Seed Sale

As the season slowly begins to change, and cooler Autum days become a welcome relief to swelterting Summer, I have decided that it is time for a super stock clearout, to welcome in the new season.

First on the list are our Seed Naturopathic Baltic Amber teething necklaces.

Originally: $29.95 (+p&h)

Now: $14.99 (+p&h)

A must have for any happy bub or toddler and a secret weapon for mum.

Stocks are limited so please drop me at line at seednaturopathics@gmail.com with amber necklace in the subject line.

Megan Georgoulas

Kitchen Wars

I had big plans for today… No they didn’t involve curing cancer or bringing down international criminals… but nevertheless still important…

So with my big plans for the day ahead of me, I set forth only to find I am trapped… Trapped in the KITCHEN!!!!

Cooking all meals from scratch is a never ending job, and when I think about how many hours I spend in the kitchen per day I realise I am an unappreciated, unpaid chef for angry midgets!!

So things are-a-changing around here… In the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the terminater movies “the machines are taking over” (I’m not sure if he said those exact words, but you know what I mean)

I have turned to any form of time saving implement that I can get my hands on, the following is a list of my favourite time saving machines, that will hopefully get me OUT of the kitchen.

So the holy grail in time saving kitchen equipment would have to be the cooking husband/partner, who whips up dinner while you pop your feet up with glass of chardy… Hmm, yes, moving right along…

Coming in at a close second would have to be the Thermomix. This whiz banger of a machine claims to do all sorts of amazing feats in the kitchen with a flick of a switch, from ice cream to muesli in moments.  Coming in at around the $2000 mark, it is a serious kitchen investment, and is unfortunately not on my  necessity list for now.

I would place my bench mixer next on the list. Cakes, biscuits, bread doughs etc are all easy peasy with the mixer. Whack in the ingredients, flick on and job done… Only down fall is that you don’t burn the calories from physically mixing the calorie laden cakes and biscuits etc.

Next up the old trusty bread maker… Our bread maker is older than time itself, but still manages to lure us in to the kitchen via our noses, for a fresh bread laden breakfast, time after time. Bread cooks overnight & you can get creative with a variety of flours and grains without spending $10 a loaf.

Last but not least is the slow cooker. Perfect for rainy autum weather, you can cook beautiful porridge with pears and cardomon overnight, then re-load for a delicious spicey lamb stew with barley for dinner. Sweet delicious comfort food.

So these little gems have allowed me to escape the kitchen today, long enough to… Well write this post… I’ll start on world peace tomorrow.

Megan Georgoulas

Making some Dough

Today was yet another rainy Sunday spent indoors, so while the kids destroyed the place, I decided to take the opportunity and get organised for the week.

I donned my apron, cranked the oven, and got baking!

First off I started with some home made bread. I have started to become very suspect of commercial breads of late for a number of reasons…

I have not long finished reading the book ‘Fed up’ written by Sue Dengate. This is the book I should have read twenty years ago. It covers how food affects behaviour, particularly in children.

I was astonished to read about the additive, Calcium propionate (282) which is used in many commercial brands of breads in Australia. It has been linked to a variety of behavioural problems in children. Brumbys and Bakers Delight supposedly do not use the preservative any longer. So the last time I was in the grocery store (it was Woolworths) I made a point of reading the ingredients on their home brand bakery bread. All of it contained 282. Also most of the so called ‘healthy’ flat breads contained it as well.

I have also been conducting a little experiment of my own with some commercial raison bread that we had been eating a lot of just recently… let’s just say I will NEVER eat that stuff again… the results and pictures of the experiment will be posted shortly…

So its back to the kitchen for me and time to dust off the bread maker.

Today’s loaf is a 4 seed white loaf

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of flour (I used Wallaby Bakers unbleached flour, which contains no preservatives or animal fats, as well as being GMO free)

2 tablespoons of butter or a dairy alternative

1 teaspoon of salt

2 tablespoons of honey or rapidura sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup of milk (I used soy milk)

2 teaspoons of yeast

1 tablespoon chia seeds

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1 tablespoon flaxseeds

I’m not too fussy with my method of putting the ingredients together, basically I melted the butter, added it to the egg, and milk.

I then added all the dry ingredients including the seeds gave it a bit of a mix and set the bread maker to do the rest.

