What does free range mean?

Today I saw a horrible sight.

Today I saw one of those transport trucks loaded with live hens. They were visibly shivering, cold, wet and suffering. If you haven't seen one, google 'truck transport chickens' and you'll see what I mean.

This broke my heart and made me think about the whole chicken industry, and more importantly what I buy.

Is "Free Range" what we think it is? 


The chicken and egg industry have done a great job through marketing in making us beleive that this is how all hens live:

When people decide to buy and eat ethically, the words free and range are pretty important. Slap these two words on an egg carton or on the meat packaging, and people feel as though they are making a good buying decision. But are we?

Sustainable Table makes a really good point: 

"In Australia and NZ there are no binding laws that define what free range actually means. As a result, accreditation bodies, of which Australia has six, apply their own definition of free range when accrediting farmers with that all important marker of ethical farming. Factors such as access to an outdoor area, stocking density, beak trimming and pasture cover, for instance, are all up for interpretation."


There are some horrible images available of  high density 'free range' houses, beak trimming and what happens to the male chicks, but I'd rather focus on the positive, yeah?


What can we do? 

• Look for these logos when buying eggs:

• Beware of clever marketing campaigns and packaging imagery. The picture on the egg carton could be the first ray of sunshine or blade of green grass the hen or egg has ever come close to.
• Check out the Sustainable Table Free Range Egg and Chicken Guide.
• Get your own chookies. They make domestic pets, and 3 or 4 can provide your family plenty of eggs.

Thanks to www.freerangefarmers.com.au for these images.

Now, guess what I'm up to this weekend? Yep, preparing our back yard for some chookies. True FREE RANGE, guilt-free eggs, here we come!

Blogs and Websites I love

There are so many blogs that I love and visit all the time, and there are so many blogs that I love ... and forget what they were called! Here's my 'to-remember' list. You should check them out too! Please let me know of any you think I I should add to my visit-list.

http://mynewroots.blogspot.com.au/ - Sarah is a holistic nutritionist and vegetarian chef. In her award winning blog you will find one-of-a-kind recipes, amazing nutritional information and mouth-watering photography.

http://www.missfoodieaus.blogspot.com.au/ - Kirsten is Miss Foodie! You will find her blog filled with beautiful photography, delicious recipes and restaurant critiques.

http://sensiblespice.blogspot.com.au/ - Amy is an inspiration. In her blog she shares her thoughts on parenting, food, some great recipes and other things that come her way.

http://www.sarahwilson.com.au/ Sarah is an Australian beauty - we need more personalities like her! She is a blogger, journalist, TV personality and social commentator. Her views on food, life and health are inspiring.

http://www.karenmartini.com/ Melbourne chef, restaurateur and food writer Karen Martini has been cooking professionally for more than 20 years. Great recipes and truly wonderful videos!

http://crafterholic.blogspot.com.au/ So many things to add to my 'to-do' list on this blog! 

Home Made Healthy Dog Bikkies

My friend Sal brought these dog bikkies over for Sunnie and Peppa to try and they love them. I love them too because they are full of healthy oils for their nails and coat and I know I'm feeding my dogs something good. The only one time Sunnie didn't try bowl me over for these treats was when we were at the beach, and unbeknowns to us had drunk about 2L of sea water... let's just say she was like a water pistol (from both ends) for about 4 hours! Poor puppy!

Anyway, Sal's thinking she'll make these with Sascha's blend mixed in next time for her older dog Bundy (as she turns the corner into middle age) and also to make them seem less appetising to her.... they're actually quite tasty!

Sal's Healthy Dog Bikkies

 

1. Into a large bowl mix

• 2 cups wholemeal SR flour
• 1/2 cup polenta
• 1/2 cup crushed linseeds (I just wizzed mine in the blender for a couple of minutes which didn't 'crush' many of them just kind of stirred them around really fast so maybe bashing them would be better... could also be therapeutic)
• 1/4 cup quick-cooking rolled oats

2. In a smaller bowl stir together

• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup water

3. Combine wet and dry ingredients

4. Mix into a firm dough (like a biscuit dough). If too dry add water...too soft add more flour.

5. Roll out to 1 cm thick and cut into pieces.

6. Bake in oven 170'C for approx 30mins. Allow to cool slowly.

Thanks Sal!

Home made crunchy breakfast granola with chia seeds and goji berries

Home made crunchy granola

This is really easy, delicious and healthy!

2 cups of wholegrain rolled oats
1 cups of mixed nuts and seeds (I used walnuts, cashews, pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds)
3 tablespoons of honey
3 tablespoons of golden or maple syrup
2/3 cup dried fruit, chopped (I use apricots, pears, apples, peaches and goji berries.You could you figs, saltana's or dates)
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 tablespoon flaxmeal



Mix oats, seeds, nuts and flaxmeal in a bowl (not chia seeds). Microwave honey and syrup for about 20 seconds until runny. Pour over the oat mixture and stir to combine until the oat mixture is coated. Tip the mixture into a lined baking tray and bake for 180 degrees for about 10-20 minutes (mine took 10 minutes, but my oven is a piece of sh*t!). Leave to cool. Once cool sprinkle with fruit and chia seeds. Store in an airtight container.

I serve with berries and soy milk, or yogurt. Yum!

I have been trying to cut refined and processed foods out of my diet. I think. I mean I am tying to eat whole foods. Foods that are still in their natural form. Sugar and refined flour is something that I'm trying to kick. When I say sugar I don't mean natural sugar from fruit and honey, I mean refined sugar.

Breakfast is the hardest meal of the day to this for. Everything has so much sugar, and if it doesn't have sugar it has processed wheat! Cereal is especially high in sugar.

So, enter home made crunchy granola. This is something I've been wanting to do for a while but for some reason though it would be hard. But, it's really easy

It does have golden syrup in it, but at least I know how much and what's going into it.

Healthy At 100 {book} by John Robbins

My sister gave me this book for Christmas. I am not a big reader, but I cannot put this down!

John Robbins, takes us on a journey through the healthiest peoples in the world, including the Abkhasians, Vilcabambians, Hunzans and Okinawans. The differences between these peoples and our 'Western' lives are huge. It certainly makes you think.

Look, all I can say is, read this book!

Bestest Yummiest Healthiest Peach, Banana & Berry Smoothy

This morning I went to the Rocklea markets with my dearest friend Kate and her bubby, Lily-Rose. We got so many yummy fruit and vegies including fresh picked apples from Stanthrope, potatoes from Far North QLD (where I'm from) and delicious ripe peaches. By the time we'd walked arounnd the markets I had managed to squash the peaches into semi-smoosh in my bag. Smooshed peaches = delicious smooties!

Bestest Yummiest Healthiest Smoothy
Serves 2

Blitz together:
1 frozen banana
1 peach
1 handful of frozen blue berries
1.5 - 2 cups of milk (depending on how thick you like it)
1 teaspoon of chia seeds
1 tablespoon of flaxmeal

I was going to add honey at the end but didn't need to as the peach added so much natural sweetness. Flaxmeal and Chia Seeds are high in Omega-3, plant lignans and dietry fibre and just add a bit of substance to the smoothy.