Moving house with a side of curry.

July 30, 2014April 25, 2017 | Emma

Back in high school I played hockey (had all intentions to join a team in Melbourne but that still hasn’t happened), and playing hockey in country Victoria meant the opportunity to come to Melbourne every mid-year school holidays to play on synthetic fields. My family and I always stayed in Brunswick, half way between the State Hockey and Netball Centre and the Footscray fields, and I loved it.

Those weekend get-aways triggered my love for Melbourne. I always visioned I’d be living in a double-story terrace house on that side of the city. Ideally in Carlton, with my vintage style bike. Not too much to ask I would have thought.

Four and a half years later than planned, my dream started to come true. Last weekend my housemate and I moved house. It took six car loads, many hours of driving, two trailer loads and one broken window, but we finally handed back the keys to our old Chadstone house with the green walls and brown tiles. It was a massive job, and I cannot thank my dad enough for insisting on driving three hours from country Victoria to help us. (Also special thanks to Nicole for helping me locate an outfit, shoes, handbag and makeup amongst the boxes so I could make the Burlesque themed hen’s night (great idea btw). It was no easy feat.)

Although I am super dooper excited to be living in a new area, I’m a little sad. That house was my home for eighteen months; that’s the longest I have lived in one place in Melbourne. I also had a fabulously big bedroom.

I’m going to miss the green walls, the brown tiles and the random metal detailing. Sounds rightfully terrible, but it had character and that’s what made it feel like a home.

Anyway moving on (no pun intended), we moved into a two-bedroom unit in Brunswick. It’s no terrace house and it’s not in Carlton, but it does have white walls AND white tiles (Hello in the moment cooking photos) so things are getting better.

After having some well earned beverages Saturday night, we spent part of Sunday exploring our new ‘hood. We believed the only way to tackle a house full of boxes was to start with a good breakfast. Melbourne had put on a glorious day so we walked (!!) down to Sydney road with hopes of finding a table at Green Refectory. Unsuccessful, a quick check on Urbanspoon (one of my favourite apps) had us en route to Tom Phat. Gorgeous looking waiters AND a table outside, it was a great decision. The food was delicious too.

A menu of south-east asian inspired flavours, I ordered the Yunnan Baked Free-range Eggs with tomato, coriander & sweet tamarind pork and a slice of noisette multigrain.

Mary had a grilled pork chop, crispy fried free-range egg, tomato, cucumber & rice (she was over the moon about that bit), and Cameron ordered the seemingly odd combination of French Toast with grilled banana & maple-syrup bacon. With a few coffees, a pot of tea and a lychee & lime soda, we thoroughly enjoyed our first brunch in brunswick. (Brunch in Brunswick, new hashtag? I think so.)

I was actually just really enjoying life. Our new place comes with more luxuries than just a white interior. It is within walking distance to shoe outlets, clothes stores, grocers, trams, Princes Park, and a bazillion cafe and restaurants. My to do list got a whole lot longer that morning. We also have a famous (if channel 9 counts?) pub on our street.

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

Look familiar?

The afternoon was spent unpacking boxes, and trying to get some order in the house. Mary went off to buy her vintage-style bike, and I unpacked the kitchen. Now that made me happy. Seeing all my beautiful crockery wrapped in newspaper had made me a little sad.

I also liked that my massive box of shoes had moved from the centre of the kitchen and it was now functional. After three days of snacking, quick (or no) lunches and restaurant dinners, it was nice to be able to prepare a real meal. So I made a curry. I am currently loving using indian spices in my cooking, and I find this dish very warm and comforting. Perfect for a cold winter’s night.

Life’s good. Happy Wednesday.

Emma xo

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Tofu & vegetable curry

Serves 2-3

This recipe is a great way to boost your calcium intake. By replacing your meat with tofu (be sure to check the label for calcium content) and coconut milk for evaporated milk, you can boost your calcium intake by 400-500mg.

Ingredients

1 tsp olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 cup vegetable stock

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp ginger, finely grated

1/2 tsp tumeric, ground

300g firm tofu

200-300g pumpkin, diced

2 large carrots, diced

8-10 baby corn spears, halved

200-300g cauliflower, fresh or frozen*

2/3 cup light evaporated milk (plain or coconut flavoured)

Method

1. Heat oil in saucepan. Add garlic, cumin, ginger and turmeric, and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add pumpkin and carrot, and stir to coat.

2. Add stock and cauliflower, and bring to the boil. Simmer until pumpkin is tender. Add evaporated milk and corn, stir. Mine needed thickening so I added cornflour (mix with cold water first).

