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In this issue... Special offers, Josine's chicken and garden blog, topped off, as usual, with a delicious seasonal recipe or two...
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New Product: Sproud pea based dairy free milk alternative
 I am really excited to introduce this new plant based product into our shop!
‘Sproud’ is a milk alternative made from (are you ready for this?) peas! Might be a good idea to get any ideas of green split pea soup out of your head now before you read on...
Sproud is made from yellow split peas and represents the next generation of plant-based milk alternatives. Peas are an amazing source of protein, contain a variety of amino acids and how they are grown have a very low impact.
It has a creamy and slightly sweet taste that works fantastically well in coffee, tea or simply on its own. Plus, the barista edition is specially formulated and promises the best vegan latte out there! Try both versions now and enjoy an introductory offer of 20% OFF!
The original retails at £1.99 but is now down to £1.59 and the barista version retails at £2.09 and is now on offer at £1.67!
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Special Offer: 20% OFF all Meridian tahinis
We also have a special offer this month from Meridian (market leaders in 100% nut butters). Throughout June you can save 20% on ALL Meridian tahinis!
 That’s right! Whether the tahini is light or dark, organic or non-organic, a small jar or large tub all varieties get 20% off the retail price!
The difference between light and dark tahini is simple: light tahini is made from hulled sesame seeds, which is then roasted and dark tahini is made from the whole sesame seeds and then roasted. This means that dark tahini is usually slightly stronger in flavour than the light. Both are suitable for making your own homemade hummus, for making sauces or for using as a dip.
Sesame seeds are high in magnesium, zinc, iron, copper and a string of b-vitamins, so tahini (made from sesame seeds) makes a very healthy addition to your diet!
See this month’s recipe ideas for a main meal using tahini and banana/coconut/tahini ice cream!
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Our News: Customer Order Service
Some of you already know that we offer an excellent customer order service, but for those of you who don’t, here is what we do:
Because of our size we physically cannot stock every single product available to us, just as an example, there are probably close to twice as many teas available to us as we have on the shelf! The majority of products are available as singles and we can also get large quantities of items, too, like cleaning products, flours, nuts, pulses and dried fruits, from 3 kg, 5 kg right up to 25 kg! You don’t need to get it online elsewhere, why not let us order it for you?
If there is a particular item we don’t hold in stock, just ask any one of us and we will be more than happy to order it in for you. We get deliveries for most products at least twice a week, so you don’t have to wait too long. And if you leave your phone number or email address with us we can contact you to let you know your order is ready to pick up.
For more expensive items we may ask for a deposit of £3, which is then deducted from the total amount when you come to collect your order.
So, why wait? If you are looking for a particular product just ask a member of staff and we’ll do our best to track it down and order it for you!
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Our News: Online and Click & Collect Service
 Did you know you can also buy all your health products via our online shop and get them delivered to your door (from £2.90 for orders up to 2kg)? Or use our new click & collect service and pick your order up in the store (at no extra charge).
Not only is shopping online with a real, proper, well established shop much safer and more personal, we also pay our taxes, too!
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Dates to put in your diary
- 12th June
Wake up to Organic, free organic tea until 1 pm for every customer
- End of June
Start of school summer holidays Stirling
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Did you know.....?
The blackthorn or sloe is native to Europe and home to the caterpillars of many moths. It has flowers in Spring and black berries, the sloes, in Autumn.
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Josine’s Garden, TV and Chicken Blog
There’s never a dull moment in our ‘glen’ - there’s always lots to tell! Plenty of battles being fought - over chicken food, chicken territories and gold finches.
So, let’s start at the beginning...
Well, as I’ve mentioned in previous newsletters, we have a resident male pheasant called Cedric who has been wandering around our place for several months. When he discovered the chicken food, our chickens (along with the neighbours’ one), quickly made their feelings known: his presence would not be tolerated and he was chased out of the chicken run. But, because we live far from the main road, our chickens can basically go anywhere they please, and when they are off wandering about, Cedric creeps in and eats the chicken food. Sneaky! But, as we all know, pheasants are not the smartest of animals, and he never knows how to get out of the chicken run again (unless he’s being chased by chickens!). Several times I had to tip-toe up to him and coax him out, but they really are stupid birds! Nice to look at, though!
