Right now, with the rapid spread and unprecedented nature of the COVID19 virus outbreak, and particularly the massive, overcrowded demand on supermarkets, Wholesomeness meals make a great option to any “strategic stocking up” you might be trying to do!
When frozen meals use fresh, seasonal ingredients and are balanced, nutritious and free of nasty additives and preservatives (aka Wholesomeness meals) then they can be an ideal option to stock up on during this difficult time. Here’s why:
1. Nutrient-packed Now is the best time to eat to build your immune system. Instead of just stocking up on pasta and toilet paper, order a stash of our yummy and healthy frozen meals.
If you’re planning on staying home more than usual, a freezer full of nutritious balanced meals is going to ensure you’re getting all the fibre, vitamins, minerals and other health and immune-supporting compounds that your body needs! And if you get sick, you probably won't want to cook from scratch but you will have an added nutrient requirement.
2. Avoid the crowded supermarkets This may be especially important for our elderly customers or people with underlying health conditions. We hope we can help ease the burden of cooking for some of our customers who are self-isolating or who are avoiding the crowds.
3. Gourmet meals prepared to strict food safety standards Food safety has always been important to us, and we want you to know that we implement high food safety measures with every meal that we make. Especially during this time we are ramping up the frequency of sanitisation for staff, and every area inside our 5 star approved commercial kitchen. You can have your full trust in us that your meals will come made with love, and to the highest quality that they can be.
Our meals are frozen to minimise food spoilage and contamination. We give you a couple of fresh meals for the first 2 days but freeze the rest for you so you can pop them into your freezer and keep them safe and packed with nutrition until you need them.
4. Food Diversity The supermarket shelves are getting bare and you may have a lot of the same items in your fridge or pantry. Our menu changes weekly and our meals are different and unique, from our Rosemary Lemon Chicken with Caramelised Carrot Risotto to our Tofu and Pineapple Massaman Curry with Quinoa.
Evidence shows that a varied diet and the rotation of grains, proteins and produce is best for immune health as well, which is definitely what we aim for when we create our menu.
5. Frozen Meals Our meals are frozen immediately after cooking which locks in all the freshness, flavour and nutrients in the food.
Freezing locks in the nutrients and keeps nutrients from oxidising. Generally, frozen foods retain their vitamins and minerals and there is no change to the carbohydrate, protein or fat content.
In some cases, frozen foods have more vitamins and minerals compared to fresh food because fresh foods can lose vitamins and minerals over time through oxidisation while freezing preserves nutrients. It also keeps food safely out of the optimal growth zone for bacteria, (temperatures below zero).
Freezing, or ‘natures preservative’ means we don’t need to add preservatives or gas to our meals.
Quinoa (Keen-wah) (1 cup): 222 calories, 39g carbs, 8g protein, 5g fibre, 53 glycaemic index, rich in antioxidants and minerals.
Brown Rice (1 cup): 216 calories, 44g carbs, 5g protein, 3.5g fibre, 50 glycaemic index, rich in antioxidants and minerals.
When choosing a nutritious complex carb to balance out your meal, quinoa and brown rice are both great options. Both are packed full of antioxidants and minerals, healthy carbs and adequate fibre to help support a healthy digestion, keep you fuller for longer, and help curb cravings and keep you on track with your goals!
Quinoa comes from the flowering plant of the amaranth family and it’s the seeds of the plant that we use. Quinoa is unique because it is a plant-based complete protein, meaning it contains all 9 amino acids that our body needs and does not make itself. Because it’s a complete protein, you don’t need to worry about protein combining. Quinoa is also a good source of minerals like iron, magnesium and zinc. For a higher protein side that is a little bit lighter than brown rice and cooks quicker, quinoa may be the perfect option for you!
Brown rice contains minerals like phosphorous, manganese, selenium and magnesium. It also contains antioxidants like phenols and flavonoids which help protect the body from oxidative stress (which is a crucial factor in the development of chronic diseases). Like quinoa, it has a high fibre content which helps to keep you satisfied between meals, reducing the need for cravings and snacking, and supporting weight loss. Fiber also helps to keep food moving through the digestive tract, while certain forms of fiber called prebiotics feed and nourish the good bacteria in your gut, which is what we want!
A balanced meal of a protein (either animal or plant-based), a serve of brown rice or quinoa and some fiber-rich veggies makes for a pretty impressive dish, nutrition wise. Quinoa and brown rice are perfect for grain bowls, salads, snack bars, burgers, and heaps more things. Quinoa can even be used to make breakfast bowls, by using it instead of oats, with some maple, cinnamon and fresh fruit – yum!
