The art of not being at home

Wicked, wicked morning! How dare the sun so surely rise to gloat over her misery?
- The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

Running late to climbing one night I realised I needed to eat something slightly more substantial than my usual muesli bar as lunch had been somewhat non-existent (that's what happens when you turn up for work intending on being there only a couple of hours but then everything goes mad and you're there all day with no time to even leave the office).


A quick trip to Huckleberry Farms solved the problem with a salad (a mix of their quinoa and raw slaw salads) and an energy ball. Yes, I did eat this in the car...tragic!

Another day I found myself out and about in Mt Eden during lunchtime. A trip to The Blue Bird seemed like the perfect option.


I picked up one of their kumara sandwiches filled with baked kumara, hummus, chutney and heaps of salad (not that you can see all of this from the photo). Filled the spot.

I've been a bit lazy on the baking front so I'd run out of muffins for breakfast so I stopped by Kokako on my way from the gym to work.


Their ginormous spelt blueberry muffins totally rock.

Last week I think I managed to be out almost every night so I ate way too many takeaways to mention! One night I stopped by Burger Fuel with my darling cousin D for dinner after watching my Mum in a fashion show!!!


I got a modified Beetnik burger (no cheese, no aoli and added peanut sauce) with kumara fries and a soy lime malt shake. This managed to fill me up so much I could hardly move afterwards! The problem is that I love kumara fries and I also love their soy malt shakes so unfortunately I ended up getting both...not the best idea but certainly the tastiest!

But best of all was a long lunch break with a friend at Revel.


Their beans on toast rock my world!

When rather short on time

The terrain about them was as though freshly painted, or rather, as though like an old landscape that had grown dead and dull it had been varnished and now shone out anew, each fragment of the enormous canvas, pristine, the whole, a glory.
- Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake

Life has been pretty hectic and exhausting (yeah, I know I say that a lot but it's been even more than normal if that's possible!) but hopefully things will calm down a little bit by the end of the month...but then again, probably not!

Since I'm so often short on time it's really handy to have super quick things around that require very little preparation and work but still taste good. I often have a container of Turkish Kitchen traditional falafel mix in my fridge for a quick dinner. Scoop out what you want, fry it up and hey presto!


It's a habit of mine to dollop spoonfuls of tahini on top of my cooked veges. I'm too lazy to make a sauce and I adore tahini so it's a win win situation! Add some kumara chips and life is beautiful (or at least dinner!).

Here's another meal using the trusty falafel mix...


Falafel, salad and toast with peanut butter and hazel cocoa malt spread - the lunch of champions!

Believe it or not there have actually been occasions of late I've had time to be more adventurous (not often enough I admit but at least they appear at times!)...


Cornmeal waffles with grilled, marinated asparagas (both from Vegan Brunch) and stir-fried veges and tofu. My waffles hated me and kept sticking to the waffle iron but they still tasted delicious which is the main thing I guess.