Ooooby

Switch to Local Food for your belated 2012 New Years Resolution.

Visit Ooooby at: http://ooooby.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network

This Sauvignon Blanc carries the subtle flavours of citrus, gooseberry, and passionfruit. It has a complex, slightly acidic edge, which slowly unfolds in the mouth, revealing gentle herb and mineral notes. Chilled, it’s the perfect, most heavenly drink for a warm summer’s evening. And for me, there’s the marvelous knowledge that this wine was prepared along bio-dynamic principles and is organically certified. This is one bottle of high integrity wine.

The Richmond Plains vineyard has been around since 1991 and was exclusively organic from day one. It was the first vineyard to be certified as both organic and biodynamic, and this small family owned vineyard was responsible for New Zealand’s first ever Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Blanc de Noir from certified organic and biodynamic grapes.

And the Richmond Plains team are receiving some serious recognition for their efforts. this particular Richmond Plains Sauvignon Blanc was recently awarded both a Blue-Gold and a Top 100 Gold at the prestigious Sydney International Wine Competition. The Sydney International Wine Competition is Australia’s top wine competition. The Top 100 Gold recognises the special quality of the wine as well as selection as one of the best gold medal wines entered in the competition across all classes. The show’s huge popularity means entries for this competition are capped at 2,000.

I always delight in discovering a delicious Sauvignon Blanc, but discovering a delicious certified organic Sauvignon Blanc, not to mention an award winning one, takes things to a whole new level. If you haven’t tried the Richmond Plains Sauvignon Blanc, you must! I know it’ll be in my Christmas hamper this year.

Win two bottles of organic wine: the Richmond Plains Sauvignon Blanc 2011 and the Te Mania Sauvignon Blanc 2011!

All members of Club Happyzine (join now for as little as $1 per week and go in the draw to win free, green products and services each week!) will automatically go in the draw to win a bottle each of these delicious wines

Participate in Car Free Sunday this December 18^th and go in the draw to win these organic wines.

Seriously, this week you could win these new all organic, raw food energy bars.

You may have noticed them in your local organic shop recently, these blazing new raw food musli bars, wrapped in vibrant colours and crying out to be sampled. New stuff is so exciting isn’t it?  Take it from me, if you notice some of the new Awaken energy food bars in your ‘hood, try one. They’re the future of energy bars.

Awaken alive energy food bars are raw, gluten free, vegan and contain certified organic ingredients. They were developed by Penny Kingan and Sam Stewart (a gorgeously in-love newly wed couple with a long-time passion for organic food) and Tim Maples – who knew a great idea when he saw one.

The team created a range of bars which are made from raw wholefoods and are processed without heat to preserve precious enzymes, vitamins and phytonutrients.

And they’ve got this superfood thing going on. You may have heard of the superfoods, I’m talking about foods such as Goji Berries, Cacao Nibs and Chia Seeds. These ingredients have been used and even considered sacred for thousands of years because of their amazing properties. I’ve never personally bothered to buy these superfoods, I’ve left them to the lofty peaks of my superfood enthusiast friends, but now I don’t have too. Smug smile. I can just eat these bars.

So just imagine, you’re at the petrol station, on a mission, tummy rumbling you’re in need of a quick fix. You have your food standards, and you don’t hold out much hope for the petrol station offerings. You’d love to grab something natural, not one of these try-hard muesli bars, loaded with sugar and weirdly processed unpronounceable ingredients, but something simple and yummy.

Yep. This is it. These bars are the solution to your quick fix moment. Raw, and I mean really, truly raw, pure organic ingredients that will fill you up with long lasting energy and tick all the boxes of even the most fussy and selective organic food connoisseur.

Did I sample them? Oh yes.

How blessed was I? Penny sent me a box of the following energy bars to enjoy: There was the ‘Banana, Goji and Cacao’ bar which I adored; closely followed by the ‘Cacao, date and hazelnut’ bar (and I’m talking Medool Dates, those big fat organic ones); I tried the yummy ‘Spiced Apricot and Cashew’ and wished it would never end and finally I tried the ‘Apple, Cinamon and Walnut’. Yum! And it’s true, they really did make my body feel good post-eat, which is a rare treat in convenience snacks these days.

So there you have it, high quality, high integrity organic raw food energy bars that provide long lasting energy and have got to the one of the most pure energy bars you can buy in New Zealand. They retail for $3.80 – $4.90 depending on where you buy them. Awaken energy bars are also in the process of gaining organic certification status.

Can we offer you some free samples? Oh yes!

One lucky Club Happyzine member shall receive a pack of bars next week.

AND people who participate in Car Free Sunday will also go in the draw to win some of these awesome new energy bars.

www.awakenenergy.co.nz

While we’re high on beating France at rugby, let’s recognise another victory this year – New Zealand’s flourishing food scene. There were over two hundred food and wine events taking place in the last two months: Auckland’s Taste of New Zealand, nationwide cooking tour Out Standing in their Fields, Wellington on a Plate, Feast of Canterbury, Paddock to Plate Tours in the Hawke’s Bay, Taste Nelson, countless wine tours, Farmers’ Markets, and festivals celebrating their local seasonal specialties and artisan food producers. As a foodie myself I’ve seen a changing attitude towards food which even McDonalds can’t afford to ignore: people are suddenly caring about what they eat in New Zealand, and not just because of the latest international fad diet going around. As Chairperson of Farmers’ Markets NZ, Marlborough-based chef Chris Fortune has noticed too: “The kitchen table has never been a more exciting place to be with regional produce overflowing at our local Farmers’ Markets and today’s chefs foraging and gathering from the bounty of what the great long white cloud has to offer. Not only do we have the most outstanding rugby team in the world but also some of the most outstanding food and producers of which we are building our future on.”

