Pure and Natural Soap

Feeling itchy? It could be your soap
This guest BLOG is from Jan from Pure and Natural AromaBeauty. We LOVE her soaps, I am a fan of the sunshine exfoliating bar, but if you are adventurous the 'choc mint slice' does look ridiculously good! Jan is offering a special offer for CleanLife readers;

BUY 6 BARS of SOAP and GET ONE FREE (while stocks last) To redeem this offer email jan@aromabeauty.com.au after you order and mention CLEANLIFE and your free soap will be added. www.aromabeauty.com.au


Pure and Natural AromaBeauty is a small family owned and operated business located in beautiful Mackay, Queensland. We are committed to providing you with all natural soap made with all natural ingredients. Why? Because we believe that natural is better, and we want to offer you the choice of using totally natural products over chemical filled ones.

You won’t find any harmful chemicals, synthetic fragrances or artificial colours in our natural soap bars, only pure natural ingredients.
Our pure and natural soaps are handmade from scratch, using the time-consuming cold process method, in small batches to ensure the highest quality. They are made with the finest virgin olive, coconut and palm oils for a rich and creamy lather. Extra nutrients such as certified organic Shea and Cocoa Butters, Apricot Kernel, Avocado and Sweet Almond oils and skin loving botanicals are added to make them mild and luxurious. They are then infused with pure, plant-derived, aromatherapy essential oils for their natural and beneficial properties.
There are no artificial fragrances or colours in our soap; they are a major cause of skin sensitivities and irritation for many people. Why spoil a natural product with artificial ingredients?

After using our handmade natural soap you will feel the difference in your skin, and will never want to go back to store bought chemical loaded bars again!

SPECIAL OFFER FOR CLEANLIFE READERS
BUY 6 BARS of SOAP and GET ONE FREE (while stocks last) To redeem this offer email jan@aromabeauty.com.au and mention 'CLEANLIFE' and your free soap will be added to you order. www.aromabeauty.com.au

Where does your food come from?

Sourcing Real Food
When we sit down to enjoy a delicious meal with family or friends, it is made even more special if we know exactly where that food has come from, and all the better if we have met the producers. If you can't travel the countryside yourself to meet and greet the local producers, then it is great to find a company who has done all the hard work for you. That is why we LOVE the source real food store.

The source real food store offer real food sourced regionally, organically, seasonally and also offer a range of sustainable international foods. They buy direct from producers whenever possible. The Source team are heavily involved in the SLOW FOOD movement, and you can read more about this on their website. www.thesourcerealfoodstore.com.au There shop is located in Denmark (yes the CleanLife Teams favourite holiday spot)in Western Australian's great southern region. Don't worry if you can't make it to Denmark, you can also order online.

For the next three months we will be offering some recipes from the Source team, for CleanLife readers to try. Let us know how your cooking goes!


Yoghurt Cake With Pistachio Nuts and Summer berries

300ml Billawarra natural yoghurt
3 free range eggs
½ cup organic castor sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1 organic lemon rind and juice
1 tbspn organic plain flour
Organic Williams River Biodynamic Pistachio nuts roughly chopped
Ravenhill Cream and berries to serve

Oven preheated to 180C Line a square 25cm ovenproof dish with greased waxed paper and grease well
Beat egg yolks with 2/3 of sugar until pale and fluffy
Beat in vanilla and stir in yoghurt lemon rind and juice and the flour
In separate bowl whisk in egg whites antil stiff and whisk in rest of sugar, then fold into the yoghurt mixture
and turn into the prepared dish.
Place dish into a roasting pan with water half way up the sides, bake for 20mins until set , sprinkle with the
nuts and put back in oven another 20 mins until browned on top.
Serve warm or chilled with berries and cream
(From Food and cooking of AFRICA and the Middle East)



BEAN & VEGETABLE MISO SOUP

Ingredients
1 cup of white beans (dried) / (kidney beans, fava beans, pinto beans, chick peas)
400ml Water (vegetable or meat broth)
1 bay leaf
3 tbsp Spiral Olive Oil
8 cups any assorted fresh vegetables on hand:
chopped onions
sliced carrots
sliced zucchini
diced eggplant
diced string beans
diced tomatoes
peas, etc.
1 cup macaroni
Salt and pepper to taste.
Chopped parsley

Method:
Soak beans in 400ml water overnight. Do not throw out the soaking water. Add another 800ml water or
broth, bay leaf, and simmer slowly until beans are almost tender (about 3 hours).
Sauté freshly chopped vegetables in oil and add to soup.
Add macaroni, salt and pepper, and simmer about half an hour until everything is tender. Add parsley and
serve. Or let soup stand for a few hours before serving; its taste will be even fuller.

