Posted by kathryn in Miscellanea

I’ve just found out, not only have I been nominated for the Bell Awards . . . but I’ve actually received a Highly Commended in the category of Writer of the Year. This is for a series of articles I wrote for Wellbeing magazine. I’m very excited (and slightly overwhelmed) to have received this recognition. Of course I have to say a big thanks to the editors at Wellbeing – for commissioning me in the first place, for their support …

Read more 5 comments 30 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Recipes, Fruit and Desserts

Coming from the UK most of my family Christmas traditions revolve around turkey, roast potatoes, gravy, Christmas pudding, fruit cake, mince pies – heavy, heavy foods that we only eat once per year. A more recent tradition for me though, is panettone.Since moving out of home I’ve always lived in the inner west of Sydney, surrounded by a large proportion of Sydney’s Italian community, as well as Italian delis, cafes, foods, restaurants and so on. At this time of …

Read more 2 comments 30 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Ethics & Sustainablity and Labels & advertising

With domestic supplies of canola affected by the drought, Cargill (which imports, processes and markets agricultural and food products) will be receiving a consignment of genetically modified (GM) canola from Canada, within the next month. This is the first time GM canola has been imported into Australia and between 40,000 and 50,000 tonnes of canola is being imported. Labelling laws in Australia mean that products containing highly processed GM foods do not need to be labelled. "As Claire Hughes from …

Read more No comments 29 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Vegetables, Legumes, Recipes, Grains and Dinners

Onions are one of the staples of our diet – well they’re certainly one of the staples of mine. We always have garlic and onion in the house and I would say about 80% of the things I cook, are started by sauteeing together these two ingredients. Their rich intensity adds so much flavour to even the simplest of dishes. Onions are also extremely good for you. They contain the flavonoid quercetin , which has antiinflammatory action. It inhibits …

Read more 4 comments 29 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Miscellanea

The latest Source of Wellness newsletter has just come out – it includes some good advice on staying healthy and sane during the holiday season, as well as the clinic’s Christmas and New Year opening times. It also gives details of my pre-Christmas very special offer for new clients!

Read more No comments 29 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Ethics & Sustainablity

Did you know that in the outer suburbs of Sydney, around Liverpool, Leppington, Austral and Bringelly there are over 2,000 small farms? These farms grow 90% of Sydney’s perishable vegetables – all our Asian greens are grown there, as are 80% of mushrooms and most of the tomatoes, snowpeas, Lebanese cucumbers, herbs, spring onions and shallots that we consume. It all adds up to a farmgate crop that’s valued at about $250 million per year. As Sydney grows more and …

Read more 1 comment 28 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Vegetables, Recipes, Grains, Dinners and Winter

We had risotto for dinner last night – this beautiful pumpkin and cinnamon risotto. I started with a recipe from Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers River Cafe Cook Book Green * and made a couple of tweaks. I’ve been quite intrigued by this recipe for a while and after my recent experiment with chermoula risotto, I decided to give it a go. The combination of cinnamon, chilli and oregano gives the risotto a beautiful, rich flavour. It’s not super-hot, with …

Read more 11 comments 28 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Miscellanea

And if you want to know more about me, my approach to clients, or whether herbal medicine and nutrition can help you, then take a look at the info just uploaded onto the Source of Wellness website: * About me * About nutrition * About herbal medicine

Read more No comments 28 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Miscellanea

I’m very pleased to be letting you all know that I’m joining a new clinic – The Source of Wellness . This is a great natural therapies clinic in Gladesville (just off Victoria Rd, near the shops), which offers a variety of healing, relaxing and rejuvenating treatments. There are three other practitioners, covering a range of modalities: Ally is a remedial masseur and craniosacral therapist, Ani does kinesiology and breathwork, while Andrew is a counsellor , coach and runs workships …

Read more 6 comments 27 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Recipes, Fruit and Baking

I’ve been slowly working away at this muffin recipe for about 6 weeks now, tweaking, testing then re-tweaking, until there was a huge eureka yesterday when I finally cracked it. There are a gazillion muffin recipes out there, so why all the bother? Well I had certain requirements for my muffins. I wanted each one to contain at least one serving of fruit, to contain walnuts, to taste really good and to have no added fat and very little …

Read more 6 comments 24 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Labels & advertising

There’s been a whole lot of stuff in the media about food labeling over the past month and I’ll be blogging about this more extensively next week. In the meantime, the Herald reports today that food manufacturers may not be giving the correct information on their nutrition panels (story here), plus the introduction of national standards for use of words and phrases like “organic” and “free range” (story here).

