Michael Pollan - In Defense of Food

A little while ago I read Michael Pollans book "In Defense Of Food"

It is a easy to read book and if ever you wanted some no nonsense advice about good eating then this is the book for you.

Image from here

These are my favourite statements from the book:

“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”  Sound advice indeed, can you imagine how many peoples lives and health would be improved if they followed this simple statement.

“Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognise as food.”  Going back to the way your nanna cooked is one of the best things you can do for your future health.  Sticking to meat and three veg, using real butter, eating whole foods like egg yolks and chicken skin, and even making your own bone broth like granddad did. 

“Real food tends to be on the perimeters of the supermarket…”  Yep unlike the middle aisles – stocked with mostly packaged food – the outer edges focus on fresh meat, fish, dairy and produce.  When you build your diet this way, you automatically reduce sugars and unfamiliar, unpronounceable ingredients that can derail your plans for health.

“We are what we eat eats too.” Yep just read that again.  If the animals you eat were not cared for and respected and fed a diet suited to their digestion (eg grass fed not grain fed beef, free range pigs and pasture raised chickens) then how can you expect their flesh to bring maximum nutrition to you. Plants are also affected by the environments in which they are grown.  How can we expect them to provide us with macro and micro nutrients if they are grow in dead herbicide laden soils.

“Shake the hand that feeds you.” Eating locally and knowing the person growing your food means you can ask questions and feel informed  about your food choices and can be a fool-proof way to eat for wellness.  You are also doing the environment a favour by reducing the food miles.

“Most of what we’re consuming today is no longer, strictly speaking, food at all, and how we’re consuming it – in the car, in front of the TV, and, increasingly, alone – is not really eating, at least not in the sense that civilisation has long understood the term.”   Hello mindful eating, just changing your behaviours to ensure self-awareness before you eat, can improve your emotional state and we need to get back to eating at home and treating the food with some love and respect and treating every mealtime as a chance to celebrate good food.  Now this might be going a bit far for some people but lets get away from eating on the run and shoving faux foods in our mouths.

Do you have any other great rules about eating?

For The Love Of Reading - Another Visit To The Bookfest

Well it was a very successful visit to the Lifeline Bookfest this year.

I managed to pick up 13 fiction books, 12 cook books, 2 reference books and 5 text books.

One of the text books alone was $2.50 and new it is $105, and the others were no more than $10 an they each sell for nearly $100.
Another book "Holistic Management" by Allan Savoury was $7 and I paid $39 for my copy but I knew I could resell it if my friend Liz from Eight Acres did not want it as it is brand new.  She did want it and I am sure she will put it to good use on their farm.

My brother in law and sister in law are having dramas getting my nephew to eat veggies and I found Jessica Seinfelds book "Deceptively Delicious" which I hope it helps them as she has all sorts of ways to hide veggies in food.  The book is not just about cooking and has some great tips for meal times and dealing with the general fussiness of kids.  
One section I really liked was "Saying no artfully" : Saying no teaches children that the world is full of necessary limits and it builds a trusting relationship between you and your child.  When my children complain that their friends get to eat things that I consider junk I try to answer honestly but firmly and sympathetically eg I see that you are disappointing about the cereal in our house, but eating cereal that is full of sugar is not good for your teeth or your body.  
My rules are 1. Try not to be ambivalent or apologetic about your rules, 2.  Always explain your reasons 3. Point out that all families are different and have different rules, some rules make kids sad, some make kids happy but they are made to keep kids safe and healthy 4. Empathize with their feelings but don't give in, this reassures them and confirms your credibility and consistency.
I think that these rules could be adapted by many of us when explaining our own food and life style choices to others who seem less than understanding or accepting.

My book haul from this year

I love reading and I get through at least one book a week plus a few magazines (non gossip ones such as food, travel, gardening, environmental, science and national geographic).  This is quite a lot of reading (when I am studying this amount normally halves) but this is the way I fit it in.

