Feb Fast

The annual febfast is on again but what exactly is the point of joining thousands of other Aussies in giving up the grog? Febfast attempts to raise awareness of the dangerous effects of alcohol on young Australians. Did you know that 4 Aussies under the age of 24 die and 60 teenagers are hospitalised every week due to alcohol related issues?

Febfast requires abstinance from the stuff for 28 days and encourages you to seek financial sponsorship for your efforts. The money you raise will go toward helping programs that assist youths troubled by alcohol to regain control of their lives.

If that alone isn't reason enough to have you ordering a soft drink or a water consider this: many former febfast participants reported that they saved money, slept better, lost weight, improved the appearance of their skin and had better sex!

If you want to find out more or to register go here.

what can i do with my extra herbs? salsa verde!

Salsa Verde is an Italian dressing traditionally made with oil, vinegar, parsely, mint and basil. BUT as necessity is the mother of invention I have made some changes to that recipe!
A few days ago I posted about 100 Things - the sustainable farming movement encouraging us all to take responsibility and find aways to be more sustainable. If you are not fortunate enough to have your own thriving herb garden you might find yourself being required to purchase more of the stuff then you could ever use (why do they sell it in such large bunches?). Food wastage in this country alone is huge!
So if you do find yourself with herbs lying around try salsa verde. You'll be glad you did!

What to do: Chop the herbs as finely as you can or use a blender if you have one handy (I find chopping and then blending the best method). Add some finely chopped garlic, extra virgin olive oil and few splashes of white wine vinegar (or any vinegar you have on hand really) and finally some salt and pepper. You are wanting the consistency to be a runny paste and the oil/vinegar ratio to be 2:1.

Basil and Mint form the basis of the traditional variety but here are some other good combinations:

Coriander/Parsley/chilli/Thai Basil
Majoram/Thyme
Basil/Mint/Parsely/Chilli

You can be as imaginative as you like and your salsa verde will add some zing to meat, fish and poultry and can even liven up a homemade pizza or a toasted sandwich. The best part is that your salsa verde will last covered in the fridge for well over a week making those left-over herbs useful long after they otherwise would have wilted, died and found their way to the rubbish.

Quitting Sugar

A while back I wrote about whether or not sugar really is the culprit for so many of the health problems and diseases prevalent today. You can read my thoughts here.

Since then the debate has really hotted up. Like a day at the Australian Tennis Open there has been much lobbing back and forth, shrieking and screaming! Well maybe not screaming but  definatley some spirited debate.

Sarah Wilson, the I Quit Sugar guru, has been called into question over the fact she eats fruit which contains fructose which is a form of sugar.

The story on A current Affair which raises the questions can be viewed here.

Sarah’s response can be viewed here.

Social media and forums have weighed in and it seems that sugar has its supporters. Don’t get excited though, nobody has come out with any evidence giving us the greenlight to gorge ourselves on Skittles and birthday cake. But Gillespie and Wilson definitely have their opposition.

The point has been raised that neither Gillespie or Wilson has any credentials in nutrition or dietetics and you wouldn't call a dietician to fix your plumbing so why call a lawyer (Gillespie) or a journo (Wilson) to give you advice on diet? It is fair argument. The opposition goes further to suggest that no health professional is championing sugar. In fact, the advice from all health organisations is to cut your sugar intake and to claim sugar is sigularly responsible for so many health problems is incorrect and naieve.

For example the Australian Heart Foundation sets out some guidelines for sugar intake on their website you can view here but states that the NHMRC (National Health and Medical Research Council) recently reviewed all available evidence and is the concensus that sugar does not cause heart disease.

And it goes on. There are dozens of studies that raise concerns about sugar including one where rats given high quantities of sugar experienced withdrawals that had the same impact on the body that heroin withdrawal has. In Wilson's books she makes the point that sugar is natural but so too is formaldehyde. It is also probably important to consider that throughout history we are guilty of forging on with risky consumption even when the evidence suggests it is time to stop, e.g. cigerettes.

I will make the point too that just because science can not definitively explain our bodies experiences does not mean they are not occuring. History tells us that the science has gotten wrong before. In the early nineties we wrongly accused fat and subsequently a smorgasboard of fat-free products were made available. And this brings me to an important point I would like to leave you on. When we get all excited and smell a rat we get very vocal, and the food companies are listening. They see the dollar signs. If we focus on sugar as being at the centre of all food-related illness and disease, do we not open up the flood-gates for a bunch of unhealthy products, that cut sugar but include alternatives that in twenty years we will back here debating over their safety?

