Finding joy in the everyday

“Sugar is now the most ubiquitous foodstuff worldwide, and has been added to virtually every processed food, limiting consumer choice and the ability to avoid it. Approximately 80 % of the 600,000 consumer packaged foods in the United States have added caloric sweeteners.”  Dr Robert Lustig Since the mid 1970s it has been well known that processed foods containing high levels of sugar, fat and sodium are not good for our health. Governments have attempted to change dietary requirement guidelines and with each attempt, powerful lobbyists from the food producer and food manufacturing industries have threatened and convinced one administration after the other to put a stop to any change in the reduction of sugar, fat or sodium in manufactured foods. Thus far, they have won and we have lost. Our food has been hijacked by powerful and rich corporations who now control what appears in our supermarkets and what we eat. They bombard our children with food commercials ...

Did you know that worldwide more people died from obesity than from being underweight. Fewer people are dying from starvation—we are killing ourselves from overeating. This week I am looking at the damage fast foods and proceeded foods have had on our health—here is some sobering statistics on obesity.  Internationally ( source: World Health  Organisation ) * Worldwide obesity has more than doubled since 1980. * In 2014, more than 1.9 billion adults, 18 years and older, were overweight. Of these over 600 million were obese. * 39% of adults aged 18 years and over were overweight in 2014, and 13% were obese. * 42 million children under the age of 5 were overweight or obese in 2013. * In 2013, 42 million children under the age of 5 were overweight or obese. Once considered a high-income country problem, overweight and obesity are now on the rise in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in urban settings. In developing countries with emergin...

Dear blogging friends and family, Its hard to believe that it is almost the end of the year - where has 2014 gone:). Do you think it goes faster as you get older!? I thought I would share with you my "vegan" journey because you too might have a son or daughter who becomes vegan or vegetation and it can be daunting at first. Or, they may become gluten intolerant, unable to consume dairy or many other food allergies and as a parent they are all tackled the same way. My youngest son (now 22) came home 2 years ago and said he was vegetarian, one year ago he moved to vegan. As a parent I had two choices - support his decision or not. I decided to support him and learn as much as I could about being a vegan as I simply didn't know anyone who was vegan except for Sandy at " Vegans Eat Yummy Food Too ".   My idea of vegan was lots of lentils, chickpeas and not a cupcake in sight and it never looked very appealing, I discovered this isn't entirely true...

Photography by Joluise I grew up in an age where most mums (whether they worked or not) made almost everything from scratch and rarely bought processed food (excluding for baked beans and tinned spaghetti which we ate on toast on Saturdays!). It was also an age where it was rare to see overweight or obese people. I am talking about the 1970s. We ate simple meals, often meat and three vegetables followed by dessert (fruit and ice-cream in summer and pudding in winter). Mum didn’t get hung up about the latest fads and without the internet or TV she wasn’t bombarded with misinformation.   And we ate sugar. Mum made cakes every Saturday and they all contained sugar. For dad she made fruit cake and for us kids, we often had cupcakes with yummy icing. We always took a cup cake (or slice of cake) to school and had a biscuit (cookie) when we got home.  Whilst we were allow to eat cake, we weren’t encouraged to eat large or multiple slices as mum was determine to ...

What is everyone reading/watching this week? Being winter,  my two favourite activities are; curling up in bed with a book in the evening or wrapped up in my cosy throw rug on the lounge watching a DVD. I can't think of a better way to spend time in the evening!! Thought I would share the books I am currently read (I usually have 2 on the go, its all I can manage!) and tell you about the DVDs I have been watching. BOOKS 1950's Housewife:  Marriage and Homemaking in the 1950's by Sheila Hardy I am half way through this book and finding it very interesting. This is not a nostalgic journey through the 1950's (in Britain), rather looks at the ups and downs of young married women at that time.  These women were the product of war and children of parents who had gone through World War One, the Great Depression and just come through World War Two. They knew all about austerity (and ration card) and loss and that coloured their views on life and their ear...

A day without a friend is like a pot  without a single drop of honey left inside. Winnie the Pooh *** We have a very large Red Gum tree in our front garden and at present it is humming with the sound of hundreds and hundreds of bees all excited about the red gum flowers.  It is a lovely sight to see and hear knowing that these bees are doing ok. Did you know that honey is mentioned 56 times in the Bible.  There are 20,000 species of bees in the world. The honey bee flaps its wings 11,400 times every minute - they are hard working creatures.  And honey never go off, you don't need to be worried about the use by date on your jar of honey. Honey has been found in the Egyptian tombs and it was still edible.  Bees visit 50 too 100 flowers during their collection trip.  That is a lot of flowers they need to visit.  The main species of honey bee in Australia is the European bee which was introduced to this country in 1822.  T...

