The past 10 days....

No rest for the wicked. The past 10 days have proved pretty exciting for me and Star Anise Organic Wholefoods. Now that I have come up for air I would love to share with you what I've been up to.... Growing Healthy Babies...naturally! Workshop

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I've spent the past 2 Saturday mornings running a 2 part workshop on "Growing Healthy Babies...Naturally!". It was very well received with over a dozen people attending both sessions. It was the first time I had run this workshop after I saw a need in the community.  I am frequently being asked questions by parents not just on dietary matters but all things relating to parenting (from what products to use on baby's skin, why didn't I childproof my house, why I don't apply my kids with sunscreen, where do I turn for support, why did I breastfeed for 3 years, what should a baby's first solids be, what do I think of co-sleeping, what's the best baby carrier or pram or high chair etc etc). So I wanted to pool together all of my learnings and experiences as a mother over the past 8 years.... what's worked and not worked for me, what I advocate and recommend, and how did our ancestors manage to give birth easily and raise healthy robust content children for millennia.

As I said to the group, I'm not an expert on all of the topics we covered but I see my role in the community as someone who knows who the experts are (be they laypeople or professional, local or international) and where people can find further information if they want it.  The workshop was directed to parents of young children and prospective parents or those who wanted to connect with like-minded people.

I brought in paediatrician friend Dr Chloe Baxter from the Sydney Children's Hospital to co-present on topics such as various birthing options, attachment parenting and co-sleeping. The inspirational Roni Rutland showcased baby carriers and elimination communication, and Sylvia Tarcharlska gave her views on why she is choosing to home birth her second child.

We spent a lot of time myth-busting (i.e. turning many mainstream dietary and parenting practices on their head), and trying to reconnect women with their innate parenting intuition. Mankind took a bit of a detour in the last century ....we got lost and some of us want to find the right path again.

Here's what a few people thought about the workshops:

"Hi Soulla, I just wanted t

o say how much I enjoyed the workshops, and how invaluable the information you gave us was.I'm so glad I had the opportunity to do it. Thank you so much. Rebecca"

"Hi Soulla,  Just a quick message to thank you for the workshop! It was fantastic!  I am so glad I met you and so happy to see that I am not the only one who believes and wants to promote the health benefits of eating a nutrient dense diet including traditional foods. I have been eating without sugar, grains and legumes for one year and I truly believe it helps my body to fight inflammation. Many thanks. Nathalie". 

"There is such a gaping hole in the market for this product, especially something as well collated as this - it took me freaking months of research/blogging/podcasts/facebooking/$$ to source half this stuff and i would have killed to have it all in the one spot whilst pregnant. Sylvia"

Given the feedback and response, I propose to run this workshop every year (and make each session longer!).

Conscious Club

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I was delighted to be asked to showcase some of my products at the last Conscious Club on Monday 18 June in Paddington. It was a great night - we were entertained by a local reggae band, inspired by internationally-renowned motivational speaker Thom Knoles, enlightened by a short film "The Story of Stuff" regarding our obsession with and the perils of consumerism, and mellowed by a 20 minute group mediation (have you meditated with 400 people before?!?!?). All followed by socialising and eating. My chocolate balls, coconut date balls and activated nuts were very well received - we came home empty handed and I must give a huge thanks to my close friends Natasha and Simon who helped me carry around platters of food and spread the word on what I'm all about.

For more information about The Conscious Club refer to one of my recent posts here.

Here's what one person thought about my products:

"Hi Soulla! Just thought I'd drop you a line to say I Loved your date, nut and coconut balls last night! I'm still in raptures! Well done & keep up the great work! Lise. xo"

And not that it has anything to do with raising healthy babies or traditional wholefoods BUT having FUN is just as important SO it would be remiss of me to omit to mention my attendance at the Lady GaGa concert amidst all of the above. Cherry Cherry Boom Boom...

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So now....I make a beeline to the kitchen for some culinary creation.... so stay tuned for lots of new recipes, and upcoming cooking classes and workshops. In the meantime if you would like to place an order for heart-warming and immune-building broth, probiotic-rich sauerkraut, iron-building chicken liver pate, moorish activated nuts, mouth-watering raw dark chocolate balls and other sugar-free gluten-free snacks, or to meet me for a nutrition consultation,  just give me a call on 0407 871 884 or drop me an email. I'll be away 2-12 July in warmer climes for a little fun in the sun (you can take the girl out of Queensland but....).

"My kefir won't set!!! Why?!?"

I've been getting a few people asking me lately why their kefir (home-made Turkish yogurt) won't set at this time of year. Quite simply-  its because the weather is cold!! During the colder winter months when the temperatures drop the lacto-fermnetation process slows right down. Even after a couple of days of leaving your yogurt on the bench it won't thicken but remains runny. That's ok- its still full of good bacteria (essential for strong immunity and good digestion) and much of the lactose has been removed (eaten up) by the lacto-fermentation process but don't expect the milk to thicken as it does in warmer weather. I still make kefir even over winter but I just consume it as a drink or in smoothies as opposed to eating it like yogurt.  So for those who make their own kefir- continue to make it but try to put it in the warmest part of the house when its out at room temperature then transfer it to the fridge after a couple days. For those who want to learn how to make it, I will run a kefir-making workshop when the weather warms up over Spring.

When you start making your own food from scratch (such as cultured vegetables or lacto-fermented yogurt) you start having a greater appreciation of how our food supply is connected to the seasons. Coconut oil hardens, lacto-fermentation slows down, and different produce appears on the shelves of organic stores.  In stark contrast, buying food from supermarkets disconnects people from the food chain because they are buying the same produce all year round regardless of the season, temperature and where it came from.

New brand of raw milk hits the shelves

This week a new brand of raw (unpasturised and unhomogenised) milk has hit the Sydney shelves. Like Cleopatra's bath milk, this new milk is intended for cosmetic use only. As with everything I put in and on my body, its source and processing is paramount so I called the farmer to say G'Day and got the following low down to share if you're interested:

The cows are exclusively fed grass (this is a good thing as its the only things that cows are biologically designed to eat). However on very rare occasions when the grass is not plentiful they are supplemented with certified organic grain. I've been told that grain feeding is not required this year as there is plenty of green grass thanks to all the rain. The dairy farm, which is located in Lakes Entrance, and the milk are both certified organic. There are approx 250 jersey cows of which 100 are milking. This farm was purchased 2 years from the people that used to run Aphrodites bath milk (remember that one?). The farmers have been goat dairy farmers for the past 30 years making the lovely Alpine goat yogurt which my family and I have been consuming for ages. They are now focusing on the cows milk in addition to goats dairy. (As an aside, I was interested to learn that the Alpine goats yogurt is made from raw goats milk. However the process of making yogurt itself heats the milk- in this case to 90 degrees. Which is not necessarily a bad thing as the culturing process adds back many enzymes that may have been destroyed through heating).

...so back to the new raw milk, for stock lists in Sydney you can contact the exclusive distributors Sydney City Organics. I received a bottle from the online organic store Abundant Organics at  www.abundantorganics.com.au. They retail it for $8.95/2 litters. As to who else sells it I haven't checked but I suspect that we will see it retailing at all of the usual suspects shortly e.g. Wholefoods House, Dr Earth, Bondi Health Emporium etc.

For stocklists in Melbourne contact their exclusive distributor Maria's Select Food on 03 9380 5800.

The farmers are also selling raw cream but alas at this junction it is only sold in Victoria only.

Happy Bathing!!!