New Holiday Trading Hours (we are open daily!!) + 5 tips for navigating through the festive season mayhem!

I hope you all had a truly beautiful Christmas with loved ones and are enjoying some rest and relaxation. 

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We have decided to extend our Xmas trading hours!

On and from Monday 28th December we will be open daily 8am-6pm including the 2 public holidays on Monday 28th December and Friday 1st January.

So swing by for a cool brothsicle, a smoothie, a cup of broth, a bowl of soup, a no-guilt raw treat, a provincial plate featuring chicken liver pate and lots more. Or simply come and hang out with me. 

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If you have slipped off your healthy no-crap foods bandwagon (we all do!) don't beat yourself up! Gently jump back on! Remember that stress is more toxic than even the most toxic food, so stressing about your food choices just ain’t helpful. Let the way those foods made you feel after you ate them, remind and guide you in making your next food choices. 

"STRESS IS MORE TOXIC THAN EVEN THE MOST TOXIC FOOD"

[click here to tweet]

Here are 5 pointers to get you through this holiday period when routines fall by the way-side:

1. Fill up on the cleanest and nutrient-dense stuff first (eg meat and veggies) so that there is no room for the less nutritious options (eg bread, sugary food). 

2. f you are invited somewhere and are dreading all of the food that will be on offer, get into the kitchen and make your own healthy dish or treats to take with you to share. This will show your friends just how delicious nutritious food can be and you can share the recipe with them. Click here to find all my free recipes on my website.  

3. If you see a food that you wouldn't normally eat and are seriously craving it and wringing your hands in anticipation and the thought of not indulging in it screams deprivation, then as I wrote in an earlier blog for God's sake just eat it! My view is that food is just as much a source of pleasure as it is a source of nourishment.  Food should never be a stressful experience. If denying yourself a certain food or drink is causing you stress, angst or resentment, then I think the psychological impact of that may very well be doing you more harm than the physiological  harm of the food itself. In other words, if you're craving it you're probably not ready to give it up (yet). Be kind and gentle with yourself and indulge if you really want it and try to just perhaps eat it less frequently or in smaller quantities.  For me, I no longer crave highly processed foods, or refined sugar treats- I simply don't view them as real food. But its taken me decades to get to this point. It's a journey. 

4. In terms of drinks, the cleanest alcoholic beverages are your spirits (eg sake, gin, vodka). Champagne, cocktails, tonic, and juices are high in sugar. Vodka lime and soda is a safe bet. I have drastically reduced the amount of alcohol I have consumed year after year. Anything more than 1-2 glasses of wine or clean spirits every so often makes me feel crap and life is too shortto feel crap. Especially when you have kids to raise and sh#t you want to get done! I spent most of my teens and 20s feeling crap. I just don't need alcohol to have the most awesome time or to be open, relaxed and happy. When I had that simple epiphany it was truly liberating. But for some the high is worth the pain of the low. Only you can decide that!  And don't forget to add a pinch of salt to your filtered drinking water. To remind yourself why it is so vitally important to add unrefined salt (eg sea salt, Australian lake salt, Himalayan crystal salt) to your drinking water refer to one of my very first blogs here You might want to start with adding only 1/8 teaspoon of unrefined salt (or even less) to 1 litre of water rather than the recommendation in that blog. If you are suffering muscle cramps especially in your calves at night (very very common in hot weather) it is often due to a lack of magnesium (which we excrete through sweating in summer) so adding unrefined salt (rich in magnesium and other electrolytes) will in most cases fix that. Take your water bottle with you everywhere you go!!!

5. Don't feel guilty about getting lots of sleep, rest and relaxation. As a type A personality bursting with so many projects to turn into fruition, and as a single mother of 2, and as a daughter of hard-working migrant parents, I have been hard-wired to always “do do do”. It has taken some serious re-programing and constant reminding myself of the critical importance of  rest, relaxation and sleep – they absolutely are one of the foundations of health and directly impact your well-being both physiologically and emotionally. So make sure your batteries are recharged daily!  

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Wishing you a fabulous end to 2015! It has been such a huge year for me as I know it has for many of you. Thank you for being by my side, for your support and for reminding me daily of what is important to me. Forever grateful. 
 

The Lessons I Have Learnt This Year

Wow what a year. Feels like I have been on a rollercoaster with the past 3 months corkscrewing through the air at dizzying heights. If someone had said to me a year ago that in 12 months time I would have opened up Sydney’s first dedicated broth bar with a retail space and commercial kitchen I would have said “AS IF!??!”

This year was a reminder that life throws us many curveballs. 12 months ago I would never have foreseen the bend in the road. I have just finished reading one of my all time favourite books to my daughter, Anne of Green Gables (which at the age of 12 ignited in me a vivid imagination and the realisation that anything is possible), and in it appeared the following quote which resonated with me:

“…my future seemed to stretch out before me like a straight road. I thought I could see along it for many a milestone. Now there is a bend in it. I don’t know what lies around the bend, but I’m going to believe that the best does. It has a fascination of its own, that bend...”

Embrace the bends. They are another word for learning curves. They stretch us. Often stress us. But ultimately they are opportunities in disguise. They shape the person we are.

What I have learnt this year:

· We are stronger and more resilient than we can ever contemplate.

· Life is not perfect and is a juggling act especially when children are involved.

· Don’t make decisions out of a place of fear. You will only regret them.

· Don’t cut corners and compromise quality. Ever. Remind yourself daily what you stand for.

