silent sunday on monday

freaky friday

It is freaky Friday at River's school today. I stayed in his class this morning to be reading mum, I sharpened pencils and listened to goblins and witches sound out their words. Now I'm drinking rooibos tea from one of the pictured beautiful cups I picked up this week and writing to you.

Sorry it's been a bit quiet here this week especially when there are so many new visitors! Thanks for visiting and next week even if I have to forcibly align the planets with my bare hands so I can find time to serve you up more delicious posts I will.

I am literally counting the hours 'til dinner tomorrow night with an old friend who I haven't seen for seven years!! Can't wait. Hope you have something exciting planned.

Until next week, here is a list of links to tide you over. Chow for now xx

Oh Sugar! (warning: a bit of swearing involved in the unleashing of the passion about the topic in this post)

Off topic but we all need some beauty in our lives...for the love of flowers by Cecilia Fox

And the love of chocolate. Wholefood chocolate no less. Thanks Natural New Age Mum. Last chance today to enter Sonia's huge giveaway too.

I baked my chocolate honey spice cake during the week and served it with custard instead of icing as dessert one night after dinner. The key is to undercook it and then it is more like pudding than cake. Perfect for a wintery weekend.

I think this site will be right up your real food alley and Sydney folk you'll find cooking classes to attend

If you are on the Mornington Peninsula on Saturday head to the Boneo Market where you'll be able to buy beautiful organic produce that's grown with love just 2km up the road at Transition Farm by Robin and her husband.

wholefood mama: Kellie from dear olive

It's been a little while since I've posted an interview with a Wholefood Mama, today you are in for a treat with the one and only Kellie from dear olive. Before we begin take a moment to gather yourself after seeing the adorableness of the photo of Kellie with her divine miss Olive and their main man Shane. Gorgeous photo huh?

The first time I read Kellie's blog well over a year ago I did so through tears because I learned that like Kellie's mum, like my mum, had died young. There is both sadness and comfort in finding other women who have become mothers without their own mothers around to share all the joys and challenges of parenting. I connected with Kellie at that level and promptly fell in love with Olive and the letters Kellie writes to Olive. Following Kellie's blog I was fascinated to read her wholefoodie posts that appear from time to time and delighted Kellie agreed to be part of this series.

Make yourself a cup dandelion tea and settle in to hear how this mama and her family live the wholefood way.

I'm Kellie, and I live with Shane and our three year old, Olive, in Bondi. I work as a costume buyer for film and tv and I blog, I parent and I try to keep my family as healthy and as happy as possible. Natural health and healthy eating are a huge part of our lives, and, after being a Mum, it's probably the thing that defines me the most.

Can you tell us about your family's eating habits? Do you have a particular philosophy when it comes to food?

I've never really thought much about defining my personal food philosophy before becoming a parent - but since having Olive, I've definitely become far more strict in my ideals, and in my practice too. Basically, I just want us to eat good, natural, delicious, organic food. And for the most part, we achieve this. We eat fairly simply, with very little processed foods or refined grains, and we eat organic where we can. We've developed a wonderful little ritual of doing all our fruit and veggie shopping at our local growers markets on a Saturday morning - we are literally there rain, hail or shine. It's the most rewarding and enjoyable way to shop, catching up with local friends and buying groceries in the outdoors. I love it.

What sort of dishes do you like to cook?

In summer, I love making interesting salads (you know, with nuts and seeds, or special cheese), often served with a piece of meat on the side, but Winter food is most definitely my favourite - hearty, rich-in-flavour casseroles, and most especially curries. I am a huge curry fan! Anything with condiments is going to be a favourite in my book. Shane is Sri Lankan and he makes this amazing sambal with dessicated coconut, lemon and chilli - it makes any old curry of mine a total winner.

Where did your wholefood journey begin?