Perhaps the most significant consequence of this newfound passion for real food is that we are beginning to actually take pride in, as well as discover, the amazing ingredients and talent in our own backyard. Hamilton chef Chris Scott notes that “we have the best of both worlds – we live on an Island so we have access to amazing seafood and we are also surrounded by incredibly fertile land which is farmed extensively.”

Award winning food writer Julie Biuso adds to that sentiment: “Freshness. Every visitor comments on it. As soon as you travel you can’t help but pine for fresh salads, fresh fruit, unadulterated food that tastes good. NZ is literally the land of milk and honey.” However, we’re not just home to Bluff oysters and Waipara wine, but also amazing chefs and writers, from Al Brown to Annabel Langbein and Julie Biuso. While the All Blacks get to wow us every now and then, the farmers, bakers, food writers and chefs of this country nourish and inspire us every day. “I love our artisan producers and the pride they take in producing top-notch food,” Biuso declares, and who could disagree? They have helped craft the idea of “New Zealand food” as something we no longer shy away from.

What is this elusive idea of “New Zealand food” though? “Clean fresh flavours prepared to the best of the chefs ability, with wholesome honest product and integrity,” says Marc Soper, Wellington Chef of the Capital and Out Standing in their Fields chef.

“We are moving into different styles of cooking with new flavours being introduced because of our love to travel the world,” Masterchef Brett McGregor muses, but ultimately “it is fresh, hearty with robust flavours that is taking flavours from around the world and fusing them together to create a new world cuisine. The next few years are going to be amazing. Kiwi food can now stand proud internationally.”

Jan Bilton agrees, adding that “Real New Zealand cuisine today is influenced by many cultures which makes it interesting and innovative. We’ve used local products and integrated them into Asian, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and other cuisines’ recipes and cooking techniques. We do have some essentially Kiwi recipes (pavlova, afghans etc) but we should be proud of how our cuisine has developed using our local fresh foods.”

Unlike the more entrenched gastronomic centres of the world, New Zealand is “not tied down too much by tradition and sometimes just take a leap of faith,” according to Julie Biuso. While the cynical among us may sneer at the idea of the “kiwiburger,” it’s precisely this lack of pretension and open-minded approach to cooking that will likely get more of us keen to eat better.

Chef of the Year David Schofield notes that we’re still experimenting though: “We’re simply too new a country to have our own identifiable style or hallmark, but it’s rather exciting to be here watching all these ideas pop up and be embraced by chefs and passionate home cooks.” Specifically though, “true New Zealand food to me has to always aim for quality, taste, values and passion.”

This casual but growing recognition of our excellence isn’t just ignorant arrogance either. Out Standing in their Fields Keri Keri chef Rolf Simons moved to New Zealand thirty years ago from Holland. At the time, “all that was available was the custard square, lamington, pie, and quiche. No decent cup of coffee.” However, he’s watched New Zealand grow, and is proud to state that “NZ has so much to offer now, and when we were travelling through Europe and having a coffee and dinner, we realized that NZ Food is world class and so much better than in most of the European countries.”

Thanks to our distance from the rest of the world, we’re also quite lucky to be able to eat seasonally but still retain a bit of diversity. “Northland has a great climate, lots of subtropical fruits, and access to the freshest seafood.” Keri Keri chef Colin Ashton cooked internationally for celebrities like Shania Twain and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. “Fresh is best and being able to source produce on your doorstep, in optimum condition, is such a pleasure. Seasonality of ingredients keeps my menu changing and evolving, each season has new and wonderful produce which inspires new dishes.”

“We come from a young world where life is to be experienced, challenges met and new tastes and styles to be developed,” says Out Standing in their Fields chef Hester Guy. Her hope (and mine!) is that alongside this development, there will be one constant: that our food is “grown with attention and care and then cooked with respect, so the ingredients can speak for themselves.”

As a young foodie myself, I am just as excited as the chefs and food writers I talked to about where New Zealand is heading, not just as a food destination, but as a home. Like Julie Biuso, Chris Scott and I’m sure countless others, I can’t wait to live the “Kiwi Dream” of tending to, and reaping the rewards from, my backyard vege garden and perhaps a few chickens. Like Restaurant Personality of the Year and local Canterbury chef Jonny Schwass, “I love the rural connection the city has with its country cousins. I love the Waipara wine region which makes some of the best wines in the world. I love the craft brewers that make it worthwhile to work up a thirst. Canterbury is my home.” When I take a deep whiff of a locally grown truffle presented to me by a local chef, or feel the glossy skin of a New Zealand grown tangelo, I feel proud not just to eat some of the best food in the world, but to call this place home and to support the other kiwis making it theirs too.

http://www.outstandingintheirfields.org.nz/

Film producer Sarah Cowhey

Alison Lambert shows you how to cook seasonal, locally grown food to make delicious and economical meals for all the family, right from her kitchen in Dunedin…Episode 1 – the delicious Eve’s Pudding…

check out her blog at alisonmarketchef.blogspot.com/​

About Alison: Self obsessed, passionate chef and mother. She’s on a mission to get people excited about preparing and eating food.Keeping it simple and real and of course delicious..

Produced by Sarah Cowhey

with the support of the Otago Farmers Market

Click here to view the embedded video.

This spring Ooooby will start serving local food to Waiheke. There is a limit of 75 customers to begin with and as soon as the first 50 customers sign up the weekly deliveries will begin.

The food is sourced from local farms and producers including growers and artisans from right here on the island.

Limited Supply. First in first served.

