Did you know that in NSW alone more than 800,000 tonnes of food is thrown out for garbage collection each year?  The average household throws 315kg of food into the garbage each year...that's one stat you don't want to be a part of!That's not even counting what gets thrown into the compost....or the waste from food businesses.  It is estimated that this waste of fresh fruit and veggies, meat, chicken and fish, packaged foods and leftovers equates to around  $1000 per household each year...mmmm, I'm feeling a weekend retreat with those savings.

We are all doing our best right.  We try hard to feed our families economically with nutritious, delicious food.  It's hard.

There are loads of reasons for this unintentional waste, including;
We buy too much food (think specials, double ups) 
We lose or forget about food in our overloaded pantries, fridges & freezers.
We're scared of offal and secondary cuts of meat.
We cook too much and don't eat the left overs.
Plans change and we don't get the chance to cook the meals we've planned.
We don't plan. 
We just  prefer to wing it!

There should be a self help group for this kind of thing.... Oh hang on  there is...

On Friday 25th July in our Real Simple Food cooking class, we sort out this conundrum and our pantries and fridges (photos only please) We  check seasonal food guides, plan our recipes, write a meal plan and a shopping list...

We're also cooking a bunch of delicious dishes using every last scrap of food we bought, we're going to eat it all up and look forward to saving $1000 each year from now on. (That's more than the scrapping of the carbon tax will save you...)

You know you want to...BOOK HERE

We often talk about hiding the vegetables in meals from the kiddies.  

To be honest I find it really difficult myself sometime to eat the daily recommended amount of veggies.  

Fruit recommendations (2 per day) I find easy to eat as we usually have a fruit smoothie for breaky or afternoon tea.  

The NHMRC (National Health and Medical Research Council) recommends 5 serves a day - that's 2.5 cups of veggies or 5 cups of salad.  

Diana from the Natural Chemist also tells us that 50% of the food on our plates should be vegetables.  When you take a moment to visualise your daily consumption patterns, most people realise that it can be tricky to eat enough veggies.

We all know that Vegetables are full of vitamins and minerals and we mostly know why our bodies need them.  for example Vitamin C is an antioxidant and the B vitamins are critical in the production of energy in our bodies.  What is less well understood is the benefits of the phytochemicals in vegetables.  It is believed that it is the phytochemicals that protect us from chronic diseases such as heart disease, artherosclerosis, diabetes and stroke. 

We have an ancient juicer (that has to be coaxed into finishing the job somedays but I don't love the concept of composting all of that gorgeous fibre.)

Check out the veggie smoothie I made today.  It is so smooth and so delicious I just had to show you a piccie.

Veggie Smoothie
1 whole carrot, chopped
1 whole orange, peeled
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 whole vine ripened tomato
3cm cube beetroot, halved
few sprigs parsley 
tray of ice cubes 
125ml water to thin (plus extra if desired)

Place all ingredients in the thermomix. Process at speed 10 for 2 minutes.  You might wish to add more water for a thinner more juice like consistency.  The one I made is thick like a boost style juice (but about $5 cheaper).  Enjoy!

Omega3 Seed & Nut Dukkah
1/4 cup Linseeds
1/4 cup Chia seeds
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup almonds
1 cup toasted flaked coconut
1/2 tspn cinnamon

Makes 2 1/2 cups.  Serving size 2 Tablespoons.
Blitz linseeds, chia seeds and half sesame seeds in a seed grinder until very fine. Transfer to a food processor and add remaining ingredients. Process until quite fine.  

The reason you need to blitz the smaller seeds separately is so that your body can absorb their nutrients, otherwise they will go straight through you (with the exception of chia which will get stuck in your teeth.)

Store in airtight jar in the fridge (so omega3s do not go rancid.)  This is delicious on fruit salad, home made muesli and poached fruit.

Tofu Smash
serves 2
1 cup silken Tofu
1 passionfruit
4 Tablespoons omega3 seed & nut dukkah

In a small bowl whisk Tofu until smooth.  Add passionfruit and dukkah and mix until well combined.  Serve on top of your fruit salad or spread on wholegrain toast with banana.