Rainy weather, mould, dehumidifiers and air purifiers

First of all I’d like to acknowledge those affected by floods and those experiencing the trauma of war in Ukraine. It is an intense time on the planet and my thoughts and prayers are with those afflicted with trauma both near and far.  

The incessantly damp and humid weather we are experiencing across the eastern seaboard of Australia makes it a perfect breeding ground for mould! Our dehumidifier and air purifier run all day in our bedroom (which is sub terrain and prone to dampness)  except when we are sleeping. It’s so humid that the dehumidifier fills up every single day with 5L of water (which I then use on indoor plants and excess gets down drain as plants outdoors certainly don’t need it at the moment!).  

 I’ve been inundated in messages for recommendations of a dehumidifier and air purifier. 

 I set everything out this mould blog. 

 In there you’ll see my recommended dehumidifier and also my recommended air purifier. Sorry there’s no discount code - I haven’t contacted the companies to ask to be an affiliate or anything like that – I’m just sharing with my community products I personally use and recommend.  

Read the blog and do all the things mentioned in there to keep your house, especially wardrobes, dry. In addition, I also have aircon going most of the day to dry out the air as we can’t open windows due to rain. The air con has made a massive difference. I turn the vents up so that cold air isn’t blowing directly on me and turn off when sleeping.  

If you have mould - please don’t ignore it! Contact me to access my 4-step mould protocol which I put together with a building biologist which revolves around the Young Living mould-killing Thieves products (you need an existing YL account holder to connect you to set up a wholesale account for you which I can do and then I can give you access to ALL our resources including the mould protocol, personalised support, community educational events etc).  

I hope this helps,  

Love Soulla x

Get school ready with nutrient dense and yummy school lunch box ideas!!

With the start of a new school year, I know mamas are wanting easy, quick and healthy school lunch box ideas that are also super yummy. School lunch prep can become a Groundhog Day experience for the best us and trying to keep it fresh with variety can be challenging and exhausting. 

A school lunch box should ideally contain a balance of the 3 macro-nutrients - fats, protein and carbs. Nowadays, kids are overloading on empty filler refined carbs while healthy fats and proteins have fallen largely by the wayside. Fats from natural sources are essential for optimal brain function, strong immunity, optimal growth and development and provide our kiddies with slow released stable energy throughout the day without insulin spikes and crashes. Protein from pastured animals and natural sources provides amino acids necessary for muscle growth, immune function, hormone function and all metabolic processes. Fats and protein are typically (and conveniently!) naturally found together in nature but you can add in extra healthy fats such as some olives (in brine only!), avocados (add a good squeeze of lemon juice to prevent oxidation), dips and be sure to dress salads with olive oil and vinegar either from home or in a little dispenser that kids can dress before eating.

Here’s a little shopping list cheat sheet from me to you to make that morning rush hour (or night before prep) a little more enticing and less mundane (but no less nutritious). 

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my top 10 quality protein ideas

1. Wild smoked salmon from The Canadian Way sold at Broth Bar & Larder. Make sure the salmon that you buy is truly wild and NOT farmed – we don’t want to be ingesting a slew of antibiotics, soy pellets and colour dyes that are fed to farmed salmon and nor do we want to support industries that farm fish in cramped and crowded conditions that breed illness and disease (which then spread to the wild fish population).

2. Grass-fed preservative-free beef jerky and salami sticks from Kooee! Snacks sold at Broth Bar & Larder.

3. Preservative-free and pastured prosciutto (eg Little French Ham made by Bundarra Berkshires and Lonza made by De Palma Salumi, both sold at Broth Bar & Larder). Preservative-free pastured ham made by Bundarra Berkshires

4. Activated nuts and seeds (if permitted at schools) sold at sold at Broth Bar & Larder. If some grades are strictly nut-free then seeds are typically permitted. The higher grades are less strict than the early grades.

5. Hard boiled pastured eggs such as Mussett Holdings or Carbeen Pastured Produce or Holbrook sold at Broth Bar & Larder. Or left over omelette.

