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Casey's blog

The Beauty of Bitters

10/10/2024

 
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Do you eat your bitters? Bitter foods offer a multitude of health benefits, such as improving digestion, enhancing liver detoxification, and clearing up your skin when hormonal issues lie at the root of issues like acne. But did you know bitters can also improve your mood, clearing feelings of depressed malaise and calming the fires of impatience and anger?

​In Chinese medicine and in Ayurveda, the hallmark of a balanced meal is the inclusion of all of the flavours. ​​By including all of the flavours in a meal, you’re probably going to feel very satisfied. And satisfaction is a crucial element of enjoyable, intuitive eating.

One of these flavours is bitter, a very important taste that many of us are missing on our plates.


Throughout Spring and Summer in 
my Southeast Queensland neighbourhood, edible weeds pop up everywhere including in my own my backyard.

​Under the kids’ trampoline out of the lawnmower’s reach, I find dandelion greens, sow thistle, sheep sorrel, and wild carrot, among other largely unknown yet freely available sources of nutrition (always correctly identify plants before eating them, come to one of my Herb Walks to help you with this!). At the farmer’s market I uncover a similar array: mustard greens, endive, chicory, kale, parsley, rocket.​
​

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The Paleo Diet: Pros + Cons

18/11/2019

 
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The Paleolithic diet. Road to wholefood-based wellness and weight loss? Or meat-centred craze based on shaky science? Perhaps there’s a middle way.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on the paleo approach to eating, and often it’s a strong one. From anthropologists to acclaimed authors, nutritionists to naturopaths, Crossfit trainers to colonic hydrotherapists, and pretty much any health-conscious individual in between – the paleo movement now seems less like a fad and more like a dietary era in itself.
​

What is it?

The paleo diet is a modern way of eating based on the presumed diet of Paleolithic humans.

Also known as the "caveman diet", "Stone Age diet", and "hunter-gatherer diet", it is a diet centred on fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, eggs, vegetables, fruit, fungi, roots, and nuts.

It has many different interpretations but generally excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, refined salt, refined sugar, and processed oils – basically any foods perceived to be agricultural products. Stricter variations of the diet exclude some or all fruits.

Generally it is a high fat, moderate protein and low to moderate carbohydrate wholefood-based way of eating with the intention of granting long term health, resilience, and well-being.

Like most “diets” or ways of eating, there are many different interpretations, and there is both good and bad to come out of it. Unlike many fads, there is scientific evidence supporting some of the Paleo diet claims. But how solid is the evidence, and what are the long term pros and cons of the Paleo diet? To answer these questions from a balanced perspective, we need to dive a little deeper.

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First month on our homestead

3/10/2019

 
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If you're a regular reader of my stuff, you already know that non-wanky health, food eaten for pleasure (not weight control), and social justice are kinda my thing.​

So it probably comes as no surprise that living a good hour from the nearest hot yoga studio or massive health food grocery chain doesn't worry me in the slightest.

Actually, it feels like I can breathe again.

Our recent move - from an endless sea of Colorbond steel on the rapidly developing northern Gold Coast, to a rural ecovillage in the hills south of inland Kenilworth - has been a long time coming.

​After spending my entire adult life in urban rentals, and the odd caravan or treehouse, I finally feel as though I can say:

I am home.



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labneh: hung yoghurt cheese

3/5/2017

 
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Fresh labneh marinading in olive oil, herbs and spices
Autumn is traditionally a time to make fermented foods, jams and preserves for winter. Around this time of year we begin to enjoy warming, comforting autumn meals like soups, stews, and any slow cooked foods with seasonal root vegetables. 

Labneh is a wonderful addition to any autumn meal, or just as a moreish snack with crackers and veggie sticks to keep you powering through a chilly afternoon. It's irresistably deliciously creamy, salty and tangy. It also makes a beautiful gift for friends and family, and as you make it you can infuse it with your loving energy!

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'Blood moon' - slaying the diet mentality

25/4/2017

 
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'The Way Of The Sword' by Ric Nagualero
Do you watch what you eat?

Do you spend all day thinking about and planning your meals?
​Are you "careful" with your food choices?
Do you have rules and judgement around food?
Do you try to make the "best" or "healthiest" decision every time you eat something?
Do you struggle with weight concern, emotional eating, binging, and/or food obsession?

