WHO: AMANDA NIEHAUS
WHAT: ECOLOGIST, PHOTOGRAPHER & WRITER
WHERE: BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
VISIT: www.easypeasyorganic.com
FFF LOVES… well, we just love Amanda. Strong, passionate and gorgeous, she is our No 1 Organic-FFF!
What are your staples?
I like experimenting with different flavours, but my basics are: extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, flour (every kind you can imagine!), sea salt, cumin, lime, Barambah Organics milk, veggies and herbs from the garden, coconut milk, beans (of all sorts), passata and butter. Real, organic butter.
What are your indulgences?
I wish I could say I didn’t indulge every day … but life’s short, right? I love homemade mayo, sour cream, coffee, Green & Blacks chocolate, red wine, and Ivyhome Dairy organic ‘mud cream’ (FFF notes: Mud cream is cream so thick, it’s just one step away from butter!).
What can’t you live without?
Robbie. Wait, you mean food? Then, dairy. Specifically, sour cream. And I discovered in eastern Europe this year that there are whole cultures based around sour cream. Love it.
What is past its use-by-date?
I just found two wilty kale leaves this morning … poor little guys. Actually, I’m pretty good at using things up – I hate wasting food. A lot of my recipes use up those sad, lonely little ingredients.
What is your pantry craving?
Space. We live in a townhouse so I look at all those spacious country kitchens in magazines and drool. Sometimes I wonder … do we actually need a second bedroom? Nelle could sleep in a pantry, couldn’t she?
About Amanda (in her own words):
I’m an American ex-pat, living in Brisbane with my two favourite people in the world – Robbie (my partner) and Nelle (our 3 year old). And a really cute Jack Russell. And now, a garden. And I suppose you could say I live with my laptop, too – I’m on it so much.
After having breast cancer at age 32, I decided to eliminate as many chemical contaminants in my family’s life as possible – you know, the pesticides and herbicides and BPAs and funny unpronounceables … and Easy Peasy Organic was born.
My philosophy is that having a healthy, sustainable lifestyle can be easy, cheap, and practical. So my recipes are based around stuff you’re likely to have in your pantry (or, ahem, should have), and things you can create with a 3 year old pulling on your skirt.
My background is actually in ecology (I even have a PhD!), but cancer and motherhood have taken me down another path. Now I write about food, and living, and even science. I take lots of photos and spend a lot of time with my friends … and of course, my two favourite people.