Recipe & Image created by (Noel Roche – POOLE) @noelroche

Win over $500 worth of FREE Fruit, Vegetables and Herbs in the form of our weekly $40 RealFood Box, delivered in FNQ over 13 weeks. That is the ‘hook.’ To find out how, please read on.

RealFood Network is seeking your assistance – over the next 24 hours if possible. It is important to us, our farmers, our community and we would like to think … to you.

Hopefully, it will only take you a few minutes. Some might spend an hour or more. I suppose it has to do with how many networks you manage and how many Facebook & Twitter accounts you use. And, of course, how enthusiastic you may be about The RealFood Network Programme and the objectives of this memo.

What we are asking for is a “Forward” of this memo to as many LOCAL individuals, organisations and networks you can manage – ASAP. I mention ASAP, as it is a time sensitive effort.

We have just published a 10-page Review of the Redlynch State College RealFood Network Subscription Food Boxing Programme. The Review incorporates a 41-question Survey, woven through the Review. Surveys that are completed and returned to us by the 29th of this month (June), will be entered in a Lucky Draw for several prizes, including a 13 week subscription to our weekly $40 RealFood Fruit, Veg and Herb Box of STRICTLY LOCAL Produce. EVERY completed Survey will net a $10 coupon towards a RealFood Box, valid through 2012.

It can be read and completed on-line at http://www.realfoodnetwork.com.au.

Our OBJECTIVE is for more locals to know what, why and how we are doing AND HOPEFULLY SUBSCRIBE as a result. You are helping yourself by spreading this via your networks. For even IF you don’t ever get a RealFood Box or shop at our markets, you still gain from the food sovereignty retained by our community and the health of our rural community dependent on commercial transactions and a localised food economy in particular.

We sincerely appreciate your time and efforts to assist us by spreading the word. And any comments or suggestions will be appreciated.

All The Best,

Chris Gloor

Managing DirectorRealFood Network

07 4055 2666

0414 608 234

chris@realfoodnetwork.com.au

http://www.realfoodnetwork.com.au

Our pork is loaded with flavour, succulence and juiciness. Just take a look at our amazing pork varieties we have in stock, like bacon, sausages, pork joints, shanks, chops, steaks, escalopes, chipolatas, spare ribs and the rest, by viewing our Pork section in the online shop.  http://www.farmerschoice.co.uk/meat/buyporkjoints

Unlike some other butchers we prepare our free range chicken fillet from our whole free range birds, as obvious as this sounds this is not always the case!

We hand cut the breast fillet, drumsticks, thigh and wings from our whole birds this is why we can offer the remaining chicken carcase for free. http://www.farmerschoice.co.uk/meat/buychickencarcase these are great for stock or for pets.

*** COMPLETED ***

The popular Healthy Cooking Class, based on Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon Morrell, will be offered in a special Bootcamp format this summer! These Bootcamps offer an immersion week in an intimate kitchen setting to kickstart your own preparation of healthy, nourishing, nutrient-dense foods.

“Recalling the culinary customs of our ancestors, and looking ahead

to a future of robust good health for young and old, Nourishing Traditions 

offers modern families a fascinating guide to wise food choices and proper

preparation techniques to maximize nutrients and ease digestion.”

Three Monday-through-Friday sessions are available:

June 25 through June 29 / 10:00am to 12:00noon / Led by Carolyn Erickson

July 16 through July 20 / 10:00am to 12:00noon / Led by Catherine Atwood

August 6 through August 10 / 7:00 to 9:00pm / Led by Carolyn Erickson

Topics / demonstrations include real milk & culturing dairy; lacto-fermenting vegetables & fruits; bone broth – the ultimate recovery food; traditional fats for optimum health & weight management; soaking & sprouting grains, legumes, nuts & seeds; lacto-fermented beverages; tonics & super foods.

Cost of each Bootcamp is $105.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Questions? Email us at info@NourishingCharlotte.com

Catherine Atwood, leader of Nourishing Charlotte (the Charlotte NC chapter of Weston A. Price Foundation), has offered her 6-week Healthy Cooking Class through her practice Nourishing Wellness Now over the past few years. This excellent series is based on Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon Morrell. Many of Catherine’s students feel called to offer the series in their own community and this teacher training will provide all the tools needed to do so!

Dates/Times (All 3 sessions must be attended):

Friday, July 13 (6:00 – 9:00pm)

Saturday, July 14 (10:00am – 4:00pm)

Saturday, July 28 (10:00am – 1:00pm)

Location: South Charlotte/Pineville area (address provided upon registration)

Cost: $225 ($25 Early Bird discount if registering by June 13, 2012)

Notes, reproducible handouts and slides will be provided.