If so, you might want to take a look at your personal diet mentality.

Diet mentality, or diet thinking, leads to dieting behaviours. And dieting behaviours build a cage around a person that places serious limits on their capacity to live and enjoy a rich, full, and meaningful life.
​
​If there was ever an opportune time for us as individuals to slay our own private diet mentalities and weight biases - and for us to collectively dismantle the very diet culture that it stands upon - NOW is the time.

The next new moon falls on Wednesday, April 26th. This mid-autumn moon cycle is known in many parts of the world as the Blood Moon or Hunter's Moon. And it is the perfect time for you to put this diet thing to bed, for good.

Read on for 7 hard-core (but realistic) ways to slay that MF beast that is the diet mentality!

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Liver pâté recipe

27/3/2017

 
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​When someone comes to me with low iron, one of the first foods I think of is liver. 

Yes, I know. Gross. But hear me out...
 
Liver is a true superfood – and you know how much I loathe using that word, so inundated is the health food marketing world with claims of it. So when I use it you know I really mean it.
 
And you know I really, REALLY mean it because for the decade that I was vegetarian, the very thought of eating cooked, blended organ meat would have made me hurl. Even once I started eating meat again a few years ago, the idea of liver still grossed me out.
 
That is, until I finally worked up the courage to buy some liver and cook the dreaded thing. I was heavily pregnant and iron deficient, despite having started to eat muscle meat – mostly fish - for a year or so already.
 
I remember frying the small amount of liver I had purchased, and making a batch of liver pâté. I carefully placed it into a jar. I was nervous and grossed out, but curious. Finally, I tentatively tasted it. The next thing I remember I was crouched over the kitchen sink with an empty jar in one hand, and a cleanly licked spoon in the other. I had devoured the whole jar of pâté in one sitting – or should I say, in one standing.


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Heatwave food - Tom Yum Soup Recipe

10/2/2017

 
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There’s one at every farmer’s market.
 
The quirky older man who lives in the bush and grows incredible finger limes.

The cute Thai / Filipino / Cambodian lady selling homegrown galangal, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, and home made chilli sambals that can blow your brains out.

The Caribbean dude who sells all the cool spices that no one else has heard the name of, let alone tried.
 
You should visit that person’s stall.  And buy galangal, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, and fresh chillies. As soon as humanly possible.
 
Why? You ask. Oh sweet reader, because then you can make Tom Yum soup, which is possibly the most delicious symphony of sweet, sour, salty, spicy, and something-I-can’t-describe-in-words, imaginable.

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Coconut Kefir - "superfood" you can make at home

8/12/2016

 
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Kefir is the new (and very ancient) kid on the trendy healthy food block.

Fermented foods have been an important part of the diet in many parts of the world for more than 5000 years. Fermented milks, like sourdough bread, pickled vegetables and properly brewed beer, are just one of those traditional foods now missing from the standard western diet, much to our detriment.

Most of the food we eat nowadays has been mass-produced in the most rapid and cost-effective way possible, meaning we miss out on a lot of good bacteria present in natural whole foods. Hello allergies, chronic fatigue and depleted immune systems!

You could benefit from re-introducing some of these wonderful foods back into your diet, so read on to find out more about the new kid on the block, KEFIR.

What is kefir?

Kefir is a cultured milk product, very similar in taste to yoghurt. However, you can also make many yummy vegan forms of kefir, as it can be successfully made from the milk of nuts, seeds or coconut, or cereal grains. Vegans can also make a non-dairy kefir using sugar water mixed with citrus and dried fruit.

Kefir can be used as a direct substitute for yoghurt in a variety of food products and dishes. It is easier to make than yoghurt.

What’s the difference between kefir and yoghurt?

Both traditional yoghurt and kefir are fermented (cultured) dairy products that offer a good source of calcium, B vitamins, potassium and protein. As a result of the fermentation process, both have a tart, slightly acidic flavour, and both contain enzymes that break down lactose, the principal sugar in milk. Therefore kefir and yoghurt are usually well-tolerated by lactose-intolerant people, of which about three quarters of the world’s population is!

Yoghurt is made by culturing fresh milk (previously boiled and cooled) with a bacteria starter. The starter, usually containing two or three beneficial bacteria, comes from a previously made batch of yoghurt.

