspiring me to think bigger. I’ve secured my first wholesale client and I’m working on more efficient ways to work in the kitchen in order to maximise my product and my profits.

I’m already planning my next escape

I’ve been toying with different ideas on where to holiday next. So far I’ve come up with a few destinations for 2019 including Tasmania and Adelaide (foodie trips, of course!) . I’m also heading to Melbourne in April so expect some foodie posts around that time! As if that all wasn’t exciting enough, I’m also thinking long term and slowly putting together plans for a white Christmas in Europe in 2020 - something that has been on the bucket list for a long time!

Check out my new ride!

While on the theme of having fun, I got this beauty for my 33rd birthday from my parents - isn’t she just lovely!? Suggestions for names are welcome.

On the bookshelf

I am currently reading The Barefoot Investor. I read it years ago when it was first published, but my brother and sister in law gifted me the 2018 edition for my birthday back in December so I’m reading it again. Author Scott Pape provides really practical and bleedingly honest truths about finance - his systems are simple and easy to implement. I’ve taken a lot from it so far and am already seeing the benefits just from reviewing my yearly budget and re-jigging my bank accounts. It’s been an inspiring start to 2019.

In totally predictable news, I’m back on the Passion Planner band wagon

Ok, I admit it, I was wrong. In my last blog post, I explained how I’d decided that investing in another Passion Planner for 2019 just wasn’t worth it. I was completely mistaken. After purchasing a cheap $17 alternative from Officeworks, I lasted all of 2 weeks before realising that nothing was going to live up to a Passion Planner.

Nothing was going to keep my life in order and provide such a simple way to track my thoughts, feelings and to-do’s like only a Passion Planner can. Luckily I was given some money for Christmas from my grandparents, so I decided to invest $60 of that money in a new Passion Planner for 2019. I’m already excitedly counting down the hours to it’s impending arrival!

Also I signed up for the Passion Planner Rewards Program, which means if you use this link, you can get 10% off your very own Passion Planner. If you’re not sure whether it’s for you, you can read all about it on this previous blog post.

A bit of light reading…

Here’s a couple of articles I enjoyed reading in recent weeks.

Twitter Users Roast WSJ For Saying Sweatpants Shouldn't Be Worn For Working From Home

Psychologists Explain The Benefits Of Baking For Other People

'Cult of kindness': Sales and Crabb Chat 10 Looks 3 an online hit

What I’m listening to

Podcasts

Chat 10, Looks 3 - basically a periodic chat between two well-known Australian politcal journalists. Leigh Sales and Annabel Crabb get together and discuss what they’re reading, watching and cooking. Basically, heaven for people like you and me!

A Plate to Call Home with Gary Mehigan - If you love hearing the stories of people who’ve built their lives around growing, eating and preparing food, this podcast is for you. Masterchef judge Gary Mehigan chats to people for whom food is everything.

[ RELATED ] Sunday Soul Food 1

That’s about it for me this week. I’d love to hear about what you’ve been listening to or reading - leave me a comment below and let’s chat!

It’s been a funny old week, with Mercury Retrograde in Sagittarius (my sign), I’ve been feeling a little off kilter. Just can’t seem to put my finger on what exactly is wrong, but I just don’t feel my normal self.

I also think it’s just coming in to that crazy time of the year where the diary is getting fuller by the minute with social occasions and work commitments, and it all gets a little overwhelming.

On that note, I made the decision this week not to continue using Passion Planner into 2019. There were several reasons I decided to look at alternatives:

• Passion Planner are no longer making the compact size planner and I don’t want to go any bigger.

• I’m not certain that I really used my Passion Planner to its full potential in 2018 so I’m possibly wasting my money on all the extra features.

• I felt like I got too caught up in planning this year, so much so that I was focusing way too much on to-do lists but not on the actual doing.

Don’t get me wrong, I still LOVE Passion Planner, and I may even buy one again - but I am going to try something different this year.

I went and checked out some simple planners at Officeworks, and I think I’ve decided on one from there. The same day I went to Officeworks, I received an email from another blogger I follow, Xandra Robinson Burns, of HeroineTraining.com - Turns out Xandra has also decided to move away from Passion Planner and is instead DIYing her planner from now on. I really enjoyed this simple and practical video that Xandra made, explaining her new planning process (it’s actually like she read my mind!). She also talks about how she still loves Passion Planner and how using a Passion Planner set her up with a system of planning that works for her.

In the mean time, I’m also experimenting with using a bullet journal and drawing up my own weekly spreads. I’m doing this as a creative outlet and a way to be mindful. I write out my weekly schedule in there but also reflect on the day’s events each night before bed.

If you search ‘Bullet Journal’ on Pinterest you will find so many beautiful photos of weekly spreads that ‘BUJO’ devotees around the world have painstakingly created. Mine is not like that. I just do a simple layout and try not to get too hung up on it being too fussy. I don’t need it to be insta-worthy, as it’s just for me.

What I’m listening to

I am actually addicted to making Spotify playlists, and this week I’ve been working on two newbies:

• Feels Like Summer (relaxed, fun vibes with a beachy edge)

• Breathe (complete chill, almost meditation or music for sleeping)

I’m also really loving the new Rufus Du Sol song “Treat You Better” - it’s on high rotation this week!

Besides that, I listened to a lot of Above and Beyond (acoustic) and Diana Krall (Live in Paris) this weekend as I was on a road trip to Newcastle and back.

You can find me on Spotify and creep my playlists here.

Current reads

At the moment I’m reading “Secrets About Life Every Woman Should Know” by Barbara De Angelis, Ph.D. Basically this book is all about empowering you to get your sh*t together and realising that you have everything you need within you to actually do it. It’s taken me a while to get through it but I have enjoyed it and feel like a lot of it is starting to sink in. It always takes me a while to digest anything self-help-y, whereas a good novel will take me less than a day to plow through. You can read a synopsis of the book here.

And in other news…

Nigella Lawson (aka the Domestic Goddess herself, aka MY QUEEN) has announced that she is coming back to Australia for ‘An evening with Nigella Lawson’. She’s doing shows in Newcastle, Canberra and Perth. No idea who will be interviewing her this time, hopefully it’s Annabel Crabb (please,
Dear God, let it be Annabel!). You can check out the details here.

I’m totally digging my new Sussan brunch coat that I picked up from a thrift shop for just $2. It’s sage green with a pink trim and is adorned with white flowers.. So adorable - I keep trying to find excuses to wear it. Last Sunday I showered and put on my PJ’s at 2pm, just so I could wear my cute brunch coat!

I discovered that you can make Gluten Free pancakes using Chick Peas and they are delightful!

I have been guzzling SO much herbal tea - basically as a means of increasing my water intake, but also to help me chill out. At the moment I am constantly sipping on Relax tea that I bought online from an Aussie company called Tea Leaves. They describe Relax as “A flowery, minty, calming herb blend with no caffeine”. It’s so good and I’ve been drinking it all day, every day (in fact I’ve got a cup on the go right now as I’m writing this).

I’ve been making a really conscious effort to de-clutter my life, starting with my bedroom. While I was overseas recently I realised that I am able to live my life with so much less stuff than what I had thought. And I have SO MUCH stuff and it is starting to make me feel really claustrophobic.

[RELATED] 5 Important things you learn when you travel

I’ve decided to do a massive clean out and get rid of all the stuff that I don’t use (spoiler: that’s a lot of stuff). I can’t wait to get it all out of my house and have a garage sale! I’m hoping that by reducing the amount of clutter in my life, it will free up more brain space and make me feel lighter. Know what I mean?

A little bit of light reading…

Sorry, but Mercury Retrograde is back - Cosmopolitan Magazine

It’s science: Clutter can actually give you anxiety - Motherly.com

And, that’s a wrap!

Hope you had a loverly, relaxed and restful weekend.

Have a great week!

Megan xo

You’re more tolerant than you thought

You're actually capable of putting up with much more than you have always thought. This is of particular relevance if you are part of a tour group and/or staying in hostel accommodation. 

Snoring, screaming babies, noisy room mates, people cutting queues in front of you, large crowds, slow service, long lines, clothes dryers that just keep eating the damn tokens, that guy on the tour bus who hasn't showered for 3 days…are you picking up what I’m putting down?

When you travel, especially overseas, things don’t always go to plan. There are language barriers and cultural differences that can lead to miscommunications or delays. You soon learn to accept that some things will go wrong, and when they do, you take them in your stride and just get on with it. If only we could be a bit more like this in ‘normal life’, things might just be a little bit easier and we’d probably all be a lot less angry, too.

Life’s better lived outside of your comfort zone

For some reason, when we travel abroad, we seem to find it easier to leave our inhibitions at home. How many times have you heard the phrase "Say Yes to Everything" being touted to a friend who was off on a trip!?  It's a shame we can't always hold on to the feeling we have while travelling overseas, that exhilarating feeling of absolute freedom, the confidence and spontaneity, and the drive to try new things and meet new people.