When I was in primary school, my parents both became naturopaths and there was this moment in my childhood where there was a huge and sudden shift in all of our eating habits. You know, out of the blue instead of getting chocolate we were served up sugar free carob! They were way before their time in a lot of ways, my parents. There wasn't nearly the same access to knowledge that we have now, and a lot of people thought they were weird. Even though I found it highly embarrassing at the time that dried apricots were all I had in the sweets department to offer friends who visited our house, I feel extremely lucky now that I started on a natural health and healthy eating from a young age. Because it became second nature to me.

Who inspires you in the kitchen? Favorite cookbooks/food blogs?

Absolutely anything and everything petite-kitchen.com

Is there anything you find challenging about living the wholefood way?

The biggest challenge has been with Olive, and other parents on playdates and at parties. It felt so rude to say that I didn't want my kid eating what the other parents were giving their kids ... but sometimes I just had to speak up - as politely as I could, of course. Although now that Olive's three, I definitely turn a blind eye a little more at parties!

Do you eat organically? If yes why? If no why?

We do, but certainly not everything. I always, ALWAYS eat organic meat because I want to avoid antibiotics at any cost. At our local growers markets, there is a mix of certified organic, uncertified organic, and non organic and we buy a variety of it all. Most of our pantry items are organic, because I find it easier to shop at the local health food store than get to the supermarket. It's obviously at a greater cost, but it also means that I'm smarter with what I buy. There is not a lot of wasted food in this house. But I can't overlook that convenience definitely plays a big part in how we shop/what we eat, too! And we eat out a lot, too - pub dinners, thai, fish and chips - are all big family favourites. But as long we eat well at home, I'm not too concerned about having some unhealthier meals once a week or so.

What are your favorite kitchen items?

I just won an amazing blender on a blog giveaway, and I was so excited when it arrived - but to tell you the truth, I've only used it twice in 3 weeks! I don't really have any gadgets or anything whizz bang or worth mentioning. Shane won't even let me have really sharp knives because I'm always cutting myself. In the same way that we eat simply, we cook simply too.

Top 3 favorite ingredients and why?

I've never thought about this before, so I'll just say the first three that spring to mind ... Nuts and seeds. They're healthy and add the best texture. Goats cheese. Because it's delicious. (In fact, probably most cheeses could go in here.) And the third ... I'll go with lemongrass. So fragrant and adds so much depth to a curry.

What is your go to meal when you are short on time?

Frittata. Delicious and reliable, every time.

I loved reading in one of your recent posts about your mum petitioning to remove junk food from the school canteen when you were in Year 7, what did your mum teach you about food and what do you hope to teach Olive about food and cooking?

Mum was such an inspiration to me, and to many people. When I was in high school, she had a weekly segment on the local radio station called "The Healthy Living Show" - she would discuss health topics, and even take callers. It was hilarious to say the least. Once when I was in Year 12 I heard it playing in the cafe as I was buying my chip sandwich with bbq sauce! I really admire her for putting out her message and educating people. She was never afraid to speak her opinion (often, loudly!) and natural health was her passion (one that she's passed on to me). She taught me to never stop learning about health. And never to compromise your own beliefs to make someone else happy. Olive's only three, but she's always asking us ... is this healthy for you? And she knows that eating relates to health. Although I don't want to put too much pressure on her, I know I'm giving her the foundations for healthy eating for the rest of her life and I feel really good about that.

A memorable food moment?

Last night I slow cooked a leg of lamb, and served it with rosemary roast pumpkin, roasted onions, steamed greens, and a parmesan cauliflower mash - so so good! Olive has never been into cauliflower before, but served up like this (and called super delicious mash), even she had to admit it was yummy.

What are you loving about your life right now?

This long weekend. I never knew three days off work could be so blissful.

Anything else you would like to say about wholefood, junk food, raising happy healthy eaters? 

I worry that a lot of parents don't prioritise healthy eating (and avoiding processed and junk food) enough. The way I look at it, is you only get one chance to set your child up for good health for life, and this is it. You need to take it.

