healthy brownie recipe - baking with black beans!

I am trying to learn a few healthy treat recipes to spoil my small person, guilt free. This is the first recipe I have tried and it worked out perfectly. It is for a very rich and indulgent chocolate brownie. You whizz all of the ingredients together in a food processor or blender until smooth and then bake in a cupcake tray for about 20 minutes.

You will need...

1 banana
3 eggs
1 tin of organic black beans, drained and well rinsed
1/3 cup of cacao
1/3 cup of honey
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of  sea salt
1 teaspoon of Vanilla extract
4 tablespoons of coconut oil, melted

You could add nuts or chocolate chips. And you can substitute banana for pureed apple or pumpkin. You could even substitute the black beans for butter beans or chickpeas. I didn't even bother using a measuring cup and they still worked out pretty damn tasty. Dense and rich and full of healthiness!

Combine all of your ingredients in a blender or food processor and mix until smooth and a little bit mousse like.

Pour the mixture into a muffin tin that has been lightly greased, you could use the left over melted coconut oil.

Bake at approx 180 degrees until the brownies have risen gently and spring back when you touch them.

Yummo. Let me know if you try this out, I would love to hear what you think. Do you have any favourite , idiot proof healthy recipes that you can share with me??

Bec xx

bridal gown...

I am exhausted and nearly falling asleep watching the smurfs with my small person. Last night after I put my little to bed inspiration took hold of me and I stayed awake until 3 am sewing this dress. Maybe its because love is in the air? I'm not sure why, but I felt compelled to make something bridal... It was so nice to make something from start to finish in one sitting, listening to my favourite music, drinking wine and not worrying about the time.

I was so completely thrilled with the finished dress that I wanted to dance around in it all morning. My neighbors must think I am crazy, running around in the front yard in a wedding dress with a tripod, taking self portraits. At least Zavian thinks that it is amazing. She thinks her mummy is a princess.

I am not getting married. If I was I would try to keep my dress a secret until the special day. This dress is exactly what I would want to wear if I was getting married right now. I will sell the dress because now I have shown everyone and I am sure my taste will change before I actually do tie the knot. I will make my own dress though, when it happens.

I made this dress from a very soft old sheet with a subtle print. The bodice detail is in a thrifted lace. The wreath normally hangs above my bed, and the flower crown is actually a necklace I pinned in my hair. The bouquet is a bunch of flowers my love gave to me last week. Impromptu dress-up sessions call for a Macgyver  approach to styling. I did feel every bit the part though.

Yes, I do think I will make more...

Happy weekending.

Bec x

Pin-UP Shoot.....

A few weeks ago I had the absolute pleasure of being photographed by the divine miss Sarah from Red Leopard photography. I don't even know where to begin, this day was just so lovely in every day. I arrived fresh faced with a basket of dresses to Sarah's studio here in the southwest. Walking into her home you can see that this lady has devoted herself to the love of vintage and her craft.

We went straight through to the dressing room where she expertly made me up in gorgeous organic mineral make up. I sat sipping my coffee with hot rollers in my hair while we talked and giggled about all manner of things. I felt like I had known this lady for a lifetime.

Once my hair was in perfect victory rolls and my first outfit had been chosen we stepped into the studio for our shoot. I don't even know how long we were shooting for, I was having so much fun playing up to the camera. I have no doubt that even the shyest person would relax in miss Sarah's company.

I felt like a million dollars and I absolutely think that any vintage loving lady should have the pin-up experience at least once in her life. Leave your body hang-ups at the door. The red-leopard experience is all about feeling amazing and embracing the skin your in. Beautiful Sarah is offering $100 off a package to any of my readers who book in June or July. Trust me, you will love it, and you will have a disk full of pretty pictures to keep with you forever.

Sarah is also organising a fun pin-up girl competition for us ladies here in the Southwest! Maybe after a day in the studio you might feel like entering... I am thinking about it... (wink, wink)

So please take a moment to check out her facebook page and see her gorgeous work.

Thank-you miss Sarah for such a gorgeous day. You are a doll!

Market night details - the nitty gritty

A few months ago my little persons father told me that he planned to take Zavian for a holiday for three weeks this September. I have never spent longer than five nights away from my baby girl. Not ever. The idea of having three weeks off from parental duties both thrills and terrifies me. I know that I will miss her so much, but I think that if I am going to have such a long break away from her I may as-well make it count. So my plan is to board a plan and cross the ocean to California where my beautiful friend Lou will be waiting for me. From there I will venture to Mexico and on the way home have a quick two or three nights in New York.... Yes I am squeeing with excitement just thinking about it...

