SAOW November Update

we are excited to announce the following new products!

beef stock cubes

We have frozen our beef broth (without added salt) into ice-cube sized portions for you to conveniently pop a cube or 2 into smoothies and sport drinks for extra nutrient-density and frothiness (without affecting the taste at all!). Any which way to sneak in our beloved bone broth into little bellies (big ones too!) is a winner. You can also add these cubes to sauces, stews and baby’s food for extra nutrient-density and liquid.

Our beef broth is long slow simmered using certified organic bones from 100% grass fed & finished cows raised on sustainable Australian farms. Our broth is truly unique because it was formulated in consultation with an integrative GP, a wholefoods dietician and naturopath to be completely free of FODMAPs and low allergenic as possible.   

I have been adding 2 cubes of frozen beef broth into my morning smoothies for almost 10 years. I started blogging about it in 2012 here and started teaching people how to do it when I started running my bone broth workshops 5 years ago. Earlier this year a customer walked into my workshop and said “You know Soulla, you really should start selling your frozen beef broth cubes”. So the idea was born but didn’t become a reality until recently as life got in the way. I’ve had tremendous response to this new product to date. It can be purchased directly from me or selected stockists such as The Health Emporium in Bondi, Foodies in Peakhurst and All Good Things Organic Market in Wollongong.

The retail price and list of ingredients can be found here.

Scroll down to read my nutrient-dense smoothie recipe!

veggie stock

We crafted this vegetable stock in response to a number of requests over the years and more recently. This stock is made by long slow simmering certified organic vegetables and dulse (a sea vegetable). This provides for a mineral-rich and intensely flavoursome vegetable broth. Suitable for vegetarians and vegans or those wishing to consume more nutrients in their diet. Some of my meat-eating friends drink veggie broth in place of water for parts of the day to up the nutrient-density ante. After all, vegetable broth can be thought of as nutrient-dense water. My 7 year old daughter is in love with my vegetable stock and asks for it. There must be minerals in there that her body is somewhat lacking. She loves taking it to school in a thermos container.

Click here and scroll down to the bottom of screen for the retail price and list of ingredients.

coming soon...

We also hope to launch a heap of new products in the coming weeks and months including veggie chips (salted or spicy), brothsicles (broth-infused ice blocks) made with Ovvio Organic teas or coconut milk based, gluten-free crackers, kale chips, spicy activated pumpkin seeds, spicy activated cashews, a gluten-free breadcrumb mix and ready-made casserole meals with root veggies and 100% pastured meat or chicken. Yes we have been busy (and that’s not the half of it!). 

I can’t wait to share these new products with you!  My passion is creating new products which don’t exist in the market or the quality of which is lacking. The products that I make and sell are IDENTICAL to the ones I make at home for myself and my kids. The same ingredients are used and the same preparation methods are employed. Our products are completely free of gluten, refined sugar, industrial seed oils and tap water. For these reasons and more. I believe our products are truly unique in the marketplace. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of my long-standing customers for your loyal support and for all of our new customers – your feedback and support has been touching and greatly appreciated. 

To make a delicious nutrient-dense smoothie for 1, blend the following with a stick blender:

+ 3/4 cup milk of choice (full-fat dairy, coconut or nut milk)
+ 2 frozen cubes of beef broth
+ 1/2 banana or 1-2 medjool dates
+ 1 tbsp extra virgin cold pressed coconut oil (optional)
+ 1-2 raw pastured egg yolks (optional). Not the whites! To understand why egg whites must NOT be consumed raw read one of my earlier posts here.

+ choice of flavours: 2 tsp raw cacao powder, 1/4 tsp vanilla bean powder, 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder, pinch of nutmeg, 1/4 cup berries or 1/2 fresh mango.

Leftovers can be poured into ice-block moulds and frozen to make brothsicles! You may like to increase the sweetener if freezing.

Our fermented veggies have recently had a make-over with new glass jars. We will update all of the photos on the website in the coming weeks but for information about prices and ingredients click here!