6. Gruyere and Reggio raw milk cheeses sold by weight at Broth Bar & Larder. Any organic cheese (even if pasteurised) is ok (if dairy is tolerated) so long as its full fat and not marinated in vegetable oils/ seed oils. You might like to try my Cheese Puffs recipe if kids prefer little cheesy muffins.

7. Preservative free, pastured and naturally fermented salami from De Palma Salumi sold at Broth Bar & Larder.

8. Tinned wild fish (e.g. salmon) in brine or olive oil (not vegetable oils/ seed oils!). BPA free tins can be bought online from Vital Choice.

9. Yogurt (dairy or coconut) made by Bondi Yoghurt sold at Broth Bar & Larder.

10. Left over meat from dinner eg keftethes (meat balls) - recipe here on my website. Add up to 200g of sneaky livers or our liver cubes in there 😜

Print the above list and stick it on your fridge!

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and for carbohydrates?

In terms of what carbohydrates, these should mostly come from VEGETABLES! Both above ground (e.g. cucumbers, tomatoes, capsicum, celery, salad greens), and root veggies (e.g. carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes - left over roast root veg is a great idea). Newsflash: despite their ubiquity, humans are not designed to eat much, if any, grains!!! If you must, do so occasionally and opt for properly prepared organic grains like sourdough bread (I love Iggys which we sell at Broth Bar & Larder) or sprouted gluten-free soy-free bread (and don’t forget to slather on the butter and other nutrient dense toppings like avocado or the protein sources listed above) or buckwheat based savoury muffins. You can use this recipe or this one and simply pour the mixture into muffin cases instead of a loaf tin and bake for 30 minutes.  

Vegetables can also come from the sea….so throw in some nori seaweed sheets for mineral rich sea vegetables. Be sure that the nori you buy isn’t bathed in vegetable oils / industrial seed oils. These toxic oils are now sneaking into everything so READ THE LABLES!! The smaller sized nori sheets now all seem to be bathed in seed oils except for this one brand (GimMe Organic). A reputable brand of large sheets is Honest Sea.

Vegetables can be pickled (e.g. sugar free pickles are sold at Broth Bar & Larder) or fermented (e.g. our sauerkraut through into a salad).

Add a small piece of fruit if desired for an additional carbohydrate source. Always team fruit with quality fats and proteins and not alone so as to avoid an insulin spike and crash (the fats slow down the release of blood sugars) and to ensure that the vitamins and minerals in the fruit are properly absorbed (as they are fat soluble). For example the English have strawberries and cream, the Italians have rockmelon with prosciutto and the Cypriots have watermelon with haloumi cheese. Such wisdom in ancestral diets!

Treats (free of refined sugars and other artificial ingredients), should be kept to an occasional offering and not a daily staple due to the sugar content (even natural concentrated sweeteners should be consumed sparingly!). At Broth Bar & Larder we sell a range of nutrient-dense treats including bliss balls, power bars, carob bears (sweetener free!!), gummies, and raw dark chocolate. These are all infused with loads of healthy fats such as raw cacao butter, coconut oils, or activated nuts. 

Other ideas – if wanting to bake something try my banana date walnut loaf and other recipes in the recipes section of my website.  

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containers, water bottles, soft pack eskis etc.

Lunch boxes - opt for stainless steel if possible. Also invest in some insulated containers to keep food cold (e.g. yogurt) or hot (soup, casserole).

Water bottles – opt for stainless steel and not plastic. There are numerous brands sold at various homeware, health food and organic stores. 

Soft pack eskis – these have built in icepacks so simply pop their lunch boxes in there to keep cold. Once again there are numerous brands sold at various homeware, health food and organic stores. Howards Storage World has a good variety. Or simply use an icepack next to their lunch box. 

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Happy lunch box prepping! I hope the first few weeks of school are kind on kids and mamas alike. 

Love Soulla x

The 2 things that I am super passionate about

2021 was in a word, wild, and if I was the producer of Sesame Street I would say that 2021 was brought to you by the letters “W.T.F”. However the shining light on the year was that in addition to the strong bonds of friendships and super tight knit communities formed, one thing that is crystal clear is that robust health is our number one asset.  