Find out more and sign up here.

Note: Members of Club Happyzine go in the draw to win a copy of Party Food For Girls – make sure you join up by this Friday the 3rd October to be elligable for the draw.  The winner will be announced in our weekly ezine on Monday 10th October!

Review by Charlotte Squire

If you’re like me and you’re going through the ‘kid’s party’ phase of life, check out Party Food for Girls.  It’s written by New Zealand based Italian mother – Alessandra Zecchini – and her twelve year old daughter – Arantxa Zecchini Dowling – which means the recipes are simple, decadent and, thanks to the Italian influence, surprisingly healthy.  The set out to create the ideal cook book for the twelve year old girl to enjoy and follow.  The final result is brimming with luscious and easy to pull-off recipes, some of which I intend to personally whip up next week for my son’s four year birthday (I’m thinking the Vanilla Dream Cupcakes, the Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes and the Kid’s Sangria).

Party Food for Girls is visually very appealing, it’s brimming with close-ups of extremely lush party food, and step by step images, which most definitely works for me as a ‘spell it out for me nice and simple’ kinda girl.  It features a great collection images that made me sigh and feel suddenly hungry.  It has a great balance of the essential lush chocolate recipes that every party food cook book should have, a fine quota of whipped cream and berries, plus some lovely classic Italian recipes such as pizza, giant pasta shells and stuffed cherry tomatoes.

The other thing that must be said about this marvelous book (which I had originally intended to pass onto another Happyzine reviewer, but quickly became rather attached to myself) is I note the authors offer natural colour options such as berry juice and (small quantities of) spirilina to use in their icings.

I thought this was rather nifty.  It gives the book an unexpected level of depth, taking it beyond a collection of great looking food that tastes great and is beautifully

Auckland-based mother/daughter duo, Alessandra and Arantxa Zecchini

prepared and styled to a collection of recipes with some nutritional integrity.

I’ve been raving about this book to my Play-Centre Mum friends, and my family.  I think it’s a great buy for any parent with the best of intentions and limited confidence in the party food department!  Oh yeah, and it’s a winner for twelve year old girls too.

Party Food for Girls
Alessandra Zecchini and Arantxa Zecchini Dowling
Published by New Holland
ISBN 9781869662998
RRP $29.99

New Zealand, Aug 31, 2011.

Outstanding in their Fields presents New Zealand’s first live and free chef and producer cooking shows at 18 Farmers’ Markets around the country, starting Sept 4^th in Marlborough and finishing Oct 23^rd in Grey Lynn. MasterChef Brett McGregor, Jonny Schwass, Julie Biuso and Chef of the Year David Schofield are some of the top kiwi chefs who will be showing how top kiwi cooking is done. Farmers’ Markets NZ is steering the shows as part of the REAL New Zealand Festival 2011, which runs in conjunction which compliments the Rugby World Cup 2011 to maximise our exposure to both local and international audiences. The demonstrations are committed to promoting New Zealand food excellence during this period of high international media attention, and as project manager Kylie March states, “showing the world just how great genuine Kiwi cooking is.” Each market will feature a “Market VIP” who will get preferential tastings and great prizes; attendees can enter the draw and view the full schedule at www.outstandingintheirfields.org.nz

Thanks to the  following environmentally responsible businesses for supporting Happyzine:

The Organic Green Grocer.

Nelson’s busy organic shop – healthy food, happy people, great service, caring for the environment.  Corner Tasman & Grove Streets, Nelson.  Ph 03 548 3650.

www.organicgreengrocer.co.nz

Farmers’ Markets are environmentally friendly and sustainable community movements, which have shown economic benefits including increased employment, income and business opportunities. Farmers’ Markets NZ Chairperson and Marlborough chef Chris Fortune believes that “supporting Farmers’ Markets means supporting local producers and communities, and interactively developing relationships between both producers and consumers.”

Outstanding in their Fields is a fun and novel way to get involved in the Farmers’ Market movement, supporting the growth and development of local communities on a national scale. Various businesses have jumped up to support the cause, including Interislander, Taste Magazine, FMG Insurance, and The Breeze, which will also be broadcasting the shows and offering prizes to listeners. Kiwi food bloggers have also caught wind of the grass roots cooking events, with Two Spoons blogger Zo Zhou stating she is “really excited about where these shows will take New Zealand’s food image, especially overseas.”

Farmers’ Markets NZ

Contact for more info:

Kylie March – Project manager

outstanding@FarmersMarkets.org.nz

By Tricia Curtis

is is the breakfast that will supply heaps of nutrients and keep your sugar levels balanced for much of the day. I have given this recipe to many of my patients who just didn’t know what to have for breakfast. Most of them now swear by it. It stops you craving junk food during the day. You simply don’t think about eating rubbish because your body has got what it needs, in the form of slow release energy. It is best to try to use organic ingredients. If it is the only organic food you eat, it is worth the little bit of extra cost to get the maximum benefit.

–
Tricia Curtis
+64 9 420 4121
tricia@naturallybytrisha.com

www.naturallybytrisha.com
P.O Box 251, Silverdale, Auckland, NZ

Ruth and Amy Anslow are campaigning for a more sustainable food system. Image: Positive News.org.uk

By Tom Goulding

A new campaign is aiming to get British-grown food on menus across the country during the 2012 Olympic games in an effort to create a more sustainable and fair food system.

People across the UK should take pride in their food industry, say campaigners attempting to boost interest in British-grown food in time for the Olympics in London.

Must Be British is a drive to get British-grown food on menus across the UK during the London 2012 games. This could keep millions of pounds in the national economy, according to How it Should be (HiSbe), the Brighton-based social enterprise  behind the initiative.

