Sculptedkitchen

🌳🌳🌳I have this enchanting book called the “Pop up forest”, which has beautiful pops up to bring the words and pictures alive.

I read the part of mycorrhizal networks to my family. 🍄

A root system under the trees is like a whole unseen universe. Did you know that fungi live on these roots in thread like filaments like mycelium?

The mycelium helps absorb water and nutrients from the soil and in exchange the tree gives the fungus some of its sugar! They connect the trees to each arrow allowing them to communicate and share food.

A young tree that needs carbon asks nearby trees for some and they provide it - EVEN IF THEY BELONG TO A DIFFERENT SPECIES. 🌳🌴🌲

They prepare and warn other trees when disasters like disease or insects attack and have time to prepare ahead of time to defend themselves.

…….

We have completely destroyed and continue to destroy OUR connections that bind us all together. I feel so much when others are suffering because of the very fact that we are all so connected. We’ve ruined roots and bull dozed the humanity that connects us. How are we to recover? And there is no end in sight to this brutality?

There is beauty in vulnerability. In being open and having compassion for each other despite where we live, what we look like or our beliefs. We can connect, express and be with one another despite our differences. We can’t expect to wipe out lives and not feel the impact of it in our soul. In

I’ve been writing for over two months. Sometimes I feel like I can’t stop writing and other times I have no words to describe the deep turmoil I’ve been feeling. In all my years of writing though, this I’m sure of - nothing has mattered in my writings as deeply as what I share today. Nothing else matters. Everything seems to pale or needn’t matter.

I’ve always tried to make this a safe place. I’m not here to change your mind or argue with you. If you don’t like what I have to say please feel free to leave

Lilac appreciation

I veered off course this morning and ventured into my old stomping grounds. I miss the neighbourhood. I miss knowing each and every tree. The trails. And? The lilacs. I was incredibly blessed to have acres of lilacs around the corner from where I used to live.

I felt like visiting them. When I left the car I could smell the air full of fragrance from these trees. There is not one flower out there that has the look nor the smell of a lilac.

Which made me realize - there’s not one person out there like me. The countless hours I spend creating, photographing and thinking endlessly of how I can make something, like a photograph, be a capture of what I feel on the inside.

Why do I bring this up? Because I see this image shared on Facebook or places I may not venture to, and there is not one mention of who made it. I don’t share my photos to make millions or to gain anything from it except the pure joy it brings me. 

But also wanted to say:
✨Not every thing you make will be above the norm but it’ll still matter
✨Your presence in the world may be small, but will have an enormous impact to those around you
✨Waking up and doing your best is enough
✨Your own joy will fulfill yourself
✨You are uniquely creative and beautiful
✨Your voice may be tiny but your thoughts are loud and profound

✨✨✨✨✨

Love you
Sarah

May holds so much joy for me. Spring has usually sprung with flowers erupting in trees and slowly from the grounds. I sit and stare at a painting my son drew maybe last year of different shades of lilacs amongst a blue sky and sunshine. It makes me smile that he shows me his love for me in such a simple but incredibly caring way.

This year as I became one year older though, I’ve just had to succumb to my limits. My body and mind are just not syncing the same way. While I see the lilacs scattered throughout the city, I can’t bring myself to bake and photograph with them like I did with so much joy and passion in previous years.

I keep waiting for something to emerge and for time to somehow just allow a process or routine to follow but it’s not. And while I may feel wiser this year, I certainly don’t feel like I have any more clarity. I can’t gain it by over-controlling, or being a people pleaser. Or trying to be everything that I just can’t be all at once.

Starting to enjoy making gluten free cakes - this one is a gluten free lemon blueberry poppyseed cake! Link in bio or here: https://sculptedkitchen.com/the-best-gluten-free-blueberry-lemon-poppyseed-cake/

Lots of love,
Sarah xx

✨it’s December 2022. I was pumped. I had this vision of getting my chiselled self back. To be a little harder around the edges than soft…January came and gone and my muscle weight was going on! Sweet!
…..

But life threw me a curve ball (doesn’t it always!?) that has made it challenging to even walk at times. I’ve lost 5 pounds of muscles now and feel so rejected.


But the path towards greatness is not always linear, right? There’s always good that comes out of every moment. It’s given me a chance to work out a different muscle. The thoughts and feelings that come within my brain can lead to me to magnifying negativity into a spiralling downward unravelling. Although I’m quite strong in realizing that this is a temporary (God, I hope it’s temporary) set back, it forced me to just appreciate simple steps. And trying to relax to allow for healing. It also showed me the power of how stress can impact your life in such a huge way. Most of my stressors have been physical so far - eye twitches, muscle tension and recently, sciatica. There’s just so much your body can hold on to - past trauma and current life anxiety that will manifest itself one day in your body in some shape or form.