I love this post on Kellie's blog about the day a man on a bus tried to insist that Kellie allow Olive to eat a chocolate biscuit he wanted to give her.

For a sweet wholefood 'recipe' see Kellie's Slice of Heaven.

Thanks so much Kellie for sharing your wholefood story xxx

Meet some other Wholefood Mamas in this series:

Robin Koster-Carlyon

Jay Black

Renee McCready

Rachel Pitts

Catherine

silent sunday

friday long weekend

We are at my nan's today for country air (& cooking!) It's a long weekend here to celebrate the Queen's birthday apparently. River asked before bed last night 'Who is the Queen?' Without wanting to get into a big story I answered simply, "A lady who lives in England". "Oh and she's 85" added River all of a sudden knowingly. I wonder what sort of cake the Queen likes on her birthday?

Anyway moving on from royalty here's my list of posts, blogs and a video from around the web this week that captured my imagination:

Jodi speaks from the heart about the emotional investment in feeding our families.

For breastfeeding mamas a behemoth post 'feeding baby, and me' from The Nutrition Coach.

And if you make it through that and want to read more about motherhood, grab your tissues and head over to Steph's to read her sling diaries post. Don't say I didn't warn you. Steph has a way with words that is achingly beautiful.

Love strawberries? We're way out strawberry season here in the southern hemisphere but we can all visit Mimi's post and dream.

Apple love

Winter is the season for one pot cooking. Liana's one pot chicken and rice dish has become a favorite so I thought I'd hunt up some more one pot wonders. The recipes on the the taste.com.au site are reliable and straight forward making it a good place to start adding one pot recipes to your repertoire.

Caramelised garlic tart? Yes please.

Ditto!

Michelle has added a fun video to her organic food blog. Go check out her story.

Ok I'm off to finish up some other work before nan's roast lamb is ready for our dinner :)

Whether you are cosying up indoors this weekend or heading out into summer sun have a wonderful time and I'll see you back here next week for more wholefood love. And I promise the post I mentioned about saving time in the kitchen will be up soon! xx

buckwheat porridge with banana, walnuts and maple syrup

There's more to porridge than oats. Such a variety of other wholesome grains you can simmer in water or milk to warm up your winter mornings, how about millet, amaranth, rice or buckwheat?

Apart from cooking buckwheat pancakes made with buckwheat flour I hadn't cooked with buckwheat in its whole form until I was inspired to try it as porridge. Buckwheat is in fact a seed not a grain and there's not a pinch of wheat in it. Just another weird, unexplainable moment in English language, why call something wheat when it is not actually wheat?!

So, technically buckwheat is a gluten-free food but do check the packet to make sure it says gluten free because some gluten free grains get contaminated with gluten if they are processed on the same equipment as grains that contain gluten.

Some other buckwheat trivia for you - buckwheat is related to rhubarb, and good reasons to include it in your diet is that it is high in  essential amino acids and essential minerals zinc, copper, magnesium and manganese. A good way to start the day. You should be able to find buckwheat groats at your health food shop or for Australian grown buckwheat flour and groats sold online go here.

I decided to flavour this porridge with the same ingredients we would put on buckwheat pancakes. but you can add whatever ingredients you have, raisins, goji berries, coconut, almonds, chia seeds...you get the idea. Adding maple syrup to anything feels decidedly decadent and luxurious to me, especially for breakfast on a school morning. 

Buckwheat porridge with banana, walnuts and maple syrup

Wash one cup of buckwheat groats in cold water and then put in a pot and add two cups of boiling water. (This amount will be enough for about four servings)

Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Serve with banana, walnuts, a dash of maple syrup (or honey) and milk of your choice (I used rice milk).

That simple! I hope you like it.

For another non oaty porrridge try my quinoa porridge with lemon, ginger and cinnamon. 

What's cooking for breakfast at you place?

