{Lately on Instagram}

Do you ever have those moments, whereby you have something you so desperately want to say, words that have been spinning crazily around your head for days, weeks, months even, but you just can't seem to vocalise them?  They sit clogged in your throat, unable to escape, causing a perpetual cough, which acts as a constant reminder that you aren't saying what needs to be said.

I had so many words, so many important words, that continually circulated around the crevices of my mind for months and months and months and in fairness, a few did thankfully manage to escape at times, however, unfortunately, having perfected their extradition in my mind, during lengthy conversations with myself, the reality of their execution often ended up being far from perfect.

In fact, after eventually building up the courage to release the remains of those very heartfelt words from the fearful, awkward grip, that had been keeping them captive for such an excruciatingly long period of time, they finally tumbled out, in fast succession, one after the other, in a chaotic jumble that was painfully less than fluent, often at times inaudible through the waves of tremendous, heart aching, salty tears and ultimately failed to be entirely cohesive at all.  An inarticulate disaster that made me wish I'd brought cue cards.

Despite the pitiful display, including a tearful train journey home at 1am, whereby I neither knew nor cared, that half my mascara was decorating my cheeks, I did at least gain some much needed clarity in the midst of what turned into a very public verbal meltdown.  In all truth, there had been certain things I'd been somewhat afraid to ask over time, simply because, in part, I already knew the answers, but, as painful as it was to come face-to-face with some pretty stark and harsh realities, I have to admit that I've found some sort of odd comfort in it all.

I mean, I can't live my life in the grey of someone else's indecision and equally, I have to acknowledge that there is nothing to be gained from sitting on the sidelines, never fully being present in the ever passing moments, secretly clinging on to the hopeful expectations, that continually formulate in the darkness of my mind.  Expectations of which, I know won't amount to anything other than disappointment.

So, I guess the lesson here really, is that those words that silently eat away at you in the late hours of the night, that cling to your tonsils and spark moments of desperate, soul aching hysteria, they simply need to be expressed.  Regularly and with as much ease and grace as one can afford them.  Otherwise, they gradually build into something unrecognisable and inedible and you end up choking on them, perhaps rather dramatically, in the street one night.

At the end of the day, the things we struggle with to the greatest degree, usually turn out to be the most important issues we need to confront and deal with and whilst the thought of the possible outcome, or even just the clearing process itself, can at times be so difficult, it ends up holding us back, in most cases, once we overcome those hurdles, facing those fears can actually end up being exactly what sets us free.  Even when it does end in the seemingly worst outcome or through the most awkwardly painful delivery.

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{Lately on Instagram}

The other day, whilst home alone, I randomly started to think about things and I suddenly realised that, to a certain extent, whilst I may not have entirely made all my dreams come true just yet, for the most part, I really am living the dream.  Well, my dream to be more precise.

When I think back to all those times, that I dragged myself out of bed, in order to head to a job that, quite frankly, I'd begun to loathe and that was slowly but surely beginning to drain me of my spirit, I couldn't be more thankful to be free of that encasement today.  Regardless of the current compromises.  All those times when I stood there, day dreaming of telling everyone to go stick it where the sun don't shine and walk out in some grand act of defiance, only to actually in reality remain precisely where I was, a forced smile painted across my face, my passion for life seeping out, minute by minute.  Soul gradually dying.

In all truth, I don't think about those times too often now.  They seem so far away, that they could almost have occurred in another lifetime, but when I do catch my mind wandering in that direction, I take a moment to soak it all in and realise in great appreciation, that right here, right now, regardless of anything, my life is one big fuck you, to all the bullshit I left behind.  A middle finger to all the bureaucracy, to all the hierarchy and to the systematic belittling of my hopes and dreams.

I eat cake to all the lunch breaks that were too short.  I do yoga for all the holiday I wasn't allowed to take when I wanted.  I sleep in and I stay up late, for all the Monday mornings I dreaded waking up to and I write, I write because I wish to express my appreciation for the life I now have the pleasure of living and to encourage others to one day do the same.

