Whole food

What do we mean by 'whole food'?

For us whole food is about unprocessed, unrefined real ingredients, no additives, preservatives or funny numbers. It means we buy ingredients not processed food. If your Granny wouldn't recognise something on the list of ingredients chances are it's best avoided! This week our shopping basket included fresh meat and chicken, tinned tuna slices in olive oil, dried (Australian) chickpeas, Potatoes, Carrots, Broccoli, Spinach, Beetroot, Lemons, Whole native peppercorns, Spelt flour, selection of Australian grown nuts, Oranges, Cheese, Milk, Eggs and Yoghourt. Pantry basics include Cornflour, Rice, Oats, tinned Australia Tomatoes, and a whole lot of herbs and spices.

Why whole food?

Less waste - both food and packaging. When we buy meat, poultry or seafood we try to buy whole cuts and make use of all the 'left overs'. This week we had Roast Lamb for Saturday lunch, with local spuds, carrots and broccoli. The leftovers made over a litre of amazing stock and Shepherd's Pie for six. Some of the stock went into the pie, the rest will be used over the coming weeks as a flavoursome base for soups, slow cooked casseroles and possibly even a risotto. It's not only less waster in our kitchen - but within the whole food supply chain. For example there is more packaging required for a chicken breasts on a tray than for a whole chicken. Thanks to Woolies for these images to prove a point.

Finally we believe that you can't beat homemade stock! Meal planning is an important part of buying and using whole food. Thinking about whole cuts of meat means we tend to plan our meals for the week ahead based on what cuts we buy. By buying only the food we need for the week we tend to have less food waste.

What's on the menu this week?

This week we stocked the fridge and the pantry with food from the Dandenong markets and the Heathmont farmers market. So far this week we've had two roast dinners (lamb and chicken). We've also made Shepherd's Pie, Chicken Salad and a whole lot of stock. Also on the menu bean chilli (with Australian chick peas and local organic mushrooms); another spanish omelette (local organic eggs, cheese and spuds); and later in the week we'll make curry and a risotto.

If you haven't worked out by now we love to cook! Favourite recipes to follow in another blog.