Category Archives: Organic

Why fairtrade baked beans will change children’s education

In the village of Tie Bei, everyone hopes that the sale of fairtrade beans in the UK will be a success. The education of their children depends on it.

This is one of the poorest areas of Inner Mongolia where the schools are old, shabby and ill equipped. But there are big plans to invest fairtrade profits in books, classroom equipment and refurbishment or even new buildings.

Fairtrade baked beans

Fairtrade baked beans

Biofair’s tins of organic and fairtrade baked beans, borlotti beans, white and red kidney beans have been appearing on GoodnessDirect shelves.

Buying these fairtrade products will enable farmers to reinvest in their community and in the future of their children.

To find out what else Biofair do, including their fairtrade honey and quinoa, take a look at Biofair’s website or visit the Biofair shelf at GoodnessDirect.

Did you know elderberry juice was so powerful?

Who knew that elderberry juice had so many benefits?

Not only does it contain vitamins A, C and B, it also feeds you a healthy dose of antioxidants.

This seems to have a good effect on the immune system as Elderberry Juice is renowned for its ability to treat illnesses like the flu, common colds, sore throats and other infections.

Its ability to reduce mucus also seems to help with asthma, coughs and bronchitis.

pure elderberry juice

Finally, a pure organic elderberry juice

What is more elderberry juice is also documented as helpful for treating serious diseases like AIDS and diabetes. It helps lower cholesterol levels and maintains a healthy digestive system. It has anti-viral, anti-histamine properties and is thought to deal with many other ailments from yeast infections to skin problems.

Sceptical?
I’m wary of listing illnesses as if one herbal remedy could be a cure-all, but the information available about elderberry juice is pretty impressive.

If you are interested Biona have produced a pure organic elderberry juice. While you can find elderberry syrup, this currently seems to be the only completely pure elderberry juice widely available on the UK market.

Stay clean inside and outside your body with organic ingredients

A latest report on pesticides might give us more reason than ever to go organic.

Fruit & Veg Wash

Fruit & Veg Wash kills 99.9% of bacteria

The scientific investigation found that pesticides used on farm crops can remain in the flesh of fruit and vegetables even though they are washed.

But what about the bacteria and bugs that the pesticides are supposed to kill off? Well, that is where the washing does come in.

Bentley Organic have developed a new Salad, Fruit & Veg Wash which is proven to kill 99.9% of harmful bacteria. It’s approved by the Soil Association too. The Wash stops Listeria, Salmonella and E-coli but has no impact on water because it is made from naturally derived ingredients, so the fish are safe.

As a family firm, Bentley Organic started off making soap, but now produce a far bigger range including body care, hair care and a unique range of environmentally friendly household cleaning products.

Their latest household innovations include:
Organic Window  & Glass Cleaner
Organic Washing Up Liquid
Organic Toilet Cleaner

However, Bentley Organic have won many awards for making natural products that are good for your skin. These now include a new selection of balms for baby and mum. Like their household cleaners, Bentley’s bodycare and babycare range are nearly entirely vegan.

Vapour rub

Mild and gentle for delicate skin

Organic Baby Nappy Balm
Organic Baby Vapour Balm
Organic Strawberry or Mint Lip Balm
Organic Mother & Baby Hand Sanitizer

Also, try Bentley’s new Organic Handwash and Bodywash blended with Cinnamon, Sweet Orange and Clove Buds

Chocolate genius creates a new breed of chocolate

If you haven’t heard about Zotter chocolate yet you will soon.

The zany Austrian chocolatier is taking the chocolate world by storm with his imaginative flavours. Thankfully they are organic, fairtrade and gluten free; and some of them are vegan, though some of them are definitely not!

Josef Zotter designs unusual chocolate bars with mind altering flavour combinations such as balsamic caramel or lime and honey, or pumpkin caramel or sheep’s milk with honey nuts. Chocolate devotees are calling him a genius, and the wrapper designs are as funky as the confectionery within.

© Zotter Schokoladen Manufaktur GmbH

A new breed of chocolate is born
© Zotter Schokoladen Manufaktur GmbH

His chocolates have certainly developed a cult-like following, with 30 new chocolate new ideas each year. In fact his bestselling hand scooped chocolate formula is offering a totally new experience of chocolate. The chocolate is made up of specific layers with varied types of chocolate and fillings so that each layer can melt in your mouth at different stages.

Zotter is also unique in that he personally looks after the creation of his chocolate from “bean to bar”. He knows that different cocoa beans bring different flavours and uses this to his advantage, and it also helps him maintain his emphasis on fairtrade and environmental responsibility.

To make a start and become a Zotter-phile yourself, select from one of these amazing hand scooped flavours.