We make 3 types of fermented veggies:

+ Sauerkraut
+ Turmeric spiced sauerkraut
+ Kim ch

I recommend up to ½ cup of fermented veggies be consumed per day. I have a heaped tablespoon or 2 as a condiment with eggs for brekky and I throw some into my salad at lunch. Packed with probiotics that proliferate as a result of the wild fermentation method, home-made fermented veggies are a must for robust gut health, immune function, skin and oral health, brain function and metabolism.

We welcome the following 2 new stockists on board:

Bondi Beach Chemist.

This institution of 18 years in South Bondi (opposite icebergs) is now stocking our activating nuts….the perfect summer beach snack–attack!

They are open 7 days and can be contacted at:
bondibeach.chemist@frednet.com.au
(02) 91305270
14 Campbell Pde, Bondi Beach NSW

Enliven Fitness & Enliven Organics

Enliven Organics is a online Sydney-based organic food delivery service. 

Enliven Fitness Studio offers a holistic approach to your health, fitness and weight loss goals.

They are located at 327/308 Wattle Street, Ultimo, NSW 02 8203 4598.

Follow them on instagram @enlivenfitness.

They are selling a selection of our date coconut balls, power bars, broths, broth-based soups, chicken liver pate, kombucha and beet kvass.

Henley’s Wholefoods

Congratulations Sophie Henley for opening up her third Henley’s Wholeoods in under 2 years: first in Bondi Junction which I blogged about here, then in Alexandria and now in the Intercontinental Hotel, Cross Street, Double Bay. We are in love with your work and your contribution to the wholefoods scene in Sydney. All food in made on the premises. Sophie is meticulous about the source and processing of what she offers customers. Yet another amazing clean eats place for brekky, lunch and snacks. 

New organic butcher: “1888 certified”

Also opened in Double Bay is a new butcher “1888 certified” selling 100% grass fed and finished, antibiotic-free and hormone-free meat from local farms. Previously located in Hall Street Bondi they moved their store to larger digs just behind About Life in Double Bay. The founders, Charlie Crichton and Tim White, are farmers and their forefathers have been farmers and graziers since 1888, hence the name. I visited their beautifully decorated store on the weekend and spoke at length to owner Tim. I share with you this information that he relayed to me:

+ They can absolutely guarantee the provenance of their meat. It might surprise you that few butchers can. Their beef, lamb and heritage pork  come from farms owned by the owners themselves or a select number of other local farms. The chickens are from Bannockburn. All these meats are not certified organic but as I have previously discussed in an earlier post organic certification is comforting but is not the be-all-and-end-all. I always look behind the existence or absence of a stamp, and do my own due diligence to ascertain “Is this in substance organic?”

+ They age their own beef.

+ They make their own biltong and bacon.

+ The cured meats are from Pino’s Dolce Vita Fine Foods.

+ Some sausages contain breadcrumbs and some are grain-free. Please ask!

+ They hope to sell a range of organ meats and bones too in the near future. In the meantime, these can be specially ordered.

+ They only use filtered (and not tap) water in their products.  

Shop K2, 1 Kiaora Lane Double Bay 2028 NSW (under Dan Murphy's) 
(02) 9328 3200
info@1888certified.com.au

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Go check them out. We welcome them and wish them every success!

EQ Wholefoods, Moore Park

EQ Wholefoods popped up at the Entertainment Quarter (near the farmers market) but this pop up is now staying. Hooray! They have a huge open space stocked with beautiful organic wholefood products. They do not serve ready-to-eat food (yet!) – only pre-packaged products that you will recognise and love. How cool are the beautiful larger than life size photos of the raw cacao beans on the windows?! I wonder how many people would even recognise these as raw cacao beans? Now you know...

If anyone has any lingering concerns about the consumption of red meat following the recent WHO report, I suggest you read Chris Kresser’s response here and/or Mark Sisson’s response here.  

"Mama, what's so bad about vegetable oil?" my 7 year old happen to ask me on the day that an article in the Sydney Morning Herald appeared highlighting the dangers of vegetable oils.

The article summarises that "Cooking with vegetable oils releases toxic chemicals linked to cancer and other diseases, according to leading scientists, who are now recommending food be fried in olive oil, coconut oil, butter or even lard."

