Welcome to our seasonal newsletter. On this page we bring you tips and strategies for healthy eating for you and your kids, interesting information about which foods to avoid and which foods to choose for optimum health and sensational healthy recipes.
Discovering natural foods and how to prepare and cook with them can be a bit of a culture shock for many people. Several generations now have been brought up with refined and highly processed, manufactured foods as a normal part of life. Convenience foods have been in abundant supply for a long time now and their presence in our diet is largely unquestioned. It is little wonder then that the purchase and preparation of natural foods does not come easily to most of us.
Natural Kitchen Strategies can give you a guided tour of the rich, varied world of natural foods, helping you discover the origins, uses, and wonderful flavours inherent in them. The added bonus to all this is, of course, the enormous health benefits to be gained from cooking and eating with these natural foods.
Healthy cuisine is often considered mysterious and many people think it is either too difficult to cook with or has no flavour. We can help take the mystery away and show you how easy it is to prepare and how to use the huge array of wonderful tasting natural foods that are available to us.
IN SEASON
In winter, we can really enjoy the flavour and huge versatility of pumpkin. Its mellow, gentle sweetness and velvety texture makes it perfect for many savoury dishes from Italian to Asian and for luscious, moist muffins, cakes and scones.
Highly nutritious cabbage, particularly savoy cabbage, is especially sweet and crisp during the winter months and is perfect raw in coleslaw but is delicious finely shredded and added to soups and casseroles.
Silverbeet, rich in iron and B vitamins, is at its best in winter, with crisp, glossy deep green leaves perfect for a myriad of uses.
Experiment with fresh, local chestnuts, so rich and robust in flavour yet low in fat. Try them with pasta or in soups and stews for a different flavour.
Great tasting herbs to make use of are coriander, which thrives in winter, and chervil, which also prefers the cool winter sunlight to the heat of summer.
Winter's crisp, juicy apples, tangy mandarins and delicious oranges contain all the sweetness we crave, without the fat but all the nutrients and fibre of natural, raw food. Enjoy the unique sourness of grapefruit and try the more unusual fruits of custard apples and persimmon.
Getting real pleasure and enjoyment from new season's produce is a great way to be in tune with nature and the real life cycles of our food.
WINTER is the perfect time to be in the kitchen, warm and cosy and busily baking or cooking whilst watching the rain (we hope!) and wind outside.
NATURAL KITCHEN STRATEGIES can offer you many suggestions and ideas for truly nourishing and health sustaining but simple to prepare meals.
Try some of the following recipes to keep the cold (and colds!) away.
Try to imagine winter without soup! It's comfort food at its best. Soup can be a quick, light yet sustaining snack or an impressive, hearty main meal on its own. There is nothing better than having a bowl of steaming hot soup to come home to on a winter's night. This nourishing lentil soup will do the trick every time!
HEARTY LENTIL SOUP
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely sliced
1 tblsp olive oil
1½ cups brown or green lentils
1 tblsp tamari or shoyu
water or home made vegetable stock
½ bunch silverbeet, finely shredded
juice 2 lemons
fresh cracked pepper
Heat oil in large saucepan.
Saute onion, celery, carrot and garlic until soft.
Add lentils, tamari or shoyu and enough water or stock to completely cover, then add an extra 1-2 cups.
Simmer covered for 30 minutes, adding more water if necessary.
Add silverbeet and simmer further 15 minutes.
Add lemon juice and pepper before serving.
Click here for a printer friendly version of the HEARTY LENTIL SOUP.
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Did you know that lentils are high in fibre, complex carbohydrates and protein, are a good source of B vitamins but are low in fat? They are invaluable in a natural kitchen as they are so easy to prepare but are a powerhouse of nutrients, flavour and versatility. They are also the only legume that does not need prior soaking, a real advantage for busy people.
