Blog
Raw Food Challenge Day 14 – Stage 2 Begins!
I have a confession to make: I’m a grazer. In fact, in all honesty, I ordinarily only eat 2 ‘meals’ a day. But I’ve never seen this as a problem – I snack – almost hourly – between breakfast and dinner on vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds, much like a bird I suppose!
So these first 14 days of our 6 Week Raw Food Challenge (being stage 1), has already forced me to change some of my ways. I knew I was in trouble as soon as I read ’4-6 raw nuts’ on Rosemarie’s stage-1 mid-morning snack suggestion! A handful or two is my usual mid-morning fix!
Mostly, so far, it’s been great – had some headaches in the first week as I went through withdraw from bread, I imagine (never realised how addicted I was to spelt and other wholegrains) and I still miss the sheer weight of grains (we’ve only been allowed quinoa!). But I’ve definitely noticed my energy is more sustained throughout the day and evening, I’ve enjoyed introducing more greens and green smoothies to my already healthy diet – and dry roasted sweet potato is a wonderful discovery! I’ve learnt to eat lunch (almost!), I’ve enjoyed extremely delicious evening meals (developed a passion for apple cider vinegar as a dressing!) and Tottie’s got me hooked on coconut oil in my tea!
I’ve been surprised to lose 4kg (all the lifting from our recent store re-location too I guess?), my hair has become curlier and eyes feel clearer. In fact my eyes have had a peculiar cool ‘airiness’ sensation these past few days, like a film has been lifted from them – I’ve experienced this before on cleanses actually.
On day 11 I started to feel extra happy, which is also a familiar experience for me on a cleansing program! I’ve found my body craving physical exercise – something I am never good at maintaining, in all honesty, but now I’m actually really wanting it so will be off to do Yoga with Fiona this week, and might even join her hula hooping fad!
I’ve enjoyed the accountability which comes from doing this alongside 2 other women, all of us equally busy and equally making this fit in with all our usual ‘stuff’! Apart from Fiona and Tottie (and our inspirational Rosemarie!), my 2 other companions in this journey are my green smoothie bottle and my infuser teapot!
STAGE TWO BEGINS TOMORROW!
After our meeting this evening with Rosemarie (this woman is nearly 60 and a total knockout btw!), I’m inspired to move onto stage 2 tomorrow. These 2 weeks have really just prepared us for the hardcore raw food (we’ve been allowed a couple of cooked things only).
I have no illusions – apart from the sustained discipline I’m going to have to dig deep to maintain, preparing meals for myself 3 times a day for 4 weeks seems unfathomably indulgent to me right now! My family will be forced to explore raw food with me! And after what I’ve tasted at Rosemarie’s house tonight, I think they will enjoy at least some of the ride!
So I sit here enjoying my last cup of tea with coconut oil (yep, it’s off the list come tomorrow), wondering how on earth I will find the time even just to make it through tomorrow without failure, but I’m tantalised by the challenge. My skin is tingling with the anticipation of filling myself up with even more organic goodness, and my shopping list is done.
Bring on tomorrow!
x kristen
*To read more about Rosemarie and her Raw Food Coaching, visit Raw Satya on facebook.
read more
My 6 Week Raw Food Challenge – time for some “Me-Time!”
When Fiona Edelstein called me a few months ago to ask if I’d do a 6 week raw food challenge with her, I initially said no – knowing how much I have on my plate in the lead up to Xmas (no pun intended!). But then I realised that I really should take the opportunity to do something just for me – for a change! I’ve devoted much of the past 6 years to helping my son achieve wellness, and frankly – ‘me-time’ is well overdue.
OUR 6 WEEK RAW FOOD CHALLENGE STARTS TODAY!
Thanks to Fiona’s persistence, there are 3 of us taking this journey together:
Kristen Morrison (me) – I’m 44, a mother of 3, I run a couple of businesses and host a facebook Natural Parenting community. I eat a healthy, organic diet, but don’t exercise nearly enough and coffee is my weakness! I’ve done many detoxes and cleanses but I’ve never gone raw or vegan and the potential for wellness and extra energy through eating this way fascinates me!
Fiona Edelstein – 52 – is a Yoga Teacher, a mother of two teenagers and two French Bulldogs. At her Melbourne studio – Flavours of Yoga – Fiona teaches 12 classes in the average week and does a number of privates and workshops. She is mostly vegetarian but she loves coffee and chocolate! (Fiona – you’re the reason I’m doing this and I’ll never let you forget it, especially once the cold showers start!)