Ahh what could be better than four hours of rain on the roof, the smell of fresh baking bread… and stir crazy boys looking for something to break!

The results were delicious!

Megan Georgoulas

Crazy for the Coconuts

So while the balmy summer weather continues, the coconuts are still flowing in our house.

For today’s coconutty treat, I am making choco blueberry muffins. Sure to please everyone as an afternoon treat, or what the hell, even a breakfast treat, I clearly have no other food in the house!

For today’s batch I have used;

2 cups of self-raising flour

2 eggs

4 tablespoons of raw sugar…. completely up to your own taste as to how sweet you want these babies

half a cup of coconut flour

half a cup of coconut oil

Approximately 6 heaped tablespoons of Greek yogurt, I love Jalna.

I used a couple of handfuls of blueberries, which can be fresh or frozen. However I feel that a good 2 cups of any chopped fruit is really needed for the muffins to stay moist. The more fresh fruit you add, the less sugar you need.

Now for the hero ingredient, a choc-coconut spread by ‘nui’. It is gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan friendly and oh so delicious!

I added a heaped tablespoon of the spread to the mix and then made mouth love to the remnant on the spoon.

Blend together and then get your coconut cup cake on!

Really there is no excuse for not making muffin/cup cake combos, especially if you own any form of electrical mixing device. For 10 minutes of minimal effort and 15-20 minutes of laying on a deck chair time, it is well worth it.

Your children will love you, your friends will love you, your arse will love you… maybe not that last one, but no one can see your arse when it is firmly planted in a deck chair!

Megan Georgoulas

I’ve got a lovely bunch of Coconuts

The golden age of the coconut is upon us.

I had been suspecting this for some time, however now that I have seen that ‘Starbucks’ are offering a variety of coconut flavours with their infamous frappes, I know for sure that coconuts have gone mainstream!

Coconut based products are everywhere, and we seem to be making good use of the whole fruit… or is it a nut… for now let’s call it a ‘Drupe’

We are now commonly using the coconut’s milk, the flesh, the oil, even the juice or water. Perhaps next Summer us ladies will all be donning a coconut shell bikini? Now if this trend was to take off, I know who would start it…

The Victoria’s secret wearing, coconut loving, yummy mummy herself, Miranda Kerr. The rediculously hot supermodel caused quite a stir last year when she was misquoted as saying that her good looks were the result of consuming 4 tablespoons of coconut oil per day.

Shock horror, stop the press… a supermodel who actually eats and coconut oil no less…. why, isn’t coconut oil super high in saturated fats and feared by every ‘fat phobe’ who hasn’t left the 80′s? Could it be that oils are actually good for us? Well who better to listen to, then a chick in a bikini *

So just like the good little plebs we all are, without any further questioning we rushed to the shops to buy the latest and greatest by the truck load. Now at the time of Miranda’s coconut loving admissions, I just so happend to be working in a health food store, and the following is an example of every second conversation I had at said job for the next month…

Me: “Hi, how can I help you today?”

Customer: “I’m lookin’ for that stuff, you know, that stuff that supermodel eats, you know the one I mean?”

Me: “No, sorry”

Customer: “Urg, you know, that stuff she eats, to make her beautiful and skinny and stuff… Don’t you watch Today Tonight?”

me: “Sorry I have no idea what your talking about”

Customer: [Basically says the exact same thing perhaps with a slight variation]

me: “Oh, now I know what you mean… you’re talking about Miranda Kerr and Coconut oil…”

N.B. I did actually know what they were looking for from the get-go, but I was a weekend casual and getting paid by the hour….

Anyway, I digress…

With this sudden surge of coconut products one could become quite sceptical of the actual value of this tropical all-rounder. However, as a dairy-free household, we can’t get enough of it!

So on this balmy Queensland summer’s night, I decided to follow our Quinoa salad with my own take on a traditional Greek dish and crowd pleaser, Rizogalo or good old rice pudding.

I used 2 cupped handfuls of Aborio rice thoroughly rinsed. I then added one can or 400mls of coconut cream with 2 tablespoons of Agave syrup, 2 tablespoons of powdered cinnamon and a sprinkling of desicated coconut to really get in the tropicana vibe.

Stir over medium heat and continue to add extra coconut cream as it is absorbed by the rice. Just like a risotto, this dish requires a bit of attention to make sure it doesn’t dry out and burn… however with minimal ingredients, it is simple and quick to prepare.