*** Completion of the Healthy Cooking Class series is mandatory to take this training. ***

Barry Lipscombe has been up to this eyeballs in sausages this morning making various flavours of bbq sizzler’s.

The most popular seems to be Pork and sweet chilli  at the moment.

I may take a few days off from posting about my food but I have a feeling I will be back with more very soon…perhaps something a bit more challenging. We shall see.

Now on with the days food!

Breakfast

Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, dill, and sweet potatoes.

If you still have not tried smoked salmon in your scrambled eggs… you don’t know what you are missing out on. I suggest you try it immediately.

Not only did I survive yesterdays WOD but I also had the opportunity to cook lunch for my friend Laura and her little one Claire. ( well, Claire had a sandwich with almond butter and jelly ).

Salmon with red and golden beets, ( glazed with coconut oil, chicken stock, and raw honey ), and brussel sprouts.

I was a little nervous serving beets and brussel sprouts to Laura…little did I know it was the first time she had tried either of these vegetables. If you have had beets before, you know they have what we call in the culinary world an “earthy” flavor. A.K.A. it tastes like dirt. They are kind of an acquired taste…but luckily Laura isn’t a picky eater and enjoyed the beets and the brussel sprouts. Mission accomplished.

Another concern when serving fish is that people are not used to #1 eating the skin, #2 seeing it served skin side up, and #3 are used to it being served to them over-cooked. Laura asked me before she started eating “Can you eat the skin?”. Yes. You can indeed eat the skin. If it is served nice and crispy of course.

Dinner

Salad of of leftovers

For a post-workout meal I made a salad out of leftovers from lunch. The only thing I had to slice up was mushrooms and avocados. I added a bit of balsamic vinegar and dinner was done!

And that my friends concludes my thirty days of Paleo…or does it?

My pie is kind of a hot mess....

I passed! My biscuits are pretty sexy, as are my rolls and cookies…my pie on the other hand, well… its a bit of a hot mess. -1 point. The pie was supposed to be a double crusted apple pie, but the chef decided to go with a cranberry apple pie with a streusel topping instead. How pretty can streusel really get? Okay, its still pretty ugly but it tastes better than it looks. (or so I was told :p )

Onto the real food!

Breakfast

Sometimes you just need some good old bananas and eggs to start your day.

Yep, bananas and eggs. Had to start the day off right…

Lunch

Canned salmon, avocado, bell pepper, mango, salsa, and olives with red wine vinegar.

Quick and easy…

Dinner

Shredded chicken and salsa, sauteed cabbage, avocado and mango.

Thanks to my roommate ( ehem* my Mom…:p ) there was some left over shredded chicken breast upon my return home. ( just chicken and salsa cooked in a slow-cooker all day and then shredded ) I was more than happy to take the rest of the chicken and placed it on top of a bed of sauteed cabbage, mango, avocado, and top it with some more salsa. Definitely quick and easy.

Despite the days of quick and easy meals I am not always about the quick and easy. ( that’s what he said ). I respect my body by putting good food into it, but I also want to make sure that I respect the food. I enjoy taking my time in the kitchen. Sometimes time doesn’t always allow for it, but cooking is not always about shortcuts and convenience. When time does allow, don’t be afraid to take your time in the kitchen, put on some music, relax, smile, live in the moment, and enjoy it.

Happy Cooking!

Breakfast

Chicken and apple sausage, scrambled eggs and sweet potatoes

Lunch

Smoked salmon salad with avocado, bell pepper, mango, and red wine vinaigrette

Dinner

Time to study!

Happy Tuesday!

Breakfast

Applegate farms chicken and apple sausage with scrambled eggs and sweet potatoes.

I have a strange need to scramble things into my eggs. I couldn’t just put the sausage on the side…. the eggs just call to them.

California Poppies

After I worked up an appetite frolicking through the poppies I decided on a salad for lunch. Surprise surprise.

Lunch

Chicken, spinach, avocado, olives, mango, salsa, bell pepper, red wine vinegar

After testing my patience, my avocados finally ripened. I took full advantage and applied them liberally to my salad. Oh avocados. How I missed you.

DInner

Sauteed red cabbage, smoked salmon, and avocado

For dinner I felt like a little something on the lighter side that didn’t require much effort because I knew I would spend the rest of the night baking this:

Apple Pie

I know… this is definitely not paleo friendly. It’s been awhile since my hands have been covered in flour in my home kitchen. It felt almost…wrong. However,  pie crusts and I don’t get along too well and I have to make an apple pie for my baking and pastry class midterm. For the sake of my grade, I decided to practice a bit at home. I won’t be missing pie crusts too much. They are like the Tourne cuts of dessert. A pain in the bum.