So this is your girl telling you to take the time to relax. Whatever it is that makes you happy. Dopamine doesn’t have to just come from your phone, it can come from:
1. Listening to the birds sing
2. Planning your vegetable garden
3. Laughing uncontrollably at something so silly
4. Washing your face
5. Taking a bath/shower
6. Drawing and creating
7. Writing :)

This LUSH carrot cake is up on my blog!!! Or I’ll try to put the recipe in the comments!

Love you xx
Sarah

Happy Earth Day to you all! 🌏🌲🌱🌳🍃

I’m back this year with a beautiful charcuterie board to remind you that eating more veggies, fruits and plant based is a wonderful way to get healthy!

And I’m honoured to pair with a company that takes care of the world and brings us products that have sustainably harvested plants, organic and vegan!

products has zero fillers, binders or flow agents and is founded by Adriana Ayales who is a MASTER herbalist and has grown sustainably sourced over 200 different herbs from around the world! She’s such a joy to have connected with and I absolutely adore her. 

For this board I made vegan quest, a spicy cheesy cashew dip and chimichurri! Check out her website for the details on the recipes.

Check out their Earth Day sale, which has almost everything 22 % off. Use the link in my bio and use code ERTHDY22! Sale is until April 25th.

How have you implemented some changes to be more conscious of your choices and impacts it has on the climate? 🌍

🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃

✨Sometimes you meet some gems of a soul in your life and you wonder what you’d have done without them. I feel this way about this brand and the woman behind it!
This recipe’s shining ingredient is ’s Golden Sun Milk. 🌞🌌

These ramen noodles are drenched with an irresistible creamy sauce and delicious vegetables. 🤤

I love being able to work with brands who resonate so deeply with me. I get the honour of taking their brand and providing them with something they could use to resonate with their audience. 💗💗

From their website: “Turmeric has been used in Ayurvedic medicine, and other rainforest cultures, for thousands of years for conditions such as joint pain, digestive issues, fatigue, stiffness, and more.”
For someone that has used tumeric all her life, I knew right away that a little bit of this powder goes a long way. Full of fragrance and flavour, you can definitely taste the difference between other powders you have at home. It also has the immense benefit of having maca root, cordyceps and a host of beneficial powders to round out this robust taste of tumeric powder.

Check out the link in my bio for the recipe and to receive your discount code if you love Anima Mundi Herbal products as much as I do! ✨✨🦋💙

Enjoy making magic in your kitchen!!! 🌌✨

Thank you for being here 🙏
Love
Sarah

https://sculptedkitchen.com/easy-and-creamy-golden-milk-ramen-noodle-curry-with-tofu/

✨I spend a lot of time observing. Mostly observing my family, my friends and people I sit around. The best part of being reserved is you don’t feel the need to interject or prove your point. It may be quiet on the inside, but on the inside I’m all but quiet. 

Though I don’t think I was always quiet, but as upbringings do have a way of moulding you, you realize that sometimes your opinions don’t really matter.

So I watch and learn so much about others. I learn about what hurts them and the many masks people wear to shield them from the hurt they may not know has shaped their existence.

Though my mouth may remain sealed, my heart is open. I feel like every night it gets a bit healed only to be open little by little by the activities of the day.

Injustice, pain, hardships, arguments, exhaustion, relationships - all make the heart vulnerable.

Faking it, living in a bubble, extreme positivity, food - all were patches to mend the heart.

I feel like sometimes people have intentionally shut their hearts to ward off pain.

The heart is not just a beautiful muscle lying inside of you. Listening to its subtle beating reminds me that we all have that same muscle. Let it guide you to what truly matters in this world. Let is speak out against what matters. Let is remember what truly is real to us. Let’s let our hearts pe*****te the good we can do and not look the other way hoping others can solve it. No. We are the ones who have been given this gift to heal.

This is my strawberry mint chocolate mousse tart :) Recipe in link in bio and comments!

Sarah xx

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I was cutting a mango the other day. I carefully sliced close to the seed, trying to get as much of the flesh as I could in a single straight cut. My daughter was watching and she and I have this on going banter “Mommy, I want to be good at ____ (inset whatever it is I’m doing at the moment) like you are when I get older.”

I smile. I breathe deeply.

I suddenly feel my thoughts shifting and churning and I’m back to feelings of inadequacy and shame. I push my past out and shake it off.

I look at my daughter who’s smiling sweetly and her eyes are filled with momentary pleasure.

How often are we in a hurry and pass beautiful moments that are gifts in their own little way. Sometimes my thoughts come back to social media and how there are so many missed opportunities. I remember that this may be my season to pause and opportunities will continue to emerge. I get fixated on a glorious version of my future self to the very ordinary present self. I just need to trust the now. And that even if I’m where I want to be today, that tomorrow version of yourself isn’t always guaranteed.