When you're travelling, it seems completely normal to talk to almost anyone.  Travelling overseas usually provides us with a timely reminder to open our minds to new experiences, to living in the moment, to be a little adventurous. When we are more adventurous and do something a little risky, we not only get a thrilling little adrenaline rush, we might also get some sort of other benefit - for example you might make a new friend, win a karaoke competition or even end up meeting some new travel companions.

I'm not saying you have to go bungee jumping or swim with sharks. Being adventurous means different things to different people. To me, being adventurous could mean booking a pub crawl even though the thought of going out drinking with twenty complete strangers is completely intimidating, and the thought of a hangover in your 30’s is even more terrifying! 

Some of the best times I have had while travelling have been when I’ve been on my own. As I was saying above, when we travel it’s like we are different people. Going on a day trip by ourselves or taking ourselves on a sunset river cruise seems like a normal thing to do and it is of course, heaps of fun. I’m making it my mission to do more stuff on my own when I’m at home too!

Your life is pretty freaking awesome

When you travel to foreign countries, you tend to get some perspective on how your problems sit in the context of the larger world. It might be something as simple as meeting fellow travellers who are shocked to hear that in your country, you get 4 weeks of paid leave per year (and they only get two!). You might see poverty like you've never experienced, you may get approached in the street by a beggar, showing you a photo of their wife and three small children. You might be shown hospitality by a family who can barely afford to eat but who will treat you as a guest of honour, gladly cook you a meal and proudly give you a tour of the village, without a moment's hesitation. 

When I was in Greece, I spoke to people who had lived through the crash of the economy in recent times, referred to as ‘the crisis’. It became pretty clear to me that the effects of the economic crisis in Greece are far deeper than financial. People lost their homes, their lifetime savings, their businesses. The stress it caused tore families apart, and left the youth disenchanted, feeling they had no futures or hopes to ever get ahead. Just taking a walk through the streets of Athens gives you insight into the tragic situation; shopfronts boarded up, whole blocks absolutely covered in graffiti, beggars on every street corner.

Drive through the hills of Mykonos or Santorini, and you'll notice an unmentionable amount of unfinished homes, sitting there sadly, bare bones against the dramatic landscape, incomplete and battered by the unforgiving winds. One elderly man we met on Santorini told us of how he believes Greece will become a nation of 'old people', because the youth are looking for any chance to leave Greece and seek better opportunities abroad. 

Travelling abroad exposes you to situations that would not normally occur in your normal life, some of them simply joyous, some of them totally confronting. These experiences will leave a mark on you, and your own life will be put into perspective. You come home knowing more about the world around you and hopefully feeling richer for the experience. 

RELATED: What to eat in Sydney

RELATED: Things to do when you’re feeling blue

You can survive with less stuff than you realise

I am actually embarrassed to admit to the amount of junk I own. I have a ridiculous amount of clothes, some of which I have not even worn. I have books, DVDs and CDs that have sat unused on the shelf for years. Not to mention all of the duplicate kitchen appliances I own. All this stuff that barely gets used.

When you travel, you live out of a pack or suitcase for an extended period of time, without all the creature comforts, and you not only survive, it feels nice. You feel ‘lighter’ without all that clutter, all that stuff sitting around you, collecting dust and emotionally weighing you down. It’s actually quite freeing.

I came home from my recent overseas holiday and proceeded to cull heaps of clothes, books and home wares. I even culled my CD and DVD collection, and cleaned out my pantry. I plan to hold a garage sale soon ( hint: a great way to make money for more travel!), and whatever is left will be donated to charity.

Travellers are fantastic people

If you are willing to get out of your comfort zone (see above), you will inevitably meet some awesome people while you’re travelling. Whenever I have been travelling, I’ve met people from all walks of life who were also travelling, and almost all of them have been absolutely lovely.

Because you’re both in the same boat, you’ll have lots in common and be able to share hints and tips. When you’re lost, a fellow traveller will help with directions and might even go a step further and recommend a great cafe or bar you should check out while you’re in town.

If you’re travelling solo and want to meet people, head to the hostel bar. Travellers at hostels are generally social creatures, so it will only be a matter of time before you make a new friend if you park yourself in the bar. On my recent trip, we met the best people at bars. We met a a couple of German girls who we ended up hiring a car with two days later, exploring the island of Mykonos. In Hvar, we met a Dutch couple who invited us to go boating with them the following day.

I also met a young Aussie guy in Berlin who, after knowing me literally 24 hours, gifted me his ‘Oyster’ card for London public transport. It had about $20 on it, enough to get me around London for the 24 hours that I would be there. I was so touched by this, since backpackers are usually on a tight budget and this guy had only just met me. Travellers are super cool people. Keep an open mind, get out of your comfort zone, and you’ll see for yourself.

That concludes the list of important things you learn when you travel

BONUS CONTENT! Here’s some of the other cool stuff you learn while travelling:

• You can operate on a lot less sleep than you originally thought.

• You can drink WAY more beer than you had ever imagined.

• Being hungover on a bus or plane is not ideal.

Do you have anything you learnt while travelling that you’d like to share? Please share in the comments below, I’d love to hear your stories!

Do you ever have days when you just feel down? Sometimes you don’t even know why. You might be tired, run down, emotionally exhausted or perhaps you’re hormonal (don’t worry, we’ve all been there!). Sometimes, for no apparent reason, we might just feel sad, lonely or anxious. It’s a totally normal part of life.

On these blue days, it can be hard to get out of the slump you’re in. Trust me, as someone who battles anxiety on the frequent, I know how it feels to be so crippled with unease or worry that you can barely function, let alone find the strength to climb out of the deep dark hole you’ve fallen down.

August was a jerk of a month

August was possibly one of the worst months of my life so far. My beloved Granny passed away, a close relative was diagnosed with cancer, and I broke up with my boyfriend, all in the same fortnight. And then I got sick with a nasty throat infection.

I felt like the walls were closing around me and for a couple of weeks there, it was like I was in some sort of foggy haze. I was unable to focus on anything, I felt sluggish, tired, de-motivated. I was drinking every night after work and barely exercising. It all came to a head after about 3 weeks of this. I woke up one Saturday morning in one of the most anxious states I’ve ever been in.

Everyone experiences anxiety differently, and for me, it’s a sensation like I want to be doing something but I don’t know what that actual something is. I want to get outside and go for a walk, but the thought of leaving the house is overwhelming. I want to bake a cake, but I can’t figure out what to bake. I want to go see a friend, but then again I don’t want to be around people. In a word, it’s exhausting.

Climbing out of the hole

On this particular day, the good news is, I pulled myself out of the hole. But I didn’t do it alone. I contacted a group of friends on Facebook (privately), told them how I was feeling and asked them what they do when they are feeling down to cheer themselves up. I received almost 150 suggestions. It was so completely overwhelming and the most lovely feeling to know that other people go through the same thing, and survive, on the daily.

I ended up with a long list of suggested self-care techniques. Simple things that anyone can do on a blue day or a day filled with anxiety, to show themselves some love and just take a breath.

What did I do that day? I baked a gluten-free, low sugar chocolate cake, took my shoes off and sat in my garden in the sun and read a book with my feet on the grass. I drank tea, ate chocolate and I wrote a packing list for an upcoming holiday. In essence, I created something, I earthed myself, I nourished myself and I planned something exciting for my future. I took control, but in a really gentle and calm way. I did things that I love doing.

In the end, it was one of the best days I have had by myself in a really long time and I resolved to do more things like this in the future, because we all need to show ourselves some kindness and just take time to be in the moment, every once and a while. We need to give ourselves permission to just go with the flow a bit, to unplug and just potter around.

RELATED: The healing power of cooking

RELATED: The importance of setting goals

The following day, I planted a vegetable garden in the sunshine while listening to music in my headphones. I went for a long walk by the ocean, and I made soup. By the end of the weekend, I had turned my mood around completely. I felt so happy and rejuvenated! I resolved myself to do more of this.

If I hadn’t reached out to my group of friends I wouldn’t have found these techniques for pulling myself out of the hole that is anxiety, and I want to pass the list on because I think everyone needs a hand getting out of a slump every now and then. I hope that you find this list useful.

THINGS TO DO WHEN YOU’RE FEELING BLUE

Sit in the sun or curl up in a comfy chair with a good book.

Lie on a blanket under a tree and look up at its beauty (magnolia or cherry blossom recommended).

Call a friend for a catch up.

Go for a walk.

Go for a drive, turn up the music and sing your lungs out.

Make a spotify playlist of ‘Happy Songs’.

Sit quietly and envision everything you ever wanted, coming to you.

Gardening.

Bake something (and give some of it away).

Take yourself to the movies or invite a friend.

Dress up and go out for dinner.

Take yourself for coffee, sit in the sun and people watch.

Go to the beach, put your feet in the sand and read a book.

Take your dog for a walk.

Eat some good quality chocolate.

Take a long hot bath with epsom salts (wine/tea optional).

Burn essential oils.

Buy yourself a bunch of flowers (or pick some from the garden and arrange in a vase).

Clean out a cupboard.

Go through photo albums and reflect on happy memories.

