SAOW November Update

we are excited to announce the following new products!

beef stock cubes

We have frozen our beef broth (without added salt) into ice-cube sized portions for you to conveniently pop a cube or 2 into smoothies and sport drinks for extra nutrient-density and frothiness (without affecting the taste at all!). Any which way to sneak in our beloved bone broth into little bellies (big ones too!) is a winner. You can also add these cubes to sauces, stews and baby’s food for extra nutrient-density and liquid.

Our beef broth is long slow simmered using certified organic bones from 100% grass fed & finished cows raised on sustainable Australian farms. Our broth is truly unique because it was formulated in consultation with an integrative GP, a wholefoods dietician and naturopath to be completely free of FODMAPs and low allergenic as possible.   

I have been adding 2 cubes of frozen beef broth into my morning smoothies for almost 10 years. I started blogging about it in 2012 here and started teaching people how to do it when I started running my bone broth workshops 5 years ago. Earlier this year a customer walked into my workshop and said “You know Soulla, you really should start selling your frozen beef broth cubes”. So the idea was born but didn’t become a reality until recently as life got in the way. I’ve had tremendous response to this new product to date. It can be purchased directly from me or selected stockists such as The Health Emporium in Bondi, Foodies in Peakhurst and All Good Things Organic Market in Wollongong.

The retail price and list of ingredients can be found here.

Scroll down to read my nutrient-dense smoothie recipe!

veggie stock

We crafted this vegetable stock in response to a number of requests over the years and more recently. This stock is made by long slow simmering certified organic vegetables and dulse (a sea vegetable). This provides for a mineral-rich and intensely flavoursome vegetable broth. Suitable for vegetarians and vegans or those wishing to consume more nutrients in their diet. Some of my meat-eating friends drink veggie broth in place of water for parts of the day to up the nutrient-density ante. After all, vegetable broth can be thought of as nutrient-dense water. My 7 year old daughter is in love with my vegetable stock and asks for it. There must be minerals in there that her body is somewhat lacking. She loves taking it to school in a thermos container.

Click here and scroll down to the bottom of screen for the retail price and list of ingredients.

coming soon...

We also hope to launch a heap of new products in the coming weeks and months including veggie chips (salted or spicy), brothsicles (broth-infused ice blocks) made with Ovvio Organic teas or coconut milk based, gluten-free crackers, kale chips, spicy activated pumpkin seeds, spicy activated cashews, a gluten-free breadcrumb mix and ready-made casserole meals with root veggies and 100% pastured meat or chicken. Yes we have been busy (and that’s not the half of it!). 

I can’t wait to share these new products with you!  My passion is creating new products which don’t exist in the market or the quality of which is lacking. The products that I make and sell are IDENTICAL to the ones I make at home for myself and my kids. The same ingredients are used and the same preparation methods are employed. Our products are completely free of gluten, refined sugar, industrial seed oils and tap water. For these reasons and more. I believe our products are truly unique in the marketplace. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of my long-standing customers for your loyal support and for all of our new customers – your feedback and support has been touching and greatly appreciated. 

To make a delicious nutrient-dense smoothie for 1, blend the following with a stick blender:

+ 3/4 cup milk of choice (full-fat dairy, coconut or nut milk)
+ 2 frozen cubes of beef broth
+ 1/2 banana or 1-2 medjool dates
+ 1 tbsp extra virgin cold pressed coconut oil (optional)
+ 1-2 raw pastured egg yolks (optional). Not the whites! To understand why egg whites must NOT be consumed raw read one of my earlier posts here.

+ choice of flavours: 2 tsp raw cacao powder, 1/4 tsp vanilla bean powder, 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder, pinch of nutmeg, 1/4 cup berries or 1/2 fresh mango.

Leftovers can be poured into ice-block moulds and frozen to make brothsicles! You may like to increase the sweetener if freezing.

Our fermented veggies have recently had a make-over with new glass jars. We will update all of the photos on the website in the coming weeks but for information about prices and ingredients click here!