3. Add tofu and stir to coat. Simmer until tofu is heated through.

4. Serve with a dollop of yoghurt and cooked rice.

Enjoy!

*There is little difference between fresh and frozen vegetables nutritionally. They are picked in season, blanched and snapped frozen which preserves the nutrients.

Purple love & positivity.

July 23, 2014September 18, 2015 | Emma

It’s hard to believe that I finished university six weeks ago. Time flies when you’re having fun.

So much has happened.

My cousin had a beautiful little girl. She is tiny and has the longest fingers. I would include a photo but she’s so cute I doubt you would keep reading.

I have made new friends, and I’ve caught up with old ones. One of my best friends moved to teach at a primary school in remote NT, which is just fabulous.It also feels like all my friends have, or are leaving the country. I have also caught up with some Contiki friends (twice). I have ticked several restaurants off my to do list, and I went to a Chobani workshop. I also made a rainbow checkerboard cake, went ice skating and bought a Macbook.

I’ve found out that I need to do an additional unit of study and I’ve submitted numerous job applications. And I’ve also had two job interviews.

I got my first interview out of my first ever job application. Yeah, that was exciting. I was also scared shitless. After the interview I left feeling okay. But the more I thought about it, the more horrendous it got.

I didn’t get the job.

As a result I didn’t have to leave Melbourne and move to a town of 1500 people AND I never will have my first ever dietitian interview again. The latter was a huge relief. I now know what I’m in for. Actually staying in Melbourne was a huge relief too – I have 53 restaurants saved to my Urbanspoon wishlist that need to be visited.

About two weeks after that interview, I got the call for another job. This one I really wanted. We arranged to do it via Skype. I was so excited, an opportunity to have an interview and wear my pyjama pants at the same time? Hell yeah.

The interview went well. It felt much better than my first one and and I was feeling good vibes. That was until two days later when I found out I was unsuccessful via social media. Yeah, that happened. It was a little ironic really, because I had mentioned in my interview that social media was here to stay.

Anyway, four days later I received the call and my feedback was unexpectedly positive. My interview wasn’t bad at all.

I could be bummed about it, honestly, finding out via social media was the biggest kick in the guts. But the reality is that there are more dietitians than there are jobs available so it’s going to take time and we’re bound to be up against our classmates.

So I’m actually feeling incredibly positive.

Why?

∼ I am getting interviews.

∼ I have a macbook, and it’s amazing.

∼ I’m moving to inner city Melbourne this weekend. Maybe my dreams are coming true?

∼ I’m also starting a new volunteer role next week.

∼ Three new Chobani flavours have been released this week.

I have a lot to look forward to. We all do.

I believe it’s really important that, even when things in life suck, we learn from our failures and focus on the good and positive things in life. That’s what keeps me going.

With saying that, as my fingers danced over the keys of my new macbook (can’t you tell I’m in love?) writing this post, I briefly flicked over to twitter. I read an article discussing the link between diet and mental health. How relevant when I’m going on about how positive we should be. Studies have shown that a poor diet may be linked to depression and other mental health issues. Obviously there are an array of factors influencing mental health, and a healthy diet isn’t going to solve everything. But in most cases, your diet is in your control. So, a healthy diet is a pretty good start to leading a happy life.

This makes me want to share my breakfast with you. It’s healthy, and just looking at it made me happy. It was also like eating ice cream. Cold Rock particularly.

Kudos to Heidi Sze for the inspiration. Check out her blog, I love it.

∼

Purple soft serve with a party on top.

Blend one frozen banana, a handful of frozen blueberries (I don’t measure) and a big dollop of greek yoghurt. Just blend it till it’s smooth.

I topped this with a mixture of my homemade granola, fruit free clusters, chopped almonds, desiccated coconut and a drizzle of sugar-free maple syrup.

But it’s your party, and you can top it with muesli, granola, coconut flakes, nuts, seeds and peanut butter if you want to.

It is a happy wednesday indeed.

Emma xo

Dietitian? But I don’t need to go on a diet.

July 13, 2014March 22, 2016 | Emma

I have many memories of the patients I managed during clinical placement at RMH last year. From watching a stroke patient progress from being artificially fed through his nose to sitting up at the table eating a meal within weeks, to the guy that would prefer to talk about his failing love life than focus on his diabetes management. It was a challenging but rewarding experience, and often full of one or two surprises. You know, exploding ileostomy bags and ‘fattening bananas’ (I had never heard of that one before). I also came to the realisation that people don’t know much about dietitians.

