Final preparations for crossing Bass Strait

Have
Read all the FAQ's from the Spirit of Tasmania website, read many blogs from travellers yet while staying at a friends place near Arthur's Creek just out of Melbourne a question arises, have you cleaned the dirt from the van? Not even a topic on the government quarantine info site about this.

WTF, nowhere has this been mentioned. But it is a valid question as one would not want to take any dirt across a quarantine line. So the van, tyres, mudflaps underbody, were all cleaned in preparation for a spot check.

All fruit and veges and plants have been given away and only what we can eat for a breakfast remain with us. Tasmania is full of fresh organic fruit and veges so is is said that it should be plentiful across in the apple isle when arriving. An update tomorrow evening after arrival will be needed.....

Poo sample positive result - thanks to the government for this initiative

The poo sample came back negative. WooHoo all that natural healthy food must make a difference.

But the government only does this selective sampling on a randomised basis every five years for those who are getting older in our community.

Of course irregular screening can only detect bad news, so why not begin a healthy lifestyle by putting in your digestive system what is good for us.

Stop drinking all those sugary or chemical sweet drinks, dead food and food that is chemically made, processed or preserved. Steps like these will in the long term assist to reduce our aging health issues, the global obesity epidemic.

Do we really need to think on this one?

Lazy Turnip Vegetarian Lasagne

Oh no not more Turnips! So we have more turnips courtesy of the fig, Well how about making a Lazy Turnip Vegetarian Lasagne?

This is not a feed the man meat recipe for under $10 but may come close.

Four or so methods involved in this one so be prepared:

• Read and prepare
• Chunky tomato sauce;
• Béchamel sauce;
• Laying the lasagne.

Ingredients

500 ml organic milk	¼ cup organic flour	Tomatoes/puree	Sea salt, pepper
Coconut oil	1 onion	1 clove garlic	basil, oregano
1/2 turnip	1 zucchini	1 carrot	50 g butter
Lasagne sheets	Mozzarella cheese	Cheddar cheese	water

Prepare the vegetables

Wash and slice the turnips, zucchini about one of each or substitute say turnip and pumpkin; keep the ops of the turnips for stir fry or steam and use in the lasagne. Be creative

Steam or boil the veges for about 5-10 mins in filtered water;

Set aside.

Make the chunky tomato sauce

Slice and dice the onion, garlic and carrot.

Heat coconut oil in the pan and sizzle the onion and garlic till glistening.

Add the diced carrot, some black freshly grated pepper, ¼ tsp sea salt, some pureed tomatoes, tomato paste (or just fresh tomatoes). Total tomatoes about 1 cup and add water. Be generous with some basil and oregano and so on and cook till it looks delicious – 10 or so minutes.

Cover to keep warm and set aside.

Make the Béchamel sauce

Melt 50g butter in a pan on low heat, stir in ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg, some freshly grated black pepper, about ¼ cup organic flour. Continue whisking till mixed thru. Add room temp 500ml of organic milk and stir and whisk till mixed in. Continue whisking till gently boiling. Lower heat again and stir for a couple of minutes till really thick like custard (the home made variety not the carton variety). Set aside.

Layer the lasagne

Lightly grease an oven proof container with coconut oil and lightly dust with some flour, layer some of the tomato sauce in the base.

Then layer lasagne sheets on top. Then layer with the vegetables. Spread 1/3 of the béchamel sauce and some more pasta sheets. Lightly sprinkle with the grated cheeses. Put some more tomato sauce on top, then layer some more vegetables, pasta sheets then remainder of Béchamel sauce, sprinkle some grated cheese on top. (Note cooked turnip tops could be placed here under the sauce).

Place in hot oven 200º C for about 45-60 mins rotating after 30 mins – (my oven is not the best for even cooking).

Let stand with oven door open for about 15 minutes when finished before serving.

Served 4 with fresh salad, was yumm.

Whole turnip and pasta recipe with vegan option

Have recently joined the FIG and each week I am able to get fresh locally produced organic/bio dynamic/chemical free fruit, vegetables, with other items often available such as bread, honey, plants and other goodies.

But as many of the vegetables are not the staple usually found in the local fruit shop, the question often is -

What is that thing and what do you do with it?

Turnips have been plentiful, so I have been cooking them as chips instead of potatoes but last week made some pasta with the sliced turnip chips and the sliced turnip tops. I am not a fan of the pasta as some may know especially when going to a restaurant and the only vegetarian/vegan option is the pasta. The exit door is often the best move.