I want to live in the moment of cutting a mango into a flower and enjoying the delight of my kids with simple pleasures of life.

I hope that we:
⭐️find moments of kindness to extend to others
⭐️Give patience to those that slip up
Practice waiting and not rushing to the next moment
⭐️ embrace and celebrate the you that’s ever evolving

I am ever so grateful that you’ve stayed on my journey. There are many outlets and pages that it’s almost dizzying. You’ve stayed and I am so thankful.

Made this today for a special friend who also delights in those magic moments.

Much love,
Sarah

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✨Last week I experienced one of those deeply fearful days. One that exists in the peripheries of your mind and seldom trickles to being a forefront thought. Life just comes to a standstill and you’re left with thoughts swirling in ALL crevices of your existence.

Such monumental events creates pause for me as I’m naturally reflective, curious and want to explore all possibilities of what it could mean.

Without a doubt, it can lead to thoughts that the world is crumbling and you are standing alone with your own foundation trembling.

But

You’re also allowed to let the positive in and enjoy small victories.

You can be strong but at the same time rest.

You can acknowledge the flaws of yourself but at the same love yourself.

You can be sad, mad, happy and excited all at the same time.

You can also be confident in what you do, but also feel like you’re lacking when you are surrounded by others.

You CAN believe in the good in everyone. I never give up on the goodness people have. Doing so does not make you naive or silly.

You can be different than your child self, your teenager self and your yester-self.

You can take time to care for yourself. Doing so does not diminish your self worth or in any way makes you weak.

I’ve moved away from trying to be a billboard of perfection and share a mirror of my insides. Healing, uncertain, imperfect and flawed but perfectly happy with it all.

Got this lovely cauliflower soup on the blog 🥳 find it in the link in bio or I’ll try to type it up in the comments.

Thanks for being here. Love you 🥰

Sarah xx

✨Releasing (TRYING more like it) ideas/beliefs/thoughts within myself

✨Overdoing: This is a hard one. I remember precisely the age and the time when I was like: I’m going to do things differently. I’m going to listen differently. I’m going to talk differently. Just be a different mom overall to my kids. What I’ve created, though, from my fault was an overachiever mom. I will find, clean, cook and plan all the things that I believe I’ve created kids who just can’t do things for themselves.

✨Not knowing: As a kid, didn’t we always want to know everything? If there was a secret or a gossip that we missed out on we felt so left out. Not knowing is a beautiful thing truly. I don’t have to take responsibility or the burden of knowing something I’m not supposed to know. It’s very freeing to just tune out on news whether it’s bad or good.

✨Politeness vs kindness: there’s politeness when you stay quiet because you don’t want to have conflicts in the relationships. Sometimes politeness isn’t the answer but when you lead with a kind heart, you always know the answer which may be the opposite of what politeness tells you to do.

✨My fig and peach cake! Honestly I’ve never seen anything like this being made and it’s truly a delicious flavour combination!! Great for your family or when you have guests! Recipe in my link in bio or I’ll try to type it up in my comments :)
✨✨✨✨

https://sculptedkitchen.com/fig-and-peach-cake/

Much love,
Sarah

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✨Chia pudding over the years! Old and new followers -you’ve seen me make chia puddings a million times! I finally have an indent blog post filled with photos and how to! Please do take the time to check it out! Which chia pudding photo is your favourite?

I’ve recently been doing some self discovery. I feel like I always am tbh but truly just looking back into the past and the present.

I’ve been overcome with emotions on that parts of me that I didn’t see or didn’t understand fully. I’m frustrated, but mostly sad, that I didn’t live up my own personal expectations. Ultimately the time has gone and you can’t undo the past.

I know there are parts of myself that are gifted like feeling emotions differently, paying attention to details in others and my surroundings and just innately knowing right from wrong. But I still feel like a broken jigsaw puzzles.

I’ve learnt that intuition is real. When you deeply think something is wrong - it usually is - whether it’s with you, your family or in the world around you. Trust you intuition.
I’ve learnt a few things in the past few months which has been life changing:

✨I’m from a generation that brought me up with silence on every topic. Suffering? Yeah I did that alone. Difficulties? It was tidied up under a rug.

✨Talking about what is hard is actually so revealing and can bring about massive change in ourselves and equip us to help others

✨We are living (at least that’s what I feel in Canada) somewhere where the favours are dealt against us. How can we move and eat well when there are so many challenges facing us?

✨Advocate for each other. Strangers and friends alike. It will help the world be a better place.

What has been illuminating for you this year?

Love
Sarah xx

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