'b' is for (wholefood) budget - part 4

Just when you thought the budget series couldn't get any better, in comes the clever and lovely Meg from My Wholefood Romance to inspire you along even further. I love Meg's focus on seasonality and stocking up on fruit and veg when it is in season because it will cheaper. All the more inspiration to talk to the older generation and learn some preserving tips!

My Wholefood Romance - Meg

How many mouths do you feed in your house? 2 adults, 1 child

What percentage of the food you buy is organic?

About 80%. There are some veg and fruit that are more important to eat organically than others. Check out the Environmental Working Group's list on the Clean 15 and the Dirty Dozen! 

What would be your average weekly spend on food?

$100-$120

What are your top 3 tips on saving money on food?

Buy in bulk, or from bulk containers and only buy as much as you need at a time. I like to do this with oat and nuts/seeds as you know they are super fresh when you get them.

Buy in season - it has higher nutritional value and is cheaper!

Shop from farmers markets, or get a weekly organic box delivered- I find this works out much less for us.

Cheeky number 4: Grow your own as much as possible! Even if this is only your herbs, that still saves $3-4 on a bunch of herbs at the shops.  

To those who say eating wholefood is expensive what would you say?

I think often it's the packaged items that cost the most. Grains, vegetables, legumes, fruit, seeds and nuts are not expensive, but they do require you to put in more effort to prepare them! :)  It's true we don't eat much meat in our house, and meat can be expensive. However you can chat to your butcher about less expensive cuts and cook them in more traditional ways such as in broths, casseroles, slow cooks etc.

I find leftovers a big money saver in our house. We don't buy lunch (unless it's a special occasion - everyone loves a lunch order!), and take leftovers from the night before or from a big lot of something that I have made. Soups and stews work particularly well, and freeze well also. 

Stocking up on foods when they are in season and cheaper is great also. Berries work very well this way, and I also have a constant frozen banana supply.

THANKYOU Meg for sharing your great suggestions. I am looking forward to meeting Meg in real life at Jude Blereau's book launch later this month. xx

How is your wholefood budget coming along? Anything else to add? Love to read your comments.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

monday musings: on creativity

I dipped my toe in the water late last year beginning an occasional series on a monday venturing sideways from wholefood. It began with a post on blogging, then on birth and today the series returns with this post on creativity.

We are all creative beings. It is easy though for life to get in the way of exploring and nurturing our creative heart. Unfortunately it falls to the bottom of the priority list because making our art is often deemed self-indulgent or not as important as tending to washing, cooking, cleaning, relationships and so on. Yes all those things are important but when was the last time you set aside an hour to paint or write or sing for no other reason than to be creative? And not felt guilty about it.

Just hearing the word 'creative' or 'artistic' can make people recoil from it thinking "that's not me, I'm not creative and I'm definitely not artistic." Well I don't think that's true. It is so important to fill your creative cup so that you can rise the challenges and opportunities presented to you each day. If you nourish your creative heart you will find this lifts your energy and will overflow into all that has become mundane. There is opportunity to express and explore our artistry in everything we do from the way we dress to the way we cook.

Here's a story about my journey with creativity. Thirteen years ago I found myself stranded in Vancouver, Canada. I discovered many things about myself during this time and a book that became a friend was Julia Cameron's 'The Artist's Way'. I had traveled to Vancouver from Houston, Texas to renew my visa and re-enter America. Or so I thought that's what I was going to do. My visa application was denied. I spent a week in Vancouver before flying home to Australia, leaving a long time boyfriend in Texas. This was the end of our relationship and the beginning of a very big next chapter of my life including stepping deeper into my creativity, not only in my writing but also in various mediums as a way of getting to know myself better (which sounds corny when I read that but it's true!)

For those unfamiliar with Julia's book it is written as a 12 week course to 'discover and recover your creative self'. It's a wonderful book that will challenge and rattle any fixed beliefs you have about creativity and what you allow or don't allow yourself to do. For instance if you usually paint but think you might like to sing but don't consider yourself a singer, Julia encourages you to bringing singing into your day anyway. Julia provides great strategies to overcome obstacles to being creative, obstacle such as fear and the perception of having no time to tend to our creative longings.