 The other thing that has happened recently is that our neighbours now have new, normal sized, chickens and bantams, which are tiny and very cute. Unfortunately our chickens now think that our neighbours’ garden is part of their territory and don’t want the new chickens trespassing on it! I felt so sorry for the wee bantam when our Caramello started to bully it, especially since it was in her own garden! Our chickens respond really well to me, so I immediately called out to them and the wee bantam was spared.
And then there is the battle over the gold finches...
Mrs J, our neighbour, likes to feed ‘her’ gold finches. However, I like to feed the gold finches, too. So, Mrs J wasn’t too happy when all the gold finches decided to dine in our garden and didn’t bother returning to hers. But then again Mrs J has been hogging ‘our’ red squirrel, so fair’s fair!
Also, we have spotted another bird species not previously seen in our garden; the bull finch. It was sitting on the fence eyeballing the gold finches tucking into the bird food and at first I didn’t recognise it. My husband did though, confirming it was a bull finch. I’ve started writing down the different varieties of birds I’ve spotted in our garden and we now stand at 33 different species! I am really chuffed that we have attracted so many different species of birds to our garden, especially when you think that when we moved here 9 years ago there was nothing but grass! Since then, we’ve planted lots of shrubs, trees and a wildlife hedge, and it has certainly paid off!
 So, here are some tips to support wildlife in your garden:
If you have a small garden, planting some cornflowers and sunflowers will attract bees, bumblebees and butterflies and of course you can always put out some bird food, to attract, well you know... birds.
For a medium sized garden, why not plant some shrubs like berberis? They provide flowers, berries and shelter for all sorts of insects and birds. Or if you can, plant a wildlife hedge consisting of hawthorn, rosehips and sloes/blackthorn. A hedge gives shelter and slows down high winds too.
If you have a larger garden, why not try all of the above? Why not also plant trees like oak, ash or hazel? You might attract squirrels too! But make sure you plant large trees away from the house, because the roots will spread and you don’t want them creeping under the foundation of your house!
But the best thing you can do for whatever size of garden you have is to ditch the chemicals! We need to live hand in hand with nature not work against it.
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Seasonal Recipe 1
this recipe is dairy free, vegan, egg free, vegetarian, seasonal, gluten free
Lentil Burgers
Ingredients:
100 g dark speckled lentils
50 g Clearspring Soya mince
100 g Bute Island mature cheddar style sheese
1 tbsp light tahini
20 g flat parsley, chopped
50 g gluten free plain flour
4 tbsp coconut oil
250 g cooked beetroot, sliced
4 gluten free rolls
4 tbsp egg free mayonnaise
lettuce
Preparation:
Start with cooking the lentils in plenty of water for around 25 minutes and drain. Leave to cool.
To rehydrate the soya mince; add boiling water to the dried soya mince and leave for 10 minutes. Drain and squeeze out any excess water.
Put the soya mince, lentils, sheese and tahini into a blender and blend until you have a smooth paste. Add the flat parsley and mix a bit more.
Coat your hands with the gluten free flour and form 4 burgers from the lentil/sheese mixture.
Heat the coconut oil in a frying pan and fry the burgers for 3 minutes before turning to fry the other side for 3 more minutes.
Spread the mayonnaise on both halves of a gluten free roll, add some lettuce, add a burger and top with beetroot slices.
And there you go: a vegan, gluten free meal everyone will enjoy!
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Seasonal Recipe 2
this recipe is vegetarian, vegan, dairy free, gluten free
Banana, coconut and tahini ice cream
 Ingredients:
3 bananas
1 vanilla pod
1 organic lime, peel grated
4 tbsp black sesame seeds
1 tbsp light tahini
75 ml coconut milk
Fresh mint, chopped
Preparation:
Peel and slice the bananas, put them in a freezer bag and freeze for 5 hours. After 45 minutes shake loose the banana slices.
Cut open the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the black vanilla seeds.
Place the frozen banana slices, light tahini, vanilla seeds, black sesame seeds and coconut milk into a food processor and blend until the mixture resembles the consistency of ice cream.
Divide over 2 bowls and decorate with the grated lime peel and chopped mint.
This recipe and more are available to view online at: Stirling Health Food Store Recipes
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