Every weekday I start my day reading.  I get up at about 5am  and I make a cup of tea, let Jessie inside and go back to bed with a book where Jessie joins me.  I then read for an hour or so before I get up do some house work and have breakfast with more reading before starting work (I work from home).  I also take time during the day to read like when I sit outside throwing toys for Jessie or having a cup of tea and when having lunch.  Hubby and I go for a walk with Jessie most evenings before dinner then since we do not watch that much TVso I read and then I read in bed again at night. 
On the weekends we go bike riding or walking in the mornings instead of the evenings but then I find other opportunities to read as I have so much time now that we are not on the farm.  
I also take a book with me where ever we go and make to most of any moment that comes up.

I know all this reading will not last though as university starts again soon and there are big plans in the wind and the cogs are in motion (albeit moving slowly) for our move to New Zealand.  I also need to spend more time in this space as I have really missed it.

Are you a veracious reader like me?
How do you fit it into your day?

Heirloom Vegetables A Guide To Their History And Varieties - A book Review

I have just finished reading this book by Simon Rickard and I found it to be far more entertaining and interesting than the average book about vegetables.

Rather that present an A-Z of different vegetables and their related information Simon has grouped different vegetables in their plant families, including information about flowering plants that also fit in the family, with additional chapters on Heirlooms in general and growing your own.

The chapters cover the following plant families:
 - The Pea Family
 - The Gourd Family
 - The Grass Family
 - The Carrot Family
 - The Cabbage Family
 - The Nightshade Family
 - The Amaranth Family
 - The Daisy Family
 - The Amarylis Family
 - Odds and Ends

Each chapter highlights the plants you expect to find in the group as well as some less know family members,  For example did you know that the humble petunia and the goji berry are both part of the nightshade family along with tomatoes (including our native bush tomatoes) eggplant, capsicum, tobacco and potatoes, and dainty little Alyssm (Sweet Alice) is related to the humble cabbage.

Simon tells a great story and there is good humor throughout.  I really did find this book far more entertaining than I expected, and while it is far from being a dry reference book it still contains plenty of information that is easy to understand and presented in a manner that keeps you engaged.

If you see this book at your local library I highly reccomend it and if they do not have it maybe suggest they order it for thier collection

Slow Living January 2015

Wow here we are already one month into the year and already reflecting on our progress, challenges and celebrations of our slow living lives.

Linking up with Linda who is now our gracious host having taken over from Christine in hosting the Slow Living Nine.  I love joining in each month and reflecting on what I have achieved, it is also great to hear what everyone is up to and share in their achievements.

Nourish -Make and bake as much as possible from scratch. Ditch over packaged, over processed convenience foods and opt for 'real' food instead.
We are still drowning in and eggs so they have made it into many meals lately, I have traded some for some lovely home made soaps and I used 2 dozen in so home made pasta.
I also made another big batch of Orange and Almond Biscotti because it keeps so well and Hubby really likes it.

Prepare - Stockpile and preserve. Freeze extra meals or excess garden/market produce. Bottle/can, dehydrate or pickle foods to enjoy when they are not in season.

With our two freezers full of beef there is not really any room to add to the stockpile anything but I still seem to find room for a few things.  One of the few things that have been added to the pantry stockpile is some Wine Jelly.  You serve it like you would quince paste as part of a cheese platter or can use it to glaze meats.  I will post the recipe over the next week because it makes a great gift for anyone who loves their wine and cheese.

Reduce - Cut down on household waste by re-using, re-purposing and repairing.

The clothing reduction continues and I am still sending them off to the op shop for someone else to enjoy.  This week I also had a look through my book case and managed to get rid of about 15 books but there are a lot more that probably need to go in our quest to down size before moving.

Green - Start (or continue!) using homemade cleaners, body products and basic herbal remedies. The options are endless, the savings huge and the health benefits enormous.
I have testing some herbal/natural insect repellents and the first one I have tried is 'Bug Another'. I purchased this from my local health food store and it is certified organic, made in Australia and contains a wide range of essential oils to keep those pesky biting insects away.  It sprays onto the skin in a nice mist which you can then rub a bit to distribute and does not leave your skin sticky or feeling like you are wearing anything at all.  The smell is lovely and I have used it on my face with no reaction what so ever. Like many natural products it does not stay on the skin after swimming so you need to reapply and you need to reapply about every 2 hours based on my testing when we took it camping.  