I really believe that tapping into our creative well is a way of feeling fulfilled. If it is something you have let slide to the bottom of your list I hope this post inspires you to dive into your creative world or set about finding what makes your heart sing. The world could do with a little more colour and song.

Happy Monday :)

Share your story in the comments of finding your creative passion or if you're feeling stuck share that too, someone reading may have just the answer for you.

friday links

(buckwheat porridge with figs, banana and almonds. more about that next week)

Hello and welcome to all the new readers this week and thank you to the loyal followers who have been visiting here for a while. I love that the internet makes it so easy for us to connect and be inspired by each others daily lives.

Very interesting...raw cacao: hype vs. science

These give fruit cake a whole new meaning

We are one day away from winter here in the southern hemisphere, to keep colds and flu at bay read Natalie's fantastic post with food remedies aplenty.

A comment from Max led me to her blog and this her entertaining post about making sourdough bread at home. While you're over at Max's if you are totally besotted with babies like I am take a look at this adorable photo of Max in bliss with her son when he was a newborn.

I let my husband into a secret and that is for his professional facebook page to be of benefit to anyone including him, he actually has to update it! So update he is. Click on over and like his page and you will receive a daily dose of visual beauty and culture. You can check out the campaign that Pete is working on to end self-harm and youth suicide in Indigenous communities at the website www.cultureislife.org

Can't believe the traffic the budget series has brought here this week...eating well without going broke is an art we are all refining as we go. Thanks to all the contributors. Keep sharing tips and if you want some general budget advice I found this useful.

Come back next week and we'll talk about how to save that other precious resource in the kitchen: time.

Happy weekending. Thanks for joining me in living a wholefood life xx

'b' is for (wholefood) budget - part 3

Who would have thought you'd be on the edge of your kitchen stool waiting for the next wholefood budget post? Well not me! This series has turned out to be the most read posts ever on my blog. So, thanks again to all contributors both in the post and the comments.

Today it is a pleasure and a treat to bring you kitchen table wisdom from Natalie who blogs at The Little Gnomes Home and a bonus contribution from Tammi who blogs at Dear Molly Handmade. Tammi emailed me during the week in response to the budget series and ever so humbly mentioned she is doing her best finding affordable ways to provide wholefood for her family of nine on one income!! Whoa hats off to Tammi. I immediately felt Tammi's story was so inspiring I asked her if I could share it here.

Natalie

How many mouths do you feed in your house? Adults? Children? 

We are a family of four - 2 adults and 2 children. My littlest has just started eating solids so it would be fair to say I am really only feeding 2 adults and 1 child. 

What percentage of the food you buy is organic?

I would say all the food we buy is organic. We receive a weekly delivery of fresh fruit & vegetables from an organic delivery service, order meat every 2-3 weeks, and do a weekly shop at a local organic supermarket for dairy, eggs etc.  We do still use the major supermarkets for toilet paper and a few other non-perishables.

Most of our meat is organic, however we are just as happy to buy local, grass fed (and finished) meat when we know where it is coming from - that is why I like to purchase from feather and bone.

What would be your average weekly spend on food?

On average we would spend $300. We spend a significant part on (raw) dairy - usually about 12 litres per week. Dairy is a wonderful anti-inflammatory protein source. 

What are your top 3 tips on saving money on food? 

My biggest tip for saving money (which I am sure most of you have heard before) is meal planning. It really makes all the difference as it means that all the food in your fridge has a purpose and gets used up. 

Buying in bulk can make a big difference. For any item that you use frequently, do a Google search and see if you can locate it either wholesale or in a larger quantity. You will also be saving on all that unnecessary packaging. For example, we purchase coconut oil in 16L containers - this saves us about $6 per litre. Joining a local co-op is another great option for bulk buying.

