If It Came From A Plant Eat It - If It Was Made In A Plant, Don't.

                                                                The Naked Chef!

I love the above photo! Of course you will know from a recent post that this is Todd, playing with his toy kitchen. It reinforces what I was saying about children being drawn to all things cookery, in Todd's case before he even gets dressed!

I've written recently regarding our penchant for chicken and meat regardless of where the meat has come from, or how the animal has suffered, not because I am suggesting we all become vegetarians, but certainly that we all become a bit more morally conscious.

Interestingly, I have just read a good article regarding vegetarians and vegans and it's quite worrying that many of them eat a highly processed diet. Most meat replacers are highly processed and made from food like substances. It is common knowledge now that butter is healthier than highly synthetic margarines which are laced with cheap, low-grade oils refined on an industrial scale, vegetarians and vegans are consuming a diet which will include chemically enhanced fats and oils and many other processed ingredients.

The truth is 'Real food doesn't need a list of ingredients, because real food IS the ingredient!'

Take gluten free products, unless they are made out of 'naturally' gluten free ingredients, again, they are often full of chemicals and are highly processed.

Whether we are vegetarians or carnivores we need to think not in terms of packets and tins, but about vegetables, fruit and whole grains.

Vegetables (even frozen veggies - frozen at the peak of their freshness) are always a good meat free alternative. Forget your soya chunks or fake meat free bacon (highly processed rubbish) and cook some good old fashioned vegetables. In a recent post I suggested baked potatoes with various fillings, sweet potatoes are also a very versatile vegetable, easy to cook they are lovely added to soups, made into wedges or roasted.

                                A selection of roasted sweet potatoes,  parsnips and potatoes

Sweet potatoes

Quite simply, rub sweet potatoes with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt

Bake in a hot oven for 30 minutes

Remove from oven, allow to cool and easily peel skins off

You can now use your potatoes in various ways: cut into chunks and roast, or blend with vegetable stock for a delicious soup

In the words of Michael Pollan: 'Don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't recognise-and don't eat anything incapable of rotting.'

Love Donna xxxxxxxxx