Its Christmas Time

Four organic eggs,  three organic apricots, and an organic box of cherries.


Like you need my reminder, here it is anyway there are only 8 more days until Christmas Day is upon us...Just quietly I am freaking out too, presents aside I am also beginning to stress about the food.... The most important part of the day, the blessing that we have I suppose is that with organic food the flavours are so amazing, you can keep the food simple and produce will do the rest.

So in the midst of the madness, maybe we should take a leaf from nature (pardon the pun) and keep everything simple.  Presents, food, our lives.  The simpler that they are the less stress we have!!!

THIS WEEK WILL BE THE LAST DELIVERY WEEK FOR THE YEAR FOR THE MAJORITY OF YOU.  WHILST WE ALL TAKE A WELL EARNED BREAK AND BUILD AN EVEN BETTER ORGANIC EMPIRE IN 2013.

Some things to look forward to in 2013....

Our farm, this last weekend was spent planting out the farm, lead by our amazing farm manager Steve, Jenny and a host of fabulous volunteers on both Saturday and Sunday. What this means is lots of amazing produce from farm to fork for all of you!.

Our food school, we have an amazing selection of food school courses coming your way, including cheese making, vegan, raw pasta, proscuitto and so much more.

Our food store, the addition of our new fridge means that we will be stocking so much more amazing produce!  We will have so many new products in 2013.  We also have a new range of home wares coming in, eco, organic and amazing

Online store, 2013 will see our best website yet, with a new shopping cart, easier shopping and so many more features..you are sure to love.

HOUSEKEEPING:
Our last day of trading will be Christmas Eve,  Monday 24th December 2012, we will then reopen on Tuesday 29th January 2013.  The food store will be open occasionally when we have some amazing summer fruits coming in, ie peaches and blueberries and we will let you know via Facebook when we are opening...
We have some gorgeous Christmas presents coming for all of our clients, so please be sure to place your order this week leading up to Christmas to receive your gift.  If you have a standing order you will automatically receive your gift in your organic box.   

As usual thanks for your amazing support, we are so grateful to build an amazing world with you,

  

Angela and the team at Organic Empire XX

  

'Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas."
~ Peg Bracken.

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5 Ways to promote biodiversity in our food

1. GET TRADITIONAL: sit down with your grandmother and or father and find out their time honored meals were, where did they source their local foods from, seek out the ingredients, find the source, find the artisans and farmers that still grow them and support them.

2. GET DIFFERENT: Try new foods, I am not talking about the packaged and processed varieties but the obscure fruits and vegetables you have never heard of, seek them out, ASK US we will source them for you.

3. BUY LOCAL:  Source local foods from us, we have an amazing array of heirloom varieties of produce every week, locally grown.  Try your local farmers markets, support these amazing people in their quest to foster food security.

4. TALK: talk about these foods, to your friends and family, share the wisdom, promote these foods.

5. GET EDUCATED: What are you eating, what variety is it? Are there other's available? Ask the questions.  This way you nourish you mind and body at the same time

6. PLANT SOMETHING DIFFERENT: Probably the most significant thing you can do is plant something different, something that will feed your family, something that you can enjoy together.



We have a farm plan for some amazing heirloom varieties, our latest to go in, is Italian celery, not seen very often anymore except for the  little villages of Italy where time has stood still.  It looks like continental parsley and eats like celery... AMAZING!  Share you treasures that you find with us...


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Get juicy with us

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Putting LOVE into your food

This article written by our own Angela Gioffre, Nutritionist about the importance of putting love in your food.

Download it here

Ethical Meat

So in light of today's media coverage of an abattoir in Sydney, in which animals were beat prior to slaughter has heavily reinforced the need for us as a community to become more connected with our food.  Its such a tragedy that these creatures are killed so inhumanely, in a country with enough knowledge and resources to make more informed choices, instead choosing willed ignorance.  The mistreatment of these defenceless animals is just another example of the problems associated with mass business riddled with moral and ethical ambiguities.  It hasn't always been this way, in a time before mine, families reared loved and killed their own animals, only taking what they could eat, with integrity and respect for the animal.  This symbiotic relationship equated to healthy animals, and healthy people.  On a recent trip to Italy we visited my aunties farm, where she keeps pigs.  Everyday we would go and visit the pigs, where she would feed them, rub them and kiss them.  Perplexed, I asked her why she was kissing her pigs, and as absurd as it may seem, she proceeded to inform me it was because she loved them.  I told her that perhaps you could love a pig, but she didn't need to kiss it. She answered she loved the pig because it would feed her. The penny dropped, this profound respect for the pig, her connection with the animal meant that the love that reared and worshiped it would take it's life with integrity.  This makes me wonder, if we all had to look after the animals which we wished to eat, how different our lives would be.  Its also a realisation that this disconnectedness with our food creates the world in which we live, where animals can be beaten before slaughter, that can cry for their fellow creatures when they see them killed on the kill floor. Is it not enough that they have given their lives to be consumed by humans?