Why do we love quinoa and brown rice?
Ok, so I guess it's not really a battle because we picked two of our winning grains. But certainly we choose these as the winners over other grains like... processed wheat e.g. couscous. In the battle of quinoa versus cous cous, Quinoa wins hands down!
We love it because it’s gluten-free, fodmap-friendly, nutritious, it supports healthy digestion and it’s packed full of minerals and fibre.
Have you tried and loved any of our meals with quinoa or brown rice? We’ve been loving our Massaman Chicken Curry with Quinoa and our Mushroom Bourguignon with Brown Rice 😋
How to pack a healthy school lunch box: Cheat sheet
Start the new year with healthy school lunches to keep your children (or you!) energised all day long
Secrets of a Nutritious Balanced Lunchbox:
Unprocessed carbohydrates for energy, vitamins, minerals and fibre
Protein for brain power and to fill them up between meals
Fruit and vegetables (essential!)
Water to keep them hydrated
Snack:
Choose 2 (add fruit or veg daily as one of the options - think quick and easy to eat)
Fresh fruit (chopped or peeled or easy to eat, that doesn’t bruise easily e.g. grapes, strawberries, peeled mandarin, small apple, watermelon slices, blue berries)
Rice crackers and hummus or other dip
Cheese and crackers
Snack container of baked beans with a fork
Popcorn
Corn on the cob
Yoghurt
Cheese wedge
Cherry tomatoes
Baby cucumber
Boiled egg - peeled
Falafels
Meatballs and tomato sauce
Biltong
Main lunch:
Think protein and healthy carbs
Choose 1 different option every day to prevent a monotonous diet and to ensure the rotation of grains
Pesto pasta with nut free pesto and gluten free pasta (remember to pack a fork!)
Sushi
Hummus and salad wrap
Chicken drumsticks and veggie sticks (carrot, cucumber, celery, capsicum, broccoli) and dipping sauce (pesto or tomato sauce or mayo)
Tuna pasta (tuna, capsicum, cucumber, tomato, pasta) - remember the fork!
Think small (you want them to be hungry enough to fill up on the nourishing food)
Bag of crisps
Fruit juice
Chocolate
Natural confectionary snake lolly
Biscuit
Muffin
Cupcake
Piece of cake
Banana bread
Muesli bar
Home baked slice
Note:
Allergies: Most schools have a no nut policy, but if your school doesn't of course nuts make a great snack and peanut butter sandwiches are always popular too!
The New Year is officially here, the festive season binging has now come to an end… and it’s time to awaken the inner warrior, be empowered and confident with your lifestyle choices.
Let’s face it; eating healthy is just downright hard to do these days. We have fast food at every glance, conveniently located and we tend to forget just how bad highly processed food is for our bodies. If you want to reach your weight loss goals or just continue on the healthy straight and narrow, these are some great everyday tips to incorporate into your daily routine.
Step 1: Give yourself some motivational encouragement! Set reminders in your phone, write things on your mirror, change your screensaver to something that gets you pumped, maybe even change your morning alarm tone! Don’t underestimate the power of your mind.
Step 2: Time to do a clean out, get rid of your rubbish food so it isn’t staring at you in the face saying ‘EAT ME… EAT ME NOW’. These are generally your trigger foods after a long hard day and you’ve just lost all interest in cooking or making good decisions.
Step 3: PREP. YOUR. MEALS. If you haven’t been doing this, chances are you are going to get super busy, tired and hangry… leading to again, regretful choices. Make the most of our super healthy, freshly prepared meals.
Step 5: Squeeze in somewhere each day to get your 30 minutes of exercise. Whether it’s a brisk walk after dinner, an intense gym sesh or calming light stretches, just do it! No excuses! This is your time to appreciate yourself. It’s worth every single minute.
Waking up and doing exercise on an empty stomach or a small light snack such a banana or some nuts can improve weight loss. Try high interval training to increase your mitochondria (the bodies energy powerhouse).
Drink a glass of lemon water upon waking, this stimulates your digestive organs producing bile, digestive enzymes and getting things moving.
Try to avoid eating after 7 pm, this should be your time of healing not digesting, a 10 – 12 hour nightly fast is excellent for metabolic processes.