Tottie Goldsmith – 50 – is an actress, singer , celebrant, mother and – as Fiona’s sister – is doing the challenge because she said “me too!” Tottie is a vegetarian, who enjoys a drink occasionally and loves her coffee. After a month in New York, Rosemarie’s program is sure to be a shock to the system! (Especially the cold showers – Tottie, are you having second thoughts now you’ve read the fine print?!)
Our inspiration and guide on this path is Rosemarie Walmsley – a Melbourne Raw Food Advocate, Coach and Naturopath who works with people to achieve optimum health – raw food being a major part of her approach. Rosemarie’s ‘Raw Satya‘ Holistic Detox Program is gruelling (I have to be honest and say that now I’ve seen the protocol!), but I was sold as soon as I met her – Rosemarie is almost 60 years old and she looks like she’s my age!
So the three of us are starting on this most challenging program not to lose weight, but to see how much better we can feel! Can raw food really impact on our standard of health over a 6 week period? Can it boost our energy? Can it slow the aging process? Six weeks should be long enough too for us to decide how much of this program we want to stick to for the rest of our lives.
We’ve each had our initial consults with Rosemarie and we’re ready to begin. For the next two weeks it’s stage one with cold showers, nude sun baking(!), lots of organic green smoothies and hula hooping as we live our normal lives. (May as well have fun while we exercise?!)
So today, with Organic Lemons, Kale and enthusiasm at the ready, we begin our 6 Week Challenge.
Cheers to green smoothie grins, wish us luck!
x Kristen.
(NB – pictured at top is from left – Rosemarie, Tottie, Fiona & Me!)
read moreKamut & Berry Muffins (and other Kamut / Khorasan recipes)
Since our recent post about our special offer on bulk Khorasan Flour (aka Kamut Flour), we’ve had a few people ask for recipes. So here are a couple more:
Kamut & Berry Muffins
This is my basic Muffin recipe which I have used for years substituting all sorts of flours, sweeteners and flavouring – it’s pretty much fail-safe!
INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups Kamut / Khorasan / Egyptian Millet Flour / Pharaoh Flour (same thing – lots of names!)
5 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup Sugar (or honey or 1/2 cup Xylitol if you’re avoiding sugar)
1 egg, beaten lightly
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2/3 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk (I’ve used rice milk, coconut, almond & oat milk)
3/4 cup frozen berries
METHOD
Preheat Oven to 180 degrees (moderately hot)
Place dry ingredients into a bowl and sift together
Add all other ingredients until berries and stir well (add a little more milk if it’s dry)
Add berries and stir
Line muffin tray with paper cases or grease (I use coconut oil)
Spoon mixture into the tray
Bake about 20 minutes
Kamut Pancakes
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cups Kamut / Khorasan Flour
1 egg, beaten lightly
1 cup milk (I’ve used rice milk, coconut, almond & oat milk)
METHOD
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Add more flour if you want a thicker mix.
Fry as you would normally fry our pancakes. Again, I like to use coconut oil.
There are more recipes at the bottom of our post about the rock bottom special offer on this ancient grain flour. Which – by the way is almost sold out! Only 50kg left. Get in quick!
read more
FIRE SALE – PLEASE Help us move 150kg of Certified Organic Ancient Grain Flour – FAST!
No thanks to an artisan sourdough breadmaker in the West of Melbourne, who have failed to collect an order they placed with us 2 months ago (don’t you love it?!), we have to move 150kg of Australian grown organic Khorasan Flour (aka Kamut Flour) with an expiry date of end of October 2012.
Otherwise known as Egyptian Millet or Kamut (but – that’s another story – we’re not allowed to call it Kamut anymore for trademark reasons), Khorasan is a low-gluten, ancient grain useful for making breads, biscuits, pancakes etc. Denser than wheat or spelt, it works as a direct substitute for wheat in some recipes – like pancakes, but for bread it works best when used with another flour – in our house for example, we use a wholemeal bread recipe replacing wholemeal flour with 3 parts spelt and 1 part khorasan for a lovely light loaf.