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CORN AND LEEK CROQUETTES
300g organic tofu
1 tblsp olive oil
1-2 leeks
finely sliced corn from 2 cobs
½ cup wholemeal flour
2 tblsps shoyu or tamari
½ cup chopped parsley
½ tsp kelp powder (optional)
cracked black pepper
sesame seeds
Slice tofu and wrap in kitchen paper for a few minutes to absorb the moisture.
Saute the leeks and corn in the oil until soft.
Cream the tofu in a food processor and add the flour, shoyu or tamari, parsley, kelp powder and pepper. Process until well combined.
Add the sautéed vegetables and pulse until just combined.
With wet hands shape into croquettes and roll in sesame seeds.
Place on a greased oven tray and bake at 180ºC for 10 minutes and then turn over and bake a further 10 minutes.
Serve with brown rice and steamed green vegetables.
Click here for a printer friendly version of the CORN AND LEEK CROQUETTES.
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Did you know that tofu is an ancient food which originated in China over one thousand years ago? Tofu - (or bean curd) is made by cooking and mashing soybeans, then straining them to leave a milk, which is then curdled and drained. It is a rich source of protein, calcium, vitamins and minerals, is very easily digested and has no cholesterol or saturated fat. Which means it is a truly health supporting food. It is also fabulously versatile. Tofu has such a bland flavour it lends itself beautifully to savoury and sweet dishes and can readily replace meat in many recipes.
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QUICK TIP
Keep left over portions of rice, mashed pumpkin and potato, tomato sauces, corn kernels and freeze for later use. These are great for extending and bulking soup or casseroles to make them stretch for another meal.
Children's Food Educator
Jacqi Deighan, founder of Natural Kitchen Strategies, has many years experience in working with young children and in the hospitality industry, particularly as a chef in the corporate sector.
She successfully ran her own catering business and has a Diploma of Applied Science in Hospitality Studies and an Associate Diploma in Child Care. Jacqi, a mother of three, and a passionate believer in the importance of natural foods, has spent many years researching children's health and experimenting with healthy cuisine, recipe conversion and ways to tempt children's jaded palates.
Jacqi Deighan, a member of Speaker Direct and Booked-Out Speakers, educates parents in the importance of providing a sustaining and nourishing lunch to children, what to avoid and why, and gives lots of simple lunchbox ideas that can nourish and sustain their child throughout the day.
Jacqi gives motivational presentations to a variety of groups such as mother & baby groups, school parent associations, community centres, clubs, Maternal & Child Health Centres, etc. She also gives personal consultations and empowering group talks in private homes.
Jacqi Deighan is a founding parent and member of the steering group of the Parent's Jury, a web-based network of parents who wish to improve the food and physical activity environments for children in Australia.
She has appeared on television, been interviewed on the radio and has been quoted many times in the press with her innovative ideas for children's health.
NKS ~ newsletters ~ WINTER
foods and how to prepare and cook with them can be a bit of a culture shock for many people. Several generations now have been brought up with refined and highly processed, manufactured foods as a normal part of life. Convenience foods have been in abundant supply for a long time now and their presence in our diet is largely unquestioned. It is little wonder then that the purchase and preparation of natural foods does not come easily to most of us.
varied world of natural foods, helping you discover the origins, uses, and wonderful flavours inherent in them. The added bonus to all this is, of course, the enormous health benefits to be gained from cooking and eating with these natural foods. 
Experiment with fresh, local chestnuts, so rich and robust in flavour yet low in fat. Try them with pasta or in soups and stews for a different flavour. 
Winter's crisp, juicy apples, tangy mandarins and delicious oranges contain all the sweetness we crave, without the fat but all the nutrients and fibre of natural, raw food. Enjoy the unique sourness of grapefruit and try the more unusual fruits of custard apples and persimmon.
Getting real pleasure and enjoyment from new season's produce is a great way to be in tune with nature and the real life cycles of our food.
WINTER is the perfect time
1 onion, finely chopped
300g organic tofu
Keep left over portions of rice, mashed pumpkin and potato, tomato sauces, corn kernels and freeze for later use. These are great for extending and bulking soup or casseroles to make them stretch for another meal.