Read more …

We use a lot of tomatoes! Canned, fresh, I’m not fussy – they are delicious. And so, when I stumbled upon a table laden with very cheap, perfectly ripe, fresh tomatoes at the big shop, I quickly began loading them into my trolley. Giddy with the excitement that one can only gain from the thought of buying tom’s at $1.00/kilo, I hurtled through shopping, and skipped out of the shop, half waiting for a strong arm to grab me at anytime, and an authoritative voice to loudly bellow “Excuse me lady, you’ve practically STOLEN those tomatoes, please step this way”. Once in the car I started interogating the husband about the fate of our booty. Of course, upon arriving home, I realised I didn’t have any of the ingrediants required to make anything relishy, or chutney-esque. But! I did have a large collection of preserving jars!

Because we’ve always adored pasta, I have done my part in keeping the pasta-sauce market bouyant. The only thing I have asked for in return, aside from the sauce, is the jar that it has come in. Mainly because I also got a free lid. And so, it was with great excitement that I hauled 6 jars, and lids, out of my preserving jar collection. Thanks to the reassuring guidance of Google and The Edmonds Cookbook, I figured out how to sterilise the jars and preserve the tomatoes!

The next shopping day couldn’t come around soon enough! This week, I was going to knock the socks right off those tomatoes. Sure enough, there were the cheap tomatoes again. Confidence bolstered by the fact that noone had tracked me down using camera footage and licence plate tracking, I brazenly loaded the cheap tom’s into my trolley, grabbed a few spices and vinegar, and headed home to make a lovely spicy Tomato Sauce!
The Sauce is on the left, the tom’s on the right.

So, here’s the guff on preserving tomatoes. They are low acid. This means they need a preserving agent to keep them safe in the jar. Trust me, nothing is going to put a low on your posh dinner party like an outbreak of botulism. Especially if you’ve just finished regaling everyone with your preserving antics. They all know where it’s come from.

And so, the preserving agent needn’t be the terrifying things we imagine them to be ie. Preserving agent 115 : warning – may cause oozing. For the jarred tomatoes, I simply boiled them and then added citric acid to each jar. The solids and fluids have seperated in the jar, this is normal. Big factories flash heat their tom’s and this causes the fruit cells to stay intact. Done slowly in a pot, the cells have the chance to break down and the layered effect occurs. For the spicy sauce, the vinegar is the preserving agent. It also does us the big favour of being delicious.

Recipe:

3.5kg Tom’s – in fact, I used about 7kg and then sloshed in a bit more vinegar. I don’t think you can overdo the vinegar, too little vinegar is when you would get preserving issues.

1kg Apples – oddly, once you know they’re in there, you can taste them. They round out the flavour.

6 Onions – you can never have enough onion. In my opinion.

3 Cups Sugar

4 Cups Malt Vinegar

2 Tbsp Salt

1/2-1 tsp Cayenne Pepper – I used straight chilli peppers, and I used the amount as more of a guideline. I ended up adding about 6 chillies because I love the heat. Taste the stuff while it’s cooking, if it’s not hot enough, throw in some more. If it’s too hot, you’ve just prepared your xmas gifts for dear friends and rellies!

1 tsp Peppercorns – which I didn’t have so I used straight pepper.

1 tsp whole Allspice – I only had ground, but I figure, it’s the flavour I’m after.

2 tsp whole Cloves – Once again, I used ground. I should mention, that right about here I started to embellish and with all due respect to Mr Edmonds and the cookbook crew, I deviated from the recipe and began adding wee shakes of tumeric and generous pinches of cumin.

Throw it all in a pot, boil for about 2 hours. You can sieve it, I didn’t, as I prefer that hearty, chunky style sauce. Bottle it in your sterilised jars. I have a sneaking suspicion that the longer I can leave this stuff, the better it may taste.

Because I’m not a patient creature, I recently neglected all my store bought sauce and busted open a jar of the tom’s to use – they were wonderful. If you have invested in the pasta sauce sector, my advice – sell, sell, sell!

For the past three months we have become “The Tahini Household”. It all started with my friend Hannah offering to make a group order for basic organic essentials at a very low price. When she mentioned unhulled organic tahini for 8.95 a kilo, I jumped on the opportunity and asked for a “big pot of it”. Three days later she turned up with a 10 kilo tahini container and I realised that, despite of my 6 years living in NZ, my english still needed improvement!

“It is okay” she said, “just talk to people, at this price everyone will want some”! Well, I gave it a go at work. My colleagues thought I wanted to drop teaching for a new “tahini-dealing” career and showed no willingness whatsoever to support my new ambition!

My children and partner, after a few days of tahini sandwiches in their lunchboxes clearly indicated that they had had enough and almost started a rebellion. I had to find a clever way to slowly getting rid of my precious treasure…so I undertook some research for cooking ideas. This is what I found:

Tahini, tahina comes from the Arabic word “tahen” which is derived of the verb to grind. It is used in numerous Egyptian and Lebanese dishes. Unhulled tahini is made by grinding the whole sesame seeds and has a very nutritional value. Tahini is a rich source of calcium, protein, methionin -which helps with the absorption of other amino-acids-, vitamins B and E and essential Fatty acids (EFA’s). You can also purchase hulled tahini, which is not as bitter tasting as the unhulled type.

Tahini can be used as a dip-spread, in soups and other dishes.

WITH BREAD:

- as a dip, like in the middle-East. Dilute tahini with water; add lemon juice, garlic and parsley. Pour a spoon of olive oil for serving.

- use as butter on a fresh home made baked loaf with orange marmalade.