Growing your own herbs also helps, given the cost of organic herbs per bunch, but a big difference in convenience and wastage.

I hope to share some of my other tips in my upcoming e-cookbook. Sign up to be notified of updates for Natalie's e-cookbook here. (from Nikki - "Natalie's book will be gorgeous and delicious I can't wait!")

To those who say eating wholefood is expensive what would you say?

There is a supermarket price for food and there is a real price for real food. For example, Australian readers will know that we can now buy milk at the supermarket for $1 per litre, this, I don’t believe is the fair price to the farmer – raw organic milk in Sydney costs $4 per litre.....Queenslanders can get it for $3! 

Eating good food can certainly be affordable for all budgets, but depending on the household income, this may mean spending less on other things. For us, real food comes first.  Being savvy and aware with what you buy (just like our Grandparents did!) - Buying cheaper cuts of meat, often on the bone, slow cooking and incorporating the broths into other meals, imparts good nutrition across many meals.  Asking your local fish monger for any scrap bones to make a stock (usually free), as well as buying food that is in season also helps to ensure affordability.

I also believe that food should be prioritised above supplements and vitamins. Of course some are necessary, however instead of multi-vitamins, fish oils and other ‘common’ supplements we prefer to start by eating the right foods grown in/ grazing on nutrient rich organic soil. 

Tammi

Over the last year we have been trying to eat a more wholefood diet but my challenge is the amount of mouths we need to feed on our single income plus a small amount in board from our big boys.  

We are a large family consisting of myself and hubby, five children ages - 20, 18, 15, 10 and 3, an adult niece and our oldest son's girlfriend. 

Coming from a long line of passionate home cooks I've always cooked from scratch but have been mindfully moving away from the ingredients I habitually used to more healthier versions and to be honest, it has been a struggle.  Not only in sourcing organic products but also in changing the views of our older two who have been very resistant to making changes ie: they were huge white bread and commercial cereal eaters (cornflakes/rice bubbles) and still complain about the sourdough bread I make and the lack of cereal in the cupboard.

Towards the end of last year I joined a local co-op, that I source the majority of our grains this has helped significantly but with orders only being open every few months I am yet to learn the amounts I need to order to see us through.  

I've also started growing herbs and am trying to grow a small amount of veggies. A green thumb does not come naturally to me but I am determined to supplement our diet with what I can grow.  

Meat is another issue. Organic meat is so expensive! And hard to source here (coastal Western Australia) and even with drastically decreasing the amount of meat we eat, it's still a huge cost. We used to be your typical meat and three veg family, seven nights a week...that's changed over recent months to include more vegetarian meals..again met with resistance from a few family members but I feel good that slowly but surely we are making progress and are much better, health wise, for it.

When I first started learning about how detrimental processed food could be to our health I really beat myself up at what we had raised our children on and I was actually really angry that I had been mislead all these years.  I had always assumed that because I made a fair majority of what we consumed from scratch that it was better than packaged/commercial food. I guess it was better but not by much.  It wasn't until we started seeing less allergic reactions (less eczema flare ups, less tummy aches, more energy etc) that I came to realise just how valuable a wholefood diet is and that in turn has strengthened my resolve to continue learning all that I can in order to live a healthier life.

I do realise that eating a wholefood diet follows the same principles regardless of the amount of mouths one needs to feed but it would be wonderful to read of the experiences of someone else who has a large family like myself :)

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THANK YOU Natalie and Tammi for taking the time to share your stories, I know that many people will be inspired by your commitment to feeding your family's well and your resourcefulness. Readers let Natalie and Tammi know in the comments what works for you, what has inspired you and if there are any readers out there with a large family like Tammi we would love to hear how you are managing your wholefood budget. Stay tuned for some hot tips from Meg at My Wholefood Romance next week. Happy wholefooding x

Part 1

Part 2