Write a list of goals and dreams.

Journal about how you are feeling.

Plan a holiday or weekend away.

Re-read a favourite book with a happy ending.

Do something creative or crafty, knitting, crochet, quilting, card making, colouring in, drawing or complete a puzzle or crossword.

Watch Gilmore Girls / Sex in the City / Queer Eye, or something else lighthearted that you love.

Make / eat soup.

Watch Gardening Australia on iView.

Go for a swim.

Yoga.

Take a long shower.

Get a massage.

Give yourself an at home foot spa and/or pedicure.

Face mask.

Watch an old (funny) movie or a crime series - it will take your mind off everything else.

Have a good cry.

Go to the farmers markets and explore.

Bike ride with friends (or solo).

Earth yourself - go outside, take your shoes off and put your feet on the grass.

Browse a bookstore or visit the library.

Go to the gym.

Cuddle a baby / dog / other animal.

Read a magazine like Flow, Audrey Daybook, Wellbeing, Frankie, Delicious, Gourmet Traveller.

Build a campfire under the stars.

Listen to a meditation podcast.

Eat toast.

Read a book in bed with a cup of tea.

Go ice skating.

Plant up some new indoor plants and put them around your house.

Tidy your wardrobe.

Call someone who needs a friend.

That’s my list of things to try when you’re having a blue day

Do you have any of your own self-care activities that you turn to on days when you’re feeling down or anxious? Please feel free to share them in the comments section below - I’d love to hear them!

Kia and I enjoyed a slice of orange cake in my sunshine-filled garden, and had an enjoyable chat about how Morgan & Meg came about, blogging, the local markets scene, foodie culture and more. 

Check out the full length interview below. 

Pictured: Whole Orange Cake with Lime Drizzle, recipe from www.recipecommunity.com.au

I recently took a two day trip to Sydney. The occasion? Oh, you know. Just to go and see the Domestic Goddess herself, Nigella Lawson speak live at Sydney Opera House! I stayed with two of my best friends Tom and Anthony, who happen to live in a centrally-located apartment in Pyrmont, overlooking the Star Casino and with gorgeous views of the city skyline including the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge. What a lucky girl I am!

While I was in Sydney I took the opportunity to check out some local cafes and restaurants. A couple were recommended by friends and others had been on my list to try for some time.

Whether you're heading to Sydney for a weekend or a week, here are some of my favourite food experiences of my trip which I hope will help you next time you're planning a getaway in Sydney. 

THE GROUNDS OF ALEXANDRIA

For: Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | Coffee | Drinks

How do I even begin to describe The Grounds of Alexandria? The best I can come up with is:

A coffee and bakery empire set amongst a sprawling urban oasis.

The Grounds of Alexandria is a coffee roastery, café, sustainable garden, function centre and bar, all set on what was once an industrial carpark but is now a delightful Garden of Eden for food and coffee lovers alike.

Everywhere you look is something of beauty; the whole place is just an Instagram photo waiting to happen. The entire plot is carved up into a series of smaller garden rooms that give the impression that the garden just goes on and on forever. It feels reminiscent of an English style garden, rambling yet clearly well-planned.  

There are three different spots to eat at The Grounds, The Café, The Potting Shed and The Garden. We opted to sit in The Café and enjoy the morning buzz at the heart of the action.

We arrived around 9am on a Monday morning, which turned out to be a great time to visit; after the pre-work rush and before the yoga mums and hipster executives cruised in for their morning coffee.

The menu at The Grounds features seasonal produce with as much of it grown on site as possible. I opted for ‘The Healthy Brekkie Bowl’ featuring black rice, poached egg, native greens, kale, asparagus, avocado and other healthy stuff. It was bloody delicious and I was sad when it was all gone!  I have to admit I also had serious food envy when my mate Krissy’s meal came out - she had the Organic Salami and Three Cheese Toasty served with homemade cherry tomato chutney. It was quite possibly the yummiest take on a toasted sandwich I have ever tasted (yes, she shared with me, what a darl!).

There are so many little nooks and crannies to explore at The Grounds and after we finished breakfast we wandered around exploring for about an hour, watching the massive team of pastry chefs creating in the kitchen, admiring the cooking demonstration kitchen, cooing over the funky bathrooms where even the hand wash is branded, watching the coffee roaster dudes doing the morning roast and visiting the resident pig Kevin Bacon at his sty!

We were so excited about exploring The Grounds that we were very surprised and embarrassed when a very polite staff member eventually found us in The Garden and asked us if we could please come back and pay our bill! Imagine our embarrassment and horror! We laughed about it much later…

As we were leaving I couldn’t resist a cold drink from the lemonade stall and opted for a Rose Lemonade which was a traditional lemonade infused with rose petals and served with lashings of fresh mint. I have to find a way to recreate that flavour, it was truly unique and so refreshing!

The Grounds of Alexandria is a really special place and the owners have created something that I feel is very unique in a place that was historically very industrial. It is a perfect slice of green heaven hidden behind big brick walls and a welcome haven away from the chaos of inner city Sydney.

If you love coffee, pastry, gardens, fresh produce, or just being surrounded by beauty, you are going to go nuts at The Grounds. It’s like Disneyland for foodies, and is a very magical experience.  Make sure you allow at least two hours so you have time to fully explore the whole place, as there's heaps more that I haven't even mentioned!  
Seriously, just go there. Don't forget to charge your phone beforehand for all those Insta pics!

CHINA LANE

For: Lunch | Dinner | Dessert | Drinks

China Lane is tucked away in Angel Place, behind Sydney Recital Hall. You’ll know it when you reach it. The alleyway is decorated with hundreds of bird cages suspended from the ceiling accompanied by amplified recordings of birdsong. I thought this was part of the restaurant and thought it a bit disjointed from the interior. I found out later that this is the ‘Forgotten Songs’ installation, commissioned by City Art Sydney and designed to evoke the song of 50 different bird species which once inhabited central Sydney but are sadly no more. We opted to sit inside as I found the idea of listening to ghost birds a little unnerving and eerie, but the installation itself is definitely very stirring and worth a look when you’re in the area.

The interior of the restaurant is sophisticated and warm, the lighting dimmed. There is an air of 1960’s China, owing to the retro paintings, accents of black and timber paneling on the walls. The addition of Scandinavian-designed chairs is random yet somewhat perfect. 

Contrary to what the name suggests, China Lane is not a Chinese Restaurant, strictly speaking. It is modern Asian fusion at its best; somehow managing to merge Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese and other cuisines seamlessly and with creative flair.

As I was dining with two other friends we opted to order a variety of dishes (9 in total) and share. Our favourite dishes of the night were:

• Chicken, gruyere and sweet corn spring rolls with shallot vinegar

• Grilled chinese cabbage with edamame and spiced seeds

• Crisp NZ Blue Eye fillet with black pepper and sour mango

These were our favourites but in truth we could not fault much with what we ordered, including the Chocolate and Ginger Mousse with peanut butter ice cream, honeycomb and mandarin. I normally avoid desserts at Asian restaurants but this menu piqued my interest and we weren’t disappointed.

BARANGAROO

For: Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | Drinks | Kitchen sink

Re-development of Barangaroo is ongoing, with the new casino yet to be built. That said, the waterfront dining precinct is already well-established and a unique spot for a meal or drink at any time of day. Barangaroo offers dining options for all styles and budgets; everything from street food to fine dining. Celebrity chef and owner of iconic Sydney restaurant Aria Matt Moran has opened his newest project Barrangaroo House, a three level bar and restaurant combo, offering different experiences on each floor. Owing to my obsession with European style deli cafes, my city guides Anthony and Tom took me to Bel & Brio, a boutique wine bar, providore, cellar and gourmet food store.

You can buy pretty much anything at Bel & Brio and it almost seems to have a split personality –  parts of it feel like you’re at your local IGA - and others take you straight back to foreign countries as you peruse the artfully-decorated chocolate displays and ogle at flagons of 100 year old balsamic vinegar stored in locked cabinets like diamond rings.

If you make it to Bel & Brio, I recommend checking out the wine bar; it is well worth a look with its extensive (read: massive) drinks list and extremely polite, proficient bar team. I’ll be back for another Aperol Spritz for sure.

Having once lived in Sydney, it was really great to visit Barangaroo if only to see Sydney Harbour from a completely different angle as this part of the harbour – once a shipping container yard – was previously disused.

GETTING AROUND

When staying on or near Sydney Harbour, ferry is definitely one of the most unique and enjoyable ways to get around other than walking. It’s affordable, efficient and you’ll get treated to some of the best views of Sydney Harbour, especially at night. You’re more likely to get a seat and it’s not as chaotic as catching the train and way cheaper and faster than a cab! Winning all round!

Not only is it time to break out your book covering skills and hope you don't lose your cool in the process, it's also about now that you are probably wondering what marvellous creations will be making their way into your kids' lunchbox this year, and maybe having a mild heart attack in the process.