- as a spread with miso or “sesamiso”: For two sandwiches mix ½ Cup tahini with ½ Cup red or brown (preferred)miso.

- See also the Hummus recipe from a previous Happyzine post. (http://happyzine.co.nz/2010/08/29/an-excerpt-from-the-wholefoods-handbook-chickpeas/)

Tahini also goes really well with aubergine. Try this combination: fry an aubergine with onion and garlic. Mix, add 2 spoons of tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, cumin and a little water.

I used to impress my guests, serving this on crackers or fresh bread for aperitif, calling it “caviar d’aubergines”. You may want to try the more elaborate version of this recipe, Baba Ganoush, which I have found on the website: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2008/07/baba-ganosh/  David Lebovitz, living the sweet life in Paris.

Baba Ganoush, a very popular middle-east dish.

Eight servings

3 medium-sized eggplants
1/2 cup (130g) tahini (roasted sesame paste)
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
3 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1/8 teaspoon chile powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
a half bunch picked flat-leaf parsley or cilantro leaves

1. Preheat the oven to 375F (190C).

2. Prick each eggplant a few times, then char the outside of the eggplants by placing them directly on the flame of a gas burner and as the skin chars, turn them until the eggplants are uniformly-charred on the outside. (If you don’t have a gas stove, you can char them under the broiler. If not, skip to the next step.)

3. Place the eggplants on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until they’re completely soft; you should be able to easily poke a paring knife into them and meet no resistance.

4. Remove from oven and let cool.

5. Split the eggplant and scrape out the pulp. Puree the pulp in a blender or food processor with the other ingredients until smooth.

6. Taste, and season with additional salt and lemon juice, if necessary. Chill for a few hours before serving. Serve with crackers, sliced baguette, or toasted pita chips.

Storage: Baba Ganoush can be made and refrigerated for up to five days prior to serving.

AS A SOUP:

- How about this Tahini/broccoli soup –found on http://www.cottoecrudo.com, cotto e crudo Green and Cruelty free Italian website-?

Ingredients

400 g broccoli, cleaned, divided into florets and steamed
200 ml water (the broccoli cooking water)
100 ml oat milk, unflavoured and unsweetened
2 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (and some more for serving)
whole sea salt, just enough to taste
chili powder, to taste
a handful of white sesame seeds

Makes 2-4 servings.

Directions

Place the steamed broccoli, water, oat milk, tahin, olive oil and salt in the bowl of a food processor and blend until very smooth. Heat the soup if necessary, divide it into individual serving bowls, sprinkle some chili powder and olive oil over it and garnish with the sesame seeds.

And if I can not get rid of my full bucket before the holidays, I’ll open a Beauty Saloon!

For a clean and smooth skin, use Tahini in a beauty mask:

Mix one cup of tahini with a cup of raw whipped honey (honey + royal jelly + pollen grains) and a teaspoon of organic powder.

Mix tahini and honey first then add cocoa to make a paste and add up until the required consistency. Apply the mask for 15 min then wash.

When I have looked at myself in the mirror recently, I was able to easily forget the double chin that has started to develop in my upper neck and focus on the aspect of my skin. After three months of intensive consumption of the sesame butter, it has become more radiant and looks healthier… Friends and people at work have commented that I look younger… Never mind the extra kilos really!

A pot of Tahini anyone!?

They recently sent me a few morsels to try – namely their new seeded crackers and their dried apple.  Very yummy.  I’ve been a fan of Eatright foods for years, first trying their Nut Corners (have you tried one of these?!!!) in the Golden Bay Organc shop and from there it was a slippery slope!  Here’s the Nut Corner blurb – which makes them even yummier:

“Nut Corner
Watch out! You can get addicted to this triangle: a crisp almond flavoured short pastry topped with a blend of spray free walnuts and certified organic spices, folded in a meringue and coated with dark chocolate. The secret of the Nut Corner is the crunchy outside and smooth, soft inside”.

But back to this new slow dry range.  I like it because they’re seeking to retain the goodness, flavours and moisture content, so the food is still  full of goodness (nice to find food with actual goodness in shops). I’d say this new range will be good for parents who want to stock up on healthy, wholesome snacks for their kids, or just for people who prefer to eat organic and want to avoid wheat and dairy.

My son adored the mega tasty dried apple, he couldn’t get enough.  though I gave them up for his enjoyment, I rather liked them too.  They were surprisingly tasty.

The crackers are loaded with goodness, I could tell from the way my body responded to them.  Though they’re not the kind of crackers I would usually eat (I like a bit of saltiness, even it it’s just from seaweed), I think these will be a hit with those people who are keen to eat foods that contain good hits of protein, vegan style.  I had them plain but I think they’d be good with some kind of nut butter, or humus on top.  Actually I’ve just seen on the Eatright website that they’re called called ‘Super Seeded Crackers’.  Here’s the guff on them, looks pretty cool-icious:

“Super-Seeded Cracker
This is a super special cracker as we have sprouted the seeds and used low-slow baking principals…so although we can’t call it “raw” just yet we have made it using those principals and philosophies as much as we can.
The Super-Seeded Cracker is also:
Gluten and wheat free, Dairy free, soy free, egg free, no added oil or salt, good source of protein, source of omega 3, contains fibre and is very low in sodium, nut and peanut free and is certified organic.”

So there you have it.  Give them a go sometime and let me know what you think.

You can find their website here.

The Wholefoods Handbook – The Little Kitchen Book That Every Organic Cook Must Have (and can have for only NZ$5).