Grow - plant/harvest. What's growing this month? What's being eaten from the garden?

The garden is producing lots of herbs,  the cucumbers are coming on, there are spring onions, tomatoes, capsicum, water melon and eggplant.  The water melon I grow are the golden midget variety.  These are a much easier size to manage in a household of 2.  The other thing that is goo about them is that they turn yellow when they are ripe and the leaves around them turn yellow too.  If you would like some seeds please let me know as I have heaps, so just send me an email.

Create - To fill a need or feed the soul. Create for ourselves or for others.

January was a bit quite on this front and I feel like I need to get this part of my life back in balance.

Discover - Feed the mind by reading texts relevant to current interests.

After attending the Lifeline BookFest where I picked up a few great books I have already read a couple of them.  One was 'Warm House Cool' House by Nick Hollo and the Other was Bill Molisons 'Introduction to Permaculture'.  For any one starting out in Permaculture this book is a great place to start and even though I have know quite a bit about premaculture and we try to use the principles in the way we live this book still offered up tips and examples that are not included in the mach more complex book 'The Permaculture Designers Manual'

I also found time to read The Name Of The Wind by Partick Rothfus which was lent to me by a friend and it is a beautifully written book and I am looking forward to reading the sequel.

Enhance - Community

This year I have really cut back on the time I dedicate to community activities and while we are in the final stages of wrapping up last years classic car show I am not taking on any new work.  It has been a hard decision but the right one.

Enjoy - Life! Embrace moments with friends and family. Marking the seasons, celebrations and new arrivals are all cause for enjoyment.

January was spent recovering from Christmas and Hubby and I just took some time out for ourselves so it has been a bit quite on this front.

What have you been up to?

Book Give Away Winner

Last week I posted a book give away and it is time to announce the winner.

The bloggers who put up their hands to receive the book were

1  The lovely Lynda

2 The wonderful Wendy

3 The Amazing AfricanAussie

To pick a winner I used the very sophisticated system of asking my husband to choose a number either 1, 2 or 3.

And The Winner Is

The lovely Lynda

For the Love of Books

Over the weekend Brisbane hosted its Lifeline BookFest and my best friend and I meet up to hunt down some bargains along with thousands of others.

For anyone who has not heard of the bookfest it is one of Lifelines major fundraisers.  Lifeline is run by Uniting Care.   Uniting Care Community is one of the Queensland's largest community service providers, offering Lifeline services, child and family care, counselling, disability support and social inclusion programs throughout Queensland. 

The bookfest is the worlds largest second hand book sale with millions of books on offer every day.  It takes up half of the Brisbane convention and exhibition center and is attended by thousands many pushing supermarket trolleys full to the top with books.  As well as book they also sell CD's DVD's, puzzles and board games.

Row upon row of tables of books

 I have been to the book fest quite a few times and I know to take along my nanna troley like the one below.  And when it is full that is it time to leave (although sometimes there are a few more books loaded on top ready to tumble off at any moment).  Otherwise I could just go on and on.

 I got a heap of books, mainly fiction, and although I tried to avoid the gardening section the lure was just too great.  But it was worth it.  I picked up this excellent little book all about wild herbs for $2 which is both a field guide and recipe book.  I have not had a chance to read it yet but from the brief skim through it looks very interesting.

I also managed to get some board games and puzzles for $2 each.  One of the puzzles has never even been opened so it will have all the pieces but the other well I will not know till I give it a try.

Puzzles and games

I picked up a game of scattergories that has only been played a few times and a cute retro set of board games that has all the pieces and is in great condition.  You can see the games on the front and I had heard of all of them except the Motor Race and the Steeple Chase.  

Do you remember these?

Retro Board Games

After all that looking at books we headed off to a nearby cafe for lunch and spent a lovely hour catching up on all the news.