Fear no more, here is my ultimate list of school snack ideas to make your life easier. I strongly recommend the Jam Drops and Anzac Biscuits as they travel really well. For healthy options, go for the Sugar Free Banana Bread or the Quinoa Muesli Bar Slice!

These are also great snacks to make for work lunches as well, so those without kids don't miss out either! 

Upon further reflection, I admitted to myself that since moving interstate I have really just been going through the motions with life but not really stopping to think about what exactly it is that I want to be doing with my life, and I most certainly haven’t devoted any time to figuring out the how – that is the action plan for achieving those goals. 

So I needed a plan, I sat down and worked out how I’m going to live the life I actually want in 2018. 

I have a full time job where it is my responsibility to write business plans. In my day to day work life, I set goals and objectives, create strategies to achieve those goals and objectives, plan the execution of those strategies and then I roll out the plan, more or less to schedule. Once the project is finished, I then analyse the results and reflect on what could have been done better. Notes are recorded on what would be done better next time and kept on file for integration into the next strategy. This system works really well and brings about tangible results.  

So why aren't I applying this approach to my own personal goal setting? Wouldn't it make sense to debrief on the past year, reflect on what needs improvement and put steps in place to make those improvements? Maybe I would benefit from a more structured approach.   

I decided to sit down and work out the things that I could have done better in 2017 in order to save time or money. I wrote four pages of notes! I also wrote down the things that I did that didn’t necessarily bring me happiness this year.  I wrote a list of the things I would rather not have wasted time on and things I was totally happy to have achieved.

Reflections on 2017

Sitting down to reflect on the past year and remember the things that happened, the fun stuff you did, the exciting activities you experienced, is all part of the future planning and goal setting process. Once you’ve thought about the past year and what you enjoyed / didn’t enjoy, now think about the year ahead and what you would like to achieve from your year. What would you like more of in 2018? What would you like to devote your spare time to in 2018? Obviously you need to be realistic about the types of things you want to do. Make sure you set time frames as well, to make the goals more measurable. 

When I completed this exercise I came up with:

• In 2018 I want to read more books

• I want to lose 10kgs by the end of June 2018

• I want to save enough money to pay for a 5 week European adventure in September 2018

• I want to write one blog post per week in 2018 (that's 52 blog posts)

• I want to make $1,000 from my blog by end of June 2018.

• I want to get my farmers' market stall going again

If you really think about it, all of these goals require two things:

1.       more time; and
2.      a better system of being organised.

Goal Setting

The next step is to write a road map. Create a plan of how you are going to get there. Look back at your goals and then for each one, think about how you might go about achieving them. You could create a mind map for this as a quick, visual way of getting your ideas on paper.

For example for my goal ‘I want to lose 10kgs by the end of June’ I might decide the way I will achieve this is to continue my Weight Watchers membership, create meal plans in advance of the week, exercise 6 days per week, drink more water and complete meal preparation once a week, in order to stay on track with my meal plan. 

As you can already see, achieving my own personal goals this year means I need to be more organised. I am a very busy person and I rarely sit still for 5 minutes all together. This means that I not only have a full social calendar, but I also have a lot going on inside my head at all hours of the day. With this in mind, I need a way of putting pen to paper, recording blog ideas, action items for my personal to-do lists, noting down grocery items – you name it, I need a list (or multiple!).

Here’s my strategic plan for how I will make the year ahead more productive, organised and ultimately, successful. 

My 2018 success plan

• Use a planner to record important events, to-do's and appointments

• Use a bullet journal to jot down ideas, draw out mind maps, plan creatively

• Adopt a better filing system for important documents

• Keep a budget, plan in advance for expenses and track unexpected expenses as they occur

• Meal planning and preparation ahead of time

• Keep better records to stay on track with all of my goals

• Drop bad habits that inhibit the above activities

How will I make all of this work to achieve my goals? 

A lot of the items listed on my plan above will be covered just by my adoption of a really awesome planning system. 

Yearly Planner (Diary)

I'm so serious about getting 2018 right, I started researching year planners back in November. I watched countless YouTube videos of my fellow bloggers who share their favourite planners, discuss the pros and cons and explain how they use their planner and make it work for them.

Passion Planner here I come!

After hours of video watching, I decided to buy a Passion Planner. I have actually used Passion Planners before - this will be my second - but I've previously had the classic A4 style. This time I have opted for the compact A5 size planner as I need something a bit more portable than my last planner. Passion Planner was a successfully crowd-funded project a few years ago and their planner is so freaking awesome. It's simple but it's also everything you need in a planner. They have thought of everything you need to organise your week and what I like about their planners is that they are fairly plain and simple, and practical. I didn't want anything too colourful or cutesy, it needed to look professional enough for work meetings but still allow me space and creativity to customise pages if I so wish.

Another cool thing about Passion Planner is that once you buy your planner you have access to heaps of downloadable printable PDF's that you can cut out and paste into your planner. They have heaps of templates available but my favourite is the habit tracker, I will be using this to track my exercise in 2018.

You can purchase your very own Passion Planner using this link and get 10% OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER

Planners allow you to plan your week ahead of time (d'uh) but they are so much more than that. Some of the things I will be using my planner for in 2018 include:

• Before the year begins, I'm going to write out my 'ideal week' and stick it at the front of my planner so I can bring a bit more structure and organisation to my weeks.

• I'm going to note down the good things that happened as they occur.

• I'll write down the things that I learnt that week/month.

EPICBLOG One-Year Editorial Planner

I've been following an infopreneur (yes, that's a thing) named Regina Anaejionu for some time now and completed some of her blogging courses online. This very accomplished lady (author, teacher, publisher, blogger, ninja) has such a cool way of teaching; she is very vibrant, fun and engaging! She created a one year editorial planner for blogs and it's called EPICBLOG. I'd been thinking about buying the planner for so long and finally I bit the bullet and invested in it. Don't ask why I waited so long, it's not like it was expensive (about $37 AUD from Book Depository and postage is free)!

What makes this planner so great is that it is simple and easy to use. It guides you through the process of planning blog content and has heaps of space for you to jot down your ideas and structure how you're going to publish your blog content. There are also pages where you can track blog expenditure as well as your goals, expenses, actual web stats and income for the month. I always have lots of ideas for my blog but they end up written on scraps of paper or in my phone notes or on Google Docs. It's just nice to have one place to record and track everything so nothing gets misplaced or forgotten. 

How Regina uses the EpicBlog One-Year Editorial Planner

There are heaps of YouTube tutorials on how to use the EPICBLOG planner and I've watched a ton of them so I am excited about getting stuck into using my planner as 2018 rolls on. Stay tuned for my review of how the EPICBLOG planner is working for me, a little later on. 

Bullet Journal

Bullet journals are kinda like planners - bloggers seem to be obsessed with them! A quick search on YouTube or Pinterest will show you the lengths that some people go to, to make their bullet journals beautiful. After seeing these pics, it can make you feel a bit intimidated, but if you spend a bit of time learning how to use a bullet journal, they can be a great tool. Basically they are a free form planner / diary / journal / to do list / rolled in to one. Instead of having simple lined pages, they have grid pages which means you can use the pages for more purposes. 

You can use a bullet journal for anything and everything; you just log everything in them. I'm planning on using my bullet journal as a creative tool for jotting down blogging ideas, mind maps, journalling, doodling, tracking my savings, creating collages and vision boards, shopping lists, recipes; pretty much all the tidbits that don't go in my planner will be written in my bullet journal. I'll show you what I mean once the year gets underway and I start using my bullet journal properly. 

Learn how to bullet journal

Adopt a proper filing system

This is actually really simple. I've already got a system but I haven't been sticking to it as well as I'd like, because I moved interstate and somewhere along the line I became lazy. This is what I do and it works really well. 

1. Buy a ring binder folder, a packet of plastic sleeves, a couple of packets of folder dividers and a hole punch

2. Decide on the sections for your file depending on the types of documents you'll be filing. Some of mine include: House, Car, Mortgage, Insurance, Work/Income, Tax, Instruction Manuals, Warranty documents, and Coffee Trailer. Label the dividers accordingly.

3. As bills are paid or important documents arrive in the mail, hole punch them and file away. Anything that can't be hole punched (eg receipts, manuals, warranty documents), goes in a plastic sleeve instead.

You can actually buy folders like this that are already set up and some come with stickers for labelling as well. I bought one recently from the stationery section at kmart for about $5, so if you can find one of these, make the investment as it will save you time and money. 

You can of course go completely digital and scan any hard copy bills to USB or the cloud, but if you prefer the old school paper method like me, this system works a treat. You could also invest in a filing cabinet, step file and folders or a good old fashioned expandafile.

Keep a budget

Ok so this is a big one. Writing a realistic budget and sticking to it is important. Equally as important is reviewing your budget. I review my budget at least quarterly. You need to actually check whether what you had originally planned is actually working, otherwise there is no point in having a budget - if it's not practical then it's just a fantasy budget and it's never going to help you achieve your goals. This is such a big thing for me that I am going to write a separate blog post all about how I budget - keep an eye out for that in coming weeks. 

