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Product review: Naked Paleo bars
I saw this cacao almond paleo bar in Thr1ve the other day. The label listed dates, almonds, walnuts, shredded coconut, cacao and coconut oil. Pretty clean, so I gave it a go. I ate the bar straight after training. It tasted good (unlike other paleo bars that will remain unnamed) but was very crumbly. It was also too sweet for my taste; I had to sip water in between bites. I wouldn’t eat it on a regular basis but probably as a once-in-a-while dessert. Naked Paleo barsnakedpaleo.com.auOn Facebook
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Product review: Spiral Foods organic coconut paste
In a recent visit to Bondi Junction I realised this is the suburb I should be living in. Aside from awesome places to eat (a review coming soon), there are a few great health food shops. One of my purchases that day was a box of Spiral Foods organic coconut paste sachets. The package reads “coconut paste can be used in soups, casseroles, curries, sauces, stir-frys, ice-cream and desserts to add a creamy texture and a great coconut flavour”. I have used it to make dairy-free “ice cream” (try this amazing recipe) but I view it more as a portable snack. It’s essentially the same product as the creamed coconut…
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Product review: Artisana nut butters
I had been wanting to try these nut butters for a while since I saw them in my local health shop but I couldn’t justify paying $3+ for a small sachet. I finally found the perfect excuse to give them a shot: I’ll be travelling soon and need to bring some portable nutrition. Artisana sachet products include nut butters (almond, cashew, pecan, macadamia and walnut – the butters contain nothing but nuts), coconut butter, coconut oil, and cacao bliss, a chocolate spread made with coconut butter, coconut oil, agave syrup, cacao and cacao butter. All of the ingredients are organic. For some reason I messed up when grabbing the sachets…
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Product review: O’Brien gluten-free beer
Speaking about cheating… an Oktoberfest-themed dinner earlier this year was the perfect excuse to try a gluten-free beer. I asked the person in charge of getting the booze to buy a German GF beer from Dan Murphy’s but they were out. He bought some O’Brien lagers and pale ales instead. I tried the ale and it was great. Not the best beer I’ve ever had but not bad at all. It’s made with sorghum and millet and, while it didn’t give me any reflux or noticeable inflammation it did seem to make my digestion a bit slower. Not an ideal drink, but good for those once or twice a year…
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Product review: Lard & rendered beef suet from Feather and Bone
Feather and Bone is now selling pasture-fed pork leaf lard and rendered beef suet. Both are $12 per 300 gm jar, not cheap but worth every cent, in my opinion. Of course it’s cheaper to DIY at home but it’s way more convenient to buy it from the experts. Contrary to conventional wisdom, animal fats are not bad for you. I won’t go into the details here but you can have a read here, here, here, etc. What I will say, though, is that 1) saturated fat is much more stable than unsaturated fat (unstable fats lead to free radicals, i.e. DNA damage), 2) no natural food comes with just…
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Product review: Mae Ploy curry pastes
I used to be one of those people who prepare everything from scratch. I like being able to control what goes in my food, both in terms of quality and quantity. However, as I have less time to cook now, I’m always in the lookout for shortcuts to make life easier. As much as I like making curry pastes it’s a time-consuming process. Fortunately, my friend Sebastian (the one who loves Thai food) offered me a couple of Mae Ploy curry pastes. He knows I’m picky with ingredients, so he let me check them beforehand and I was surprised to find they are pretty clean, with zero MSG, preservatives, or…
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Product review: Kimchi
Kimchi rocks. I love the stuff but so far I’ve been too lazy to attempt making at home and I didn’t know where to buy it. One day after attending a tech event I decided to stop at Maruyu on my way to Town Hall. While browsing the refrigerated section I found Park’s kimchi. The ingredients list looked pretty clean (it does have sugar but at least is listed after salt). Good stuff. So far my favourite way of eating it is with sardines and avocado, wrapped in nori. Not long after that I stopped at Miracle Supermarket on King Street to buy some shrimp paste. I was pleased to…
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Product review: Coco-Bliss coconut kefir
The other day we went to our local health food shop and there was a kombucha and kefir tasting. Coconut kefir, to be precise. I’ve made it a few times at home with coconut milk and dehydrated kefir culture, but was curious to know how this one would taste. It was great and the ingredients list was clean, so I bought a tub to bring home. interestingly, the tub of Coco-Bliss I bought was labelled as dessert kefir (I’m guessing because it contains sweetener). This kefir is lactose-, gluten-, egg- and sugar-free. It contains coconut milk, kefir culture, arrowroot (as culture feed), organic green tea (as culture feed) and birch…
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Product review: Global Organics tomato passata
I know I’ve ranted before about canned/jarred vegetables, specifically tomatoes. I used to hate them, but know I use them quite often. I think what happened is that I came across the wrong brands/products in the past, often the ones that come with added ingredients that basically ruin the product. I also had more time to cook. Since then, I’ve found a few good products that not only save time but also money. One day browsing through the health food/organic section of my local supermarket, I found a large glass bottle of organic passata (tomato purée) that had nothing else than organic Italian tomatoes. The brand is Global Organics and…
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Product review: Niulife coconut products
I’ve been using Niulife coconut products for a few years now, so I thought it was time to give them a review. Coconut flour: for baking and cooking. I don’t bake that often but it’s handy to have for those special occasion treats. Shredded coconut: usually for eating straight out of the bag (very handy when travelling), mixed with macadamias and cinnamon, or for making grain-free granola, smoothies, desserts, coconut butter, meatballs, coconut cauliflower rice, etc. Coconut flakes: same deal as the shredded coconut: straight out of the bag, with macadamias and cinnamon, for caramelised coconut chips, etc. Creamed coconut: This thing is unbelievable. I bought it because I wanted…