Amen. Knew we were onto something. Vegetable oils are one of the most unhealthy fats you can consume for the following reasons:

 1. they are extremely high in omega 6 polyunsaturated fatty acids which cause inflammation, and inflammation in turn is the root cause of all (yes all!) modern disease including cancer, cardiovascular disease, hormone disruption, mental health problems including violent behaviour. This is all backed by robust scientific studies. 

2. they are made by an extremely industrialised process

3. they contain no nutritive benefit (100% empty calories) 

4. they are not heat stable yet they are used to cook with further denaturing the heat sensitive omega 6 fats. 

5. they are particularly damaging to children and unborn children according to Dr Catherine Shanahan in her book “Deep Nutrition: why our genes need traditional foods”.

P.S. vegetable oil doesn’t actually contain any vegetables!!  But it’s a great marketing name, right?!

Most restaurants and all fast food chains cook in vegetable oil because it's so damn cheap. Rethink store-bought deep fried foods in particular! So where should we eat out? Read this and this. Cook more at home! Make your own chips with coconut oil. Kids love this especially if you get them involved! Read the labels on all packaged goods- if it contains vegetable oils of any description ditch it! Life's too short and you and your kids are too precious to eat crap oils. Opt for the delicious healthy fats that your great grandmother cooked in: butter, tallow, lard, ghee or coconut oil. Our bodies (esp brains!!) need saturated fats from natural sources to grow and function properly and to perform our best. Why settle for anything less?!

A few years ago I wrote a post on Dr Kate Norris being one of the handful of integrative GPs in Sydney who I highly recommend. She is on exactly the same nutritional and lifestyle page. A couple years ago she left for Victoria but now she’s back and practising in Bondi Junction. For me it’s imperative that all of my health care professionals (from my dentist, GP, osteopath and naturopath) are on exactly the same nutritional page and speak and understand my language. It’s reassuring to know that, at least in Sydney, such people exist. We welcome Kate back!

I recommend you check out her brilliant website here. The other utterly brilliant integrative GP who I work with and highly recommend is Dr Min Yeo, also based in Bondi Junction. For recommendations on GPs further afield, please contact me directly.

A few months ago I had promised to run a heap of cooking workshops in the latter part of the year. Unfortunately I am not able to do that at present as a unique and exciting adventure has presented itself to me rather unexpectedly. Given the enormity of what’s involved for my business, I need to throw much of my energies into that. I hope to be able to reveal all of the details very very soon! Workshops will resume in 2016 in full swing!

"NO-CRAP" chocolate crackles!

HALLOWEEN IS MY NIGHTMARE. There is enough sugar-laden artificial crap that gets handed around to sink a battleship (or three). The battleships in this case are our most highly prized possessions- our children- and somehow firing copious amounts of ammunition at them until they raise the white the flag in defeat (illness) is totally acceptable and even celebrated. Sugar and junk food generally has become so ubiquitous that it sometimes appears that it’s the only way that people know how to demonstrate their love.  It is woven into the very fabric of our culture, with Halloween taking the spotlight. The tradition may have started out with small offerings of nuts and currants, a far cry from today’s supersized fluorescent coloured bounties.

What’s so bad about a handful of lollies? Aren’t I overreacting? Let’s look at the science. The human body is designed to consume only SMALL amounts of unrefined naturally sweet whole foods (such as fruit) or SMALL amounts of unrefined concentrated sweeteners (eg raw honey, maple syrup). This is especially so with children as their bodies are smaller so the impact is more acute. The human body is NOT designed to consume PROCESSED sugar (i.e. bleached and stripped of all minerals), high fructose sweeteners or artificial flavours, colours and preservatives as these things simply didn't exist when our genes were set some 2.6m years ago (which haven’t changed much, if at all, since). 

You may beg to differ (or your sweet tooth may want you too!) but that’s just the reality of our anatomy and physiology. When we consume things we are not designed to eat, the resulting mismatch causes sickness that manifests in numerous ways, both great and small. And sweet foods prime our childrens’ palates for more sweet foods, perpetuating the cycle.  The dangers of sugar and artificial ingredients are now well-known even in the mainstream that I have no need to expand in song and verse on their deleterious effects but the punch line is that high amounts of sugar in the diet lead to high levels of triglycerides and insulin in the blood - risk factors for heart disease and diabetes. A recent Yale study indicated that nearly one in 4 kids between the ages of 4 and 18 have pre-diabetes. Sobering. You can read more about sugar in one of my previous posts here. Health guru Chris Kresser in the USA has written numerous papers on the issue (search www.chriskresser.com), David Gillespie’s Sweet Poison is a terrific text on the subject and our very own Sarah Wilson has written a book or 2 on why she quit sugar.