The truth is we vote for the world we want with every dollar we spend.  Demand ethical treatment of animals, demand a world where your food is produced humanely.


Do you think that humans have the right to treat animals badly? You owe it to yourself, as well as to the animals to make informed choices.   What are the consequences of your eating decisions? Trace your food, can you find a farmer that loves and cares for his animals?  If you are aware of a local farm in Victoria that we should all know about, please let us know, comment below.  Thanks


HUNGRY FOR CHANGE?
PETA.  People for the ethical treatment of animals
Humane Society




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What's for dinner??

So it's Friday night, deciding on the cuisine for the night, is usually the hardest in most homes, but tonight I am feeling exceptionally inspired with an organic summer bounty to rival any harvest.  Where to start, the organic and biodynamic produce at the moment is sensational.  The organic iceberg lettuce with their slight cosmetic imperfections an example of true organic farming, full of flavour, crunch and juicy with water to hydrate.  The flavour of organic tomatoes is exceptional, this is one fresh item I refuse everywhere unless its organic, I think why waste my time chewing and digesting something that hasn't that flavour, most conventional tomatoes just taste like a textured water ball.

So on the menu tonight, eggplant cutlets, tomatoes salad, peas with a tomato salsa, corn, green salad, sweet potatoes and roasted pumpkin mmmm buon appetito.

Need some inspiration for your feast tonight or any other night, check out some healthy fresh recipes here

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We are back!!! Time to reinvigorate your diet

We are so happy to be back...  Its a new year,  a new beginning.  To be honest though I like to look at everyday as a new opportunity to make change, to make life better, to get healthier, to get happier.  Let's take this day as a new chance to make our lives everything we ever dreamed of, and to be real  the only way that most of our dreams can be achieved is with health.  It's the truest wealth.

I began my journey with health improvement, way back when I was 7  when I became a vegetarian for the first time, at 14 my mum made dramatic changes in our diets.   We were not unwell when my mum made these change, we were probably just like the majority of the population, fed, full and unaware.  Since that time my journey in life has been predominately an obsession with good health.  Now as a nutritionist I have the privelidge of having an academic education with which to impart knowledge to you all.  I am truly committed to living in optimal health and sharing that with you.  Its possible for everyone, its not just a dream.  We can all live healthy, happy lives and I want to help you do that.

So lets get to it, what is it going to take for you to be healthier, do you need to increase your energy? immunity? lose weight? increase stamina? sex drive? Interestingly these can all be improved with good nutrition, organic food and knowledge. And we want to show you how.

The first thing that needs to happen for change to take place is a decision, so today make that decision.  Write it down and commit to it. Write it in present tense, for example

'I am strong, fit and healthy, I nourish my body with the best organic foods, I live the healthiest life'. or ' I fit into my favourite dress by 1st March 2012', set a date.  Get committed and get to it!

STEP 1. Download our menu planner today and get organised, choose your meals (rather than choosing the non healthy variety of food because you are starving), check out our recipes for different ideas, plan it out.

STEP 2. Order your fresh organic produce and groceries online now.

STEP 3. Every day remember your goal, keep it fun, organise your time and make some delicious food, pack your own lunch, decide on your own destiny (just to let you know the majority of fast food outlets are not too interested in preserving your health, so you must be!).

STEP 4. Move your body, a 20 minute walk a day is a great start, see where you end up from there.

STEP 5.  Be grateful to be alive, we are truly so blessed to have amazing organic foods available to us, we have a real opportunity to nourish ourselves and everyone we love, promoting a beautiful life.  Share your food wisdom with people you know, let's get this world a healthier place.

Let me share with you my goal, I have a desire to change people's lives 

for the better to make them healthier, which in turn makes people happier= a better life for everyone.  I know the importance of good nutrition, from a scientific standpoint, but also as a fellow citizen of the human race, we all see what eating well does, and on the other end of the spectrum what poisioning our bodies with substances disguised as food does.

EXCUSE ME WHILE WE CHANGE IN FRONT OF YOU....

Ok so after much deliberation, we have decided to change the way we serve you.  We are continually researching new ways we can serve you better, and ensure that your produce is delivered at its best, and that you are happy and we think we have found the answer.  So please read on for changes to our deliveries.

We have a NEW Delivery Schedule, please check your delivery day.  

