My Best Organic

We’re really happy to announce that Goodness Direct, who supply a fantastic range of organic foods and products, now have an affiliate scheme and we have joined it. I’ve been shopping with Goodness Direct for some time now, and have always received excellent service, and have enjoyed exploring their wide product ranges for new foods to try. They also stock a wide range of natural toiletries, among which they have Urtekram products.

Of course, one of the most appealing aspects for me is their range of chocolate - they have over 200 tempting chocolate treats. They stock Plamil (great for those with dairy allergies), Booja-Booja and Montezuma, among others. They also have an easy to use key that shows if each food is suitable for different dietary needs, which is a real time-saver.

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This post was submitted by Susannah.

This recipe only takes five minutes to prepare and about 15 minutes to cook. It’s great with veg and nuts (or chicken if you’re a meat-eater).

Ingredients
1 onion - peeled and cut in half
1 or two cloves garlic - peeled
2 fresh tomatoes - cut in half
1 tin coconut milk
1 teaspoon paprika
1 or 2 teaspoons korma mix (Infinity Foods in Brighton do a great one)
pinch seasalt

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth, this makes enough sauce for about four people. It is quite a thin sauce, but very tasty.
Steam-fry veg/chicken for couple of minutes
Add sauce and bring to bubble. Simmer gently for 15 minutes or until all cooked

Gorgeous - and a real hit with children, too, as it’s mild and quite sweet x

This post was submitted by Susannah.

This recipe is suitable for vegetarians, vegans and those allergic to dairy.  It does contain nuts.

I don’t know about you, but in the morning I want to be able to give my little boy a really healthy breakfast which doesn’t involve too much fussing in the kitchen, or that creates too much washing up.  Anything that requires a saucepan at 6.45am is just not acceptable.  My son refuses to eat porrige, so that’s handy!

The best breakfast so far has got to be homemade chocolate spread on toast.  This chocolate spread can be made up and used for a few days if stored in the fridge.  It’s so nice it probably will not last longer than that anyway.  

The Chocolate Spread Recipe

• 125g  organic dates
• 75g organic walnuts
• 1 heaped teaspoon of cocoa powder

Method

Put dates in a small saucepan and put in a couple of tablespoons of water.  Cover and simmer for a few minutes until starting to soften

Blend softened dates, walnuts and cocoa powder together

That’s it!

My son has a cup of organic rice drink and two slices of wholemeal bread with ‘Pure’ spread and chocolate spread.  The best thing about it, is that if he decides he’s had enough, I get to finish it for him x

As I sit typing this, I have a piece of Green & Black’s Butterscotch chocolate slowly melting in my mouth. Wow, it’s gorgeous. I’ve had quite a few cravings during this pregnancy, but this has to be my favourite so far. Just a minute; got to go back to the fridge to get another square.

That’s better…although I could easily polish off the whole bar in one sitting. Unlike with some other chocolate, Green & Black’s leaves a nice clean taste in your mouth. It’s not cloying or overly sweet. It’s just right. They don’t use bulking ingredients in their products, either - no cheap ingredients to ruin the quality of their products. I’m so pleased to see that their available range seems to be expanding - what a great excuse to taste-test them all! Well, I do have to ensure I do my product research x

According to Reuters’ Nigel Hunt and Brad Dorfman, sales of organic products has not decreased so far during these troublesome economic times.  Growth of sales has slowed down, but the vast majority (80% quoted in the article cited at the bottom of this entry) of consumers who buy organic are fully committed to continuing.

How do we, therefore, continue to support the organic industry whilst being realistic about what we can afford?  I want to be a responsible shopper, ensuring that the choices I make are sustainable and that I keep within our monthly budget.  

In my bid to stay organic, I have started to look at ways to reduce our food bills by shopping around more and comparing prices.  I’m also going to look at the special offers available and stock up when things are cheaper. I’ll post a list on this site as often as possible.  Here are some of my other little ideas for reducing the financial costs:

1.  Use all of my freezer space.  When produce is in season, stock up, prepare and freeze

2.  Attempt to grow our own tomatoes as we spend £3.00 a week on average on them

3.  Trawl the home delivery sites and take advantage of relevant offers

4.  Use pulses more.  I love lentil soup - why don’t I make it more often?

5.  Reduce waste.  Only buy one jar of nut-butter at a time and use it all up before buying another

If all else fails, I shall start gathering from the surrounding countryside, and be guided by Richard Mabey’s ‘Food For Free’ - the classic survival book x

VEGETABLE STOCK CUBES

I know it’s a bit weird to be so passionate about stock cubes, but find a good one, and you soon become reliant. How does such a small thing add so much flavour? With this current wintry weather, I’m feeling the need for comforting soups. Perhaps this is the point at which I should admit that I’ve only ever made my own stock once. It was good, but the amount of gas I consumed to make it must have been an environmental hazard.

Thank goodness you can now buy some excellent cubes made for you! You don’t even need to crumble, you just pop it in and give it a swift stir. I do love ethical convenience, don’t you?

I would wholeheartedly recommend Kallo’s range of stock cubes. In particular we use the vegetable ones a LOT in our house. They’re good added to the water when cooking pasta or rice as well as for gravy, casseroles etc.,