I have planned this upcoming facebook market night to help me fund my trip and make my dream come true. California or bust, baby! In a past life I was a travel agent, and my gorgeous best friend Brook who is travel agent extraordinaire has set up an account for me at her flight centre branch with a personal B-pay number, so all payments for dresses will be made directly to this account via B-pay.

Here is the nitty gritty -

View the dresses available HERE
The market night will commence at 6pm Western Australian time on Saturday the 18th of May. I will give notice when the market is open :)
The first person to comment sold under the dress they wish to purchase will be the successful buyer.
The successful buyer must also leave me their email address so that I may contact them with payment details.
All Australian orders must be payed for via BPAY and International orders must be payed via paypal.
Payment must be made by Monday the 20th
All orders will be shipped On Monday the 27th via Express post within Australia, or regular airmail internationally.

FREE SHIPPING WITHIN AUSTRALIA
$5 for shipping to New Zealand
$10 For shipping for the U.S and UK and worldwide :)

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT BPAY - PLEASE READ
B-pay is available via internet banking and is easy to use. If you purchase a dress I will send you my B-pay and reference numbers. Once you have paid via B-pay online you will be given an online receipt. Please save this receipt to your computer as a PDF file and email it to me as proof of payment.

SIZE CHART -
Size 6 = bust 83cm (32.5"),waist 65cm (25.5"),hip 91cm(36")
Size 8 = bust 88cm (34.5"),waist 70cm (27.5"),hip 96cm(38")
Size 10 = bust 93cm (36.5"),waist 75cm (29.5"),hip 101cm(40")
Size 12 = bust 98cm (38.5"),waist 80cm (31.5"),hip 106cm(42")
size 14 = bust 103cm (40.5"),waist 85cm (33.5"),hip 111cm(44")
size 16 = bust 108cm (42.5"),waist 90cm (35.5"),hip 116cm(46")
size 18 = bust 113cm (44.5"),waist 95cm (37.5"),hip 121cm(48")

RETURNS AND EXCHANGES
It is so important to me that you love your dress, so please do tell me ASAP if there is anything wrong when you receive it.. I am always happy to exchange if you find that the size is wrong. Refunds will be accepted on a case by case basis.

I think that is it for now, but its late and my brain is exhausted! I notify on FB if there are any amendments...

I dyed my hands blue..

This has been one of those weeks... My small person was home from daycare all week which meant that I missed out on three full days of sewing. We were up a lot in the middle of the night changing sheets so we were both a bit tired and grumpy after little sleep. Patience with my demanding, whining miss was wearing thin. In between tantrums, snot noses, refusing to eat the food she just asked me to cook, etc, there were a few moments of peace as she fell asleep snuggling on my lap that I loved and that made me feel like a good mumma again.

To keep me sane I squeezed in one little project that I have wanted to try for a while, dying some amazing antique linen sheets that I acquired some time ago. I didn't really love the warm creamy colour and I have been considering dying them for a while but was a little nervous about ruining them after they cost me such a pretty penny . An impulse buy at the craft shop had my mind made up, and I had the sheets in the tub with the dye within ten minutes of getting home with the packet.

I chose a navy die, but only left the fabric in the tub for ten minutes, rather than fourty five, to achieve a soft pale blue. It has been raining a lot this week, so when I put the sheets out to dry I had to leave them over night. Luckily it was fairly sunny yesterday so last night I had my new sheets on the bed and I was so happy with how they turned out. I enjoyed a full night of sleep with no interruptions, thank goodness, I needed it.

So I am sitting here now, having my second strong coffee, stuffing my face with croissants, and thinking about how I will catch up on my sewing this weekend now that the little is feeling better....

D.I.Y budget seagrass floor mat...

I found these seagrass mats for only $1 each at bunnings. I have bought about thirty of them to repurpose around my house. They are gorgeous and textural and they have a lovely smell about them.

I tied twelve of them together to make this larger size mat for my outside sitting area. I might add another row of four mats to make it larger.

It's very easy to do, I just tied each side together at about five points with jute twine. I do have a blister on my finger from tying knots, but I think it was worth it...

around here - change of the season

I have plenty going on around here at the moment. Numerous projects are on the go. Right now I am focusing on my bedroom and the outdoor sitting area. I am refreshing old furniture with a few coats of paint and thinking about how I am going to cosy up these concrete floors for winter.

My small person has a dreadful lurgy, so she is home with me watching movies and being ridiculously cute. She is in massive snuggle mode, so I am not achieving as much as I had hoped. It feels a little chaotic around here, but at times like this I think you just have to surrender control and try not to let it stress you out. So I am enjoying these snuggles from my little and taking it easy on the couch. Revisiting old issues of favourite magazines, drinking tea, eating soup...

Bec x