The key to vibrant health is my 2 pronged formula of increasing nourishment (in all areas of your life) and reducing the toxicity (in all areas of life). This simple-in-theory directive will allow the body to heal, thrive and function optimally including a building a much coveted strong immune system which will take on more and more importance in defending and protecting us. In practical terms there are 8 key areas of your life (what I call the 8 foundations of health) that profoundly impact your health (nutrition, hydration, movement, sleep, breathe, mindset, fun/play/connection and the environment in which you spend most of your time) – each of which can be a source of nourishment or toxicity. 

While all 8 foundations of health are vitally important, the 2 pillars that I remain super passionate about, are inspiring and empower people to make healthier choices with:

1. What to eat (and how to source their food and prepare it); and 

2. The personal care products and cleaning products they use in their home environment (as your home is the ONLY environment that you can control). 

These 2 areas what I call the low hanging fruit. You’ve got to eat 2-3 times a day and most people in the western world use a selection of personal care products and cleaning products. Healthy swapping to more nourishing choices is the fastest, simplest and most profound way to increase nourishment and reduce toxicity in your body. It’s not an additional thing we need to do- we are eating anyway, and we are using shampoo, conditioner, make up, moisturiser, hand soap, shower gels, sunscreen, cleaning agents, laundry liquids, dishwashing liquids, toothpaste etc. 

1. WHAT TO EAT

The best place to start when it comes to learning and understanding what to eat, where to purchase it from and how to prepare it is my Food as Medicine digital package. This package package is the culmination of over 2 decades of my learnings, research and practical experience consolidated into a comprehensive yet concise package for you. This ultimate health and wellness package contains:

• over 5 hours of nutritional talks on the fundamentals of robust nutrition, gut health and creating a less toxic home,

• a 60 page “How To” manual that sets you up for life

• 5 online cooking classes (bone broth, slow cooks, organ meats, baked cakes and chocolate).

Co presented with Marieke Rodenstein (Australia’s leading holistic dietician and Kresser Institute functional medicine practitioner) this ultimate package provides you with all the tools, information and resources to optimise your health. 

2. HOW DO I KICK THE CHEMICALS IN MY HOME (WITHOUT THE OVERWHELM)?

Learning how to kick the carcinogenic, endocrine disruptive, allergic and neurotoxic chemicals found in conventional personal care products and cleaning products (and even, dare I say, some of the organic brands) is one of the best gifts you can give to you and your family. The toxic build up from ‘everyday chemicals’ adds additional hardship to our already heavily burdened bodies. Our bodies can detoxify but only up to a degree. We have not evolved to deal with the unprecedented level of toxicity that the modern human is subjected to. Removing the toxicity in the one environment you can control will go a LONG way to reduce your toxic exposure. 

In my conversations with people over the last 2 decades, I have found that the 4 biggest obstacles to people choosing less toxic products are:

(a) the notion that toxic free products are more costly

(b) the notion that toxic free products are not as powerful 

(c) having no idea which brands to purchase (there’s a lot of greenwashing out there!) 

(d) the preference to buy from one place instead of multiple shops, brands and websites.  

In my free Healthy Home/ Healthy Swaps/ Essential Oil workshops that I will be running each month in 2022 (starting in Feb) I will show you how you can create a toxic free home sanctuary in a positive and empowering way without the overwhelm by healthy swapping at your pace one by one to all natural, super powerful and cost effective products that are delivered straight to your door from a one stop online shop. 

These small group gatherings will be run in person (which we all love and have missed!) from my home in Waverley and also simultaneously live streamed via zoom so you can attend from the comfort of your home. 

If you prefer to watch a workshop in your home at whatever time suits you rather than be pigeoned into a scheduled time, fill out the contact card on this page for us to send you a free 50 minute workshop covering the same content.

I look forward to seeing you at one of my Healthy Home workshops in 2022!

Love Soulla xx