We all want to find a solution to our health problems but perhaps the issue does not lie with fat, sugar or any other food. Perhaps the problem lies with us. Because until we find a way to bring balance and responsibility to our diets we will continue to swing from one health trend to another creating more issues and solving none.

Chocolate cheesecake - sugar = happy campers!

So I would like to harp on about sugar again! Or more specifically how the exclusion of sugar is beneficial to your body. If you would like to read my other rantings on sugar please go here, and here, oh and here.
Yesterday I took a chocolate cheesecake to work. Partly out of obligation and partly because if we were going to break out a cheesecake then I was going to make sure it was one that minimised insulin response. I used no sugar and only 1/2 cup of Rice Malt Syrup in the entire cake. The chocolate flavouring is 85% cocoa dark chocolate and cacao powder. The base is hazelnut meal and coconut butter. Is it healthy? Um, yeah not really! Is it diet friendly? Hell no. But is it the sort of treat you can have that doesn't send your blood sugar through the roof and leave you feeling sluggish, sick and craving yet more sweet stuff? Yep! And that was the point! Strangely, and not to blow my own trumpet, but the gang were super impressed and seemed confused by how much they liked something that wasn't sickly sweet. How a one piece could leave them satsisfied and feeling good.
Why so often when we decide to treat ourselves to we go for sugar, refined carbs and bad fats when we can go do just as good a job with the foods we know our bodies handle well?? Cheesecake anyone?

Target 100

It's really fashionable to be concerned about the enviornment these days. You have probably heard the term 'sustainable living' but for all its hype and fancy sustainability isn't all that complicated. Sustainability is our capacity to endure. Sustainable practices are those that combine environmental, social and ecomonic considerations to achieve lasting wellbeing for all of us.

So we may be concerned about the environment and ourselves but a sustainable solution is one that works, one that we can afford and one that promotes the health of you, me, our immediate envirnoment and the world.

Target 100 is an iniative by and for Australian farmers to adopt sustainable farming practices. The discussion that is happening now because of Target 100 is an interesting one. The bigger picture is obviosuly for farmers and supporting organisations to work together to formulate and promote sustainability but you can be involved. Sustainable solutions are not about costing you money or creating upheaval. They are about being thoughtful, considerate and community-minded.

Although the term was never used and the motivation was probably more financial, I grew up in a sustainable envirnoment - nothing was wasted, things were in their simplest form and we worked with the environment rather than against it. I'm grateful for that.

If you are interested head to the website here or do a bit of a search on Twitter using the #wastenot for sustainable ideas you might find interesting, economical and helpful.

So I like to Frappé....

frap·pé

noun

chilled; iced; frozen. verb

I like to frappé. I must say there is something delightfully splendid about taking a few ingredients, whizzing in blender with ice, pouring into a beautiful glass and enjoying on a hot summer's day. 

Ok so I will stop being Nigella and cut to the chase. It's hot! Summer has shown up and suddenly I want cold, sweet things and nothing else will do. The danger is obviously giving into this and becoming a Juice Boost, or worse, McDonald's smoothie/frappé addict! Because having control issues in regards to ingredients does not mix with being such an addict I need to find other avenues to indulge my yearning for sweet, cold things and so,  I like to  frappé.

I plan to bring you lovely concoctions as I create them but this one is my favourite and while I think my blender is quite over blending it,  I am NOT,  over drinking it.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 tbsps Cacao powder

1 egg

splash of coconut oil

1 cup of unsweetened almond milk

tsp Rice malt syrup

1/2 cup ice.

Method:

Blend! Blend! Blend!  It really helps the consistency if you have a good blender that can handle crushing ice easily.

This year I am going to master the headstand....

Happy New Year! Well we made it through 2012. The world didn't end. Anybody seen any Mayans and taunted them with, "I told ya so!?"  Yes 2012 is gone and so we ring in a New Year and with it comes the inevitable question of resolutions. I have never bought into the whole resolution concept but 2013 is going to change all that because I have one! Yep this is the year I am going to master the headstand.

I'm dubious. Mostly because my single motivation is just to be able to say I can which let's face is not a good reason. AND it probably raises serious doubts about my commitment to said resolution. Although I just told you and all the other thousands of people who visit these pages so there is the issue of humiliation if we are back here in a year watching the magnificent fireworks and I have to come clean and tell you all I can NOT perform a headstand. Wish me luck!

A headstand is considered to be king of the Yoga poses and if you are not a Yogi I highly recommend you seek the help of a qualified yoga instructor if you want to learn this difficult pose. If you aren't a novice go here for some yoga headstand tips.