Yoghurt must ferment in an environment warmer than normal room temperature, for a fairly specific amount of time (about 8 to 16 hours), in order to develop properly. The culture bacteria in yogurt have only a limited lifespan and must be renewed regularly with new culture.

In contrast, kefir is made by culturing fresh milk with live kefir grains. These grains are actually colonies of more than 30 bacteria and yeasts that are bound together in a stable, symbiotic relationship.

Kefir ferments at room temperature, and has a wider range of acceptable fermentation periods (from about 12 hours to two days). Kefir grains stay alive and robust indefinitely. They also grow in size and number during the fermentation process. After the milk is fermented, the grains are filtered out and added to new milk for another batch of kefir.

What’s so good about kefir?

Yoghurt introduces beneficial bacteria into the intestines. Unfortunately, this effect is transitory and requires eating yoghurt daily to maintain the benefit! In contrast, the beneficial microorganisms in kefir actually take up residence in the intestines, where they can continue to aid in digestion and repel harmful bacteria.

Kefir confers a wide range of health benefits, from shortening “intestinal transit time” (i.e. relieving constipation) to suppressing the growth of Salmonella, healing ulcers, and strengthening the immune system. It is also said to be more digestible than yoghurt because the curds are smaller, and more of the lactose is broken down by the broader bacterial complex present in kefir.

Why should I care about kefir?

Kefir is one example of lacto-fermentation. It is useful to understand this simple but powerful process through which milk, vegetables and other foods can change flavour and texture, become more digestible, and gain a longer shelf life.

As mentioned earlier, kefir is more digestible than other dairy products, including yoghurt. Moreover, home-made kefir is both better and cheaper than either commercial yoghurt or kefir, and so can be an economical alternative in a budget-conscious kitchen.

Kefir is extremely versatile. It can be made into a huge variety of products including cheese, butter, buttermilk, and crème fraiche. It can also be used in baked goods, and is especially good as a sourdough starter. The whey by-product from kefir fermentation can be used as a starter for other lacto-fermentations, such as sauerkraut, eliminating the need to add all or almost all of the salt usually required.

Kefir (and yoghurt) have several very useful properties, often applied in Indian cuisines, for example. First, kefir can be used to marinate meats, such as chicken. Just as with yoghurt, the mildly acidic nature of kefir helps break down and tenderise the meat tissue. It also contributes tart undertones to curries and other dishes, as well as acts as a thickener. Moreover, the casein protein in kefir (and yogurt) acts as a cooling counterbalance to hot peppers and other spicy ingredients.

Coconut Kefir RECIPE

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Enough talk... time for action!
Makes 1 L

2 cups of drinking coconut meat (About 3 or 4 young, green coconuts)
1 packet Kefir probiotic culture (available from health food stores)
2 cups coconut cream
A pinch of celtic sea salt

1. Scrape out the meat of your drinking coconuts, and place in a  blender or food processor.

2. Blend continuously for as long as it takes to get a smooth paste using a little of the coconut cream to get it going.

3. Scrape this into a 1 litre measuring jug. 1 packet of kefir makes 1 litre of finished product so fill the remaining volume up with coconut cream. If it's not 1 litre add coconut water or more coconut cream.

4. Next add the packet of kefir and mix it in very well with a plastic or wooden spoon and place the mixture in two 1 litre glass jars as the mixture will to expand  by about 1/3. Keep the jars tightly sealed with lids.

5. Keep the jars out of the fridge (perhaps in the pantry) to ferment, for about 8 hours. You can do this in the morning to have a nice afternoon snack or in the evening to have it ready for the morning. Keep your kefir at room temperature - around 20-25 degrees Celsius is optimum. The hotter the weather the quicker the beneficial cultures multiply so keep an eye on it if it's a hot day.

6. Once it's fermented (it should smell slightly acidic and bubble up) put it in the fridge to stop the fermenting process... or you'll be sorry!

If you want to make more you can use 1 cup of the same mixture and repeat the process 5 times in total from the original batch.The initial effort is worth it for the wonderful feeling this food leaves in your tummy and the digestive and immune-boosting benefits of this long-lost superfood! 