This means that the cut off time for delivery to your area has changed, please be sure to check and ensure that you order before the cut off times.  

It's best to order as soon as possible, to ensure that you receive your delivery, or do one better and sign up for our seasonal boxes and get a box of the freshest local organic produce delivered, without having to do anything!

PAPER NEWSLETTERS

We have decided to do away with the paper newsletters for the moment, in an attempt to become more ecologically sound we wish to direct you to our website  weekly for menu's and recipes.

OUR STORE

Renovations are nearly complete on our farm store, what that means is that you can come out to the farm and purchase your goods straight from us. We will let you know closer to the opening date.

FOOD SCHOOL

We are also excited to announce that we will be opening an Seasonal organic food school, where we will have a host of amazing raw food chef's, nutritionists, cooks and artisians sharing their wisdom with you. Stay tuned for a schedule of events.

"Be willing to be a beginner every single morning

"'

Meister Eckhart 

        

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Beet the sugar

So in a time gone by, when mass farming, production and processing of our foods wasn't centralised to one area, when foods were not highly refined,....there was sugar beets, beta vulgaris var altissima.  


The desire for sweetness is an inbuilt one in humans, an innate understanding that sugar = energy in the form of simple carbohydrates, once broken down provide fuel for all the cells in the body.  (interestingly most big food companies know that, and that's why you find sugar as the main ingredient in most foods, even savoury ones.)

In the 18th century, scientists found that root vegetables, in particular sugar beet were sweet as 'sugar'. By mid 19th century most of the sugar in Europe was produced using beetroot.  Even Melbourne had a go, constructing a railway from St Kilda to Oakleigh that was to be dedicated to sugar beet production, finally Maffra in Victoria's east was the production mecca, that was until 1948.

Now most of our sugar (sugar cane) comes from South America, in particular Brazil with no commercial quantities of organic sugar any longer being farmed in Australia.  All of the commercial agave coming in from Mexico.  Sugar beets are still grown commercially, and Genetically Modified crops have been approved for cultivation...ouch.Why not make your sweetener at home??  Get local, get organic and get cooking....

Step 1.  Grow your own, we will have the organic sugar beet seeds available soon.(Organic Empire).
Step 2.  Plant in early spring and harvest in autumn.
Step 3. Add the leaves to your salad.
Step 4. Wash and chop, slice or grate beetroots finely.
Step 5. Cover with water and simmer till soft and tender, this is usually around 30 mins.
Step 6.  Strain beetroots and RETAIN the water, this is your sugar syrup.  Do not discard the beetroots instead using in a salad or for preserving.
Step 7. Return the beetroot water to the stove and simmer till liquid thickens up and produces the syrup.  Remove from the heat.
Step 8. Cool then place in a container.  This beetroot juice/syrup over time will then crystallise just like honey does.  As this process occurs its important to break them up and over time forming sugar crystals. Or you can further reduce syrup so that this process is sped up, and this is done by cooking for longer until the crystals begin to appear.

NB You can just use from Step 7 as a sweetener in a syrup form.

100kg fresh sugar beet can give 12 - 15kg sucrose, 3.5kg molasses, 4.5kg dried pulp and varying amounts of filter cake.

Bearing in mind that even though this sugar is made from beetroot, its still a sugar just like any other sweetener and has the same effect on the human body, raising blood glucose, providing simple pure carbohydrate to our bodies... this is not the best, so like everything in life use in moderation.

Thanks to Lorri for opening up the conversation.



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Growing Change

So I often don't get time to watch much Television, which I think is quite a blessing.  Occasionally though I will sit, rather hesitantly to watch some amazing shows... Growing Change is one of them.  I thought it necessary to open the conversation....
What do you believe in?  Do you believe that humans and life on this planet are meant to thrive without mass corporations controlling our world...with people in charge of our most important commodities...us and our lives

Do you think that humans are capable of producing their own food?? Do you think that we are capable of pure health I do, do you think that our food need to be grown with oil based fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides I DON'T..I believe in clean food produced by people; farmers .
Why do we poison our waterways?, make extinct so much life?  think its ok to patent our food, to create sterile seeds? to genetically modify our foods?  Why do we give control of our lives to mass corporations that grow our food with chemicals that make us sick then medicate the masses with more toxins.
I believe that we can live the best life with good clean food, grown organically, I believe that we can change, that everyone can have access to food, health giving food...
When people are healthy, they think better, with clarity, we can create a new world, one where hunger and famine don't exist, free of disease, full of possibilities....let's get to it!  Lets get informed, speak up, connect with others, eat well, feed those you love well with organic fresh produce..


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