Sweetness can be adjusted to taste. I also like to add some lemon rind to give it a bit of a zesty kick. Leave to cool and serve warm like a pudding, or my favourite is to refrigerate and eat like a scoop of coconut ice cream topped with a sprig of fresh mint. Crazy in the coconut!

* Meant with all due respect to Miranda who is actually educated about nutrition.

Megan Georgoulas

Requiem for Caffeine

Last night I dreamt of coffee.

Gloriously strong, smooth, dark, and did I mention strong, coffee. The smell, the ritual, the stimulation, ahh what a wonderful reason to get out of bed.

Today was my third consecutive day coffee free. Why would I play such a masochistic game I hear you ask? Well at 3pm this afternoon, I was asking the same question. I was actually asking this while rocking in fetal position in the corner, while my chilren threw sultanas at me.

So like any good addict, I caved and let the sweet caffeine, or trimethylxanthine, flow all over my adenosine receptors. Just like magic I am a functioning, albeit slightly hyperactive,  member of society.

Every now and then I make the decision to quit coffee. I do this mainly for health reasons, however I also like to keep tabs on the underlying addiction. The pain of withdrawal is a great reminder of why caffeine addiction is so insidious.

Some folks head into the desert with no food or water to find the truth, I think it is much easier and involves less sun damage, to simply stop drinking coffee. I like to watch the layers peel back and discover the true state of my nervous system and adrenals.

The exhaustion, lethargy, gloominess and outright bitchiness is quite overwhelming, along with the inability to remember the end of my …. ah … what’s that word … you know …. Sentences!

My other main reason for having a little holiday from my best friend coffee, is that… brace yourself for this… Coffee is a drug!

Coffee has positive and negative effects on the body, with many, often contradictory studies coming out recently. Some of the positive effects from these studies range from reducing the risk of aquiring alzeimers disease, to helping with headaches.

Were these studies credible? I do not know. Maybe they were being conducted by coffee starved individuals with raging withdrawal headaches, so yes, it goes without saying that coffee is going to help with that.

So it doesn’t look like I’ll be quitting coffee anytime soon. Maybe next time I take a ride on the coffee rehab bus a good adrenal tonic and a ‘kids-free’ week on the beach in the Maldives would help to ease the withdrawal pains….

mmm beach…

mmm Maldives…

I wonder if they do a good espresso martini there?

Megan Georgoulas

Failing Forward

Most of us are afraid of failure…

This post is about how failing in our yoga postures can be used as a metaphor for our everyday lives…

Falling into fantastic

Yoga. Good for what ails ya.

Written by Kat Skull

I once left a friend in incredulous disgust after telling him that I thought that we could achieve world peace if everyone did yoga. After a brief silence where the vein in his forehead began to ever so gently throb, he managed to splutter that this was utter nonsense (well, a word that meant ‘nonsense’, I’ve cleaned it up for your lovely selves). Ok, so perhaps world peace is a little idealistic but I truly believe that the world would be an infinitely better place if we all practiced yoga.

What makes me think this? Well, I know that I am an infinitely better person when I practise. 

Yoga had always fascinated me and when I finally began to practise back in 2007 I felt that I had found what had been missing in my life. It seemed to fill in a gap in my circuit and got things flowing again. My practice has ebbed and flowed in the past 3 years with regular yoga often being forsaken for ‘Life’ but it’s always waiting patiently for my return. Like when you’re a teenager and you stay out all night and upon your return home Mum is waiting with a cup of tea, marmite on toast and a cuddle. Welcome, satisfying and so comforting.

Working in a health food shop I find myself suggesting yoga for almost every ailment. Stressed? Yoga. Insomnia? Yoga. Want to lose weight? Yoga. Depressed? Trouble concentrating? Someone took your car park? Yoga, yoga, yoga. We live in a fast world where time is elusively lacking, convenience is paramount and if you aren’t stressed you simply aren’t working hard enough. “When do I have time to do yoga?” you ask. Without hyperbole I have to wonder how we can afford not to find the time. A glorious 60-90 minutes of you, your body and your breath. You stretch long-neglected muscles, massage your vital organs and breathe consciously. There is a complete surrender to the moment with nothing existing outside of you and your mat. Radical. If a class isn’t possible there is a wealth of short sequences available on the internet but the knowledge of an experienced teacher to put you on the right track is pretty invaluable.