Don’t starve yourself. Your body actually goes into starvation mode and starts storing your energy into fats as a protective mechanism.
Drink your 2L of water. A given I know, however, your body can confuse being hungry with being thirsty. Find it hard to drink so much? Why not diffuse it with fruit or make some iced herbal tea – delicious!
Green tea increases your digestive system functionality, increases detoxification processes and when iced is perfect on a hot summer’s day!
Don’t eat bland food. Add fresh herbs and spices to your dishes so your taste buds are satisfied! Eating healthy is actually really delicious.
Set realistic goals. This is really important, as you don’t want to feel like a failure and give up completely; small weekly goals based on changes instead of weight are a great start.
Invest in a health coach, it can be a great way to really succeed and have consistent support on your health journey. Talk to our nutrition or naturapath to personalise a program just for you!
Remember you may have some setbacks, that’s okay! Get right back up again and figure out what your main triggers are. Take note and put practices in place to avoid that temptation.
Live your life! Don’t forget to live, don’t drown yourself in saying no to everything… life is just too short to appreciate the good things, just do it in small doses. Sooner than later the positive changes you’ve made become a habit and you’ll find you won’t want it anyway.
The main thing is to change your perspective and frame of mind when it comes to diet and lifestyle. Believe that you can and you really will. You can achieve results, you can be confident and you can succeed. Be honest with yourself and accept that changing habits doesn’t happen overnight but it sure doesn’t take as long as you think once you truly commit. It’s one of the toughest, most challenging yet rewarding experiences. You can do it!
Are you coming home from work totally exhausted? Waking up more exhausted than the day before? We have all had that feeling where we think it is impossible to keep going; knowing that we need to go home, cook dinner, clean, get the kids ready for bed, oh and somewhere in-between have a life!
Is it just the way life is? Busy days, little sleep and no time for ourselves to relax? No! There needs to be balance and you truly can make a huge difference with good nutrition and easy tricks to get you there.
(Beyond Good Health Clinics) [image] of chronic fatigue
What are signs and symptoms of fatigue?
Constant feeling of tiredness
Shortness of breath or muscle weakness
Lack of motivation
Concentration and memory recall difficulties
(Wedro, 2015)
Why does your body feel so depleted?
Our bodies can be feeling exhausted for many various reasons, you may have a serious or chronic current health issue, a newborn baby or going through a really stressful time at the moment. Whatever it may be, good nutrition will always optimize health by nourishing and supporting the fundamental biochemical pathways that lead us to be the marvelous walking, talking, living, breathing organism we are!
These pathways require sufficient nutrient intake to ensure synthesis and balance of enzymes, proteins, hormones, neurons, cells, EVERYTHING! Without adequate intakes, you can be tipping over a domino and starting a destructive cascade of physiological events inside your body without even realizing. Every single thingin your body will be rebuilt by what you eat.
If you’re eating unhealthy foods, not getting enough exercise, sleep or relaxation your health will eventually mentally and physically suffer, acutely or chronically - period.
We have over 100 trillion cells working fiercely to keep us going, even more amazing you can times that number by 10 and you get the amount of live bacteria in the human body (Rettener, 2016) – pretty amazing right? You have to give them nourishment to thrive and do their jobs effectively – they will do everything in their power to make sure you, the host, can survive.
Watch this amazing video on immune cells in action –
(Healing, 2014)
Potential causes of fatigue:
Prolonged sympathetic nervous system stimulation (stress and anxiety) subsequently causing insufficient absorption and digestion of food increasing malnutrition
Excessive amounts of high carb and sugar foods
Damage to GIT and dysbiosis of the microbiome
Nutritional deficiencies including insufficient water intake
Toxic build-up in your body (see article here on how to detoxify naturally)
Insufficient sleep (recommended 6 – 8 hours)
Side effects from medications
Here’s the exciting part! You can change your life for the better! Don’t let this overwhelm you, let it inspire you; let it take your breath away at just how wonderful, intricate and purely amazing your body is. Believe in yourself enough that you deserve to be healthy; you deserve to love your body and nourish it and feel good again!
Top 10 Ways To Boost Your Energy!
I really am a huge advocate of this – try your best to cut out the processed foods. Anything that comes in a packet, stay clear. Aim to fill your fridge with a rainbow of local fresh fruit, veg, nuts and meats. Nature has us covered, every whole-food contains an array of nourishing vitamins and minerals that you need to thrive on, aiming to help all of those beautiful pathways work at optimum levels. Don’t have time to cook? Check out our AMAZING healthy meals here.