SO – what a great opportunity to try cooking with Khorasan! We have 150kg to sell!! We’ve priced it at way below the usual retail and only in bulk bags of either 2.5kg ($9), 5kg ($15.75) or 10kg ($28.80) and of course our Members take a further 10% off, as usual! Click here for details.
One of our Members recently shared the below recipe with us, and please share yours once you’ve experimented!
Yummy gingerbread:
(This is a modified version of a recipe taken from ‘The Yoga Cook Book’)
INGREDIENTS:
450g of flour. Any flour will do even GF, but my latest experiment with Khorasan flour was by far the best!
1tsp baking powder
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
1tsp cinnamon
2/3tsp dry ginger
1/3tsp ground cloves
1/2tsp salt
125ml sunflower oil
150ml molasses
250ml soy milk
METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 180C.
First mix the dry and wet ingredients separately and then sift the dry ingredients into the molasses’ mix. Mix thoroughly.
Pour into a 20cm square, oiled, baking dish.
Cook for 40-45 min or until the skewer comes out clean.
Enjoy!
Click here to purchase.
read moreSeptember Special – Membership Bundled with 3 brilliant products!
This month, we’re running a special on our Annual Memberships PLUS 3 superheroes of the pantry! So much more than food, these products have uses in cleaning, first aid and personal care! Barely a week goes by that we don’t read something about one of these on facebook…
We deliberately don’t stock a lot of different products in each category, instead choosing what we feel is the best of what’s available. So each of these products is the best we can find.
September’s bundle includes one of each of the following:
Coconut Oil, 500ml (Coconut Paradise)
Apple Cider Vinegar, 475ml (Bragg)Raw,
Organic Honey, 500g (Ambrosia)
Annual Membership (either Melbourne or Outside Melbourne)
& FREE Shipping, Australia-wide.
Price for this bundle is $85 with the Annual Melbourne Membership and $72.50 with an Annual Membership for Outside Melbourne – which is a saving of over 20%!
Click here for more details.
And HAPPY SPRING!!!
read moreMELBOURNITES: 15 Reasons to become a Member with us!
This being our first birthday month, we’re so happy to be welcoming new members to our organic family!! So we thought we would spell out for you some of the reasons to sign up with Naturally Better Foods and Melbourne Street Organics, our collection store here in Murrumbeena.
1. GROCERIES – SUPER FRESH
It’s our aim to stock only a small volume of grocery products in order to ensure that our members receive the freshest possible foods from us. One of our customers commented this week that even though she could buy vegie chips from her local supermarket, that they are ordinarily soft whereas when she buys ours, they are crunchy. Guess that’s because ours haven’t been sitting on the shelf for anywhere up to several months!
2. EAT SEASONALLY
We LOVE the family vibe in our store and our members are so appreciative of the savings they make by shopping here. Members often send us incredible feedback, this email in particular makes a great point about why we’re different:
“When (my husband) tasted your beautiful mandarines he commented ‘they actually taste like mandarines’! And do you know what is an added bonus of ordering through you, besides the great quality and price? We’re now eating seasonally, which I’ve always wanted to do but didn’t when I was shopping at the supermarket where you can get anything, any time (because they gas everything and keep in storage for a year). So thank you!”
3. OUR ORGANIC PRODUCE IS SNAP FRESH
When we first started this business, I realised for myself how old some of the produce is in supermarkets and even in some fruit and veg stores. Our cauliflowers, for example, arrive with leaves standing straight upwards, having been picked only hours prior. And, as is so often the case, they are sold out and have left our store within hours – not days.
Our customers therefore receive produce which is snap fresh and alive, not dry, old and shrivelled! Not only do they taste better this way, they last longer too.
4. WE ARE CHEAPER!
Before adding anything to our range, we do our homework to ensure that our prices are as competitive as can be. This means in most cases, we are in fact cheaper than other wholefoods stores even BEFORE we’ve deducted the members 10% discount. And as for our organic fresh produce pricing, we are hard to beat: often about 30% cheaper than elsewhere.
5. SPECIAL ORDERS
Because many of our members have special dietary requirements, we get things in for members specific needs. Our Members therefore have access to hundreds of lines without having to visit lots of different stores.
6. ALL THE BENEFITS OF A CO-OP, WITHOUT THE HASSLE!
Co-ops give families access to bulk lines and the products are divided amongst a few households, but it does take work in co-ordinating and sourcing the foods. Our Members enjoy the advantages of discounted bulk lines like 2.5kg or 5kg bags of organic oats, rice, rapadura sugar and quinoa, without having to weigh it up and share with a friend!
