Is a Permaculture Design Certificate right for you? My experience at OAEC

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Emily Uebergang Posted in EcoLiving, Home & Garden | 2 Comments

The final hugs goodbye were like tearing family away from me when I left on this undefined trip at the start of the year. It had only been 2 weeks, but when you’re living in close quarters to 23 others students who all share a very similar and admirable outlook on life, it doesn’t take long for the heart strings to connect.

The 2 week, 72 hour, Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) is a globally recognised course constructed by the one and only Bill Mollison, ‘Godfather to Permaculture’, back in the 70s. Here’s a quick run down on Permaculture if you’re unfamiliar with the term. Whether you want to complete the course in Australia, Thailand, Costa Rica, Africa, Canada, Spain or like myself, in California, there’s a course out there for everyone that would make sense for you depending on your needs. For me, it made sense with timing, location and the fact I would be spending the next who-knows-how-long travelling through the Americas. This decision was priceless.

Paleo Sardine Mousse and what makes them nutritional bombshells! (Video Recipe)

Posted on March 20, 2014 by Emily Uebergang Posted in Recipes | 8 Comments

Once upon a time I squirmed at the thought of eating sardines, let alone a variety of fish that ventured beyond the deep-fried and frozen kind. My immature taste buds were not akin to the flavour, nor were my nostrils taking to the smell. A little over 2 years ago, after many, many years of avoiding a secondary sample since ‘my first time’ when I was probably only about 8 years old, I was left pleasantly surprised. Suddenly, it was as though my taste buds were having a party and everyone was invited. I actually LOVED them. Yeah, it happened just like that. There was no weaning period. No masking the flavour with pillars of sauce or seasoning. It was just like, BOOM! One day I tried them, and then I fell in love. Is that what love at first sight feels like?

Raw Banana Bites (Gluten free, Paleo, Raw Vegan, Naturally Sweetened)

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Emily Uebergang Posted in Recipes | 1 Comment

When I made these, temperatures were sky-rocketing to a ridiculous and sweltering 44°C in Australia. I needed a refreshing snack and I needed it pronto! Hence these bad little boys came into existence. I was craving banana and since I ditched the whole refined sugar thing quite some time back, was seeking a naturally sweetened option. Can’t go wrong with dates! So these bite size morsels did just the trick.

10 Must Watch Sustainability Documentaries (and where you can watch them for FREE)

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Emily Uebergang Posted in EcoLiving | 5 Comments

I’m a bit of a documentary hoarder, if ever there were such a thing. Basically, I make long lists of all the documentaries that I want to watch (with them having been recommended to me somewhere along the grapevine) but I never get around to actually watching half of them. Instead, I hoard them with every intent to watch them but then life gets in the way, and they get pushed down my priority list and you know how the story goes. It may be that my problem is I have more of a thing for hoarding and making lists then, right?

Well, I’m proud as punch to say that these ones I have actually watched and can highly vouch for. These sustainability documentaries are more than just thought provoking. They will change your perspective on the world. Watching them should be top of the priority list for everyone.

Spiced Paleo Blueberry Muffins with Cacao Nibs (Nut-free)

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Emily Uebergang Posted in Recipes | 1 Comment

These Paleo Blueberry Muffins are lightly spiced with all things nice… aka mixed spice. Why? For much the same reason why I added the cacao nibs. It just makes them so much more special and delicious. Isn’t that reason enough?

Afterall, I like special things, a little twist here and there and unexpected endings. Speaking of which, the other night I watched the Matt Damon film “Promised Land“. It’s all about fracking and a big global giant trying to step all over a small town in ‘whoop whoop’, USA. Oh it had a good twist!! I won’t ruin it for you but you MUST watch it. Gee whizzicals I love Matt Damon.

Packing a Natural First Aid Kit for Travel

Posted on March 6, 2014 by Emily Uebergang Posted in EcoTravel | Leave a comment

Throughout my previous travels as a ‘youngin’, I’ve taken a somewhat ‘come what may‘ approach to my health and well-being. I’m a sensible kid in reasonable health and shape. My parents raised me well. Use a little commonsense and she’ll be right! Right?

Maybe so. But after a little while, you begin to realize that you may be testing the luck of the leprechauns just a little bit too much. Sooner or later, something is bound to give way. I’m by no means ‘old’ but even so, your body starts to give off little signs. Ones, that with just a little bit of awareness, are trying to tell you something. That maybe, just maybe, you are not so invincible as your 21 year old self would have you believe. What you don’t want to find yourself in whilst traversing through the amazon rainforest, is a predicament of total preventableness, if such a word even exists. Clearly not. My spell-check doesn’t like it.

Banana & Blueberry Sweet Omelette with Greek Yoghurt… I’m obsessed (Video)

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Emily Uebergang Posted in Recipes | 4 Comments

I think I have a problem. I’m obsessed with the humble sweet omelette (aka ‘Omelet’ in Americano talk). Whether it be sweet, like this one, or savory, like this one, I don’t really care. I just want my eggs and I want them in omelette form… stat!

So considering that it’s possibly one of my most favourite food creations out there at the moment, I decided to create a video of how exactly you can whip one of these little beauties up as well, the sweet kind that is. There really isn’t that much to it but with my new found love for the camera, I thought it’d be fun! Not to mention, I get to eat the deliciousness afterwards.

6 Alternatives for City Composting When You Can’t Compost At Home

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Emily Uebergang Posted in EcoLiving, Home & Garden | 7 Comments

In the past, I’ve offered up some pretty cool ways to compost if you’re an urban dweller and don’t have the backyard space to have a full-fledged system. There’s this DIY Balcony Worm Farm and this Bokashi Composting System. There are those of us, however, who might not have the space or resources to do either and because it’s my goal in life to make composting sexy and totally accessible to everyone, I don’t want to leave you guys hanging!