The incredibly affordable Whole Foods Handbook is a concise guide to 120 basic products commonly sold in organic shops.  The Handbook provides background information on each food, a nutrition profile and preparation instructions, including some recipes.  It’s designed to introduce customers to products they may be unfamiliar with or not know how to use — to boost individual health, organic shop sales and organics throughout New Zealand, helping achieve Organic New Zealand 2020. It’s 56 very full A5 pages, a thorough A-Z all about foods sold in organic shops.
Earthcare Education Aotearoa is a charitable trust specialising in environmental education, organic growing, permaculture and community development. The Whole Foods Handbook was written by a trustee of Earthcare Education Aotearoa to be sold in support of the Trust’s objectives. Proceeds support organic and environmental projects in Golden Bay.
Prices for the Whole Foods Handbook:
Single copy, $5. 2-16 copies, $4.70 each.  17-100 copies: $4.20 each
Postage is $1 for 1 copy, $1.50 for 2-4 copies, $3 for 5-17
copies, and $5 for 18+.

The Story Behind the Wholefoods Handbook – by the author – Joanna Piekarski

When Ro and I put down roots in Golden Bay eleven years ago, GB Organics was a not-for-profit shop run by volunteers, and we took a weekly shift.  Arawa wheat?  Corrail lentils?  We thought: ‘Let’s increase sales by letting shoppers know what all these unfamiliar foods are and how to use them!’  Info cards soon appeared on the bulk bins.  Eventually the cards were expanded and compiled into a handy book.  GB Organics Whole Foods in a Nutshell was soon selling well.  Another idea we had was ‘Other organic shops can sell these books and the profits can be put to good use for our community and environment!’  With a new cover design, the Wholefoods Handbook was soon published by the charitable trust Earthcare Education Aotearoa. The price is kept low (Green$ also welcome) and to date more than 6000 copies have been sold to individuals and in organic shops and Bin Inns all over NZ.

To buy your copy today, email: rojoanna@ihug.co.nz

By Tish North

I want to tell you about a product that I have developed that can help you save power when cooking. It’s called a Haylo Bag and it’s based on an idea that I have had for some time. After much research and prototyping, I have developed what I believe is a great energy-saving device for cooking food.

The idea formed out of my philosophy on life. I feel that the fewer natural resources we use the better for the planet, as well as being financially beneficial for us. Power bills are increasing and we need to find creative ways of saving and using less power.

Another strong belief of mine is not to waste. I grew up surrounded by people who had less than me and because of this I have always been aware of those who have, and those who have less. I abhor waste of any kind.  This has enforced my ideas about recycling as there is so much we can reuse and so many things we can look at in different ways and give new life to.

My energy-saving cooking idea is a reinvention of an old method that seems to have been lost in time.

In England, during the last World War, hay boxes were used to aid in cooking with the purpose of reducing power use. A cooking pot was submerged into a box of hay and covered over with more hay to retain the heat. This allowed the temperature to remain steady and the food to continue cooking, all the while using less precious power.

For years, I have used a type of hay box made from two specifically shaped styrofoam pillows that fit tightly around a cooking pot to insulate and preserve the heat in the pot. In this way, the contents of the pot maintain their temperature as the cooking is in process. They used to be a real asset when I did catering and could produce piping hot food hours after preparation for large numbers of people in remote areas. Although this method worked, I found that the bags I used were bulky and not easy to transport, so I decided I wanted to design a similar, but smaller device with the same successful energy-saving properties that would:

• retain heat
• fit multiple size pots
• be portable
• be small and light enough to carry for outdoor pursuits
• be made with recycled materials.

With these ideas in mind, I began designing and trialling many prototypes. I started by looking into using recycled materials, but I found I could not incorporate materials such as wool blankets, old sweaters etc., as they were too bulky. Newspaper wasn’t any good either as it is not washable. In the end, I decided I could not meet the recycled materials criteria straight away, so concentrated on the power saving aspect – that being the primary idea. I do think recycling is important though, and I recycle other objects in my own way. (I have recently made jewellery from recycled typewriters, used a whole piano to make sculptures and screen printed the keys for necklaces . . . but that’s another story.)

The solution I came up with for my power-saving cooking device was a small polar-fleece, double-sided bag that expands to fit different size pots. It is filled with mini styrofoam beads that help retain the heat. It is small and portable, and can even be used as a pillow.

Haylo Bags are ideal for outdoor living. They’re perfect for camping, tramping and kayaking trips. The cooking can look after itself whilst you’re away from a hut on a day tramp or it can even be done in the bottom of the kayak. There are multiple situations I can think of where these bags can be used in the outdoors.

I will be selling my bags at the Eco Fest coming up on 21st and 22nd August.

If anyone wants more information my details are:

Tish

Artish Designs

nztish@xtra.co.nz or 021031841

The following advice is on a leaflet that I give away with the bags to explain their use.

HAYLO BAGS

• Saves on cooking times.
• Food does not burn, stick or dry out.
• Great for cheaper meat cuts, chickpeas, lentils, rice and dried beans.
• Keeps food hot for up to 4 hours.
• Can be used to keep foods chilled.
• Keeps yoghurt warm whilst setting, keeps yeast warm whilst proving.
• Great for pot luck dinners, camping and tramping trips, yachting and motor home use.

Heat food in pot and bring to boiling. Cook for about 5 minutes, 10 minutes for rice, beans and meat. Do not lift lid.

Place pot immediately into bag, close bag to seal in heat and leave undisturbed for as long as possible. Grains should be left for at least ½ hr. Meat cooks better the longer it is left (2-3 hours). Once the pot is opened the heat is lost and the food stops cooking. If more cooking is required bring the food back to the boil and place pot back in the bag without opening the lid.

