Basic Recipe for Sauerkraut

2 litre glass jar with plastic lid or spring lid


1 Cabbage Medium sized (1kg) you can add carrot, onion, turmeric, ginger, chilli, garlic etc..


1 tablespoon sea salt


4 tablespoons of whey (you may use already fermented sauerkraut for an innoculant or simply add another tablespoon of salt.)


1 tablespoon of carraway seeds or fresh chopped dill. (optional)

Slice cabbage (thinly) by hand or process in a food processor, then mix in a large food grade plastic bucket or large bowl with the salt and whey (if using)





Squish with your hands until the juices are released. About 5-10 minutes







Press the mixture into a clean glass jar using a wooden spoon. Press firmly until the juice rises to the top and covers the mixture, which it will do when it is pounded enough. You can add a little water to top up if needed. Leave at least 2 cm or more of space at the top of the jar to allow for expansion. Make sure none of it is above the liquid level.

 To cover I use a large ziplock type bag, put the bag on top of the cabbage then fill with water, this will weigh your cabbage down.

Cover the kraut and store the jar in a cupboard for 3-5 days (depending on the ambient temperature) before transferring to the refrigerator. The sauerkraut may be consumed after a couple of weeks, though if you allow the fermentation process to continue for a month or so in the refrigerator you will be well rewarded with a most delicious flavour.

Japanese soba (buckwheat) noodle salad

- team this with some salmon sashimi, smoked salmon or flash seared tuna

serves 4

100g soba noodles, cooked, drained and 1 tsp sesame oil tossed through to prevent sticking
2 carrots / 2 zucchinis, thinly sliced
300g snow peas, thinly sliced
1/4 of a cup toasted sesame seeds (dry fry in a pan until golden, stir constantly)
400g salmon or tuna if using, sliced as thin as possible if having raw or lightly cooked for thicker slices.

Plunge veges in boiling water for one minute, drain and rinse until cold running water, leave veg to drain completely. Mix through sesame seeds. Sprinkle on some dulse flakes if you like.

This is good by itself but you can add a dressing of:

2 tbls rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp tamari
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp honey
a few drops of sesame oil
Toss through salad

The heart foundation sugar tick

I will start by saying their criteria for the tick is : energy content, sodium, fiber, saturated fats, trans fats
-Added sugars is not a criterion


This is taken directly from the site;

Scientific evidence does not support
differentiating added from natural sugars.

Nutrient density of foods is a key factor in diet quality

Sugar intake is a poor predictor of health variables such as BMI, blood pressure

Many BFCs contain dried fruit contributing to the total sugar content as well as fibre and other valuable nutrients.

It is difficult to distinguish through testing whether sugars are added or naturally occurring. Specifications for the
BFC recipe are required to determine amounts of added sugar vs. natural sugar.

The nutrient density of cereals is high relative to many other foods because almost all BFCs are fortified with
vitamins and minerals, as per the FSANZ code.

The inclusion of energy with nutrient criteria encourages nutrient density of BFCs.

The bit where it says Sugar intake is a poor predictor of health variables such as BMI, blood pressure- the reference they use for is this;
Data were obtained from the 1995 National Nutrition Survey, which was a cross-sectional study using 24-h dietary recall methodology
-body mass index, blood pressure, exercise and self-reported health status
1995 (old) using a dietary recall, and self reported health....omg.....lol! well, whatever, yes lets rely on peoples memory on what they ate and even then if they told the truth, and then there is self reported health...


https://publications.csiro.au/rpr/pub?list=BRO&pid=procite%3A07efef53-b347-4556-aac2-52581385e906

The govt. food guidelines

When is comes to he govt and their promises of what they are going to do for us, most of us think they are just lying, especially when it comes to election time!

Now what is funny is they dont believe their promises but when it comes to govt guidelines for eating people just take their word that the food pyramid is what they should be eating! People are thinking why would they lie to us about what we should be eating?

It's all about keep the big pharmaceutical companies, sponsors (a sponsor of the heart foundation is flora proactive margarine)
It is also based on very outdated research and they most likely believe they would look like fools if these guidelines were to change dramatically, I mean who likes to admit they were so wrong??

Bottom line is follow the money trail....money talks...

Think about this: Australians are becoming sicker and more overweight...why...???? 100 years ago obesity was pretty rare..these were the days of butter, lard, eggs, soil that wasn't devoid of nutrients, lots of local fresh grown produce (no way to import foods, except by ship!) and less technology, so more moving around for us, and not much around in the way of processed foods

So what do we have now?? pretty much the opposite of the above, people do not move as much, processed foods, depleted soil (vitamin/mineral deficiencies) and of course the introduction of refining oil techniques (cheaper to produce than coconut oil, butter/lard) the introduction of our best friend MARGARINE, trans/hydrogenated fats, E numbers, refined grain products and of course the big one, the increase in the amount of sugar we consume...they put it in EVERYTHING! But what I love is the fact that after everyone was told to lower their saturated intake..and they did...the incidence of heart disease continues to rise...hmmmm...but wait...if this saturated fat/cholesterol was the cause of heart disease surely the heart disease incidence figures would have at a minimum stayed the same, if not decreased??
Well yes....DEATH by CVD has decreased...this is only due to better technology, better medications and better diagnostics, but the INCIDENCE (diagnoses) of CVD has not decreased.

Food for thought

Whole orange and vanilla cake with chocolate drizzle

Ingredients

¼ cup of sunflour (ground sunflower seeds)

¾ cup of tapioca flour

¾ cup of millet flour

2 tsp baking powder- gluten free

Pinch of salt

3 tbsp chia seeds

200ml water

125 ml light olive oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

¼ cup of honey

2 whole oranges, blended until smooth in a food processor

Method

Preheat oven to 180 C

In a medium bowl add the chia, oil, orange, vanilla, oil, honey, water, leave for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl add your flours, baking powder and salt, add to this your liquid mix, and stir well until combined. Put into a round greased/lined cake tin or silicon bundt mould.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

Leave in your tin for 5 minutes then take out and leave to cool on a cake rack.

When cool pour over icing.

Icing

¼ cup each of raw cacao powder, honey and light olive oil. Whisk until smooth.

Mini vanilla cupcakes with cashew, honey and cinnamon icing

Vanilla cupcakes

Makes 18 mini cupcakes- gluten free

Ingredients

125g butter, softened (the softened butter should be easy to cut through)
¼ cup of honey
2 teaspoons  vanilla extract
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 cup of gluten free flour
125ml milk or milk substitute

Method

Preheat oven to 180 C

In a medium bowl with a hand beater, cream butter and honey until light and fluffy. Add your vanilla and at one at a time your eggs. Continue beating until eggs are incorporated. Sift your flour and baking powder into the butter mix and fold into until combined, make sure there are no lumps. Spoon into your greased mini muffin tin and bake for 10-12 minutes. Leave in tin to cool for 5 minutes and then turn out and leave to cool completely on a cake rack. Ice with your favorite icing when cool.

Cashew cream icing

Makes 1 ¼ cups- dairy free

Ingredients

¾ cup raw cashews, soaked 1/2 hour in hot water, then rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

2 tablespoons raw honey/maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

Pinch of salt

Method

Combine  ingredients in a high-powered blender, and blend until smooth and creamy, adding water if necessary to facilitate blending.

Adjust flavor to taste, then transfer to a bowl and chill in the fridge for at least an hour, or until the icing has thicken. The longer it chills, the thicker it will get!

Spoon the icing over your favorite baked goods, and serve immediately! (Keep the cupcakes chilled, if not serving immediately.)