Emma: ‘Hello Mr Smith (my classic go-to fake name when rehearsing in the car), my name is Emma and I’m a student dietitian. How are you today?’

Mr Smith: ‘Dietitian? But I don’t need to go on a diet.’

No, no he didn’t. A weight loss diet that is. Although I can’t recall his condition, I do remember that I wasn’t seeing him for weight loss. And to be honest, this was the case for the majority of my patients.

As I progressed through my degree, I have become aware of two things. The general public don’t know a lot about what we do, and I’ve learnt that my options are more than just hospitals and weight loss counselling.

So, what do dietitian’s do?

Dietitians are the experts in food and nutrition. We help people understand the link between food and health, and provide education around maintaining or achieving good health and preventing disease, and dietary choices for treating diseases.

We have all spent at least four years at university studying the physiology of our body systems, biochemistry and food science. We not only understand the nutrients in foods, but we understand how these foods affect our bodies. We have learnt about chronic disease and how our environment plays a huge part on our health. We understand how to interpret nutrition science, know that everything is not black and white and have learnt to embrace the grey.

We work in an array of roles in various settings at the individual and population level, such as:

Hospitals

During my clinical placement I saw patients in the acute, aged care, rehabilitation and outpatient settings. These patients came from an array of clinical areas such as cardiology, diabetes, gastroenterology, infectious disease, trauma, oncology, bone marrow transplant, liver, kidney disease, surgical and stroke. I managed patients who weren’t eating enough and patients eating too much. I taught individuals how to eat now that they have colostomy bags, and I worked with a man following his amputation to ensure that he was eating sufficient protein for wound healing.

I needed to understand their medical condition to know the nutritional implications, their social life, know what medications they were taking, interpret their blood tests and of course, assess their diet.

Community health

Dietitians in community health can have a variety of roles from individual consultations to group education sessions or project planning. On my community placement I was lucky to be part of a team that worked with newly arrived refugee and asylum seekers. We ran a supermarket tour, taught them how to pack a healthy lunch box and provided them with healthy snack ideas. We educated on the sugar content of drinks, showed them how to make porridge, and worked with them in making their traditional meals healthier. It was amazing, and it was an absolute pleasure to be able to teach them concepts that for most of us come so naturally, yet are so crucial to their lives in Australia.

Dietitians also complete research projects that investigate issues such as food insecurity in the region or review the service to ensure it meets the needs of its clients.

Private practice & consultancy

Dietitians can work for themselves or with other health professionals in a private practice offering individual counselling group education sessions. During my undergrad degree I completed work experience with a private practice dietitian. With a special interest in food intolerance and food sensitivities, Zoe assisted with the identification, management and symptom relief of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), fructose malabsorption, Coeliac disease and general gastrointestinal discomfort, and she also counselled patients in weight loss.

Food service management

Food service dietitians are involved in food policy planning, and menu assessments and planning for large-scale food provision facilities such as hospitals, aged care homes, child care centres, boarding schools and prisons. Since my food service placement, I have a new appreciation of hospital and plane food. And when you think about it, you have to be practical when providing 800 people with meals 30,000 feet above sea level. To be honest, I was pretty impressed with the salmon and broccoli on my flight from London this year.

The media

Television, magazines, blogging. Need I say more?

Public Health

Dietitians can work for the government developing food policy and regulation. You will often see dietitians on teams at Diabetes Australia, Nutrition Australia, The Australian Red Cross and other non-government organisations developing and implementing different programs.You may even hear of a dietitian helping treat malnourished children in third world countries. Pretty cool hey?

The Food Industry

You know those big food companies such as Kellogg’s and Pepscio? Dietitians are there helping reformulate products to provide healthier options to Australians, and ensure that all food regulation is complied with.

Sports Nutrition

Some dietitians complete addition training and become accredited with the Sports Dietitians Australia. Sports dietitians provide expert guidance on your body’s nutrition needs so that you can prepare, compete and recover optimally. Just between you and me, I would love to be the team dietitian for the Essendon Football Club.

and finally, research & teaching

Who best to research the links between nutrition and health than dietitians? And those seven people who have taught, supported and shared their wisdom with me throughout my masters and continue to do so? All Dietitians.

∼

I know I’ve only scraped the surface but I hope this has helped you understand a little more about what we do. Maybe it has even inspired you a little?