I recently stumbled upon a series of FREE Podcasts by yogadownload.com that are awesome and available via iTunes. They require a basic working knowledge of the poses but novices can access the simply print the companion pose guide off. They go for a mere 20 minutes. Totally do-able! No excuses now my petals!
There are so many different types of yoga that there is a style for everyone. Whether you value the precision of Iyenger, the vigourous discipline of Ashtanga or perhaps the fluid dance of vinyasa flow there is something out there just for you! Half the fun is trying, and I challenge anyone to do a yoga class and not feel brilliant after. You don’t have to be vegetarian, wear flowing white robes or change your name to Petula. But you can if you like! You don’t have to be bendy or touch your toes. Yoga does not discriminate!  You simply need a mat, some time and a bit of a smile. You’ll leave class feeling like you have swept the cobwebs from your head and polished the cupboards of your mind. So go on, get out there and kick some asana!

Seed Naturopathics: Open for Business

So after a three year hiatus, I am headed back to the consultation room. I am very excited to be practicing once again, and am looking forward to being a part of all the beautiful and challenging pregnancy and birth stories ahead.

I feel very blessed that even though I am technically returning to work, the ‘work’ I have been doing as a mother has prepared and humbled me to work alongside mums and their families during their own journeys into life and parenthood.

I will be focussing on the pre-natal health of both mum and dad in the lead up to conception, support throughout pregnancy and birth, including HypnoBirthing classes, and will also be providing post-natal support for both mother and baby.

Becoming a mum is one of the most transformational times in a woman’s life which requires patience, understanding, love and unconditional support.

Unfortunately new mums can slip through the cracks within our current society and health model. With the main focus being on the babies health and milestones, our own health as mothers can suffer.

With the help of herbal medicine, correct nutrition, exercise and counselling, this time can be a joyous celebration rather than extreme fatigue and isolation.

As a mum of two toddlers I understand how important it is to care for yourself so that you can be the best mum, physically and emotionally for your children.

I will be consulting from Healthy Life Carindale on a Sunday between 10am and 3pm, and am also availale for online and telephone consultations.

Please contact me at megan@seednaturopathics.com for more info or to book an appointment.

Megan Georgoulas

The call to Veganism

According to Wikipedia Veganism is ‘a philosophy and lifestyle whose adherents seek to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. Vegans endeavour to never consume or use any animal products of any types.’

I really had never given veganism or even vegetarianism much thought, however just recently I have felt a shift brewing.

I have just finished weaning my youngest son from the breast, and I am feeling very liberated from my milking duties. I lovingly and proudly breasfed both of my sons until they were both 18 months old, however the feeling of freedom and having my own body back after 3 years of feeding is quite rejuvenating and exciting.

These feelings have brought me to a new place of awareness for those animals whom are continually and forcibly used as milking machines for our own benefit. On a recent trip to the country, my husband and I were romantising about self-sufficent life on the land, chickens, goats, cows and all.

But why did we need the cows, goats and chickens? Why for our egss, milk, yogurt and cheese of course! So it suddenly dawned on me these little luxuries are the forced continuation of lactation of an animal, whose milk is designed for it’s own offspring and also the forming embryo of a chicken… Holy shit! I always knew this, but today I became blindingly aware of the implications.

So this may be ok if each family had their own chickens or a nice healthy freesian cow or billy goat happily roaming the yard, but how many cows do you know of hanging in suburbia? Not many I’m guessing, because most of them are brutally hooked up to pumping machines in cramped, cruel conditions, with mastitis and other horrendously painful infections, then pumped with antibiotics to sterilize the pus filled milk we are brain washingly told is essential for our good health… sound healthy to you?

So I guess my stance on Veganism comes from both an animal rights perspective and also a concern with long term health. I do find it very interesting when people freak out when I tell them I drink soy milk and they then procede to lecture me on all the ‘bad’ effects it will supposedly have on my endocrine system, yet they don’t think twice about regularly consuming the breast milk and the reproductive material of another animal.

So I have heard and feel the call towards veganism, however this will be a work in progress and not a decision I will take lightly, or without a lot of consideration. Perhaps a good way to start is by sourcing good qualitly, local, organic and ethical products and go from there….