Happy Meatless Monday! Go buy some local grass-fed beef!

Going Bananas

Bananas….

Vibrams KSO Trek

and my white gorilla feet. ( The breakfast is quite fitting isn’t it? ) It is hard to know what people are staring at when I run by. My lack of shoes, or lack of tan. My legs are a bit white with a shade of Casper ( which is a shade of ghost that is not so friendly on the eyes. )

After my run I headed over to the Auburn Farmers market and picked up a copy of The Art of Real Food.

I even got it signed…

I think I owe a lot of what I learned about cooking to these two ladies. Before I started culinary school I cooked a lot out of their first book.

Lunch

Pan fried Dover Sole over sauteed cabbage and asparagus

If you haven’t noticed by now… Sole is appearing in a lot of my meals. That is probably because we purchased a Duggar size family pack of it from Costco that needed to be used up A.S.A.P. ( and no I don’t buy beef from Costco )

Dinner

Chard with Pine nuts and Raisins

For dinner I used an idea from my new cookbook and sauteed some fresh chard with pine nuts and raisins…

I served it over some roasted sweet potatoes and topped it with the last of the Sole.

What are you cooking today?

Purple Carrots

Kind of awesome right? Purple on the outside and orange on the inside. I was wondering if they would lose their color when cooked but to my surprise, they kept their color.

Now for the rest of the food!

Breakfast

Had to have my bananas...

I know it looks like I was just being my usual self with my odd combo of bananas and eggs but the jokes on you because I switched up the Almond butter. I discovered Artisana’s raw almond butter. I’m in love.

Lunch

Canned Salmon with a spring salad

There is something about spring that just says “eat a salad”. So I did. As I do on a regular basis. It was kind of a salad stew. I just used up whatever produce was on hand. I used bell peppers, olives, green onions, and tomatoes…I have two big old bags of unripe avocados sitting on the kitchen counter taunting me. They would of gone nicely with this salad… but instead they will remain incubated next to the apples and bananas testing my patience.

DInner

All I see is my purple carrots

For dinner I pan fried some Dover sole seasoned with salt, pepper, and Penzy’s spices. I first steamed the carrots and then sauteed them for a few minutes just to add a little more flavor to them, and then served it over a bed of sauteed cabbage. Pretty simple but tasty.

Happy Saturday!

• debunk the myth that eating saturated fat and cholesterol causes heart disease.
• explain why LDL and total cholesterol are not useful markers for heart disease.
• present three markers that are useful markers for heart disease.
• demonstrate that low-fat, high carb diets promote – rather than protect against – heart disease.
• show you how eating saturated fat and cholesterol can prevent heart attacks
• tell you how to order a test that more accurately predicts your risk of heart disease

Enough with the health preaching and onto the food…where I belong.

Breakfast

Scrambled eggs with spinach, bacon, and sweet potatoes.

I am not afraid of eggs…or their yolks. Or bacon.

Lunch

Pan fried Dover Sole, spaghetti squash and broccolini.

Dinner

Salad with sauteed brussel sprouts and bacon, chicken, mango, bell pepper, and green onion.

CrossFit usually leads to a salad for dinner. It makes me a bit food lazy…but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t delicious.

What are your thoughts on dietary cholesterol?

Here was her post:

“Weight loss tip – So many people come up to me and tell me they can’t lose weight and yet, I haven’t ever met a person I can’t take weight off. You’re not counting calories. Forget all the fad diets for a moment and just focus on the basics. Weight loss will always require burning more calories than you take in. Calories in versus calories out. If you’re trying to lose weight I recommend 1200 cals a day for a woman & 1400 cals a day for a man. Only exception is green veggies. Eat as many greens as you want, but make sure they aren’t cooked in a fattening sauce. Don’t get hamstrung by fads like avoiding carbs or grains, going raw, and so on. It’s perfectly healthy to eat carbs, fat, and protein as long as they are not overly processed and loaded with chemicals like trans fats, artificial sweeteners, flavors and colors, hfcs, and so on. Eat real food with calorie control and you can’t go wrong.”

There are a few things that stand out to me in this post.

#1 Calorie counting and “calories in versus calories out”. – This subject is way too complicated for my simple mind but please check out a book called Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.There are also plenty of articles on www.robbwolf.com on the subject. One hint on why I have a problem with the whole “Calories in vs. Calories out” theory: Hormones folks. Hormones.