So if you are interested in joining the wonderful world of dietetics, check out this list of accredited Australian dietetic courses.

Want to find a Accredited Practising Dietitian near you? Click here.

Happy Wednesday everyone.

Emma xo

The South Melbourne Market & Chai-infused apple ‘dim sims’.

July 9, 2014April 25, 2017 | Emma

I love food markets.

There is something about the atmosphere, the people and the wafts of cinnamon donuts that is just so inviting.

I love wandering around the stalls, speaking to the stallholders and tasting what they have to offer. And my mother has a $10 jar of rhubarb & rose geranium jam as a result.

Over summer I experienced London’s Borough Market (a must do for all foodies), drank mulled wine at the Christmas Markets in Paris & London, ate very nice strawberries from the market in Nice, France (see what I did there?), and enjoyed many foods on offer at Melbourne’s Night Noodle Market & Queen Victoria Night Market.

But it has been a while.

Waking up to a photo of friends experiencing the Borough Market in London had me longing for cheese tasting and the aroma of roasted chestnuts. So as I sat drinking my instant coffee (previously mentioned friend moved out and took Nespresso machine) on a rainy Sunday morning with nothing urgent to do, I decided to tick off another Melbourne foodie hotspot.

The South Melbourne Market.

Forty minutes later, I was wandering the aisles and smelling the aroma of Simply Spanish’s paella cooking on Cecil Street. I admired the fresh bunches of baby carrots and beetroot and made a mental note to check out the $1 bag of vegetables on my way out.

As I got lost, market-goers were enjoying freshly shucked oysters and purchasing fresh sourdough. Some were simply enjoying some people watching, with a coffee and peanut butter & jelly donut from Clement coffee. Oh, how they looked divine.

But then I found Mecca. A nut lovers Mecca.

Also known as Rita’s coffee & nuts

I was instantly drawn in by the mound of pomegranate and pistachio turkish delight sitting on the counter, and the large display of fruit & nut mixes.

I wandered around the store mentally note-taking present ideas and laughing a little at the activated organic almonds.

There were homemade italian biscuits on the counter, and a mound of pistachio & almond halva waiting to be devoured.

Dried fruits, nuts and muesli mixes. Coffee and tea by the scoop. Fresh Licorice and chocolate-coated freeze dried strawberries. Bottles of sauces and jars of nut butters, and bags of lentils and grains.

There really was something for everyone.

I even got to meet Rita.

That’s the thing about markets. Stallholders actually run their stalls. And they do it with so much passion too.

Rita sliced chunks of turkish delight and nougat for myself and other shoppers. They were a winner, as was Rita. She was hilarious, looked after her customers and had me coming back. That is, after I found an ATM. Word of advice: take cash.

I returned, spent more money than I intended, and left with some chai tea and a small bag of Helen’s Organic Sensation fruit & nut mix. (Those chocolate and nut mixes get me every time.)

Before I left the market, I had one more thing to do. For I didn’t think my south-melbourne-market-acquainted friends would approve if I left without trying the famous South Melbourne Market Dim Sims.

It was okay though. My market adventures had left me feeling a little peckish.

So I had a fried dim sim. I believe if you do it, you should do it properly. Although, they do sell them steamed as well.

It was good. Very good.

You should try one too.

After all, it is Wednesday and the market is open.

∼

But if spontaneous mid-week market trips don’t work for you, spice up your hump day with my market inspired chai-infused apple ‘dim sims’.

I think they are delicious.

Happy Wednesday.

Emma xo

∼

Chai-infused Apple ‘Dim Sims’

Makes two

Ingredients

1 1/2 Granny Smith apples

1 tbsp sultanas

2 tsp Chai tea

1/2 cup boiling water

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp maple syrup

1 sheet of filo pastry

Melted butter/margarine for assembling

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Place tea in tea infuser (a tea bag will also work) & allow to brew for ~5 minutes.

Core & dice the apples, leaving the skin on for extra fibre.

Place apples, tea, sultanas, cinnamon & maple syrup (I liked this addition, omit/change if you like ) in saucepan, and simmer until apples are tender & liquid is reduced.

Remove from heat & allow to cool.

Cut pastry into 15cm x 15cm squares (my sheet divided into 6 squares).

Using a basting brush, brush each piece of pastry with melted butter.

Line two cups with baking paper and three sheets of filo, and divide apple mixture evenly.

Fold in each corner of the pastry; ensuring to brush each time.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Enjoy with a dollop of yoghurt.

Although, vanilla ice cream would go alright too.

