Hello and Happy New Year to all my loyal followers, friends and family.

Well what a year 2018 was!  It started out with my partner, Wayne dealing with a few health problems, one being a Type 2 Diabetes diagnoses.  And although we have always eaten a fairly healthy diet there is always room for improvement and room for us to lose a few kilos in the process!  So last year (2018) was all about getting healthier but still living life and having fun.

When Wayne was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes I did a lot of research, reading, learning, listening and experimenting.  And as much as it was fun it was a bit mind boggling to work out what was right, wrong, good, bad and everything in-between! But all the hard work has paid off and Wayne is well, healthy and loving life.

Healthy and Wholemeal! So much you can make that is tasty and good for you.

Having read so many books one that sticks in my mind, which I read just recently, was Deliciously Ella, The Plant Based Cookbook.  Although we love our meat, seafood and chicken and we will not be giving it up anytime soon we love our vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, pulses and grains as well.  So incorporating more of these into our diet with just a little bit less of the animal protein can’t hurt.

And in this book Ella makes a point of telling us all to adapt not just her ideas and recipes but all ideas and recipes to fit into your lifestyle and taste.  On page 19 of this book she states ‘There is no one-size-fits all’ and I have always believed this and lived by this motto.  Why would I eat something I don’t like just because it is supposed to be healthy?  There are many other things I like that are healthy so why can’t I use/eat them?  So if I see a recipe I really like but there is one or two ingredients I don’t like or don’t use (I don’t see the point in buying a special ingredient, that costs a fortune, if you use it once and the rest goes to waste!) I will put my thinking cap on and adapt that recipe to what I like or have in my kitchen.  It’s not hard and it makes cooking fun as you get to experiment.

We love food, We love travel. So what better presents could you get for Christmas!

And that leads me on to the new trend these days of waste, single use plastics, recycling, etc.  I am all for doing my bit to keep this world spinning and keeping it clean and tidy, so I have started adapting my way of thinking to incorporate some new products and ideas for shopping, storage and wrapping food.  We have no food scraps as such as they all get fed to the critters who come to visit us each day.  I still use cling wrap but not as much as I have started using reusable covers on the bowls of food and leftovers in the fridge.  I have for a long time used calico shopping bags and always have some handy cotton bags in my purse for retail shopping. And the list can and will go on as I try new and inventive products, some good and some not so good.

Great for the planet presents for our house, shopping and lunching!

So as you can see it has been a busy year in the Donna and Wayne household and we have been having some fun with new recipes, old recipes being updated, trying new things and best of all we had a great overseas trip to Vietnam and Cambodia to end our year.  More on that soon!

I am back, I am blogging again and this year I want to share with you some of the books I have read, the food I have made, the trips we have made and the stories of our lives in general.  I hope you will continue following our journey and enjoying our stories.

Thank you all for staying with me and Happy 2019 to you all.

Tea. Full of good for you antioxidants, tastes great and keeps you warm. More great presents!