Aim to eat foods high in your B-Vitamins; they all play an integral part in energy synthesis and metabolism. Great food sources include eggs, salmon, nuts, seeds, dark-leafy greens and organic well-sourced animal liver. (Whitney, 2014) If you are really struggling it might be beneficial to opt for a well-sourced B-vitamin complex.
Increase your magnesium (Mg+) intake; most of us are deficient in Mg+. (Here’s a tester-poke out your tongue in a mirror, if it is shaking chances are you may be Mg+ deficient). Mg+ is Crucial for energy, heart, lung, and immune functionality along with being essential for synthesizing glucose, proteins, fats and structures. It is also vital for neural communication. High in seeds, grains and green-leafy veg.
Antioxidants help detoxify harmful substances, repair and nourish your cells along with promoting damaged cell apoptosis (cell death). Great sources of antioxidants: fresh berries, green tea, turmeric, raw organic cacao and nuts. (Mercola, 2016)
Choose complex carbohydrates and lower your sugars, this includes overindulging in fruits – aim for no more than 2 – 3 serves per day max. Complex carbs are sourced from whole fruits, whole grains, green and starchy vegetables e.g. sweet potato, pumpkin and beetroot. Eat them with a bit of protein and good fats to increase satiety and avoid a high spike in blood glucose.
Cut back on stimulants; caffeine, alcohol, black teas and cigarettes. Over-stimulation of the nervous system can eventually cause our body to burn out. Try an alternative dandelion root coffee, mix it up with herbal teas and if you’re a huge coffee and chocolate person aim for a new goal each week to slowly reduce your intake.
Ensure you are getting enough iron (Fe+) in your diet. Fe+ is essential for transporting oxygen around your body through your blood and absolutely vital for many catalyst enzymatic reactions. Nuts, green-leafy vegetables and red meat are all high in Fe+.
Try our amazing PondWater Mix – I am officially in LOVE with this mix! It has all organic ingredients; chlorella, spirulina, wheat grass, aloe vera and spelt grass. Perfect for alkalizing the body, high in glutathione for repairing gut endothelial lining, rich in nutrients and a great 3 o’clock pick me up.
Probiotic rich foods: Once you have started to take a more clean eating approach it’s time to look into probiotic-rich foods or even a supplement. These gut microbes play an integral role in our body and the immune system, it is absolutely essential we have the right bacteria. Try adding sauerkraut, kimchi, miso or low sugar Kombucha into your diet once daily.
Sleep, rest and relaxation: yes, you know this one – we all do, just DO IT! Find a way to take 10 – 20 minutes each day to just be, ground yourself and appreciate your life. What’s the point of working so hard for it to ruin you? There’s no point. I love deep breathing in the car, shower or right now while I am typing. You are just too important to let stress control you. P.S. if you haven’t already, give meditation a go – it’s a win.
Coconut turmeric chicken with vegetable stir-fry – check it out here
References
Asif, M. (2014, February 21). The prevention and control the type-2 diabetes by changing lifestyle and dietary pattern. PubMed. doi:10.4103/2277-9531.127541
Beyond Good Health Clinics. (n.d.). [image] of chronic fatigue. Retrieved August 03, 2016, from https://www.google.com.au/search?q=fatigue&biw=1366&bih=667&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjCl4Cv8aTOAhUJFZQKHaAxCKAQ_AUICCgB#imgrc=eHYfnUSvUhJwVM%3A
Food Standards, Australian and New Zealand. (2010). Retrieved from NUTTAB: http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/science/monitoringnutrients/nutrientables/nuttab/Pages/default.aspx
Healing, S. C. (Director). (2014). Your Immune System under a microscope. [Motion Picture]. Retrieved August 03, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPIzIznmAO0
Mercola, D. (2016). The Ultimate Guide to Antioxidants. Retrieved August 3, 2016, from http://articles.mercola.com/antioxidants.aspx
Rettener, R. (2016, March 10). The Human Body: Anatomy, Facts & Functions. Live Science. Retrieved July 27, 2016, from http://www.livescience.com/37009-human-body.html
Wedro, B. M. (2015, March 02). Fatigue. Retrieved July 27, 2016, from http://www.medicinenet.com/fatigue/article.htm
Whitney, E. R.-S. (2014). Understanding Nutrition, Australian and New Zealand, 2nd Edition. South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3205: CENGAGE Learning.
