Friday Favorites: A Pesto #Recipe, Coloring-in and a song from Demi Lovato!

G'day from Oz, lovely friends and welcome to my Friday Favorites post, the first one for a very long time! Today I'm sharing a pesto recipe, some coloring-in fun and a song from Demi Lovato!

Favourite Flowers

My favourite flowers aren't actually flowers this week because I am loving all the gorgeous foliage of Autumn!

Favourite Recipe

This week I picked as much basil as I could from our garden and made a huge batch of pesto.

If you don't have a favourite pesto recipe I love this one that I adapted from Jamie Oliver.

Ingredients

1 large or 2 small garlic cloves, chopped or 1 heaped teaspoon store-bought pureed garlic
2 cups fresh basil leaves. I've modified this recipe many times by using baby spinach, kale, coriander (cilantro) or rocket.
45g (1/4 cup) pine nuts, lightly toasted. You can replace the pine nuts with any nut of your choice. Pistachios, cashews and almonds all work really well.
60g (3/4 cup) shredded Pecorino, Romano or Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Method

Place the pine nuts, basil, garlic and parmesan in the bowl of a food processor and process until finely chopped. With the motor running, gradually add the oil in a thin steady stream until well combined. Season and enjoy over warm pasta, as a dip with your favourite crackers and vegetables or as a condiment with barbecued meat.

Favourite way to Relax

Has anyone else released their inner child and started colouring-in to help them relax?

Via Color Pages for Mom

I love this creative idea that requires us to be still and quiet yet also stimulates brain areas related to motor skills, the senses and creativity. Psychologist Gloria Martínez Ayala believes that we activate different areas of our two cerebral hemispheres when coloring:

"The action involves both logic, by which we color forms, and creativity, when mixing and matching colors. This incorporates the areas of the cerebral cortex involved in vision and fine motor skills [coordination necessary to make small, precise movements]. The relaxation that it provides lowers the activity of the amygdala, a basic part of our brain involved in controlling emotion that is affected by stress." (Via Huffington Post)

I have a few pages of coloring on my Colour My World Pinterest board if you would like some more coloring pages!

Follow Natasha in Oz @ natashainoz.com's board Colour my World on Pinterest.

Favourite Song

Olly Murs & Demi Lovato - Up

Favourite Fashion

I'm loving all the fabulous fashion ideas at the blog Hello Gorgeous. Yasi's style is elegant, modern and just plain gorgeous! She shares all of her professional outfits, along with where she bought the pieces.

What are your favourite things this week? Please let me know-I love to learn new things and get hints about up and coming trends from you, my blogging friends!

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