Read more No comments 24 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Fish and Ethics & Sustainablity

Disturbing reports over the last few weeks have painted a bleak picture of the future of our marine environments. At the current rate, it’s estimated that by 2050 all fish and seafood species that are currently being fished, will have collapsed. As the perfectly named Professor Worm says: bq. “Whether we looked at tide pools or studies over the entire world’s oceans, we saw the same picture emerging. In losing species we lose the productivity and stability of entire ecosystems,” …

Read more 3 comments 23 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Dinners, Desserts and Salads

Great summer recipes from Bill Granger in yesterday’s Good Living. I particularly like the vietnamese style salad, which could be turned into a light meal by adding some cooked tofu, chicken or fish. The pork burgers are quick and easy, plus the watermelon granita is a summer dessert that’s lower in kilojoules than ice-cream.

Read more 2 comments 22 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Fruit

I’ve seen bananas selling for $9.99 in two different locations this week. While a year ago it would be madness to regard this as “cheap”, it’s significantly better than the $14.99 prices we’ve been seeing over the last few months. Following the havoc caused by Tropical Cyclone Larry in March, early predictions were that banana supply would be restored by September of this year. However wet weather in north Queensland, particularly around Tully and Innisfail, delayed the planting of new …

Read more No comments 21 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Nutrition

FSANZ (Food Standards Australia New Zealand) is currently considering the mandatory fortification of bread with folic acid (the artificial form of folate), aiming to reduce the number of babies born with neural tube defects. This article in The Australian covers the main points of the debate. I’ve linked to this before, but there’s a handy dietary folate counter on the Choice website, so you can calculate the amount of folate in your diet.

Read more No comments 21 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Meat

While I am vegetarian, it’s not a viewpoint I impose upon clients. It’s my personal choice, but it remains that – my choice, plus you have to know what you’re doing to be a healthy vegetarian. However, I do believe most people, certainly here in Australia, would benefit from a few more meatless meals. There are strong health benefits to going meatless 2 – 3 times a week, with legumes in particular, associated with decreased cardiovascular disease, improved glucose tolerance …

Read more No comments 20 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Ethics & Sustainablity

The drought, here in Australia, is a complex issue – another perspective in today’s Herald.

Read more 1 comment 20 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Miscellanea

A reader has just told me about the website menulog.com.au, which covers restaurants in Australia. The really nifty thing is you can search on dietary needs, for example you can find restaurants with gluten-free options in Sydney, vegan restaurants in Melbourne, or kosher places in Newcastle&the Hunter Valley. What a useful tool and thanks to Rachel for pointing me in their direction. Of course if you’re looking for vegetarian and vegan places, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, you can always …

Read more No comments 17 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Nutrition

it’s not just adults that can have atherosclerosis, or fatty plaque building up in their arteries. As reported by the American Heart Association : bq. Children with risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol levels already show signs of fatty build-up in their arteries that could lead to heart attack in adulthood, researchers reported at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2006. This research shows the importance of addressing and minimising risk factors: bq. “Diet …

Read more 3 comments 16 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Nutrition

As I’m sporadically writing about children’s health and diet, I’ve added a kid’s nutrition category in the sidebar, so you can find these posts easily.