We make 3 types of fermented veggies:

+ Sauerkraut
+ Turmeric spiced sauerkraut
+ Kim ch

I recommend up to ½ cup of fermented veggies be consumed per day. I have a heaped tablespoon or 2 as a condiment with eggs for brekky and I throw some into my salad at lunch. Packed with probiotics that proliferate as a result of the wild fermentation method, home-made fermented veggies are a must for robust gut health, immune function, skin and oral health, brain function and metabolism.

We welcome the following 2 new stockists on board:

Bondi Beach Chemist.

This institution of 18 years in South Bondi (opposite icebergs) is now stocking our activating nuts….the perfect summer beach snack–attack!

They are open 7 days and can be contacted at:
bondibeach.chemist@frednet.com.au
(02) 91305270
14 Campbell Pde, Bondi Beach NSW

Enliven Fitness & Enliven Organics

Enliven Organics is a online Sydney-based organic food delivery service. 

Enliven Fitness Studio offers a holistic approach to your health, fitness and weight loss goals.

They are located at 327/308 Wattle Street, Ultimo, NSW 02 8203 4598.

Follow them on instagram @enlivenfitness.

They are selling a selection of our date coconut balls, power bars, broths, broth-based soups, chicken liver pate, kombucha and beet kvass.

Henley’s Wholefoods

Congratulations Sophie Henley for opening up her third Henley’s Wholeoods in under 2 years: first in Bondi Junction which I blogged about here, then in Alexandria and now in the Intercontinental Hotel, Cross Street, Double Bay. We are in love with your work and your contribution to the wholefoods scene in Sydney. All food in made on the premises. Sophie is meticulous about the source and processing of what she offers customers. Yet another amazing clean eats place for brekky, lunch and snacks. 

New organic butcher: “1888 certified”

Also opened in Double Bay is a new butcher “1888 certified” selling 100% grass fed and finished, antibiotic-free and hormone-free meat from local farms. Previously located in Hall Street Bondi they moved their store to larger digs just behind About Life in Double Bay. The founders, Charlie Crichton and Tim White, are farmers and their forefathers have been farmers and graziers since 1888, hence the name. I visited their beautifully decorated store on the weekend and spoke at length to owner Tim. I share with you this information that he relayed to me:

+ They can absolutely guarantee the provenance of their meat. It might surprise you that few butchers can. Their beef, lamb and heritage pork  come from farms owned by the owners themselves or a select number of other local farms. The chickens are from Bannockburn. All these meats are not certified organic but as I have previously discussed in an earlier post organic certification is comforting but is not the be-all-and-end-all. I always look behind the existence or absence of a stamp, and do my own due diligence to ascertain “Is this in substance organic?”

+ They age their own beef.

+ They make their own biltong and bacon.

+ The cured meats are from Pino’s Dolce Vita Fine Foods.

+ Some sausages contain breadcrumbs and some are grain-free. Please ask!

+ They hope to sell a range of organ meats and bones too in the near future. In the meantime, these can be specially ordered.

+ They only use filtered (and not tap) water in their products.  

Shop K2, 1 Kiaora Lane Double Bay 2028 NSW (under Dan Murphy's) 
(02) 9328 3200
info@1888certified.com.au

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Go check them out. We welcome them and wish them every success!

EQ Wholefoods, Moore Park

EQ Wholefoods popped up at the Entertainment Quarter (near the farmers market) but this pop up is now staying. Hooray! They have a huge open space stocked with beautiful organic wholefood products. They do not serve ready-to-eat food (yet!) – only pre-packaged products that you will recognise and love. How cool are the beautiful larger than life size photos of the raw cacao beans on the windows?! I wonder how many people would even recognise these as raw cacao beans? Now you know...

If anyone has any lingering concerns about the consumption of red meat following the recent WHO report, I suggest you read Chris Kresser’s response here and/or Mark Sisson’s response here.  

"Mama, what's so bad about vegetable oil?" my 7 year old happen to ask me on the day that an article in the Sydney Morning Herald appeared highlighting the dangers of vegetable oils.

