App review: Sustainable Seafood Guide

Its been a while since I’ve done an app review and I think this is a great one to look at!

There has been a lot of talk recently about sustainable food – for those who aren’t really sure what this means, sustainable produce is a way of raising food that is healthy for consumers and animals and does not harm the environment, is humane for workers, respects animals, provides fair wages to the farm and supports & enhances rural communities. It is the encouragement of awareness if where our food comes from. Humans have an annoying ability that when they get the idea that something is good for you, it gets mass farmed and sometimes goes to the point of extinction.

Our oceans are suffering from the over-farming of fish, as well as a high amount of pollutants being dumped in the oceans. Most salmon native to Australia is not from the ocean, but from a farm, where salmon are crammed into pens and fed pellets made from soy, hydrolysed chicken feathers and even other fish. High amounts of carcinogens have been found in these farmed fish. That doesn’t sound like the fish John
West are grabbing from bears!

I was devastated to find out that this doesn't really happen.

So how do we know what fish are ok to eat, and which ones should we avoid?

The Sustainable Seafood app made by the Australian Marine Conservation Society can point you in the right direction! This app is very easy to understand and to use. You can search by sustainability, or by a certain fish. A handy one to look at when at the fish market, or even at a fish and chip shop!


This app also links to the Greenpeace canned tuna guide, which ranks different brands based upon their sustainability, catching methods, if there will be any by-catch (other sealife caught in the same catching method) and where it is caught. You may be a bit surprised where your supermarket favourites end up on the list!

This is a must have app for any seafood lover in Australia, and its free.

Be informed and be a smart shopper!

Superfood Soup - aka Naturopath Bingo Soup!

*vegan friendly *gluten free *dairy free *contains sesame seeds – avoid if allergic!

Why Naturopath Bingo?

Us naturopaths give great advice to patients on superfoods which are fantastic for health. And we all know the best foods so give prescriptions for the same foods. Thats why you could play naturopathic bingo with this soup. Its full of the amazing superfoods that naturopaths rave about which are full of nutrients and are so good for your health!

Superfood stars of this soup...

•   Kale – Kale is the number one choice for naturopaths when eating dark leafy greens. Dark leafys are one of the most concentrated sources of nutrients in foods, with them being rich in minerals (including calcium, iron, magnesium and potassium) and vitamins (C, E, K and Bs). They also contain phytonutrients which provide antioxidant properties and are excellent for protecting cells against eye damage and age-related problems. The darker the green, the more nutrients and kale is the darkest green of them all! I had a huge amount of kale delivered to me this week and so I found this soup online so I could utilise it before it went off.

Kale explosion!!

• Quinoa – Known as the mothergrain, quinoa is a complete protein, contains many nutrients and is also high in fibre. I’ve talked about why you should jump on the quinoa bandwagon in another blog, which you can find by clicking here!
• Tahini – Tahini is sesame seed paste and is a fantastic vegan alternative to butter. It is also a great source of protein, as well as omega-3 and 6 fats, calcium, fibre, iron, magnesium, B vitamins and vitamin A. Tahini tastes similar to peanut butter, but is less likely to be oxidised – sesame seed oil is very stable in room temperature.
• Garlic – Garlic is an pungent food which contains many medicinal properties. Raw garlic contains a constituent known as allicin, which is antimicrobial and fantastic to eat when you have a cold. This constituent is not heat stable and will lose its antimicrobial properties when cooked. Add it to the end of your cooking process to receive its full antimicrobial benefits. Garlic is also fantastic for cardiovascular health, lowers cholesterol and blood pressure, helps with liver detoxification and is anti-inflammatory.

I improvised a little as I had a bit more kale and wanted to add a bit more superfood love. Below is the original recipe and the parts in red are the parts I added.

Ingredients:

• 1 small bunch kale *I used a BIG bunch of kale!
• 4 tablespoons olive oil * I used coconut oil instead, as it was for heating.
• 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped *2 brown onions
• 1/2 cup quinoa *1 cup of quinoa, washed thoroughly first
• 1/2 cup green lentils * 400g lentils, washed
• 1 heaping teaspoon cumin 
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 5 cups water *2 litres of vegetable stock
• 1 vegetable bouillon cube * didn’t use this, as I used liquid stock
• 3 tablespoons tahini, plus more for garnish *4 tablespoons tahini
• 2-3 tablespoons tamari (or soy sauce) *4 tablespoons tamari (wheat-free soy sauce)
• * 4 cloves of smashed garlic

 Method:

1. Wash and de-stem kale (use kitchen shears to cut along the sides of the stems.) Tear the leaves into smallish pieces.
2. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat, add onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes. 
3. Add quinoa and lentils with 2 cups of stock and cook for 2-3 minutes; add cumin, curry powder, tahini, garlic, tamari and kale. Mix well. Add rest of the stock and bring to a boil. Cover and turn down heat to low. Simmer for 35-40 minutes.



Simmer simmer!

4. Carefully blend the hot soup in a food processor or blender and return to pot. You can skip this step or blend only half of the soup if you want some texture, but I think it’s nicest smooth. Add more tahini and tamari to taste.
5. To garnish, mix 1-2 tablespoons of tahini with a small amount of water until it becomes smooth and bright. Drizzle on top of the soup and serve.

Soup is served!

The verdict...

This soup is delicious and gets better when left for a while. It tastes a little bit salty and I didn’t add any extra tamari at the end, but the aftertaste is amazing and it leaves you feeling satisfied, not full and very healthy!

Original recipe from: http://www.cookthink.com/recipe/11548/Kale_Soup

Apple Sauce

Happy apples... aka happles!

Apple sauce from a jar? Tastes boring! 

Also, do you know whats in jar apple sauce? I went onto the Coles online website to check out the ingredients of a couple...

• Apples: Makes sense. I mean, it IS apple sauce! But what do we know about the apples? Are they fresh? Are they rotten? Are they covered in pesticide sprays? Isn't it better to make it yourself and choose the apples?
• Sugar: The amount of sugar added is not mentioned, nor is the form of sugar.
• Food acid 330: Added as an acidity regulator and antioxidant. This is a citric acid, in which there is not problem in its naturally occurring form. However, with artificially produced 330 (depending where or how it is produced with using sulfuric acid), many believe the product may contain mould, and/or sulphites which were not filtered out of production. For most people, sulphites are safe, however some people are allergic and ingestion can cause asthma and allergic reactions. Most citric acid is produced from corn and manufacturers do not always take out the protein which can be hydrolysed and creates MSG (621) - which is known to cause allergic reactions in many people, so avoid if you are sensitive to MSG. 330 has also been known to damage tooth enamel
• Food acid / Antioxidant 331: Sodium citrates - used to regular acidity and as an antioxidant. It has not caused any known reactions.
• Antioxidant 300: Ascorbic acid - an antioxidant, colour and preservative. Essentially this is a form of Vitamin C.

Why not spend 5 minutes prep time (+ 10 minutes cooking) and make your own? 

Thats some mighty fresh ingredients in this saucepan...

Melt a tiny amount of butter in a saucepan, then add 2 diced apples, ½ chopped red onion, 2 smashed cloves of garlic, a sprig of rosemary, salt, pepper and a small amount of filtered water to make a really tasty savoury apple sauce! Once all our cooked, use a handblender or masher to combine and serve.  

There you have a fresh apple sauce with REAL antioxidants added and tastes amazing.  It really adds a wow to your meals with very little effort!

Blended up and ready to eat!