Anyway the whole turnip pasta was yumm, so I thought I would share my modified recipe:

THE INGREDIENTS:

· Coconut oil (butter for non vegan)

· Turnip base washed

· Turnip tops washed

· Onion

· Garlic

· Garlic chives (optional)

· Lemon juice @30ml

· Pasta I used twirls

· Salt and pepper to taste

· Fresh cream (coconut cream/milk option for non vegan) (optional)

THE METHOD:

Slice turnip into thin slices (chips) @10mm and depending on the size (ie above photo of turnip) may need to quarter as well

Slice onion and finely chop garlic.

Gently heat coconut oil in frying pan and sauté onion and garlic till just oozing with flavour and glistening.

Add turnip chips and sauté till lightly brown on both sides, remove from pan (keep oil).

Cook pasta/noodles.

Chop the turnip tops into small pieces suitable for stir-fry.

Finely chop the garlic chives.

Stir-fry the sliced turnip tops and chopped chives in the frying pan – add more coconut oil if needed.

When cooked remove and stir through the noodles with the cooked turnip slices.

Drizzle with lemon juice and flavour with salt and pepper.

You could add the cream now.

Served 2 humans and our little dog J

Buon Appetito!

vegan recipe - kofta balls in tomato sauce

It has been some time since I was asked and then promised to blog a recipe that I love to make. I also love to eat the end results.

So here is my attempt at recreating the Vegan (gluten free) Kofta Balls that are created. Depending on what is available for the main vegetable ingredients is what gets diced up. Some comes from my garden while most of the other ingredients are often sourced from the local organic shop in Woy Woy - Gnostic Organics

First up make the tomato sauce/puree, you could of course buy it ready made in the bottle, if you do not have the ingredients handy.

Tomato Sauce/Puree ingredients
1 kg ripe tomatoes, (I generally use Roma);
1 handful fresh basil leaves;
1-2 Tablespoons organic cold pressed unrefined Coconut Oil;
2 fresh Bay leaves;

1 tsp tumeric;
1/2 tsp asafetida powder (may contain wheat);
1-2 tsp salt (I use Himalayan);
1.5 tsp Black molasses, (or raw/brown sugar or even honey if not vegan);
freshly ground black pepper.

Kofta Ball ingredients
1.5 cups grated Spinach / Beetroot Leaves;
1.5 cups cabbage / cauliflower / broccoli, (or a combination of all of the above);
Some fresh coriander leaves;

1-1.5 cups Besan flour, (sometimes I use Buckwheat);
1.5 tsp salt (I use Himalayan)
1 tsp ground cumin, (grind the seeds in a mortar and pestle for freshest results);
1 tsp garam masala, (made using a combo of spices in the TM),
1/2 tsp asafetida powder (may contain wheat);
a dash of cayenne pepper, (or more if you like it hot).

Tomato Sauce/Puree method
In the TM (Bimby) at 100 deg C, slow stir the coconut oil and heat, add bay leaves and cook for about 70 seconds, add the safetida powder and let is sizzle while slow stirring for about 5-10 seconds.

At 100 deg C for 11 minutes, add the chopped tomatoes, ( I use skin, seeds and all), basil, and spices and molasses and then blend on speed 10 till puree @1 minute. Then stir slow for remainder of time still on 100 deg @9 or so minutes.

When finished put aside in the ThermoServer to keep hot.

Kofta ball method

I do not wash the bowl (blender), I just add the ingredients.

Add the cut up leafy ingredients and coriander leaves into the TM (blender), blend on speed 4 till looks like grated, use . Add the spices and add the flour 1/3 cup at a time and reverse stir speed 4 until combined, may need a push down or two and resembles a mixture that could be formed into small balls. If looks too chunky speed 4 for some more and chop up and blend a bit more.

The cooking method

In a wok heat the organic cold pressed unrefined coconut oil till hot @150 deg C. (If using ghee, use it hotter @180 deg C). I need more info on heating organic unrefined coconut oil to, so if you can assist with this info please feel free to let me know.

Gently place the balls one at a time into the hot oil, maximum @six. Deep fry for about 3 mins and roll over if needed to cook the other side about 3 more mins. (If wanting them really crunchy cook for a total of about 10 mins). Remove and drain on absorbent paper towels.

Reheat oil to temperature and cook remaining balls.

Place the cooked Kofta balls into the tomato sauce mixture for about 10 minutes and serve up as an accompaniment or serve with cooked rice etc.

Notes, often these are made with less leafy ingredients but using the same amount of spices and sauce, also adding some turmeric to the kofta balls as well. Did not take any photos any time these have been made, they are always eaten and all gone :)

yumm

3 poos dropped in the test lab box -now wait 4 the results

The Faecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT) that is run annually by the Central Coast NSW Rotary is a great initiative.


