October 2009 Newsletter: Which Oil Should I Cook With?
Hi Everyone,
Welcome to the October newsletter from www.OrganicFood.com.au. We specialise in the home delivery of delicious, fresh Organic Mixed Boxes and Fresh Organic Fruit, Veges and Groceries across Sydney and Melbourne. Its healthy, natural, FRESH produce conveniently delivered to your door!
Which Oil Should I Cook With?
Fats are an essential part of our health and wellbeing. However, many problems are associated with excessive intake of dietary fat, including obesity, cardiovascular disease, and some forms of cancer. There are also those fats that are beneficial and those that are not recognised at all and can be quite detrimental to our physical wellbeing. Cooking food with fats - the best oils to use are:
- Very, very low temperature cooking or baking – Extra virgin olive oil. This is also great sprinkled over salad for a high antioxidant meal. A combination of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a squeeze of lemon juice makes for a delicious and healthy salad dressing.
- High temperature cooking - butter or coconut oil or use a little water. Use coconut oil for Asian style foods e.g. stir fries, which require high temperatures as it is highly heat resistant and does not go rancid. Besides being delicious and adding a great flavor to the food, coconut oil has many benefits including assisting with weight loss and rebalancing intestinal flora or gut bacteria.
- Sunflower oil and safflower oils – these oils are polyunsaturated, however are not stable when subjected to heat and many of the healthy ingredients are lost at high temperatures. These oils are best used cold as a salad dressing.
Check out our range of organic oils.
Organic Grocery Product of the Month
We continue to add to our great range of groceries, check out a selection of some recently added products to our website. We have added a really wonderful Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice from Sunzest Organics. This really has to be tasted, but be warned - you may never drink another orange juice again! Absolutely sensational...
Check out our full range of Certified Organic Grocery Products.
Naturopaths Corner: Soft Drinks
This months piece comes from Sarah Harvey, Naturopath in All Health Clinic, in Turramurra, Sydney. She is a big fan of organic food and in her piece tackles soft drinks....
Soft drinks contain enormous amounts of sugar. In order to prevent this sugar accumulating into a soft gooey mess at the bottom of each tin of soft drink, phosphates are added. These keep the sugar in solution so we can kid ourselves we are not eating a ridiculous amount of sugar and contributing an inch to our hips.
BUT, phosphates increase the excretion of calcium from the bones. Bones are usually in a beautiful balance: osteoblasts build them up and osteoclasts replace. Unfortunately many factors can upset this balance, especially soft drinks. The result of the huge amount of soft drink currently consumed is a high rate of osteoporosis in years to come. To a cynic, this looks like a part of the general consumer plan: what a chance to sell calcium supplements! Every time you are tempted to buy a soft drink, think about going and eating three spoons of sugar instead. The thought probably horrifies you, “It will make me fat”, but that is what the soft drink does too and at least the three spoons of sugar don't contain phosphates.
Definitely staying healthy is an all-round picture of combining many factors such as eating well and keeping fit!
Thanks a lot Sarah. If you have any queries on this or other health matters for Sarah you can visit her website.
Exercise Tips - Time Your Eating
This months piece is brought to you by Michael Berry, from Vivos Active. Michael runs group and personal training sessions in the northern beaches of Sydney.
“Is it important when you eat in regards to exercise?” Very much so, mostly depending on your goals for your health and fitness and what you want to achieve.
If you want to lose weight go for a walk or train in some form before breakfast and you are more likely to burn stored carbohydrate and fat as you will have less glucose (carbohydrate) in your blood stream. It is still very important to drink water as soon as you get up and while you are exercising for efficient fat burning, dealing with heat stress, removing waste products and humidifying air for breathing.
If you want to build muscle it is important to always have fuel there for the body to burn so it is good to have a high gi (quickly absorbed) snack / meal at least 30 minutes prior to training and then to eat some form of carbohydrates, i.e. organic bananas , straight after training or upto 20 minutes later (to replace used carbohydrates). After 30 minutes it is good to have some protein to aid in muscle recovery and growth.
“I finish work late then go to training and don't get home till 10pm do I have a big dinner?” No, the body needs fuel to recover from exercise, lots of vitamins, minerals and protein for repair and improvements to your body through the night but it doesn't need lots of calories. Don't have a big plate of pasta of an evening unless you are doing serious cardio training every day and really need to load up on carbs. Generally most people only need a piece of lean meat the size of your palm and lots of organic vegies, if you have a wide variety of colours you will get a great assortment of nutrients as well.
Recipe of the Month
Again brought to you by Georgina, our customer from the northern beaches, and talented chef from her great cooking school Simply Sumptuous Foods. Mention this newsletter when you register for a cooking class and Georgina will give you 10% off the cost of your class! If you have been inspired by Masterchef, now could be the time to get some training from an expert!
Mini Pumpkin Frittata - Serves 4 - 8
- 100g butternut pumpkin, chopped in to small chunks
- 4 large organic free range eggs
- 3 tbsp milk
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 20g parmesan, grated (optional)
- Salt & pepper to taste
Pre heat oven to 200°. Place pumpkin in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil to coat, transfer to a baking tray sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake in oven for 15-20minutes until soft. Turn oven down to 180°.
Break eggs in to a bowl, add milk, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste and whisk to combine. Lightly grease an 8 hole muffin tray and place a little of the pumpkin and parmesan if using into each section. Pour over egg mixture making sure not to fill them right to the top as they will expand in the oven. Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes until the eggs are cooked and the frittata is firm. Allow to cool in the tin before serving warm with fresh green salad.
Check out some more great recipes on our website.
Thanks for your interest in the organic market and the environment....any queries about our shopping service please visit www.organicfood.com.au or contact Leonie@OrganicFood.com.au.
Adam, Amanda, Leonie and the team at OrganicFood.com.au