Read more No comments 16 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Junk Food

Research from the University of Sydney shows that toddlers are getting up to a quarter of their daily energy intake from junk foods: cordials, biscuits, lollies, chips and so on. Of the 429 children in the three day study (all aged between 6 and 24 months), only one child had no junk food. * 41 percent of kids had cordial every day * more than half had hot chips every 2 – 3 days * a third ate chocolate …

Read more 2 comments 16 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Blogging

Over the weekend Richard and I did a little bit of housekeeping. You may notice my sidebar is now appearing on every page, rather than just the main blog page. This should make Limes & Lycopene a bit easier to navigate. Richard also updated the machine this blog is running on and we’re now using lighttpd instead of apache. To be honest, I don’t know what that means, except that Limes & Lycopene is running a bit faster – which …

Read more No comments 15 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Vegetables, Recipes, Grains and Dinners

This post is part of the Spice is Right, this month hosted by Habeas Brulee and it’s all about mixing up spices from one region, with recipes from another. My recipe is a chermoula risotto, which seems like a bizarre combination, but works very well. Chermoula is a Moroccan spice mix, made up of cumin and paprika, along with garlic, lemon juice and fresh coriander. I’ve been thinking about making something with chermoula for a while. Then my "organic …

Read more 13 comments 15 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Vegetables, Recipes and Soups

When I lived in the UK I thought corn only came from a tin. Sure it was a vegetable and it grew somewhere, but I didn’t know you could buy it in another form. Only when I came to Australia did I realise corn came on cobs and tasted really, really good. Fresh corn is now one of my favourite vegies. As well as being a beautiful colour, it’s so juicy and sweet. I love it barbecued, cooked in the …

Read more 1 comment 14 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Ethics & Sustainablity

The issue of ethical foods and sustainable farming seems to be gaining some momentum here in Australia. The recent Good Food Month included “ethical food” events , plus concern is being voiced over farming practices that may be exacerbating the drought in rural Australia. The release of Peter Singer&Jim Mason’s book " The Ethics of What We Eat ":http://gleebooks.com.au/default.asp?p=displaybook_asp?bookId=61637&isbn=9781921145377&from=search , along with " The Omnivore’s Dilemma ":http://www.michaelpollan.com/omnivore.php and " Fast Food Nation ":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_Food_Nation , have encouraged many to think about …

Read more No comments 14 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Ethics & Sustainablity and Spring

Over the weekend it was announced that 93.6% of NSW has been declared a drought zone. This means that only 2.7% of the state is considered unaffected. The area has increased from last month, when 89.3% of the state was drought affected and is higher than Queensland, where 61% is considered to be in drought. This has further increased the likelihood of food price increases, including meat, vegetables, bread and milk. The ABC reported: bq. The Queensland Farming Federation’s John …

Read more No comments 13 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Nutrition and Fruit

I’ve blogged before about lycopene, that lovely red carotenoid antioxidant. From everything I’ve read to date, foods containing lycopene have to be heated or processed for the antioxidant to become available to us. It’s one of the reasons I like this antioxidant, it puts paid to the whole “raw is best” argument. Raw is sometimes best, but not always and certainly not in the case of lycopene. Or so I thought . . . Three months ago I mentioned "a …

Read more 2 comments 11 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Grains

I’ve just found out from a gluten-intolerant friend, that the first gluten-free beer is now available in Australia.  It’s called O’Brien’s and is brewed by a gentleman called John O’Brien, who was himself diagnosed with coeliac’s in 1998. They make four varieties – lager, brown ale, pale ale and a light.  While O’Brien’s is not yet widely available, in Sydney can be found at: * Blacktown Cellarbrations – 9621 2849 * Midway Cellars (Denistone East) – 9888 1354 * Duke …

Read more 2 comments 10 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Salads, Spring and Vegan

I had a wonderful dinner last night. It was just me at home, so I wanted something quick, easy and tasty. Plus I had some tofu, bok choy and asparagus in the fridge and wanted to use them up. I’ve been playing around with Google Coop over the last few days – setting up some specialised search engines for finding healthy recipes and good health information. Rather than googling the whole world, you can select a group of sites …

Read more No comments 10 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Legumes, Recipes, Soups, Winter and Vegan

Since Sydney has returned to winter weather over the last two weeks, I’ve been craving soups. I’m a big ginger fan and over the weekend I made this beautiful soup, which I’ve adapted from a recipe on the Fat Free Vegan database. It’s another good way of using split peas and is PACKED full of flavour and nutrition. I’ve had some chipotle chillies in my cupboard for the last couple of months, so this was also a good opportunity …

Read more 1 comment 09 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Vegetables

Yet another reason to have a healthy diet and lifestyle – it can protect you from macular degeneration – one of the leading causes of blindness in Australia. The prescription is plenty of Omega 3s, lots of fruit and vegetables (for the antioxidants), don’t smoke and regular exercise. See the full article here on the ABC’s website.