Meal planning and preparation

If you've read my blog before you'll know that I am a big fan of meal preparation ahead of time. I'm good at planning dinners but sometimes I forget to prep for lunches and snacks. This year I will make a better effort to plan out my meals for the week in advance and I will prepare as much as I can on the weekends so that my weeks run much smoother. You can read all about how to meal prep like a boss, and download my free menu planner here.

Keeping better records

Here's where my planners, bullet journal, meal plan and filing system all start working for me. I'll be keeping track and recording the following lists in 2018:

• Birthdays

• Christmas and Birthday gift ideas

• Books to read

• Habit tracker

• Big bills schedule (read about this in my budgeting post)

• Expenditure

• Exercise tracker

• Savings tracker

Dropping bad habits

Improving on bad habits can save you so much time. I know this, but still continue with my lazy habits that end up creating more work by the time I get around to doing simple jobs around the house. This year I'm adopting this motto: If it takes less than 2 minutes, do it now.
For example: 

• Put away clothes as soon as they are taken off the line / ironed.

• Take out the trash every morning when you leave for work, so you aren’t left with a heavy, overflowing rubbish bin at the end of the week.

• Make better use of spare time. For example, un-stack the dishwasher while you wait for the kettle to boil for your morning coffee.

• Prep your lunch for the next day while you’re cooking dinner. This saves time AND power.

• Free up at least an hour per day by giving up mindless time wasting habits, like trawling social media mindlessly.

I don't know about you but my mind feels clearer already and I am now sitting here on December 31 feeling organised and ready to face 2018 head on! I hope that these simple tips might inspire you as they have me. 

If you've got any tips on how you organise your life I'd love to hear about them - drop me a line in the comments below! 

Let's make 2018 the best year yet! 

PS. Please note that this post contains affiliate posts which means if you click on the links and make a purchase I will earn a small commission, which helps to fund the content on this blog! Please rest assured knowing that I personally use these tools and wouldn’t recommend them if I didn’t.

After a hard day, my natural instinct is always to turn to cooking. The past week has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster and all came to a head on Friday with the shocking news that a friend had died suddenly. I resolved to spending the weekend unravelling the emotional knots I had tied myself in. Thus I dedicated the weekend to seeking peace and quiet, unplugging from my social networks, declining coffee invitations and basically just laying low. Sounds simple, but for those who don't know, I'm currently living with my parents. Yes, I am 31 years old and living at home again! It's not actually so bad, in fact I enjoy it immensely, but it can be hard to get some space to myself at times. 

On Saturday afternoon I was starting to feel a bit better but still had a bit of anxiety niggling at me. I was craving a piece of cake when I realised that I had been so stressed out that I forgot about my usual cure - cooking! How could I have forgotten that cooking was the one thing that lowered my blood pressure!? Some people like to exercise to relieve stress and others like to meditate. Both of those things are great, but for me the best way to let off some steam is to literally create it - in the kitchen! I resolved myself to get in the kitchen immediately and cook up something comforting and yummy that would be just the thing I needed to ward off the blues.  But what to bake?

I haven't really been baking much lately

I guess one of the reasons I stopped baking was because I have changed my diet quite a bit in the last few months. I'm trying to live healthier, and that has involved cutting down on sweets. I have been procastinating from baking because I wanted to avoid the temptation and to be honest wasn't sure that I had the strength to say no. Truth be told I've been having a bit of an identity crisis about my food, which is a bit soul-destroying.  I absolutely love and am passionate about my traditional, home-style cooking but I personally have changed the way I eat. Every time I think about the cakes I bake and sell, I feel like a bit of a fraud. I've been spending a lot of time considering how I feel about this, and trying to make my new lifestyle and my existing business fit together. I'm starting to work out a plan of attack which is really exciting, and I'll share more of that with you very soon.  

Since reading Sarah Wilson's 'I Quit Sugar' a few months ago, I've been trying to convert some of my favourite recipes to healthier, more wholesome versions. Here's the thing: It's all well and good to make something low sugar but if it's not yum then I am not interested. So yesterday while on my cooking-cure mission, I set myself the challenge of making a low-sugar version of my fail-proof Easy Banana Bread. This recipe normally has 1 ½ cups of sugar in it and I was sure I could cut this right back and still get the same result. 

The cake is also normally made with olive oil which also adds in a lot more fat, so I thought I would try cutting this down. I substituted half of the olive oil with some light coconut milk. 

And...it worked! 

I was really happy with how the Banana Bread turned out, but I was a bit nervous about whether my 'housemates' (aka parents) would approve. They have been subjected to my previous 'experiments' and aren't always the most enthusiastic about healthier cakes (most end up dry and heavy like rubbery doorstops)

Everything turned out ok

Turns out they both loved it, commenting on how light and moist it was. We had some fresh out of the oven as a healthy dessert last night. We then backed it up by toasting slices in the café sandwich press this morning. It caramelised perfectly, and went all crispy around the edges - yum! Dad enjoyed his with a naughty spread of butter and absolutely loved it. I was so happy with how it turned out and it was the perfect comfort food to calm my nerves.  

This recipe is my best healthy-fied experiment so far and I'm proud to have pulled it off! Give it a go, I promise you won't even notice that it's barely got any sugar in it (and neither will your kids)! 

This is so easy to make, it will only take you about 10 minutes to prepare the batter! Hot tip: Use a potato masher to mash the bananas, I am having none of this fork business! It's a great way to let off steam! 

If you try this recipe for my Soul Healing Banana Bread, make sure you share the pics on Facebook and Instagram and tag morgan & meg - I'd love to see your creations! 

Soul Healing Banana Bread

Ingredients
4 medium ripe bananas
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup light coconut milk
3 eggs, lightly-beaten
3 tsp natural sweetener (such as stevia)
¼ cup sugar-free maple syrup
1 ½ cups self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp chia seeds
1 tsp sunflower seeds

Method
1. Preheat oven to 160°c (140°c for fan-forced). Lightly grease loaf tin and line with baking paper.
2. In a large bowl, mash bananas
3. Add oil, coconut milk, eggs, sugar, maple syrup and vanilla. Stir to combine. 
4. Sift in the flour, baking powder and 1 tsp of the cinnamon and fold mixture together until well combined. 
5. Pour into prepared tin and sprinkle with the sunflower seeds, chia seeds, and dust with the remaining cinnamon. 
6. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.   

Of course, it's also super exciting and I have to remind myself that this is what I wanted - to feel the fear and do it anyway (and other inspirational cliches). Turn my life on its head so that everything that has become too familiar and repetitive is now replaced with the unknown and ultimately, opportunity. I have to remember in the next few weeks to keep an open mind and not compare things to Townsville. This is my chance to experience new things and dive in head first, and say 'yes' to everything. I liked this advice one of my lovely friends Peter gave me at my farewell last night: 'begin as you intend to carry on'. In other words, jump in and start treading water straight away, grab this opportunity by the balls and run with it. 

So, I have something to tell you guys...

Firstly, I couldn’t have foreseen the amount of enthusiasm and support I’ve received since launching morgan & meg and in doing the markets I’ve also found a wonderful group of like-minded people who share my love of all things homemade, handmade and locally-made, who have been nothing but friendly and supportive. Sharing my baked creations with the local community really gives me a little heart swell each time and I still can’t quite believe that people are willing to pay to try them. It really is true that every time you support a local business their entire being does a quiet little happy dance on the inside! I want to say a big thank you to Karissa Chase, for being the first one to give me a chance. Whether you know it or not, you have allowed me to find my feet in the market world, and inspired me to raise my standards and feel like I belong to the maker community in Townsville.

You may or may not know that I am not a Townsville local; well I am now, but I wasn’t 9 years ago. I am originally from Newcastle in New South Wales but moved to Townsville after a couple of years working on beautiful Dunk Island and a stint in Mission Beach. I only meant to stay in Townsville for a year or so, and now almost 10 years years later I own a house here, started a blog and small business and have made many special friends who have become my own little Townsville family.

Which may make my next piece of news a bit surprising…

I’ve been away from my family for 13 years now and although in my younger years I enjoyed my freedom and independent lifestyle, as I grow a little older I am increasingly missing my family and wishing they were around to hang out with. Every time I go home to visit my family, it gets just that little bit harder to come back. 

I want to be able to pop over to my mum’s for nothing more than a cup of tea and a slice of apple cinnamon tea cake, or road trip to my brother’s place in the Hunter Valley, or sit with my Dad with the lights out, scotch in hand, and listen to his old records. I don’t hate Townsville, I absolutely love it here which is going to mean this move is going to be beyond HARD. But I just want to be with my family. Simple.  So after many sleepless nights and countless tears of indecision, I’ve taken a huge leap of faith and I’m making the massive move back to New South Wales at the end of May. It won’t be easy, but it sure as hell has got me feeling more alive than I have in a long time! I have accepted an exciting new full time job in the beautiful Mid-North Coast town of Port Macquarie as a Digital Marketing Specialist, going back to my hospitality roots, a job which I can’t wait to start. Of course I am also planning to get into the markets down there – they have a list of 20+ markets in the region each weekend! And how cool that I get to do it with my Mum and Dad around to see it (read: help out). In case you need any further convincing, just check out some pics below of the local beaches. Swoon.