For many more recipe ideas or to purchase beautiful food products visit the website
www.thesourcerealfoodstore.com.au

Why we are loving our local library

Been to your local library lately?

We all love a good book don't we? It's easy to be drawn to the glossy new titles sitting beautifully on the bookshelves of the bookshop, but if I were to tell you that you could read almost any book you want, in your own time, for FREE, and reduce your impact on the planet, WOULD YOU TAKE UP THE OFFER?

If you would, it's time to reacquaint yourself with your local library. Times have changes and what once were quiet, dusty halls of old books, inhabited mostly by scary librarians and old academic types are now bright modern places, crawling with babies, children, young and old adults and oozing with the latest books, DVDs and much more.

TIME FOR FUN....
Lilian and I LOVE to attend 'Rhyme Time' which is a free session for Parents and babies up to 2 years offered at almost all local libraries every week. For slightly older kiddies there is 'Story Time' which involves not only stories read by a lovely librarian, but activities that are matched to the story theme.

TIME TO RESERVE YOUR BOOKS.....
The offering of books at most local libraries is now extensive and the great news is that if they don't have a book that you are after, they will find out which library does have it, and borrow it for you! You can also reserve items from your own computer at home, and renew your items without getting out of your PJs!

So go on give the Library another try... you might be pleasantly surprised. We were!

The Broccoli Wars

Who stole my broccoli?

The inevitable truth in modern city living is that when we go to bed a night, we must lock up the house, to keep out the 'baddies' or at least make it so hard for them to get in so that they just don't bother. This 'lock up' mentality was however not at the forefront of my mind when we decided to grown our own vegetables in a front garden bed.

THE CRIME
Perhaps it should have been as we have been horrified to discover that all bar one of our broccoli have been STOLEN. I like to think the best of human nature and when we first discovered the hideous hacking of our beloved broccoli, we conjured up all nature of excuses for our fellow man? "perhaps there are rats that can use garden scissors?", "Perhaps the school kids stole them in the hope that mum wouldn't serve broccoli again this week?".

THE CULPRIT
The harsh reality is that after much investigation, the only culprit could be an adult human and the move was calculating and selfish. The way our garden is set up, you really need to get in and have a good close look to know that the broccoli is there, it is sandwiched between turnips, beetroot, radishes, cabbage, carrots and peas. Only one of the broccoli plants is visible to those walking along the street. This was the one and only plant they left unharmed; knowing perhaps that it is the one we were using to test the readiness of the crop.

THE COST
It must be said that we have no problem in giving excess produce to family, friend and neighbours, we do so regularly. What really bites about this crime is that the plants were hacked at their bases, so even the heads that were very small and not even close to being ready where taken. The cost financially was probably over $100 worth of broccoli (we use certified organic seeds and soil from www.yourpatch.com.au). We also pay your patch to help with our maintenance, a cost that is offset by not having to purchase vegetables. The biggest cost for us however is that our daughter Lilian, LOVES broccoli, and we grow these primarily for her, so that we know exactly what she is eating and where it comes from. Now that joy has been taken from us. So when people steal almost your entire harvest, there is a time cost, a financial cost but also an emotional cost. No I am not emotional over lost broccoli, but rather that people can stoop so very low!

JUST ASK
If the person / people in question here, had so much as asked, not only would I have given them broccoli but possibly some other vegetables too.

THE SOLUTION
I am not sure how to deal with people who steal from a one year olds vegetable patch. I am fairly sure I know who is responsible, but I am not wasting any of my time engaging with such destructive individuals.

THE HOPE
The thing I love most about man is that we have infinite capacity for change, and so we live in hope, that this won't happen again.

Signing off, one very sad vegetable gardener

Gina