Birds Eye Chilli Chocolate
Black Cherry & Vanilla Chocolate
Butter Caramel Chocolate
Candied Ginger Chocolate
Cheese, Walnut & Grapes Chocolate
Cherry Brandy Marzipan Chocolate
Fruit Fiesta Chocolate
Scotch Whisky Chocolate
Bacon Bits Chocolate

Zotter has produced over 200 chocolate flavours in total. The few listed below are from his Mitzi Blue range, a wheel within a wheel made of two discs of chocolate.

Dark Secrets Mitzi Blue Chocolate – A mix of Latin American cocoa where the dark chocolate outer surrounds a groovy 80% cocoa coin.
Hot Stuff Mitzi Blue Chocolate – A dark chocolate disc with chilli and a spicy peppered strawberry Mini Mitzi in the middle.
Indian Chai Mitzi Blue Chocolate – Genuine Indian dark chocolate from Kerala. At the centre the caramel chocolate gets together with ginger and chilli.
Jazz & Blues Mitzi Blue Chocolate – Dark chocolate caramelised with chilli cocoa nibs gets darker with a 90% cocoa Mini Mitzi.
Marrakesh Mitzi Blue Chocolate – A wheel of milk chocolate, spiced with cardamom and a colourfully decorated almond nougat, with orange blossom oil and roses at its heart.

Pesticides cling to fruit and veg even if washed

We are filling our bodies with a preservative cocktail

Recent tests commissioned by the Governments’ Food Watchdog show that even if we wash our  fruit & vegetables it does not  remove all of the chemical pesticide residues.

Experts at the Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute in Northern Ireland tried this out and  found residues of diphenylamine & carbendazim were not decreased by washing. Researchers looked at apples treated with insecticide chlorpyrifos, fungicides captan & carbendazim & anti-oxidant diphenylamine. Cardendazim is banned in US as it has been linked to cancer, birth defects & disruption of cell development. It was banned from many food crops in UK in 2006. In the study potatoes were treated with parasite suppressant oxamyl, sprout suppressant maleic hydrazide, post-harvest fungicide imazlil & post-harvest sprout suppressant chlorpropham. The study found washing decreased imzalil & chlorpropham, but malic hydrazide did not wash off. When the potatoes were cooked in their skins, the experts found “some evidence of transfer of pesticide residue from peel to flesh.”

Campaigner Nick Mole of Pesticide Action Network UK, said “Repeated exposure to low doses & mixtures can have a deleterious effect on health, especially amongst the more vulnerable groups such as children.”

Organic Farming

Please note that organic farming does not use chemical fertilisers, pesticides or growth enhancers. Also, for further rigour in washing your fruit and vegetables a special formulation Veggie Wash has been developed to maximise effectiveness and help you be as thorough as possible at cleaning your food.

Booja Booja – for Easter Eggs with a difference

If you’re looking for an Easter egg with a difference you’ll be impressed by Booja Booja.

Made by a small Norfolk company, the eggs are exquisitely painted wooden shells. But it’s what’s inside that really causes a stir…

Cushioned in velvet within you’ll find handmade chocolate truffles, prepared without dairy or gluten, and tasting like a dream, whatever your palate.

Booja Booja offer a choice of small and large eggs and the truffles come in six wondrous flavours.

An Easter Egg to treasure

■ Around Midnight Espresso
■ Banoffee Toffee
■ Hazelnut Crunch
■ Champagne Truffle
■ Rum Sozzled Sultana
■ Stem Ginger Truffle
(See the whole Booja Booja range at GoodnessDirect)

If you’re thinking ethically about Easter (which you should be*) then it’s good to know that Booja Booja import their cocoa from a family run firm in Ecuador, all the ingredients are organic and suitable for vegans. The eggshells themselves are also sustainably made by a community of artists from the troubled Kashmir region – and you can reuse the shell as a keepsafe for your trinkets and your memories.

* There is a great deal of concern over the use of child labour in much of the cocoa imported from West Africa. To learn more visit 10 campaign  and consider buying ethically sourced chocolate such as Fairtrade.

Love the fresh taste of Mediterranean fruit in these organic preserves

It’s not surprising that this is Italy’s favourite pure fruit spread.

Fiordifrutta is a delicious taste of fresh organic Mediterranean fruit with no added sugar.

Each jar is filled with one-and-a-half kilos of sun ripened fruit, which is cooked at a low temperature to preserve the fruit’s nutrients and taste. Plus no extra sugar means lower calories and a lower GI rating.