This simple test is a great way to see if your diet lifestyle may be contributing to the reduction in longevity of your body.

Do we really need to think on this one - eat healthy and natural food.

Honey - natural healing vs synthetic compounds

Another day & yet another Ah Ha - Honey is able to clean up infections and heal the body.

For me, this is not something new. I heard about this many years ago, perhaps our ancestors forgot to tell the commercially driven entrepreneurs that honey was a gr8 source of healing

But then, you cannot package and trademark honey and charge massive amounts of money to test the chemically derived product that has so many side effects you may need to buy even more commercially sold poisons to treat the next infection that you received from unnatural product.

Where do you get honey? just about everywhere - hopefully the bees will continue to breed and survive the chemical concoctions that people recommend to the home gardener and the products that some non organic farmers use.

Is honey safe - well I eat honey and use it in my cooking so if I can eat a natural food I will call it safe.

Unfortunately for vegans, honey is not an option for healing, but I am sure that there are many other sources such as Aloe Vera. If you are vegan send me some other fantastic ideas for healing.

Have a healthy life, live it, feel it, love it.

man cannot live on bread alone or RedBull either!

As was once said in Deuteronomy 8: 2-3 that man cannot live on bread alone, yet recently a young woman tried to live on Red Bull.

According to the paper I was reading, The Herald (Newcastle NSW pg 19 dated 25/May/2009) the young mother lost 45kg in 8 months by drinking nothing but Red Bull. wow! Lucky to be alive I would think.

Anyway, supposedly the woman drank 8-10 cans per day of this drink. Then suffered a minor heart attack and now has ongoing health problems.

Is this any wonder?

A balanced diet is essential to nourish the body - although I did hear that you could live on Inliven, but you need to drink it in water!

Inliven contains 26 whole foods and 13 living bacteria, a great probiotic drink. It can be purchased at Gnostic Healing Sanctuary in Woy Woy and also on line at certifiedorganicbabyproducts.com

It is great for rebuilding the body health and preparing to strengthen the immune system.

Drink Healthy, Eat Healthy, Live Healthy, Be Healthy

more product recalls - dont panic its organic

Many years ago - well really decades ago, if my memory serves me right, the slogan "Don't panic its Organic" was the catch phrase of the day.

At the time (1970s-1980s) health food stores were all the rage in my life from Bondi in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney to other locations including, Paddington and Randwick.

Well now in 2008, many years from Byron Bay, Brisbane, but now in Woy Woy, natural food still plays a major part in my lifestyle.

It really concerns me to read on about product recalls from China where it seems OHS & R maybe is not even heard of!

Is it western multi-nationals that have moved off-shore in an effort to make an extra buck, or is it some other reason?

Today I read about people becoming sick in Japan where "retailers pull frozen beans from China off the shelves after a woman fell ill eating a product which had 34,500 times the legal limit of pesticide,.

This is really serious stuff, apparently this was a middle class burb and not the cheapest place where one would buy second rate items.

This has gone way too far.

Let us reduce waste, save the planet for our children and be ethical in our living.

Love to you all and live and eat healthy till next time.

melamine, dairy recalls and chocolate health risks

Last week I wrote about the fallout that was likely to occur with the Chinese milk contamination debacle.

Unfortunately another item has been added to the list, this time a popular brand of chocolate product.

While I would again like to wish that this is a one off case, only time will tell how far the dangers of adding industrial chemicals to our food and body products will go before people revolt and manufacturers are required to take an ethical stand on the earths' safety and long term survival of our species.

Some tips:
Eat smart,
eat fresh,
minimise your chemical consumption,
drink plenty of fresh filtered water to allow your body to revive.

Purchase body products that are certified chemical free like a range is promoted at slsfree.com.au or can be purchased at Gnostic Healing Sanctuary in Woy Woy NSW Australia

Till next time love and enjoy life :)

Oral sex maybe the "new black" but does it help childless couples

It appears that news headlines are exposing that oral sex is in vogue, while this may be good for some, practicisng this regime may not help you get pregnant.

Falling pregnant is really troublesome for many young couples and some not so young >40 year olds.

Bringing children into the world using our wonderful bodies as a carrier should come naturally but with all the added stress and chemicals in use today it could be that this is taking a toll on our chances of falling pregnant.

Advocates say having a healthy lifestyle, eating healthy food maintaining our bodies may help.

Treat your self to some healthy organic food, reduce your chemical intake through chemical body and skin products and maintain the body with regular massages or other therapies is not indulgance it is just regular body maintenance.