#2 “Don’t get hamstrung by fads like avoiding carbs or grains, going raw, and so on.” – Ehem. Excuse me miss Michaels but considering humans have been eating a paleo/primal/ancestral diet for quite some time, I would hardly call it a fad. THE human diet, is not a fad.

#3 “I recommend 1200 cals a day for a woman & 1400 cals a day for a man.”- Is it just me or does this amount of calories make you hungry just thinking about it?

#4 “Eat real food”- I couldn’t agree more. Lets get on it!

Breakfast

Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, sweet potatoes and sauerkraut

Yep, the new usual.

Lunch

Sauteed chicken breast with steamed spaghetti squash, and sauteed brussel sprouts with bacon.

For lunch I rendered some bacon and then sauteed my brussel sprouts. I also made some spaghetti squash.

Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti squash is a great substitute for spaghetti. They named it spaghetti for a reason. You can sub the squash for spaghetti noodles and make spaghetti out of it, or you can simply steam it, stir in a little coconut oil, salt and pepper and enjoy it as a side.

put a fork in it

After you steam it, roast it, etc… just grab a fork and scoop out the spaghetti strands.

Chicken breast with sweet potatoes, and sauteed purple kale.

Did you know there was purple kale? Pretty awesome right? I have found that most people have a love-hate relationship with kale but how can you hate kale? #1 it tastes amazing ( especially sauteed with bacon, onions, and garlic ) and #2 it comes in green and purple. I love colorful produce. Sometimes I will buy produce just because it will look pretty in a dish. I guess this purple kale doesn’t exactly look pretty but it did before I cooked it…

So what do you think of Jillian Michaels weight loss tip?

Bon Appetite

Can you tell the people in our group are all savory students? The one the left is mine.

Most of these pies went into the garbage afterwards. I would say that it is a sad waste of food but come to think of it, they are all empty calories anyways…they are not really capable of nourishing any hungry stomachs.

Onto the real food!

Breakfast

My new favorite breakfast

I am kind of stuck on the smoked salmon in the eggs breakfast, try it and you will see why.

Lunch

only cool people eat salad

I was running a bit low on time and ingredients for lunch today. I settled for canned tuna and a salad with olives, green onion, tomatoes, and mango. Honestly, I wouldn’t really recommend this salad. Here is an example of what NOT to eat… even though you can. Okay, so it wasn’t that bad, but its not something I would go out of my way to make. It could be that I am just not a fan of canned tuna.

Dinner

Whole Foods Dinner

I had a few things to pick up at Whole Foods on my way home so I decided I might as well pick up dinner while I was there. It is great that they have a food bar but when it comes to sticking to Paleo 100% it is pretty darn near impossible. Most everything they have has some sort of canola or soybean oil in it. Whole Foods, why must you fail me? I did what I could to make my dinner as Paleo friendly as possible with some sort of chicken curry, fruit, sauteed veggies and a spring mix salad.

On that note, pay attention to the oils you are using folks. Here is a good article on which fats to use, and which to avoid. Click Me.

Happy hump day!

Having been a vegetarian for quite some time I was a big advocate for Meatless Monday….”it’s just one day out of the week!” I’d say….Yes, true. Certainly anyone can survive a day without meat, or even 5 years ( not optimally of course ) …but I think I have had enough meatless Monday’s for a lifetime. I have a bit of a beef with meatless Mondays. The meatless Monday campaign promotes that “By cutting out meat once a week, we can improve our health, reduce our carbon footprint and lead the world in the race to reduce climate change.”The problem I have with this is that although it may be saving some people from eating industrialized meat, it is most likely sending them to the nearest “meat substitute” made of GMO soy, corn, etc…which is the same stuff they feed those animals that you are “not eating”on Monday. So in reality, instead of eating meat fed GMO soy, it is being fed to you. Yum. Eat up.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not completely against meatless Monday’s. If people are going meatless yet sticking to real foods without the soy and meat substitutes than that’s fine by me. If it helps people to become more aware of the food they are buying and eating than I would consider that a pretty awesome accomplishment. However, I’d say that being a responsible omnivore by buying organic local food, grass-fed beef..etc. etc. everyday could have a bigger impact than just one meatless day. What do you think?

Maybe a Grass-fed Tuesday would be more effective…

Onto the food!

I started off my meatless Monday the right way…with bacon.

Breakfast

Scrambled eggs, bacon, sweet potatoes, and sauerkraut

I love sauerkraut. Don’t judge me.