Port Macquarie is a coastal town with a sub-tropical climate, situated on the Hastings River, and is surrounded by lush green tablelands, so it’s somewhat of a food bowl, with beautiful dairy products, fresh seafood, berries and more to be discovered in your own backyard. I am super pumped about moving morgan & meg to this region as I know there are going to be so many opportunities to go on food adventures to farms and producers, and I can’t wait to share them with you. I hope that you will stick around for the ride; I think it’s going to be really fun and interesting as I experience new places and discover different ingredients to try in my recipes.  

I’ll keep you posted on where I’ll be in my final weeks in Townsville. With a house to pack up, friends to farewell and other preparations underway, it’s a busy time, but I want so badly to do one more market, so keep an eye on Facebook for updates on my last one – I hope to see some of you there.

Stick with me, it’s going to be a whole heap of fun!

With love,

Megan

I am Megan, and some of my friends call me Morgan (it’s a weird nick name and comes with a long story, but it caught on and now it’s part of who I am!). I am a home cook and sometimes I blog about my food experiences, or share my recipes online.

I grew up in Newcastle, New South Wales. Newcastle is a beautiful coastal city located north of Sydney and is ideally super close to the Hunter Valley, where you will find an abundance of local produce, river-caught seafood and most-importantly, some of Australia’s oldest vineyards, and therefore the best wines in the country, arguably even the world! Newcastle is a foodie’s paradise and boasts some of the best cafes and bars I have ever experienced; it really was the ideal place for a food lover like me to grow up in and definitely influenced my love of coffee, café culture and of course, eating! I now live in beautiful Townsville, North Queensland and you can find me on most weekends peddling my baked goods at one of the town’s fantastic handmade or vintage markets.  

I learnt to cook growing up around my Mum and Grandma, who both baked moreish, no-nonsense home style cakes, biscuits and slices, as well as wholesome, hearty foods like stews, casseroles and soups. We didn’t have a lot of money when I was little but we always ate well because my Mum was thrifty and made everything from scratch -  we rarely had store-bought cakes or biscuits in our school lunches, instead we had home made apple tea cake, banana cake or Anzac Slice. Dinner was always a treat and most nights we also enjoyed a yummy dessert like my Mum’s butterscotch pudding and custard.

I started off baking when I was around 8, just making simple packet cakes and following my mum’s recipes for pikelets and Anzac biscuits. As my confidence grew, my mum allowed me free reign to move onto more difficult recipes and I was able to experiment and create to my heart’s content. I was given my first cook book – a book on cookies and biscuits - as a secret Santa gift one year, and I relished the chance to cook for my family and often made edible gifts like gingerbread out of my little cookie book, and fudge as gifts at Christmas time. I still make the same fail-proof gingerbread these days! In the final years of my schooling I got addicted to Jamie Oliver’s TV series ‘The Naked Chef’ and Nigella's ‘Nigella Bites’ and started making dinners for the family. I loved it because firstly, I got to enjoy time in the kitchen, and the bonus was in our house whoever made dinner didn’t have to do the dishes – every cook’s dream! Mum and I used to also set a challenge where we’d try not to buy anything for a week and use only what we had in the pantry – it was fun coming up with ideas of what to make without spending a cent, inevitably you strike gold with new dishes you may not normally make – you should try it some time!

When I was a teenager I wanted so badly to be a chef and while studying Commercial Cookery in my final years at school, I had the chance to work in real kitchens, enjoying the pressure, adrenalin and buzz of a real kitchen service period – it’s quite addictive! After school, I went on to study at the International College of Tourism and Hotel Management in Sydney and absolutely relished the chance to further my studies in all things hospitality, from the art of flambé, to cocktail making, to fine dining training – we did it all and sometimes under high-pressure  - it was the most hands-on and rewarding learning experience you could imagine and really shaped the person I am today. Eventually, I decided not to be a chef, but instead made my way into the event management industry, before realising that Marketing was my jam. I still work in marketing now and absolutely love the creative side to the job and the fact that it gives me the freedom to enjoy my cooking in my spare time.

I believe that creating good food should be easy and that it doesn’t have to be fancy or take five hours to make or require expensive technical equipment or skill, in order to taste good. I am also really into using local produce and shopping locally as much as humanly possible. Being a homeowner on a single wage, I understand budget woes, and so I try to make my food as affordable as possible and use simple ingredients.

I started making cakes and slices to sell at the markets in 2016. I really should have done it so long ago and now that I’m doing it I wonder why it took me so long to get up the guts. It’s really thanks to the encouragement of my Mum and Dad, as well as the support of my good friends, that Morgan and Meg got off the ground. Now that I have my little market stall, it has only made me even more addicted to the thrill of creating good food for people to enjoy and re-ignited a long-term goal of having my own tiny little hole in the wall café. My café will be a welcoming, cosy, comfy space and will feature a menu that changes every day, depending on what is seasonably available or what I feel like making at the time. We’ll do baked treats, wholesome lunches like curries, soups and lentil stews, and we’ll also blend our own tea and brew our own chai. When you come to my café, you’ll feel like you’ve come home.  I won’t tell you much more than that as I don’t want to spoil it. But that’s just a ‘taste’ (pun intended). Sometimes it feels like my goal is so close to becoming a reality, like it’s just within reach, and other times the doubt creeps in and it feels like it may never happen. But mark my words, it will happen, as I am determined to make it! 

EIGHT THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT ME

• I lived and worked on a tropical island for 3 years of my life
• I am an avid collector of postcards, over 200 at last count
• I love period films and books. My all-time favourite is Jane Austin's Sense and Sensibility  
• I have a Pinterest addiction – 74 boards and counting!
• I love gardening – even though I am totally crap and once killed the un-killable Desert Rose – I still love it and I am a regular watcher of Gardening Australia. Call me a Nanna, I don't care, I just love it that much.
• In 2012 I travelled overseas for the first time all by myself and spent 6 weeks in Europe – still the best thing I’ve ever done
• I can play the piano – although I never practice! But I do love it! 
• I have a decent record collection - but no turn table!

READ MORE

• The Healing Power Of Cooking
• 5 mouth-watering travel memoirs for foodies

Permalink

]]>The story behind Morgan & MegBook reviewsTravelMegan PhilippaTue, 04 Apr 2017 10:36:42 +0000https://morganandmeg.com.au/morganandmegblog/2017/4/4/5-travel-books-every-food-lover-should-read54cc8225e4b0e012acea4aa5:54cc965ae4b06884b5451e13:58e30ac61b631b10b3452203

I've always been an avid reader, and as a kid I would easily plough through 20 books in the 2 week school holiday period. As I grew older, I found it harder to find books that I loved, that is until I found travel memoirs. To my absolute delight, travel memoirs enjoyed a relative boom in the early noughties so there are plenty to choose from.  I love reading these true stories about adventure, exploring new places and of course, food. These are some of my recommended reads, they would be perfect for weekend reading or to take on a holiday. 

When in Rome: Chasing the Dolce Vita

Penelope Green
Non-Fiction

When in Rome is an honest account of a single Australian gal who packs up her life to go and live in the ‘Eternal City’.  I love Penny’s vivid descriptions of the places she visits, the people she encounters and of course the delicious food she enjoys! This book was the metaphorical kick up the bum that I needed to book my own solo Europe trip in 2012 and I felt as if I already knew my way around Rome when I arrived, thanks to Penny’s wonderful evocative writing. Penny taught me a lot about having the guts to back yourself, the courage to spend time alone and be totally ok with it, and made me realise that travelling solo perhaps wasn't as scary as I first thought. This book is followed by two more sequels, See Naples and Die and Girl By Sea. In the latter two books Penny delves further into the culinary spoils of each region she visits and also focuses a lot more on the history and political climate of Italy due to her working as a journalist for an Italian media outlet. These books have a lot more depth to them than your average ‘Girl Gives Up
Everything to Chase the Dream’ novel.  

Lunch in Paris 

Elizabeth Bard
Non-Fiction

Lunch in Paris is my favourite kind of memoir; it's pretty much a hybrid of a travel journal and cookbook with some romance thrown in for good measure. The novel follows the story of an American journalist Elizabeth Bard and her big move to Paris, the home of her French husband, Gwendal. Throughout the book, Elizabeth  shares her struggles to learn the language, interactions with the colourful people of her new locale, and of course, recipes she picks up along the way. Elizabeth Bard has an honest outlook on the world and I enjoyed her dry and witty take on French culture and cuisine. I was intrigued by the way in which she let French food take her on a journey of understanding, immersing herself in the local tradition as a means of settling into her new life in France. 