And now an Italian chocolate spread too
What is more, the company behind the brand, Rigoni di Asiago, have produced an organic chocolate hazelnut spread called Nocciolata. It’s creamier and more flowing than your average chocolate spread with a richer hazelnut flavour. Warm it up and drizzle it over your evening dessert.

For Fiordifrutta flavours to try see below:

Enjoy the sweet taste of Mediterranean fruit

Enjoy the sweet taste of Mediterranean fruit

■ Organic Mediterranean Pink Grapefruit Fruit Spread
■ Organic Sicilian Citrus Fruits & Bergamot Fruit Spread
■ Organic Sicilian Lemon Fruit Spread
■ Organic Adriatic Peaches Fruit Spread
■ Organic Wild Highland Blueberries Fruit Spread
■ Organic Wild Summer Berries Fruit Spread
■ Organic Wild Summer Raspberries Fruit Spread
■ Organic Sunkissed & Wild Strawberries Fruit Spread
■ Organic Mediterranean Figs Fruit Spread
■ Organic Italian Riviera Apricots Fruit Spread

Japanese food, simple, healthy and creative

Japanese food is growing in popularity. It’s beauty is in its simplicity.

Many recognise the cuisine as healthy too. Not much salt or oil is used and vegetables make up a large part of the Japanese diet.

But cooking Japanese isn’t difficult. Many ingredients are well known: rice, noodles, tofu, soy sauce, sake, wasabi, miso.

Sanchi make high quality traditional Japanese foods, including many of  the foods you’ve heard of and some you won’t. There’s no artificial colouring, flavouring, additives, sweeteners or refined sugar. Simply the best in Japanese Cuisine.

Japanese food is so beautiful in its simplicity

Japanese food is so beautiful in its simplicity

The BBC offers a good introduction to making your own Japanese food with over 60 recipes, and when you’ve got that mastered, you can move onto the Japanese  Food Report.

So all you need are some good Sanchi ingredients, a bit of zen, add a pair of chopsticks and you’re on your way!

Kuzu – king of thickening agents

You may never have heard of Kuzu (or Kudzu) but it is reputedly one of the best food thickeners around.

If you care about the quality of your food then it will interest you to know that kuzu powder is believed to be of far greater quality cooking starch than cornstarch or other thickeners. In fact kuzu can be used as a food in itself and was carried around by samurai warriors for that very purpose.

Kuzu has an ability to enhance tha natural flavours of the food it is cooked with. It’s sweeter flavour lends itself to mousse and jellies. When used in frying it helps food become crispy. It adds a lasting luster and shape to dishes without being affected by slight temperature changes.

Muso pride themselves on their organic kuzu. It’s vegan and, as root vegetable, doesn’t contain any gluten.

For more information on kuzu and its legendary medicinal properties, read the Muso website.

Amazing ways to make pancakes – coconut pancake recipe included

Is it me or are there more special days around this time of year: Valentines, Burns Night, Mother’s Day, St Patrick’s?

But Pancake Day is surely the most loved of all!

Pancakes are so popular they are made in thousands of different ways around the world, whether they are French crepes, Russian blinis, Mexican tortillas or Indian dosas, so don’t be afraid of trying something a little different.

Just add fizzy water…
If you’re avoiding dairy, or eggs, the day can still be fun.

Did you know that it’s possible to make pancakes with just self-raising flour and carbonated water? You just sift 300g/11oz of flour and whisk in 600ml/1pt of water, and that’s it! Of course, there are lots of little flavourings you can add like vanilla or cinnamon, and it’s easy to use buckwheat flour as a substitute well.

Pancakes - You may start drooling now...

You may start drooling now...

Cooking pancakes with fruit.
Or perhaps if you are avoiding eggs you may want to use pulped mango or banana instead which make brilliant binders for flour and milk (or soya milk). There again, you could always use an egg replacer. Significantly for coeliacs, when it comes to avoiding gluten, the whole process is now a lot easier because there are so many speciality flours out there.

However, if you want a tried and tested method then there are always pancake mixes from Orgran and Barkat. The Orgran versions are vegan too.

Try this recipe
Finally, you could try using coconut flour in your pancakes – an entirely gluten free recipe of course; but be careful, the coconut flour soaks up a lot of liquid, you may need to water it down…

Makes 4 pancakes.
2 tablespoons organic coconut flour, sieved
2 tablespoons organic butter, melted down
2 organic eggs
1 teaspoon organic sugar
⅛ teaspoon salt
75ml whole organic milk

Blend the eggs, oil, sugar and salt. Then mix in the coconut flour thoroughly. Continue to stir the mix as you add the milk.

When frying the pancakes use a small frying pan. Make sure you spread the batter thinly across the whole pan.

Enjoy.