Cheaper cuts of meat work especially well if cooked twice, with about 2 hours each time in the bag.

Do not replace lukewarm or half eaten food in the bag. Reheat to boiling before putting the pot back in the bag, this is to prevent spoiling.

The less air space in the pot, the better it will work. Choose the smallest pot that the cooked food fits.

Root vegetables can be left twice as long as regular cooking time. Green vegetables should not be left for more than 20 minutes as they lose flavour and colour.

The best thing is to experiment with your favourite recipes and be creative using your Haylo Bag.

Tish North

New Zealand International Science Festival, 6-11 July, Dunedin, New Zealand

Cheese roll lovers in the Deep South are being urged to reveal the secret of the ‘ultimate’ southern cheese roll – far superior to its northern counterpart – in a fun competition. The competition is being run as part of the 2010 New Zealand International Science Festival, to be held in Dunedin. An expert panel of judges has been selected to explore the ‘science’ of the cheese roll. Entries close 5pm on Friday 25 June 2010.

Once you start asking people what makes a good southern cheese roll, be ready for a heated debate. It seems everyone has their own fond memories of what makes the perfect toasted cheese roll.

Our great southern cheese roll is at risk of being replaced by the inferior northern version. Science is being called upon to help find the ‘ultimate’ southern cheese roll.

Associate Director, Chris Green said the festival is not only providing ‘food for thought’ – it’s about discovering what makes the ultimate cheese roll and the part science plays in the process.

“Now is the time to rise to the challenge – we need you to ask your granny, friends, or colleagues to step up to the mark. Entrants will need to make 6 cheese rolls, freeze them and bring them into the festival office for judging.”

An expert panel of judges, including food and wine writer Charmian Smith from the Otago Daily Times, Tony Heptinstall (Hospitality Programme Manager at Otago Polytechnic), Damian Newell of More FM and Jason Moore from MOJO Cafe has been appointed. The judges will give all cheese rolls submitted a comprehensive “grilling”, including examining factors such as taste, texture, appearance and the all-important “ooze factor”. The winning cheese roll will be scrutinized by the University of Otago Food Science team who will explain what makes it the ultimate taste sensation.

There are great prizes up for grabs, including the honour of being crowned maker of the finest southern cheese roll!

And in light of the cheese roll’s status as a fundraiser, the winner gets to choose a group or charity that will benefit from the competition. MOJO cafe in Wall Street Mall, Dunedin, will make and sell cheese rolls

based on the winning recipe during the week of the festival, with all profits going to the organisation chosen.

A number of entertaining workshops based on the ‘science of….’ will also feature during the festival. From the ‘science of curry’ to the ‘science of beer’, these sessions promise a journey of discovery and a great night out.  Other workshops include the ‘science of seafood’ (to be held at Pier 24 with renowned chef Michael Coughlin) and the ‘science of winemaking’ with Rudi Bauer, New Zealand winemaker of the year.

Full details on the competition and ‘science of’ events can be found on the festival website, www.scifest.org.nz

Tickets are on sale now to all events in the seventh New Zealand International Science Festival and can be purchased online at www.scifest.org.nz or by phoning 0800 SCIFEST.

An increasing number of New Zealanders are seeking sustainable products and services including organic food, beverages and fairtrade products. We understand that good information on the sustainability of products and services we buy can be hard to find. We’ve created the Conscious Consumers Café project to provide consumers with information on what their favourite Wellington cafés are doing to improve the social and environmental impacts of their business practices.

The project also makes it easy for cafes to make the most of growing consumer interest in environmental and social business practices, by:

a)    showcasing the efforts they are making to customers in a fun and engaging way, through instore displays and on our website

b)    providing tips and information on how to improve the environmental and social impacts of their business in ways that make good business sense, and

c)    linking them with the local suppliers of more environmentally and socially conscious goods and services.

The project awards cafes ‘badges’ for each of the nine good business practices that we promote. To be awarded a badge, a cafe has to meet a ‘reasonableness’ test for that practice. We don’t want to reinvent the wheel so, where possible we have incorporated existing credible certification schemes into our reasonableness tests.

You can check out a copy of the booklet we’ve designed for cafe customers to read in-store here. In it, you can read more about the project, the practices we promote and how badges are awarded. One of the key philosophies behind our project is to be inclusive – by acknowledging and celebrating all good practices. Whether two or nine badges, we will recognise and commend each business for their efforts.

We’d like you to help us spread the message about this exciting new project as far as possible.  If you would like to get in touch with us or find out more about the project, please email us at conscious.consumer.wellington@gmail.com

This project has been created and is coordinated by the 42collective, a charitable incorporated society based in Wellington.  The vision of the 42collective is for Wellington to be a place where it’s easy for people to live socially and environmentally responsible lifestyles.

Dairy-free milk (soy, rice, oat – again, whatever you fancy)

Soya margarine or your cooking oil of choice

Baking powder

Pinch of salt

*If you want sweet pancakes add a bit of brown sugar or argave nectar or other, if you want a savory pancake leave these sweeteners out.

*This recipe will make thicker pancakes due to the baking powder acting as a raising agent. If you want thiner pancakes take the baking powder and add in an egg replacer.

*For every one person dining on pancakes you’ll want half a cup of milk and half a cup of flour – all the other ingredients are really just pinches, dashes and teaspoons.

What to do
Ideally you’re going to be cooking on a great flat griddle that’s reached a medium heat. If you haven’t got this, any frying pan will get the job done. As you can see from the what you need section there’s always an alternative and rarely a need to go out and buy what you don’t already have to hand.