Fantastic read

---

Under the Tuscan Sun

Frances Mayes
Non-Fiction

Under the Tuscan Sun is a book that gives me hope. It shows you that when you are doing what you are meant to be doing, and therefore are truly happy in yourself, the rest takes care of itself. It's a story that could really take place anywhere, but is made all the more beautiful with the backdrop of Tuscan scenery. Under the Tuscan Sun tells the true story of American writer Frances , who, while recovering from a messy divorce, buys a Villa in Tuscany on a whim while holidaying in Italy (I know right, I hate it when I accidentally buy a house in a foreign country, happens to me all the time too!). Frances embarks on a mission to rebuild her ancient and crumbling house, and the house seems to become a metaphor for the life she is attempting to re-build. She forms wonderful friendships and learns the art of Italian cuisine, creating a whole new community around her as she goes. It's the type of book that makes you cry along with Frances as she faces moments of despair, jump for joy with her triumphs and smile until your face hurts as she recounts some of the hilarious and charming stories of her new found family in Italy. Side note:  I watch the movie about twice a year or when I need a pick me up, it's up there with Notting Hill and The Holiday.  

☆☆☆☆☆ One of my all-time favourites

---

A Trip to the Beach

Melinda Blanchard & Robert Blanchard
Non-Fiction

I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but tell me you don't feel relaxed just looking at this one! A Trip to the Beach really was the book that started my addiction to travel memoirs and especially those that involve food. I picked this book up at a book exchange while living and working on a tropical island, and as I returned said book to the exchange, I am sad that I no longer have my own copy (although this post has inspired me to hunt one down). A Trip to the Beach is the true story of Melinda and Robert Blanchard, American restaurateurs who sold their restaurant in Vermont and moved to a small island in the Caribbean to open a beachfront bar and grill on the island of Anguilla. The reason I love this book is that it doesn't sugar coat. It tells the truth about how hard it is to move to a foreign country, set up a business while operating on what some of us affectionately refer to as Island Time and the reality of living in tropical paradise (Hurricanes). I am also pretty sure this book was what inspired my interest in rum punch and what led to what could only be described as the near-death experience of my 30th Birthday hangover. 

☆☆☆☆☆ 5 stars for the recipes alone! Delicious!

---

A Story of Seven Summers: Life in the Nun’s House

Hilary Burden
Non-Fiction 

Hilary Burden is totally my kind of lady. She swapped her London flat and Jimmy Choo's for a weathered old nunnery and a pair of gumboots in rural Tasmania. A Story of Seven Summers is almost like a gardener's journal, following Hilary around her ever-growing garden as she tends to her seedlings, learns about how the seasons affect life in her little neighbourhood, and discovers the joy of growing your own everything.  This book speaks to me as it's all about the things I love - living simply, enjoying quiet moments of solitude, cooking from scratch using only the things you have, sharing meals with others, making new friends and making a career doing the things you love. There are some fantastic recipes in this book that are now in my repertoire, including Barn's Chicken Curry and Isis' Chocolate Beetroot Cake. A Story of Seven Summers makes me want to rent out my little Townsville apartment, pack my wooden spoons and catch the next flight to Launceston. Maybe one day... 

☆☆☆☆☆ Totally took me with her on the adventure

 

These are just some of the many travel & food books I have read over and over again in the past few years. I am always on the lookout for more so don't be surprised if you see further posts about travel memoirs in the future! 

Disclaimer: Please note that some of the links on this page are affiliate links, and I will earn a small commission if you make a purchase using them. I personally have read all of the books listed and recommended them because I think you will enjoy them too! Thank you for supporting my blog, and please let me know if you have any questions about anything I’ve included!

]]>

Well, this post was supposed to be about what happened in February but it's taken me so long to finish it off, that it's now a February - March re-cap! It's been a very big couple of months for me, the most exciting thing that happened was that my brother got married to the love of his life Jayne, which is just the most loveliest thing ever. How wonderful are weddings? I think they might just be my favourite social event. Here's a list of some of the stuff I achieved in February and March. 

• Returned to the markets.
• Unveiled my new look stall - see some pics below.
• Started selling Rubra tea products online.
• Made my first online sale. It was $26 big ones. 
• Realised that postage costs a lot more than I had imagined.
• Completely stuffed up my 'Easy Banana Bread' by making it with plain flour instead of self-raising flour. In my defence, it was 4.30am in the morning. It ended up being more 'Banana Brick' than 'Banana Bread'. Naturally, I couldn't sell it. 
• Made the decision that I need a professional photographer to take product shots for my online store. To be continued...
• Launched a new range of dog treats with great success - they sold better than the cakes for humans and within the first hour of the market! 
• Tried out some new recipes at the markets - some worked, some didn't - In related news, I also learnt that lemon curd doesn't like hot weather.
• Met my all time biggest hero and legend of the Australian live music industry, Michael Chugg. He wasn't as excited as I was.
• Started a mailchimp account and signed up my first 9 subscribers. Don't tell anyone but I am one of those 9 people. Baby steps, ok. 

And finally, I also have signed up for a new market, so on 1 April you will find me at the Carlyle Gardens Arts and Crafts market. For those of you that don't know, Carlyle Gardens is a retirement resort, and I am rather looking forward chatting to some of the residents and meeting some new people!  

Here's a list of things I am also enjoying at the moment: 

• The return of rain in Townsville. After what feels like forever,  we are finally enjoying some decent downpours and hopefully can break this horrible drought! 
• Thumbing my way through Sarah Wilson's 'I quit sugar'. I know, I know. I make cakes. With sugar in them. But I also believe that balance is really important and this book is showing me some really awesome ways to substitute sugar for other things. I also completely respect that Ms Wilson is such a big advocate for saving food that would otherwise be wasted. There's some awesome tips on how to eat more sustainably and it's really got me thinking of ways I can do it in my own home. More to come on that later... 
• Dark chocolate coated licorice bullets from Christo's Deli. So moreish. And I only eat 3 per day as we all know overdosing on licorice is a BAD idea! 
• My new Saturday morning routine - Hardcore kettlebell and cardio sesh followed by shopping for fruit and veg at The Precinct Fresh Market and then heading home to make a delicious breakfast. 
• Sunday morning Bounty Protein Bowls at The Beet Bar. I'm seriously addicted. 
• Binge watching Gardening Australia, Grand Designs and Dream Gardens on ABC iView. I know right. I'm such a party animal. 

Well that's about it from me for this month! Hope to see you around the traps, perhaps at the markets. Enjoy what is left of your March lovely people! 

xx Megan 

Here are my top tips on how to be a pro at meal prep…

Have a plan

Ok this is kind of obvious, but like most things in life, if you want to succeed at it, you must set aside a few minutes and plan what you are going to do and how you’re going to do it, otherwise the whole thing is going to fall on its backside pretty quickly. I usually sit down and plan out what I am going to eat for the week ahead before I write my weekly shopping list. This has two benefits; firstly you know what you’re going to be prepping later on that day, and secondly, you know what to buy when you go to the shops, and – yes, you guessed it – you’ll be much more likely to stick to your budget.

I like to do my planning at night time while I’m watching TV. For the men amongst us who struggle with multitasking – do it in the ad break! It also helps if you have a meal plan template to work off and keep things structured – this can be as basic or as elaborate as you like. Once you've written it down, 1. Write your shopping list and 2. Stick a copy on the fridge where you can see it. 

Online shopping is obviously amazing. But online grocery shopping, well it’s just next level if you ask me. Large supermarket chains like Coles and Woolworths now offer an online shopping option that allows you to collect your order in a time slot convenient to you, and guess what, you get to park in a special allocated parking zone, and if you're lucky they even load it into your car for you!

This is especially great for mums who don’t want the drama of dragging screaming children through the aisles of a supermarket while arguing about why they can’t have a chuppa chup. I would easily save a minimum of 1 hour a week just by shopping for my groceries online. The other benefit of shopping online is that it is much easier to avoid overspending or going off the plan. You work your way through your shopping list, and search for the items you actually need, instead of trawling the aisles after work buying everything you see because you are hangry and vulnerable. You can also view all the items that are on special that week at the click of a button, and to top it all off, next time you log in you can go back and see what you bought last time – this makes it EVEN FASTER! ‘Nuff said.

Gear up for action

Invest in some good quality re-useable containers that will stack neatly in your freezer. Something around the size of a Chinese takeaway container is suitable. Buy some zip lock bags and smaller containers and jars that hold a max of 200ml to put your snacks in. I've started saving small jars and re-using them so I'm being sustainable at the same time as saving money on containers! While you’re at it, clean out your fridge and freezer, throwing anything out that looks petrified, and give the whole thing a wipe down. Now you’re all set to fill it with yummy goodies! You might also like to invest in a slow cooker, as this will allow you to cook stuff while you do other important things, like ironing your work shirts – how awesome!

Do your meal prep on Sunday afternoon
(or another day close to the start of your week)

Ok this is at the crux of what we are talking about today. Yes I know it’s annoying to get up off the couch and do meal prep on a Sunday when you’d much rather be watching Netflix. But you’re going to save yourself so much time, money and anguish if you just suck it up and get stuck in now. Go on, put your big girl/boy pants on and just do it.