· Building something unique, beautiful and meaningful involves hard work and many sacrifices (hopefully they will pay dividends!).

· Don’t be afraid to call in support when required. It takes a village. 

· Don’t be afraid to cry and show vulnerability. Holding stress in causes illness and disease. 

· Rome wasn’t built in a day. The tortoise was slow and steady but ultimately reached his goal. 

· Things happen for a reason. What may seem like an absolute kick in the guts may actually be a blessing in disguise.

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What has got me through probably the most stressful period of my life has been the 8 foundations of health:

1. The power of that single breath (when the walls are collapsing in),

2. A positive mental attitude (when negativity reigns her tight grip),

3. Proper nourishment (without it we are nothing),

4. Getting adequate sleep (or at least catching up every so often),

5. Lying back on a foam brick for 5 minutes to open the chest and heart (when all other movement completely falls by the wayside),

6. Snippets of time in sunshine and nature (to reconnect to what is real), and

7. Moments of connection with loved ones (to remind us that we are not alone).

I feel thankful that I have spent the best part of the past decade really honing in on these foundations because when a thunderbolt strikes (as it often does) you really need the house’s foundation to be rock solid to survive the tremor. My walls feel a little cracked and somewhat worst for wear right now but I can feel deep down that my foundation is solid and can withstand the rumble.  That’s why I am so passionate about sharing these foundations with others so that others too can stand on solid ground no matter what curveballs life throws at us. I dare say if I was eating a conventional diet like I was 20 years ago teamed with other poor lifestyle choices I would have ended up in bed these past couple of months curled up in foetal position raising the white flag in defeat. I’ve been there and I never want to go there again. 

My favourite quote for this year is probably this:

“Despite all our accomplishments, we owe our existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains”

Thank you Dr Libby for sharing this. This certainly keeps things in perspective!! And perspective is often lost in our ‘civilised’ world. 

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To be perfectly honest, Christmas isn’t my favourite time of year. Since I discovered that Santa wasn’t real the whole episode kinda lost its magic. I often feel like the Grinch. I get sickened by the thought of all the waste, the useless gifts, the financial strain on so many people and the environmental impact generated by a single day. I was heartened when my 7 year old daughter said in response to me asking her what she wanted for Xmas “I don’t really want anything mum. I have everything I need.” Bless. My 10 year old son on the other hand pulled out a list as long as his arm in mid November.

I think the best thing you could give someone is something that teaches them how to live a better quality life. Maybe it’s a book, maybe it’s a voucher for one of my cooking classes, health coaching sessions or wholefood products.  Or maybe it’s an experience like a surf lesson, a sewing class (I have enrolled my 7 year old into a course at Bronte sewing room), a massage, or an art class. Maybe it’s taking them into an adventure in nature like a hike or something more adventurous. Or maybe its shouting them a nourishing meal or making them one yourself.

I have had numerous people come into my store over the past couple weeks asking me which specific products I recommend for Christmas. Here’s what I have been suggesting:

1. Our activated snack mix - organic activated nuts and dried fruit (gojis, coconut flakes and figs) are very befitting for Christmas. Handy to have a stash in the pantry for appetisers when visitors pop in.

2. Fruit and nut sokolata – fruit and activated nuts plus raw dark chocolate. You can’t go wrong with that!

3. Orange and chilli sokolata - our hand sliced and dehydrated oranges teamed with chilli flakes look so pretty you could hang them up on your tree!

4. Chicken liver pâté – the perfect nutrient-dense and delicious Christmas appetiser or entrée served with vegetable crudités or on quality sourdough or sprouted bread. We are making both flavours of our pâté on 22nd December as a Christmas special. We are now taking orders for these. Please send your orders to orders@staraniseorganic.com and let us know how many glass jars (240g) you would like and in which flavour (fig or the sage & thyme). Pâté keeps for a few days in the fridge and keeps even longer if the butter encasing is in tact. Handy for summer picnics or emergency dinners. It freezes and defrosts beautifully too.

5. A bottle of cold pressed, extra virgin, certified organic olive oil. We sell Toscana olive oil in 1.4L ($40) and 4L($85) drums.

6. A gift voucher for any of our products up to an amount of your choice.

7. A gift voucher for any one of my cooking classes (expires 12 months from date of voucher).

8. A gift voucher for a one on one health coaching session with me (expires 12 months from date of voucher). 

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CLOSED 23RD - 27TH DEC
OPEN 28TH – 29TH DEC  
CLOSED 30TH DEC - 1ST JAN

REGULAR HOURS RESUME 2ND JAN
8AM - 6PM 7 DAYS

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I wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to the fabulous tribe that I belong to. Thank you for coming to my cooking classes, for choosing me as your health coach, for buying my products, for coming into Broth Bar & Larder, for reading my blogs and social media posts, and for all your comments and amazing support. Thank you for allowing me to do what I so dearly love to do. I feel beyond grateful and humble. And huge thank you to my amazing staff who have stood by my side and work so tirelessly to help me build my dreams and to be an integral part of it.

I have so many new and exciting things planned for 2016 – I can’t wait to share these with you. From some new products that will knock your socks off to outdoor seating to new packaging. Cooking classes will resume 2016 and I’m still conducting my one on one health coaching sessions all throughout this period with even more gusto in person or via phone/skype. 

Here’s a little video showing a snapshot of the past 12 months. I hope you enjoy it!

Wishing you all a happy festive season and here’s to a new year filled with an abundance of health, peace and happiness!

With much love,
Soulla x