Chobani & Instagram friends.

June 25, 2014April 25, 2017 | Emma

Two weeks ago I received this tweet from Chobani Australia.

Well of course I replied within three seconds. A Chobani workshop? Tell me where and when and I’m there.

Turns out I have got myself the name of ‘Chobaniac’ – someone who loves Chobani.

I was lucky to be invited to attend an exclusive culinary inspiration workshop led by

Lee Atkinson (Executive Chef of Culinary Academy Sofitel Melbourne)

and

Ivan Cook (Chobani’s resident Chef).

And boy oh boy, did I jump at the chance. My friend, dietitian-to-be and fellow chobaniac, Jenna (Cheering for nutrition) was invited also, so I was sure to get her on board promptly.

We arrived last night at the Sofitel Melbourne not really knowing what to expect, eagerly found our Chobani-eating location and soon ran into fellow breakfast enthusiasts Sarah (Slice of Sarah) and Mardi. Later I realised, I never introduced myself. It seems that Instagram has eliminated the need for formal introductions.

Ten lucky people were attending this event, where we were greeted with a glass of Champagne and the first culinary creation.

Chobani 2% Greek yoghurt with parmesan crisp, asparagus, quail egg and truffle oil.

We had the chance to mingle and taste more culinary creations.

Tempura Prawns with Chobani 2% plain & sweet chilli sauce.

Spring Rolls served with a dipping sauce of Chobani 2% plain, coriander and something else. I was too busy tasting it to remember the exact ingredients. But yum! Also, special thanks to Mardi for being a great hand model.

Jenna and I had the chance to catch up with our friend and biochemistry lab partner, Jelena. Together we suffered through three-hour biochemistry pracs and constantly discussed Dietetics prospects. Fast forward two years and Jelena is working for Chobani (how cool!) with a massive rock on her finger. Jenna is three days out from finally being a dietitian, and me now an unemployed graduate dietitian. It’s pretty great.

The plan for the night was to all cook and share a Chobani-inspired entree and main, and individually speak to the Chobani marketing team.

Before I was given a knife, I was interviewed. If this is how a dietetic interview plays out, I’ll be one happy dietitian.

I was asked questions around how I use Chobani, what do I love about it, how did I start eating it. I was also asked what they could do to make me eat more of it. Well at minimum two tubs per day; I don’t know if my bank account would really appreciate that. I discussed my concern about the low calcium content, but acknowledged that this results from the straining process (removing all the excess whey) which makes this yoghurt thick, creamy and higher in protein than other Greek yoghurts.

I was also asked to picture what Chobani would look like as a person if they turned up at a plus one at my dinner party. That was a hard one. I think I would just worship them.

In the Sofitel kitchen we observed Lee prepare the entree and the main, and then we attempted to do it ourselves.

For entree we were having Kingfish Sashimi with coriander & lime Chobani yoghurt foam, avocado cream, micro herb & lime segments.

Yoghurt foam. Oh my goodness, yum.

Jenna, being a raw fish disliker, made a tiny one.

Go Jenna, I’m so proud.

For main we prepared Chobani Yoghurt Marinated Lamb Backstraps, fire roasted peppers, eggplant chips, water cress & Pomegranate molasses dressing.

If you can’t tell, I’m pretty impressed with my efforts.

As we tasted and appreciated our culinary creations, we first discussed Chobani’s future as a group.

I bonded with my fellow Chobaniacs over breakfast in Melbourne and even made plans to catch up the following week. We discussed our careers, HECS debts and the cons of social media.

Then we were served dessert.

Warm Bitter chocolate fondant, Chobani ice cream & macerated berries.

I have no words.

It was the perfect way to finish off a perfect evening.

Actually no, being given two of Chobani’s famous glass bowls and chopping board was the perfect end to the most amazing, random evening ever.

So as I sit by my heater on this cold, winter Melbourne morning, enjoying my breakfast out of my new Chobani bowl, I would like to say a huge thank you to the team at Chobani for putting on such a great night . I learnt so much about how to use Chobani and I’m really looking forward to tasting some of the new products that will be on our shelves in the future. And please, if you ever need a taste tester, be sure to let me know.

Happy Wednesday.

Emma xo

Broccoli & blueberries

Talking food, nutrition & the simple things in life – Emma Stubbs

Live

Moving house with a side of curry.

Purple love & positivity.

Dietitian? But I don’t need to go on a diet.

The South Melbourne Market & Chai-infused apple ‘dim sims’.

Chobani & Instagram friends.