7. ORDERING ONLINE
Our Members tell us how much they enjoy the convenience of ordering late at night and then receiving their foods delivered to their door or dropping by and collecting their ready orders in minutes without the hassle of dragging kids around the supermarket!
8. AUTOMATIC ORDERS
More and more of our Members are opting to create an automatic order with us – for either our seasonal organic produce boxes or for custom orders on a weekly or fortnightly rotation or every 10 days.
9. ORGANIC BREADS MADE TO ORDER!
We’ve worked with a local baker to offer certified organic breads for our Members every Monday and Thursday, on the same days as our fresh produce orders. Where else can you get a fully organic crunchy baguette, hand baked by a European baker, for just $3.25?! (Special diet breads are on their way too).
10. DISCOUNTED WATER FILTERS
We source quality products like the durand water filter and charge the best possible price, even less than the supplier in many cases
11. HELP US SUPPORT FAMILIES WITH SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN
Our Charity – Grow Foundation – provides support to families of children with special needs. $10 from every Membership is donated to the Grow Foundation.
12. WE DELIVER TO AREAS MANY DO NOT!
Our Couriers cover as far as Werribee, Frankston, Upwey and Eltham, delivering fresh produce, groceries and water filters too!
13. FREE FLOW NUTS AND GRAINS!
We’ve just introduced free flow nuts and grains, meaning you can buy by the kg a variety of organic and pesticide free nuts grains and even some dried fruits – this way Members can buy a taste or buy a lot! Where else can you have that versatility?
14. MEMBERS TAKE 10% OFF
Prices shown on this website are our full prices, whereas our Members take 10% off, and a further 10% off when ordering 6 or more items in our Groceries Range or when ordering 10+ units from our Fresh produce range – ie 10kg of apples or 10 punnets of strawberries.
15. THIS MONTH’S SPECIAL OFFER
During August 2012, to celebrate our 1st birthday, we are offering a $35 gift voucher with any full Annual Membership.
Click here for details.
read more
Melbourne Fresh Produce – Delivery capped at $10 for throughout August!
Melbournites, DID YOU KNOW that on Mondays we offer delivery to as far as Werribee, Tullamarine and Eltham? And on Thursdays, we offer delivery to as far as Frankston, Belgrave and Lilydale?
Our delivery charges are $12.50 to these areas in Zone 2, $10 in Zone 1 and for Members there is a free delivery zone close to our store.
BUT throughout August, we will cap the delivery charge at $10 for Non-Members, so you can try us out!
You can order any of our Organic Seasonal Produce Boxes up to 2pm the day before you need it – before 2pm Sunday form Mondays Deliveries and before 2pm Wednesday for Thursday deliveries.
Click on the pics to see what’s in our Boxes, and to order!
FREE DELIVERY ZONE – EXTENDED, AUGUST 2012
For those living close to our store in Murrumbeena, we now offer free delivery to addresses within the following local zone near our Murrumbeena store: North Rd / Warrigal Rd / Waverley Rd / Burke Rd / Grange Rd.
Click here for more info about our delivery zones / shipping.
Happy Days!
read moreIt’s ONLY our 1st Anniversary!!!!
Wow, a year already! Seems longer – but it’s flown!
Can’t believe it’s been a year since we created this website, since we made this video; it’s only been 7 months since we opened our store, less than a year we’ve been doing fresh produce…
Time flies! When you’re having fun.
And this IS fun!
So, as it’s a birthday, we have gifts! Gifts for new Members - as you’ll see here. And as for our trusty Members, who’ve stuck with us through some growing pains but who send us the most beautiful feedback, suggestions and offers of help at times (!), thank you – it feels more like a family than a business – your gifts will follow by email.
x the ever-growing Team!
Our New Format Newsletter – Wholesome!
There hasn’t been much time to blog lately, with so many new developments around here! If you haven’t seen it yet, you can catch up on some of the latest in our new format Newsletter. This first issue introduces our new team, some new products and a competition (being drawn in just a few days).
If you’re already subscribed to our eNews, you will receive the next issue by email. But if you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do so from this link – www.WholesomePages.com. You can also view the eNewsletter in a format suitable for ipad, iphone and other mobile devices by clicking on the Wholesome Pages link.
Happy reading!
read more