But isn’t a little bit of poison good for you? Doesn’t it build up resistance? Whatever doesn’t kill you must make you stronger, right?  Unfortunately, refined sugar and junk food are not hormetic. They do not induce a positive adaptation that help us adapt and evolve in the same way that, say, exercise (which is also a stressor) does. 

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Fortunately there now exists an abundance of healthy nutrient-dense naturally sweetened treats that kids can enjoy in moderation without the negative consequences of the commercial variety. I tell my kids if you are going to eat sweet foods eat the BEST QUALITY SWEET FOODS YOU CAN GET because life is too short to eat crap food. Junk food is called precisely that because it's junk i.e. rubbish and "you are not rubbish bins!!"

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So here's what I suggest: 

1. Fill them up on a nutritious snack or dinner before embarking on trick or treating so that they are not starving when entering the battlefield.

2. Take a basket filled with some healthy nutrient-dense treats with you for kids to munch instead of the junk that they will be given. Examples include my date coconut balls, power bars, raw dark chocolate or make your own healthy treats eg chocolate crackles made with activated buckwheat, raw cacao powder and maple syrup (recipe below). 

3. When you get home swap every piece of crap with a real food treat of equivalent weight which can be apportioned over the next few days or weeks. This is not about deprivation! This is about providing a healthy alternative to every piece of junk.

4. Ask for more TRICKS than treats. (Yes there is a ‘Trick’ part to the question that gets entirely overlooked!). You might be surprised to see what tricks are up some people’s sleeves! ;)

5. Educate! Educate! Educate! I can’t stress how important it is to educate your kids about the effects of junk food versus real food. Remind them that you want them to grow and function properly, so that they can perform their best to reach their true potential. Tell them that you want them to be tall, strong, robust, breathtakingly beautiful, cavity-free, super smart, calm and happy, and that eating junk food will rob them of that potential. Tell them that they wont run as fast, hit the ball as far or dance as beautifully if they are not fuelling their body with the very thing that bodies need to run on- nutrient-rich real food! If they love sports, you may like to suggest that they read my blog post on how the Sydney Roosters won the 2013 Grand Final by switching to a traditional wholefoods diet and eschewing all processed foods, and that more and more professional athletes are doing the same world-wide.  Encourage them to make good food choices and remind them that they always have a CHOICE as to what they should put into their body. No one is putting a gun to their heads to eat junk food and simply because others are eating it doesn’t mean that they should follow the crowd. The “don’t follow the crowd” notion is something often discussed in my son’s class at school and I wish I had this sort of education growing up that it’s ok to take your own path and not follow the crowd if going with the crowd doesn’t resonate with you. Encourage your chipmunks to check in with their bodies in the hours and days after eating junk food to see how it made them feel and function. The effects are often direct and clear. This is not a discussion on ethics or morals, or right or wrong. This is simply about cause and effect. 

6. Remind them to focus on the non-food related aspects of any given social event eg fun, play, connection, costumes and ridiculously scary makeup. Look no further than BEET KVASS to make interesting facial impressions!

Below is my dead-easy and delicious recipe for no-crap chocolate crackles. They don’t require any baking. Perhaps you and your kids might like to make these this weekend? If you make them please tag me in your photos! 

Chocolate Crackles

Ingredients:

1 cup activated cinnamon buckwheat

Chocolate sauce:

1 tablespoons raw cacao powder
1 tablespoon coconut oil or butter
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/16 tsp unrefined salt (optional)

Directions:

Add chocolate sauce ingredients to a small saucepan and gently heat while stirring or whisking to combine the ingredients. Add the buckwheat and stir through until well combined.

Add spoonfuls of the mixture into paper cupcake moulds and freeze or refrigerate to harden.

Makes 6-7