Couldn’t be simpler – get all your ingredients together, put them in a mixing bowl, mix until smooth, drop shallow ladle fulls onto your heated surface, when the pancake starts to bubble in the middle, flip them over. Take it out of the pan and serve. A warning – do not attempt pancakes when you’re likely to be distracted, although a really quick dish, if you turn your back you’ll end up with a burnt cake.

When it comes to toppings there is no limit. Growing up I always favored fresh picked blueberries and pure maple syrup. My other half is partial to lemon and icing sugar. If you’re thinking pancakes for dinner vegan cheese and apple slices or artichoke pate are both excellent places to start.

About veganism
Compassion. What does this word conjure up for you? It’s usually something we reserve for others, and not nearly enough for ourselves. Whatever you’re trying to do with your life – save money, lose weight, make a career change or go vegan – you need to exercise a great deal of compassion for yourself. When you stumble and fall, rather than beating yourself up, just brush yourself off and try again. A lack of compassion can be a huge factor in why people ‘fail’ at meeting their goals. And if your goal is to eat less meat or to go full fledged vegan you’ll need to give yourself a break. After a few glasses of wine your resolve might waver, when you’re out to dinner with friends or invited over to the families house the meat free options just aren’t always a possibility – and that’s okay. Where you can, plan for these possibilities – after all you are trying to do something good for yourself and good for the environment. Have vegan snacks in your bag so if you get caught out you’re not going to starve. Use websites like HappyCow.net to find eateries and health food stores in your local area so you don’t need to go hunting for a meal. Eat at home and invite your friends around so everyone can sample just how yummy vegan fare can be.

If this is all brand new to you, take it slow. Cut out meat a few times a week when this is okay, cut it out except once a month or reserved for those special occasions when you really fancy it. Start experimenting with the alternatives, get comfortable cooking at home with an all vegan meal. You’ll get there in the end. And if you never go 100% vegan – that’s okay. It’s all about what works for you. If you try and force something that’s not natural for you it’s going to be a constant struggle to make it stick, you’re not going to enjoy the process and eventually you’ll resent the whole idea. Set yourself goals and challenges to push yourself that little bit to try some new habit and see if it sticks. And remember you’re never a failure so long as you keep true to you.

Green lentils
Garlic
White onions
Vegetable stock
Green onions
Tomato
Sugar snap peas
Salt and pepper to taste
What to do

Bring a pot of vegetable stock to boil (water works just as well but isn’t as tasty). Once you’ve got a boil add the lentils, garlic and white onions to the pot. Continue to let boil for a few minutes before reducing the heat, covering the pot and allowing it all to simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Do keep an eye on your lentils though as you don’t want them to go mushy. And if you’re unlucky enough to have an old stove like me you don’t want to burn the lentils to the bottom of your pot. Use a fork to separate and fluff the lentils. Serve them up with fresh, crisp veg so you’ve got a crunch to go with your softer lentily goodness.

Lentils to water ratio varies depending on what kind you buy but usually a 2:1 water to lentils works. Also you’ll want to check the packaging as some lentils will need to be soaked for 8-12 hours.

Lentils can be difficult for some people to digest so if you’ve never had them before you may want to make them a side dish as opposed to your main. And although delicious, lentils are also very filling. I tend to love them after a big run or bike ride.
About Veganism

If you’re looking for a nice something to accompany your lentils a rich, full-bodied glass of red wine would go nicely. However, the label reading for vegans doesn’t end once all your foods are bought, wine, beer and spirits are all potential no-nos for vegans.

The problem is brewmasters, winemakers and distillers all need to put their beer and wines through a fining process during manufacturing to ensure the final product is clear, bright and free from haze. In wine making these additives are also useful for helping to remove extra tannins – essentially prematurely aging the wine so it’s not as astringent. Some of the most common fining agents include: Gelatine – from bones and connective tissues of cows or pigs, Isinglass – obtained from fish swim bladders, Chitin – derived from the shells of crabs or lobsters, Casein – obtained from milk, Albumin – from egg whites, Bentonite – which is a type of clay and Ox blood. As the fining process doesn’t leave any residual animal products in the beer or wine it doesn’t need to be included in the list of ingredients. Fining is a manufacturing process, not an part of the recipe. Very tricky indeed.

When I was living in Japan I emailed the three big breweries – Asahi, Kirin and Sapporo – to find out if their beverages were vegan friendly. Turns out they are. Emailing each and every brewery and wine maker is time consuming – and it’s already been done. Sites like Enchant.me.uk or Barnivore.com have done the leg work for you.

This recipe serves two brave souls.

Ingredients
2 Cups of water

1 Cup of mixed berries

1 Handful of blue berries to garnish

2 frozen, ripe bananas

2 heaped Teaspoons of LSA (ground up linseeds, sunflower seeds and almond seeds)

2 Teaspoons of spirulina powder

2 large handfuls of fresh, raw salad greens

Ice

What to do:
Put all ingredients in your blender and let it do its thing.  Give it a good couple of minutes to finely blend the greens so that you don’t know they’re there.  Garnish with blueberries and ice.

Voila!  You’ve just made the ultimate in smoothies – the power smoothie!  If you ‘google’ “power smoothie” you’ll see that they have quite a following world-wide via the burgeoning raw food movement.  The good news is, not only have you ventured into the domain of adding greens to your smoothie, but you’ve used water instead of juice or milk!  Yes, it can be done.  In fact.  This smoothie tastes quite nice.  It really does. Especially with the mixed berries – the strawberries provide a much needed sweetness. Even my two year old son loves these smoothies (though he has been raised on them, I must admit).  Try it.

Note: you can use all blueberries instead of mixed berries, though the smoothie isn’t as sweet.