Whats your beef?

Welcome to Saturday, we are finally enjoying a weekend without any plans - our first in so long - and have enjoyed a delightful morning together as a family visiting our local farmers market.

I thought I would pop back to post here on our return to blog about a new revelation; who knows why it is that this has taken us so long to discover. Readers might recall our mention of beef in one of our positive change at the checkout posts. We mentioned our efforts to find Australian hormone free beef and at the time we were, and have been since, enjoying King Island beef from our local butcher.

Today we are thrilled to share our finding Otway Prime beef; a more local and thus more sustainable source of beef for our Geelong family and yours. This beef is grown hormone free, GM free, free range and farmed with sustainable farming practices - and a reasonable pricing from ~$16.50/kg. Local area delivery is free and the meat is cryovac packed prior to reaching your doorstep. It turns out this meat has been available through Deans Marsh and Birregurra general stores, McGains Angelsea and Lorne Greens; and of course at our regional markets in Torquay, Aireys, Bannockburn and Newtown where we found them.

If you were one of the few hiding under a rock like our family, without knowing of Otway Prime, we hope you can now taste and enjoy this quality local beef.

Happy weekend days...

positive change at the checkout 2

the bottom end

Let’s talk toilet paper. Might seem an odd topic, but this is serious. With the average person using 20-40'000 sheets a year, there is a great potential to make a difference here. We have used recycled toilet paper for many years now. It seems like a simple way to make small difference. We didn’t understand why people we knew weren’t making this most basic change. Why? Our family or friends responded that the paper was scratchy or not thick like other less eco-friendly brands. Perhaps this was a concession we made without really noticing.

The penny dropped recently when I noticed this product: Envirosoft [Woollies/Safeway $5.99/8 Pack]. As well as the [obvious?] factors of no chlorine bleaching, no added inks or fragrances, 100% recycled content, it was marketed with 3-ply as a feature. Weren’t all toilet papers 3 ply, I asked myself? Sure enough when I compared it to the other recycled options they were 2-ply, and this was a more quilted paper that met its claim of a ‘luxury’ feel. Moreover this stuff is Aus owned and Aus made. We put it to the test and were impressed. All of this and the price is competitive. Even our sceptical family members are now making the switch to recycled loo paper and if you aren’t – it might be worth taking a look at this options and thinking twice.

envirosoft: more cush for your tush

postive change at the checkout (a series)

super | keen /kwɨˈnoʊ.ə/

As promised in my last post I wanted to start sharing with you some items that have hit our local supermarket shelves. Our family endeavours to support local and small business where possible, yet we are also happy to see organic and more environmentally friendly, natural, hormone or chemical free options being made available to the public broad-spectrum.

Macro Red/Royale/Black Quinoa

The quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) cooks like brown rice and can be cooked in a rice cooker. Simply add 1 cup of water for every cup of grain (1:1 ratio). It comes in 3 different colours (red, black, cream) and has a very neutral flavour and an interesting, lightly crunchy texture – definitely not sticky or heavy like rice. This is a superfood, it is a complete protein and is also low GI [~53) and double the protein of rice. It is being considered by NASA as a new crop for the Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS).

royale quinoa: cooked sitting beside uncooked

royale quinoa: cooked close-up - the curly tails are a sign that they are ready

We are using it for soup, stew, stir-fry, cereal and salads. Link to a great Red Quinoa stirfry recipe here and a quick + easy Quinoa breakfast idea here. Please share your own inspirations for cooking and eating this awesome grain available now in your standard supermarket.

I’m trying to keep to topic but we’ll at least give a general shout-out to a few honourable mentions:

Woollies for stocking the Ecostore brand as well as its recent addition to the meat department of a free range roasted chook. Not organic but better than what was previously on offer as a pre-cooked chook!

Town & Quality Country Meats Waurn Ponds are stocking King Island Beef Roasts at around $13/kilo; they will also cube the meat and trim the fat for you, giving you both back afterward. Service is with a smile, and they also stock Otway Pork including Otway Pork bacon. With organic beef at the $36/kilo mark it is not accessible for some, the King Island beef is a most reasonably priced alternative that is free from the commonly used hormone growth promotants that are used in most other Australia beef; these are the hormones that are banned in Europe and prevent Australian beef from being exported there. King Island beef is also free from antibiotics and the cattle graze on natural pastures that are GM free.

Until next time..