Kefir Ideas

If you like to play with food, add a little honey and cinnamon or vanilla beans before eating. Serve with sliced fresh figs and a drizzle of honey or agave (see photo above!) Make a passionfruit honey kefir for porridge or fruit salad. Add coriander, mint, lemon juice and honey for a tangy accompaniment for your dhal or make a tzatziki for chick pea rissoles. What else can you think of? The possibilites are endless!

Immune-boosting Shiitake & Veg Stir Fry

11/3/2016

 
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Corresponding to my piece on 11 tips for a healthy autumn, here's one of my favourite autumn recipes, using the principles of traditional Chinese medicine, and based on a recipe from my Chinese-malay mum! It's quick, easy, and most importantly, delicious. And it's vegan so everyone can enjoy this one!

Shiitake mushrooms (Lentinula edodes) were a favourite ingredient in my mum's Chinese cooking while I was growing up, and I still love them today. They're packed with flavour, have a great chewy texture and make an incredible meat alternative.

Their powerful immune-modulating and anti-tumour actions make them ideal as an adjunct therapy in cancer, for fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. Other medicinal mushrooms include maitake, reishi, and chaga. I often wonder how different our collective state of health would be if we routinely offered our kids traditional foods like these? I also chucked a little Korean ginseng (Panax ginseng) in for extra mum-staying power!
​

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Yin & Yang Foods

4/9/2014

 
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I have a question for you.

What do you think your body wants most?

Better food? Cleaner air? More sex? All of the above?

Balance, or homeostasis, is what your body wants most. Your body naturally wants to be balanced. Any tiny change to your environment that alters your blood's pH and oxygen saturation will elicit a cascade of events that ultimately attempts to bring you back into a state of perfect balance.

Did you know that the food you eat is a major contributing factor to the overall balance of the body? According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, the energetic effects of some foods on the body are mild, such as vegetables and whole grains.

Foods such as meat, milk, sugar and salt have more extreme effects on the body, and when consumed in excess, can throw it off balance. This struggle eventually leads to a craving for whatever the body needs to regain balance. Extreme foods can be divided into two categories: contractive and expansive. Traditional Chinese Medicine recognises these food qualities as Yin (expansive) and Yang (contractive).


Sometimes my clients seem to be eating all the right things - their macronutrient intake is spot on, and they are getting adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals - but their bodies are still showing serious signs of imbalance.

This is when I might look to traditional, more energetically-based approaches
like TCM for clues on how to get that person feeling better.


Contractive Foods

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The most common and powerful contractive food is salt, which many people consume regularly and in large quantities especially if they eat a lot of takeaway or cured meats.

Animal foods (including fish) are also extremely contractive foods. These yang foods can imbue us with feelings of strength, aggressiveness and increased physical and mental  power, partly due to the residues of adrenaline left behind in the muscles of these animals at their death, which we then consume.

When we eat too much of these foods, we create an imbalance and quickly feel bloated, heavy, sluggish and mentally slow, and we will crave expansive foods as a way of maintaining balance.

Ancient grains, root vegetables,
and sea vegetables are examples of more balanced contractive or yang foods. You can eat these in place of processed meats, large amounts of red meat, and white bread to bring your diet back into balance, and ensure you're getting plenty of vitamins and minerals.

E
ven if you don't look at your diet from an energetic point of view at all, these recommendations still make sense! I find it amazing how traditional wisdom and science frequently line up to tell us the same thing.


Expansive Foods       

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Less extreme, more balance-creating yin foods include fruits, leafy vegetables, seeds and nuts. The main extreme expansive food is refined white sugar. Expandsive foods provide a feeling of lightness, elevations in mood and relief from blockages and stagnation. However, extremely yin foods like refined white sugar also cause rapid elevations in serotonin, followed by rapid declines.

When serotonin levels fall, we may experience feelings of depression, low energy, anxiety and loss of concentration.

Eating a diet too rich in sugar (yin) may cause a craving for meat (yang) to bring things back into balance.
Being aware of the energetic properties of foods can help you to deconstruct your cravings and choose meals for optimum emotional and physical balance.

In my health consultations with clients, I assess not only the physical aspects of someone's diet and health, but the emotional and energetic aspects, too. These must all be balanced, just like the nutrient profile of a diet must be balanced and personalised for the individual.

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All content copyright Casey Conroy - Funky Forest Health & Wellbeing. For more information please click here to see my disclaimer.
Natural health for EVERY body. Copyright © 2024
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0432 618 279 | [email protected]