Here is an example list of meals you might prep for your week ahead:

Don't forget your pre-prepared arsenal of snacks

• Prep snacks such as nuts into portions in zip lock bags / small containers and have them ready to go in the fridge/pantry.
• Make yourself a healthy little treat to beat 3 O'Clockitus: add half a cup of low fat yoghurt to the bottom of a small container or jar. Chuck a small handful of blueberries, raspberries or strawberries (or a combo of some or all) on top, and then sprinkle with a little cinnamon.
• Measure out a serve of your protein powder into a zip lock bag or re-usable container and chuck inside your shaker ready to go. 
• Add a bag of carrots or mung beans to your grocery list - ta da! Instant snack, all you have to do is wash it before you eat it! 
• Buy some tins of tuna and rice cakes and keep these in your draw at work for emergencies.

THE HARD SELL
Here's some further reasons why this menu is useful...

• Notice how the sweet potato and broccoli are common to a few of the recipes? This little detail will save you time and money in the long run.
• The kangaroo can be cooked in your new slow cooker, or you can also cook it on a low temperature in the oven over several hours.
• The hardest thing about the soup is roughly chopping up the veggies, which isn't very hard at all since they don't have to look pretty or be completely uniform in size. Then it basically cooks itself for the next hour or so, and then you just have to cool it and blend it before portioning out and freezing.
• You could make one of the dishes such as the turkey shepherd's pie as your dinner for that evening and then portion out the rest and freeze it, that way you don't have to cook another meal that day. 

Plus, a bonus hot tip! 

Another thing I do to make things easier when I just can't be bothered, is prepare the protein component (eg pulled kangaroo) and then I buy a big bag of mixed frozen vegetables (eg carrots, broccoli and beans) and once I have portioned the protein part out into the containers and allowed to cool slightly, I put a portion of frozen veggies in the container and then place it straight into the freezer. The veggies stay frozen and only get defrosted the one time when you reheat the meal for 4-5 minutes (from frozen), so they don't go soggy at all. Perfect! 

And there you have it! If you have any tips you'd like to share or recipes you rely on each week for meal prep, I'd love to hear about it! Please leave a comment below, as I love to hear about how other people find smart ways to save time and money on eating well!

Suggested reading
some suggested books for meal prep recipes

• Thug Kitchen: Eat Like You Give A F*ck 
• Donna Hay: Fast, Fresh, Simple 
• Jamie's 30-Minute Meals
• Michelle Bridges: Crunch Time Cookbook

Disclaimer: Please note that some of the links on this page are affiliate links, and I will earn a small commission if you make a purchase using them. I personally own and have read all of the books listed and recommended them because I think they are suitable to help you with meal prep! Thank you for supporting my blog, and please let me know if you have any questions about anything I’ve included!

Well another year over and just like Leisl Von Trapp we are now '16 going on '17. The end of the year always brings about many cliched and well-intended resolutions that may or may not become reality, but aside from that it is always a good time to sit down and reflect on the year previous and note the moments that were most poignant. 

2016 was the launch year for my baby, my market stall under the name of morgan & meg. It was by far the biggest achievement of my life so far because it brought to fruition a concept that had lived inside my head for so long. Although it had been a great dream, the fear of failure was greater and so I had constantly told myself 'one day' and continued to postpone the project. 

It was actually my Dad who gave me the kick up the bum I needed, one day as we spoke on the phone, me rambling on about how much I detested my job (at the time) and how I wanted to cook for a living but all the while making a bajillion excuses for why I couldn't do it. Dad interrupted me mid-sentence and said 'Meeg, just do it. Stop thinking about it. Stop making excuses and start taking action. You will work it out as you go - you always thrive under pressure and you won't fail because you don't know how to'. And so that got the ball rolling, and things really gained momentum when all of my best buddies gifted me a beautiful white gazebo for my 30th birthday. Then there was no backing out - I had to follow through and put my money where my big mouth was! First things first, I needed to get my kitchen at home licensed for commercial use. I printed off the application forms and got reading. It looked complicated. I was doomed. 6 months of further procrastination and excuses followed (Food license too difficult and I'll never pass, I'm broke, No one will eat my cake, etc etc).

In July I heard about a new handmade /farmers market that was starting up, just down the road from where I live, and they were seeking food stalls. PERFECT. I found renewed inspiration and before I could come up with a new excuse, I applied, even though I didn't have my food license yet - I figured I'd work it out as I went, as Dad had suggested. Turned out the food license wasn't as hard to get as first thought and my license went through quicker than expected but again I made excuses for why I couldn't start (see above). Then, 3 days out from the first market date, after much umming and aaahing and changing my mind a further 10 times, I bit the bullet and decided to book a stall. I'd work it out as I went. And I did! By some stroke of miraculous luck, a guy who I knew who did the markets was selling 2 tables (SOLD!), and I whipped up some cute signage and my amazing parents loaned me $300 to buy the equipment I needed to start up (flat bed trolley, table cloths, glass display cloches, initial food costs, etc). I love my parents; they believed in the dream and got it off the ground, what more can you ask for. 

The launch of morgan & meg was exciting and terrifying at the same time and to my great surprise, went off without so much as a hitch. I had 2 hours sleep the night before the first market day, and up until about 10pm I didn't even know how I was going to set everything up or whether I had enough glassware - it really was a typical 'Megan-flying-by-the-seat-of-her-pants' type affair. Thanks to my wonderful friend Chris, I managed to keep from losing my mind and we pulled through, ending up with a beautiful setup that our first customers absolutely loved. I was so pleased to receive so many compliments on the beautiful presentation (YES! JOB DONE!) and within a few weeks we had a regular staple of customers who came back to pick up their favourites most weeks. To this day, I have never lost money and have no debt (not even to my Dad), which is more than you can ask for when starting a new business. 

morgan & meg has brought me so much happiness in 2016. I didn't even foresee how much joy it would bring me in sharing my love of cooking with so many people. The highlights for the year were the Renegade Handmade Mega Markets on 26-27 November and the Christmas in the City Night Markets on 3 December. 

Wow, what a year. I am beyond happy and completely excited for what 2017 will bring for morgan & meg. I am having a lovely break at the moment, returning to the markets in February once this hot summer weather cools down a bit. This will give me some time to develop a few exciting new recipes for the stall. I am also working on re-designing the fit-out so keep an eye out for pics of the new pimpin' stall setup! 

I hope that 2016 was kind to you and that 2017 brings much happiness and good health to you and your loved ones. 

Much love - Megan xo

Maybe I should get into raw baking? 

Hey there fellow baked-good aficionados!

Things are going well in the Morgan & Meg kitchen.. after putting it off for what feels like a lifetime, I officially now have my Domestic Kitchen license.  It wasn't anywhere near as scary as I thought it would be. I thought my kitchen would have been hard to license, since it's really old, but luckily, she's in good structural shape and I got the license through without too much trouble at all! Just a wee bit of maintenance to do (just gotta seal around the cook top with silicone - easy!).

Since getting the food license all sorted, I have had one minor setback, that being that my gorgeous mission brown 80's oven decided she didn't want in on the markets, and started burning the bottoms of my cakes while leaving the tops raw. OK, maybe it's not so minor.. kinda need an oven if you're selling baked goods. So, I have no choice but to install a new oven. It's kinda exciting but also scary because I need the right tools for the job! I went hunting today and after much stress, overthinking and even a minor meltdown (hey, ovens are serious business, ok), I found some exciting options, one of which is super cool. I don't want to tell you exactly what it is because it might not happen and I don't want to jinx it. I'll have to do some mini renovations in my kitchen in order to install the new oven, but it's gonna be so worth it! Keep an eye on instagram and facebook for updates and pics of the reno! EXCITING TIMES AHEAD GUYS! 

In other news, I've done a spot of op shopping and found some super cute stuff to deck out my stall, and I'm nearly all done getting ready. I even bought a super professional heavy duty trolley (woo hoo, totes profesh), so really it's just the oven to go now. 

As a marketer, I know it's important to do a bit of market research before launching a business. Luckily, I have more than a few friends who love cake.. Chris, Skye, Bree, I'm looking at you! So I will be hosting a pre-market morning tea (a soft launch, if you will) at my place so I can get all my buds over and test out my recipes and discuss my pricing strategy. It's also a great way to get my brand out there and get my friends sharing pics on social media, spreading the word around town about my cool little business. Before long you'll be referring to me as CAKE MILLIONAIRE - mark my words! Seriously though, it's a really exciting time in my life as I finally feel ready to really put myself out there and test the waters with my products. I CAN'T WAIT to show my little town what I can do and bring smiles to people's faces through my love of cake! EEP so scary but also so, so cool. 

Until next time cake lovers..

Megan (aka Morgan aka Meg) xx

My launch date will be Saturday 20th August, and I simply cannot wait to finally start getting my food out there! I'm excited and terrified in equal amounts but I know that if I never do it, I will always wonder if I could have pulled it off..so here goes nothing! (Or, everything?)... Watch this space to find out what I'll be baking for the launch!

The new farmer's market is called Central Saturdays, follow them on Facebook by clicking here! 

Xx Megan