As I have mentioned many times before, we eat very little processed/packaged/pre-made foods. I cook from scratch and we rarely eat take-aways. Eating healthy foods is important and I try hard as the cook in our house to prepare  healthy  homemade meals.  Ever since this switch, pre-made food just doesn't tastes as good as what you can make yourself and I have lost interest in take-aways, they are always disappointing.  In recent months there has been a number of stories in the paper/TV regarding sugar and how bad it is for us. Sugar is in so much processed foods and in products such as supermarket bread. If we cut our processed food, we cut out lots of sugar. Skip the fizzy drinks and even more sugar is removed from the diet. I do add sugar when making cakes/muffins and biscuits, but reduce the amount I add.  I am moving toward honey as a replacement as this is far less processed and better for you (in moderation) - here is a link for using honey as a ...

Below is a list of foods that nutritionists suggest you stay away from ( source ), I have to agree: White bread Soft drinks Banana bread (homemade may be much better) Cheese-flavoured snacks ( I would also include chips ) Lollies Chocolate nut spreads Fruit bars Doughnuts Rice snacks Margarine I can think of a few more to add: any processed food than contains artificial colours, flavourings or other questionable ingredients (if you can say or spell them, then avoid them!!). shop bought cakes and bisuuits - make your own, at least you know what is in each bit.  cheap chocolate - if you are going to eat chocolate, spend more for quality What else would you add to the "no" list? I am finding more and more of my friends are skipping these processed foods and cooking from scratch. As my friend said to me the other day " if granny didn't eat it, then we shouldn't ". I have to agree with her - however I don't think my granny ate feta c...

USA ($341.00US) If you have time, check out this link - its a fascinating look at a weekly family grocery purchase from around the world (with the cost in US $$). The one above is from the USA, lots of packaged foods - very little healthy nutritious food in that pile, no wonder life expectancy is declining and obesity is rising in the USA.  I can't get over the amount of "junk" food in many of the western purchases, including the amount of bottled fizzy drinks for a week.  The Turkish one was my favourite as it contains mostly fresh food (excluding the coco cola which I avoid)!!    http://world.time.com/2013/09/20/hungry-planet-what-the-world-eats/photo/jap01-0001-xxf1s-2/ Which one did you relate to the best? Turkey ($145 US) - even in Australia it is way cheaper to buy fresh and make from scratch than buy ready made packaged food. Australia ($376 US) Whilst we in the west over eat and have huge amount of wastage, the people of Chad only ha...

Photography by Joluise The AusDiab study was funded through a National Health and Medical Research Council grant and followed 11,000 Australians for 12 years. Researchers found the incidence of diabetes remained very high, with almost 270 adult Australians diagnosed each day, and people aged 25-34 were gaining more weight than other age groups. Patients with diabetes were also found more likely to suffer other conditions as well. Prevalence of depression in patients with diabetes was 65 per cent, which was much higher than those without diabetes. The report found that the average gain in waist circumference over the 12 years of the study was 5.3 centimetres and it was greater in women than men. "They've stopped doing exercise they did as a young single person - they've taken on a lot of family responsibilities - but they don't yet feel any great connection or risk of developing diseases such as diabetes. Source:  http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-19/aus...

We always ate orange carrots (which my husband was never a big fan of) until recently, when I discovered purple carrots and now I buy these when I can get my hands on them.  The ones I buy come from Tasmania and I have only ever seen them in my local Woolworth's. They are around $3.95 for 6 so much more expensive when compared to the standard orange carrot but we like the taste, colour and being different (!!). Like all veg, they are very healthy for you but like blueberries, have the added antioxidants that orange carrots don't have.  One website called them the a "superfood" - a term that I think is over used these days -  and I would argue that all vegetables are super foods!! One website suggested they will assist in weight loss - won't all vegetables if you remove foods like greasy takeaways!! Regardless of their superfood status, they are just as nice eaten raw (I like to grate them in salads), steamed, boiled and added to casseroles. Like beetro...

If someone asked me to describe summer by using the smell of food I would have to say beetroot cooking. I have fond memories of my mother cooking the home grown beetroot in the pressure cooker and allowing me to remove the outer skin once cooked and cooled. She would then slice and cover the beetroot in vinegar/water mix and we would eat it all summer.  Yum. My homegrown beetroot is always poor (very small), but fortuntely it is cheap to buy at the farmers market so I often buy a bunch and fill my kitchen with those summer smells. My husband doesn't like beetroot so I get to eat it all myself.   In winter I love to roast the beetroot in alfoil (with a dash of oil) and eat when slightly carmalised.  Did you know ( source - this link contains some interesting recipes) : Beetroot is high in fibre and folate and contains manganese, vitamin C and potassium. The bright purple colour is from antioxidants called betacyanins that may help prevent high blood ...

"Not soon enough. Laboratory tests over the last few years have proven that babies who start drinking soda during that early formative period have a much higher chance of gaining acceptances and 'fitting in' during those awkward pre-teen and teen years. So, do yourself a favour. Do your child a favour. Start them on a strict regimen of sodas and other sugary carbonated beverages right now, for a lifetime of guaranteed happiness. " Soda Pop Board of America Might explain some of the overweight issues we are having now with the older population. And now I know why I was a shy child - didn't drink enough soda. NOTE :Just check further on this ad and discovered its is indeed a fake - I must tell my collegue who pinned it up at work.  So easy to get sucked into thinks that look real.  Need to be more careful.  My apologies.  Have a lovely week.