Lunch

Canned Salmon, avocado, tomato, mango, green onion, and balsamic vinegar

Nothing like a good salad for lunch. Oh and its easy…

Dinner

Canned salmon and left overs with a side of sweet potatoes

I was pretty busy baking some more gluten bombs at school today so I didn’t get home till late. Canned salmon and left-overs it was! ( stir fry left overs ). Oh and a side of sweet potatoes because I wanted something sweet that wasn’t as sweet as these….

Found my inner house-wife

Happy Grass-fed Tuesday?

Breakfast

Smoked Salmon and scrambled eggs with sweet potatoes

Lunch

Left over stir fry from the night before and some sauteed chicken breast.

Dinner

Canned salmon with avocado, sweet potatoes, sauerkraut, and left over cauliflower rice

Just in case you are feeling lazy I  gave you a days worth of lazy food ideas….okay so it wasn’t intentional but everyone lacks a little luster in the kitchen sometimes right?

Happy Monday!

Breakfast

One of the two usual breakfast's of choice

Bored of this breakfast yet? I actually switched it up this morning a bit…stay tuned.

Lunch

Roasted Chicken with mango sauce, sauteed cabbage and roasted cauliflower

For lunch I just sliced up a little left over roasted chicken sauteed some cabbage and then roasted some cauliflower seasoned with smoked paprika, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. The mango sauce ( which could also be mistaken for nacho cheese ) is just a few mangoes pureed with some coconut milk, white wine vinegar, garlic, and paprika. I probably would of opted for some lime juice in the sauce but I was fresh out.

Dinner

Pan fried salmon and asparagus with a mixed salad

If you think about it, salads are kind of amazing. They are quick and easy, yet nutritious. Normally you have to sacrifice nutrition for quick and easy but not when it comes to salad. With just a little prep work and a protein you are done in no time. Salmon is probably my favorite protein. Both to eat and to cook…it also has skin that tastes pretty darn good…if it is crispy that is. I pan fried my salmon and then tossed it over some sauteed asparagus, mixed greens, radishes, avocado, bell pepper, and olives. I made a balsamic vinaigrette to go with it simply because the balsamic vinegar was already conveniently sitting in front of me, but feel free to dress your salad as you wish.

What are you cooking up this weekend?

The infamous naked statues of Auburn....

I bet she eats paleo

Well now thanks to Elijah at Auburn Crossfit we now have a brand spankin new gym. No more excuses for me, I had to go…and I am so glad I did. If you haven’t tried CrossFit, I highly recommend you do, I have a feeling I will be back again…and again.

I think CrossFit put me in an extra good mood so today you get a little treat- step by step dinner prep pictures. If it is something you would like me to do on a more regular basis let me know. For now, enjoy.

Breakfast

I'm kind of addicted to this breakfast now....

The more pictures of bacon I put up on my blog, the more judged I feel. I know, you might have been told for years how bacon is going to lead you to an early death…but its not true. ( as long as it is the right kind of bacon of course ) so stop judging me. Just in case you missed it the first time, here is a great article on bacon.

Lunch

Left overs from Day #14 and some mango/avocado

Left overs can be a beautiful thing. Don’t ever worry about cooking too much. It can be saved for when you are feeling a little lazy like me.

Dinner

And now for your step by step dinner prep.

Step one:

Mise en Place

First, prep all your veggies. Prepping all of your ingredients before you start cooking will help keep you organized, make the cooking process easier, and save you time. For my Mise en Place I used Onion, garlic, carrots, bell pepper, kale, pre-cooked chicken that I had left over from the day before, white wine, chicken stock, and coconut milk.

Saute your ingredients

Over medium heat saute your bell pepper, onion, and carrots in a little coconut oil until tender. Then add in your garlic. ( You don’t want to burn garlic EVER. It will make your dish bitter.)

Mmm kale

Add in your kale.

Wine...

When your kale is tender, deglaze your pan with a little white wine. I used chardonnay because it happened to be in the fridge….feel free to use what you want. Let it simmer until almost dry. Then add your stock and coconut milk…

Stir in your coconut milk and let it reduce a bit until it reaches a sauce like consistency. Then add in your chicken and seasonings of choice. ( I used Penzy’s curry powder which you actually want to add in at the saute stage…but I am awesome and made up my spice mind last minute. )

Simmer until your chicken is warmed to your liking and your vegetables are at the texture you like and serve over some zucchini noodles.

Try Me

Easy enough right? Give it a try, let me know what you think.

TGIF!