Read more 2 comments 08 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Legumes, Recipes and Dinners

Last night my kitchen was a MESS. One lazy night, followed by one late-home (and therefore cooking late) night meant the stove top was a mess, the dishwasher was full until overflowing and it seemed like every single pan and piece of cutlery had already been used. However, I was home early, which meant I had time to cook and clean up, which made this recipe from Albion Cooks very attractive. While it does take about an hour to …

Read more 3 comments 08 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Spring

Hmm, already seven days into the month and I’m finally getting to the list of what’s in season at the moment. Sorry folks, better late than never . . . All the “in season” lists I’ve seen so far have listed bananas, but price-wise they’re still rivalling gold bullion, so I’m not including them. Surely they have to come down in price some time soon? h3. Fruit: * Apples (Lady Williams) * Apricots are coming into season, although they’re still …

Read more 1 comment 07 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Miscellanea

About a week ago I coyishly alluded to some news, about my writing . . . As you may know, since the beginning of the year I’ve been writing for Wellbeing magazine . So far they’ve published three of my articles (Label Lowdown, The Folate Debate and Glycemic Load: what the GI scale isn’t telling you) and there’s another on the way (about the new RDI). Anyway, Wellbeing have nominated me . . . as their entrant for the Writer …

Read more 5 comments 07 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Nutrition and Grains

And while we’re on the subject of the glycemic index, the latest newsletter from the GI group at Sydney Uni contains some practical tips on lowering the GI and GL of your overall diet. Regardless of whether you’re concerned about the GI or not, they’re still a really good set guidelines. Including: bq. Pile half your dinner plate high with green or salad vegetables. Aim to eat at least five serves of vegetables (this doesn’t include starchy the ones like …

Read more No comments 06 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Miscellanea

The latest edition of Wellbeing magazine is out, complete with my article, dramatically titled, Glycemic Load: what the GI scale isn’t telling you . I’m not dissing the GI, it’s a useful scale, but unfortunately only gives limited information about the carbohydrate value of a particular food. The GI doesn’t take into account the realities of how we eat different foods. Whereas, the glycemic load (or GL) measures the affect on blood sugar levels of a normal serving. If you’re …

Read more No comments 06 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Vegetables and Nutrition

Back to one of my favourite subjects, why vegetables are good for you. A recent six-year study has found that diets high in vegetables are associated with slower mental decline in older people. The study, part of the Chicago Health & Aging Project (CHAP), took place between 1993 and 2002 and followed almost 2,000 people (male and female) aged 65 years and over. Over the six year period, the participants cognitive function was measured on three occasions, using tests of …

Read more 2 comments 04 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Vegetables, Legumes, Recipes, Soups and Vegan

Celeriacs are funny, knobbly looking vegetables. While they’re the same species as normal celery, they are bred produce a large stem base – which is the part you eat. Celeriac has a milder and slightly sweeter flavour, which makes it quite different from standard celery. It’s also a very flexible vegetable and can be used both cooked and raw in salads. Celeriac can be baked with other vegetables, made into soups and is often mashed in with potatoes. The …

Read more 1 comment 03 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Nutrition

It’s hard to pronounce and even harder to spell, but you can expect to hear the name resveratrol a lot more over the next few years. It’s one of the antioxidants found in red wine and the subject of a lot of scientific scrutiny. As an antioxidant it has the potential to benefit our health, protecting against cardiovascular disease, cancer and many other degenerative conditions. A report today in the SMH, outlines recent research showing that obese mice fed a …

Read more No comments 02 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Legumes, Recipes, Grains, Dinners and Vegan

I’ve been cooking a lot with split peas over the last two weeks. While I favour split mung beans when making dal, Richard always uses split yellow peas. Some time ago he went through a dal-making craze and and we ended up with a cupboard full of the little critters. Trouble is, I’m not a huge fan, so two large jars of yellow split peas have been stuck at the back of the cupboard for quite some time now. I …

Read more No comments 02 November, 2006