The article summarises that "Cooking with vegetable oils releases toxic chemicals linked to cancer and other diseases, according to leading scientists, who are now recommending food be fried in olive oil, coconut oil, butter or even lard."

Amen. Knew we were onto something. Vegetable oils are one of the most unhealthy fats you can consume for the following reasons:

 1. they are extremely high in omega 6 polyunsaturated fatty acids which cause inflammation, and inflammation in turn is the root cause of all (yes all!) modern disease including cancer, cardiovascular disease, hormone disruption, mental health problems including violent behaviour. This is all backed by robust scientific studies. 

2. they are made by an extremely industrialised process

3. they contain no nutritive benefit (100% empty calories) 

4. they are not heat stable yet they are used to cook with further denaturing the heat sensitive omega 6 fats. 

5. they are particularly damaging to children and unborn children according to Dr Catherine Shanahan in her book “Deep Nutrition: why our genes need traditional foods”.

P.S. vegetable oil doesn’t actually contain any vegetables!!  But it’s a great marketing name, right?!

Most restaurants and all fast food chains cook in vegetable oil because it's so damn cheap. Rethink store-bought deep fried foods in particular! So where should we eat out? Read this and this. Cook more at home! Make your own chips with coconut oil. Kids love this especially if you get them involved! Read the labels on all packaged goods- if it contains vegetable oils of any description ditch it! Life's too short and you and your kids are too precious to eat crap oils. Opt for the delicious healthy fats that your great grandmother cooked in: butter, tallow, lard, ghee or coconut oil. Our bodies (esp brains!!) need saturated fats from natural sources to grow and function properly and to perform our best. Why settle for anything less?!

A few years ago I wrote a post on Dr Kate Norris being one of the handful of integrative GPs in Sydney who I highly recommend. She is on exactly the same nutritional and lifestyle page. A couple years ago she left for Victoria but now she’s back and practising in Bondi Junction. For me it’s imperative that all of my health care professionals (from my dentist, GP, osteopath and naturopath) are on exactly the same nutritional page and speak and understand my language. It’s reassuring to know that, at least in Sydney, such people exist. We welcome Kate back!

I recommend you check out her brilliant website here. The other utterly brilliant integrative GP who I work with and highly recommend is Dr Min Yeo, also based in Bondi Junction. For recommendations on GPs further afield, please contact me directly.

A few months ago I had promised to run a heap of cooking workshops in the latter part of the year. Unfortunately I am not able to do that at present as a unique and exciting adventure has presented itself to me rather unexpectedly. Given the enormity of what’s involved for my business, I need to throw much of my energies into that. I hope to be able to reveal all of the details very very soon! Workshops will resume in 2016 in full swing!

Our 5 broth-based soups are now officially launched and available for sale! + 2 NEW Stockists

We are excited to announce that our broth-based soups in 5 amazing flavours made with all certified organic ingredients are making their debut across Sydney and beyond:

     Chunky chicken and veg soup

      Moroccan soup

      Green soup

      Carrot soup

      Pumpkin soup

 These soups are all made in a base of our long slow simmered organic chicken broth. The popularity of my broths (aka stocks) together with customer requests over the years for broth-based soups led me to create these babies.

Soups made in a base of water taste bland and are not as nutritious as those made in a gelatinous broth. Most soups on the market do not contain any traditional saturated fats or protein which means you are left hungry soon after. For our 4 blended soups, we add traditional healthy fats in the form of organic pastured butter and loads of seasonal veggies to make a beautiful nutritious meal, entree or snack. For the chunky chicken and veg soup we add pieces of pastured chicken along with the veggies. That one is my favourite and reminds me of my mum’s chicken soup growing up! It is a hug in a bowl. My kids have been enjoying taking these soups to school for lunch in a thermos container and they are my go-to lunch meal. Broth-based soups are also a great way to inject deeply nourishing broth and veggies into kids who won’t otherwise eat them.

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Like our stocks, our soups are sold frozen in 500ml containers but if you prefer fresh just let us know so we can put some aside for you in the fridge instead of freezing.

You can find our soups at selected stockists and also at my workshop in Waverley. They are flying out the door so I will be very keen to know which is your favourite flavour and why! I hope you love them as much as we love making them for you!