Happy Weekend!

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{Recipe} Millet Porridge

This time last year, having not long left Italy, I was back in France, living peacefully in the idyllic countryside.  After spending several months eating stodgy pasta at every mealtime, I'd sadly gained a hideous and somewhat uncomfortable amount of weight and was therefore full of good dietary intentions, including my commitment to being a vegan again and the deletion of processed foods from my life.

In fairness, these changes ended up being far easier to implement than I thought they would be, even living outside of Paris, where the word végétalien, seems to be a mythical word someone made up to confuse the French.  With the help of Pinterest, I managed to discover a plethora of recipes and links to great food blogs and websites, that offered up an array of amazing, super healthy, super delicious, simple vegan recipes.  Which, I thought at the time, would be nice and perhaps useful, to share on my own site, with other people who may be interested.  Hence, the {RECIPE} tag was started.

However, as with all good intentions, moving back to a city, unfortunately meant that some things soon seemed to fall by the wayside.  Like healthy clean eating, which somehow got a little fuzzy, in favour of trips to cute cafes, that served up delicious fatty slabs of cake and food trucks that sold burritos the size of small children, which left me with a smile on my face and then subsequently, three hours of soy related stomach cramps.

Anyway, I digress...A few weeks ago, a bearded vegan friend from yoga introduced me to millet.  Which, I'd kinda heard of, but never actually tried before.  He cooked it up with some lentils and sweet potato and a side serving of kale and I found that it was actually really tasty.  In fact, I liked it so much, that after lunch, we went straight out to the store and I bought a kilo of it!

What I like about it, besides the taste, is that it's gluten free, high in protein, vitamin B, magnesium, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese and is super cheap to buy organically here in Berlin!  Unlike my previously favoured grain, quinoa, which is pretty expensive here, compared to the price back in England.

With a kind of fluffy texture, slightly akin to couscous, I personally love it cooked with half a stock cube and a sprinkle of turmeric and coriander, as the base of my Buddha bowls, but lately I've discovered the joys of turning it into porridge!

Now, as a Brit, porridge for me will always be a winter staple, but, as much as I love it, my stomach isn't as keen when it comes to the consumption of oats and whilst I've experimented with boxes of organic yogi porridge, made from ground tigernuts, to be honest, it just gets a little expensive after a while and the consistency isn't really the same.  So, I've been pretty happy to discover this entirely new version of porridge, which is making breakfast something worthy of getting up for!

So, as it's been a seemingly long amount of time, since I last shared anything food related and seeing as several people have recently inquired about these bowls of breakfast deliciousness, via my Instagram and Facebook page, I figured now was as good a time as any to share the very simple, very yummy, very healthy and very easy recipe!  Guten Appetit!

Simple Millet Porridge

  • Half a cup of millet
  • One cup of hazelnut milk (or other dairy/alternative milk)
  • One cup of water
  • A drizzle of honey (or agave/maple syrup)
  • A sprinkle of cinnamon

Combine all the ingredients together in a saucepan and bring to the boil, then reduce down to a simmer and cook for roughly 10-15 minutes, until the millet is soft and the majority of the liquid has been absorbed, depending on how runny or thick you like your porridge of course.

That's it!

Then it's just a case of choosing your toppings!  Personally, I opt for half a banana, cut up, with a sprinkle of both Chia and Hemp seeds over the top and a drizzle of either organic honey or agave syrup.  Some days though, I throw in a few squares of 60/70% dark chocolate into the pan, whilst it's still cooking, for a mildly indulgent cocoa version.  Let's face it though, when it comes to toppings, the combinations are endless!

Ultimately, for fifteen minutes wait, you end up with a really filling, super nutritious, totally delicious, gluten free breakfast, which I find to be a really good start to the day!

If you give it a try, let me know what you think and maybe share a snap on Instagram, using #ouijetaimeaussi as a hashtag, so that I can find you!  I'd love to know what you think and also what combinations/variations you go for!

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