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In other news we are excited to announce 2 new stockists selling our products:

Taste Organics at 25 Falcon Street, Crows Nest are selling a range of our products including our frozen stocks, raw dark chocolates (look in fridge!), and activated nuts. We hope those north of the bridge check out this great organic store (I was impressed with its size!).

The Royal & Ancient are a fruit kiosk in Pitt Street (Crn Rowe) in Sydney CBA selling an impressive array of clean whole foods. Where was this place when I worked in the CBD a decade ago? Our collaboration with The Royal and Ancient brings city workers and dwellers our activated nuts repackaged exclusively in 2 unique sizes. 

If you are a stockist and would like to stock our products please contact me at info@staraniseorganic.com. If you shop at a favourite haunt and think they would be interested in stocking our products, please let me know their name and I will contact them directly. 

Vietnamese Pho Recipe & Red Boat Fish Sauce

To my knowledge (and please correct me if I am wrong!!) there is no fish sauce in Australia that doesn't contain sugar (or MSG and preservatives) other than Red Boat fish sauce. When I looked into this product a few months back after researching what is on the market, I was super impressed.

It only contains 2 clean ingredients:

·      Fermented anchovies; plus
·      sea salt.

Nothing else.

It is made using a unique 200 year old artisanal process. The anchovies are caught locally (from the crystal clear waters off the Phu Quoc island archipelago) and salted immediately. They are then transferred to traditional wooden barrels and weight of the anchovies in the barrels produces the sauce at the end of the 12+ month fermentation period. Authentic to a tee, Red Boat has become a national treasure of Vietnam.

Check out this YouTube clip on how they make it:

Anchovies are high in B vitamins and minerals and are a great source of protein. This sauce tastes awesome too, very strong and pungent - a little goes a long way!

The only problem is that no one sells it in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. So to put an end to that problem I've started buying it from the distributor and selling it from my workshop in Waverley at $12.50/500ml. We are open 8am till late daily. It has a very long shelf life (a couple of years) and makes ordinary dishes taste extraordinary with an Asian twist. 

So the bottom line is to be super careful to scrutinize the ingredients of your condiments. When I do pantry raids at clients’ homes, I find that the condiments in their fridge door and pantry are what lets many people down even those who have converted to a largely clean, unprocessed, nutrient-dense, whole foods diet. Condiments are often neglected as not being important but let me tell you that most commercially mass-produced condiments, dips, dressings and sauces are a storehouse of artificial ingredients and/or sugar in its many guises. 

I'd like to share my Vietnamese Pho soup recipe that uses Red Boat fish sauce. This is always a crowd pleaser at dinner parties and at my recent bone broth workshops. I like to ask people to assemble their own Pho in their bowls with a few basic instructions. They love doing that. There's something about using your hands that people (especially kids) really love. Traditionally made with beef broth, Pho is a light and fragrant soup. The Asian flavours are so aromatic that it is sure to please even the fussiest eaters (even kids!). And it only takes a few minutes to make.

Vietnamese Pho soup

Ingredients:

1 cup home-made salted beef broth/stock
200g of very thinly sliced raw beef sirloin, rump or eye fillet
dried or fresh rice stick noodles (optional)
½ tablespoon (2 tsp) Red Boat fish sauce
handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
handful of Thai basil
handful of Vietnamese mint
handful of bean sprouts
handful of spring onions, thinly sliced
a few thin slices of red onion
a few very thin slices of red capsicum
chilli flakes or thinly sliced fresh chilli (to taste)
½ lime, cut in half 

Directions:

1. To make slicing the meat easier, place in freezer for a couple of hours.

2. Cook noodles according to packet instructions then add to bowl. Top with sliced raw beef.

3. Heat stock in small saucepan until hot. Turn off heat. Add fish sauce and the juice of ¼ segment of lime and stir through.

4. Pour hot broth into the bowl (the heat will gently cook the raw meat).  Add the rest of the ingredients. Add the remaining ¼ segment of lime into side of the bowl.  

Serves 1