Welcome to the summer Jalna Living!

For many of us summer means the long awaited holidays. Whether you spend time at the beach or stay at home, it’s a great time to catch up with family and friends and enjoy some fabulous foods together. So we’ve put together some useful ideas on how to make meals healthy and delicious. Hope you enjoy them.

Everyone at Jalna and I want to wish you all the best for the festive season and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2007.

Regards,
Karen Inge, consultant dietitian.

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Parfait shots of Apricot Yoghourt Sorbet with Raspberries

Serves 4

1 egg white
2 tablespoons sugar
500g Jalna Fat Free Berry Fruit Yoghourt
1 mango, peeled and finely diced
1 punnet fresh raspberries (or use frozen)
4 almonds, skin on, coarsely chopped
4 dried apricots, finely chopped

• Whisk egg white and sugar until soft peaks form (meringue texture).  Blend yoghourt and mango and fold into egg mixture.  Pour into an ice cream maker and churn for 20 minutes.  If no ice cream maker available, pour mixture into a freezer tray, freeze for 1 hour, whisk to break up the ice crystals and freeze again.  Repeat and freeze until set.  Serve over raspberries, garnished with chopped almonds and apricots.
  

Surviving Festive Food Choices

By Karen Inge, leading Australian Dietitian & Nutritionist.
It’s that time of year again where we feel that we have shopped till we dropped, celebrated till we could no more and, let’s face it, indulged in too much alcohol, too much fat and too much sugar for too long! So how do we re-energise ourselves and regain that lost vitality without the rigours of a full de-tox program. Here are a few tips to help you survive the summer entertaining season.

1. Cool off & hit the pool. Whether it's lap swimming, water aerobics, or just splashing about, you'll feel refreshed and your body will start to come alive again as well as utilising some of those recently gained fat stores. The perfect antidote to overindulgence. 
   
   
2. Be tempted. by luscious summer fruit low in kilojoules and bursting with vitamins and minerals. Serve platters of mangoes, melons, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, kiwi fruit and an array of Jalna fruit Yoghourts. Or blend with Jalna Strawberry or Wildberry Yoghourt On The Go for an icy cold drink or freeze in containers for a summer frozen treat. Chunks of fresh fruit on skewers, lightly BBQ, make a delicious dessert drizzled with any Jalna fruit Yoghourt. 
   
   
3. Keep it light and bite size. (No large meals or high fat snacks like chips). Serve bite size nibbles like smoked salmon slices rolled up with a little Jalna Natural Yoghurt on top of sliced cucumber. Or circles of pumpernickel rye bread topped with prawns and avocado or freshly shucked oysters with a squeeze of lemon. 
   
   
4. Focus on salads at night (so you're not sleeping on an overfull stomach). An array of different lettuce varieties, slices of turkey breast (low in fat, but tender), lightly steamed asparagus, spring onions, avocado and mango slices or baby spinach leaves topped with cherry tomatoes, snow peas, cucumber chunks, thin slices of super lean beef, tossed with a little chilli, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. (Check out our tasty Greek Salad with Tangy Yoghourt Dressing.)
   
   
5. Think healthy BBQ seafood meals. Skewers of prawns. Or salmon or blue eye cutlets (cook on Glad Bake or wrap as parcels - no added fat, the seafood won't stick, and individual meals can be made to suit different tastes - like no chilli for the kids. If cooked on a naked flame, wrap the paper parcel in foil). Jalna Natural Yoghourt is ideal as a marinade or the base for a dipping sauce.
   
   
6. In the raw. Too hot to cook? Raw vegetables are crisp and crunchy in a salad or with any fruit yoghurt as a dip, or on the side with canned tuna or salmon mixed with Jalna Natural Yoghourt and a squeeze of lime juice with freshly ground pepper.
   
   
7. Have alcohol free days (or if you've really overindulged, make it an alcohol free week). Get into anti-oxidant rich tomato juice with all the condiments or a cranberry spritzer (cranberry juice and sparkling mineral water) to help flush toxins through. Or a Jalna smoothie with Yoghourt On The Go.
   
   
8. Start counting. How many different foods do you eat each day? Definitely not enough! Variety will give your body the array of vitamins and minerals and other anti-oxidants it craves. Aim to at least double your choices now.
   
   
9. Go grains. Whether you start the day with a healthy whole grain cereal, make a wholegrain wrap sandwich for lunch or serve a grain based salad such as tabouli or brown rice and corn with dinner, healthy grain foods help your body stay healthy, energised and ward off major diseases. 
   
   
10. Do drink the water. In summer heat, you need plenty of water to help your body flush out all the waste products and keep you well hydrated to cope with everything you have to do.
    
    

And finally, keep food clean. Prepare as much as you can yourself using the freshest of ingredients. And try to eat foods that have not been adulterated with too many preservatives, colourings, artificial flavours and other additives. (All Jalna Yoghourts and Yoghourt On The Go are made from all-natural ingredients and viable quantities of aBc cultures, but no added sugar or artificial sweeteners, no preservatives or additives.)  

Summer Food & Drinks

We might enjoy the summer heat when we’re lazing by the pool, but it’s not so much fun when we are slaving away in a hot kitchen. So we’ve looked at some ways to prepare healthy and delicious tasting meals and drinks, without ever turning the oven on.

Let’s start with the super summer fruit and vegetables – all fresh and relatively inexpensive. There are lots of ways to use them that don’t involve getting ‘hot under the collar’. Here’s five tips to help keep your cool this summer.

1. Cold Drinks. Cold fruit-based drinks are always refreshing. You could try:

• Blend Jalna Fat Free Berry Fruit or BioDynamic Organic Fruits of the Forest Yoghourt as the base, then add fresh berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries are around in summer) and Wildberry Yoghourt On The Go.  
• With mangoes in season, dice and blend with Jalna Strawberry or Wildberry Yoghourt On The Go and a good dollop of Jalna Premium Strawberry or Honey Vanilla Creamy Yoghourt.
• And for something for the adults-only, blend two small bananas, 1/3 cup Bacardi rum, two 250ml bottles of Jalna Strawberry Yoghourt On The Go, ice and serve with fresh mint sprig – perfect Banana Colada for two.

2. Cold Soup. It’s easy to make a quick cold avocado soup. Puree 2 ripe avocadoes, add in ½ cup of Jalna Greek Style Natural Yoghourt or BioDynamic Organic Yoghourt, squeeze of lemon juice, 1-2 teaspoons of wasabi (green horseradish) and 250mls of Vitalize Vitamin+ drink, along with crushed ice for a delicious soup. You can also add stock for a thinner consistency, if you prefer.
Alternatively, stir through cooked crab meat and prawns for a chilled avocado seafood soup. Serve with crusty bread and it’s enough for a light meal.

3. No-cook Meals. You can now buy pre-cooked turkey breast, which is perfect layered with blueberries, raspberries, mango and avocado slices, and mixed green salad.  Add a salad dressing made with 2 x 200g tubs Jalna Blueberry BioDynamic Organic Yoghourt, 1/3 cup lime juice, zest of 1 lime, 1 tablespoon Japanese soy sauce and 2 teaspoons grated ginger for a sumptuous meal everyone will be impressed by.

Whip up a quick seafood dip (Jalna Greek Style Natural Yoghourt, lime juice and fresh herbs like garlic chives or dill, or try BioDynamic Organic Yoghourt, sweet chilli sauce, coriander and even pureed mango) and serve with a green salad and some crusty French sticks with a big platter of cooked prawns - everyone can peel their own. But remember to put out finger bowls with lemon slices and extra serviettes.

4. BBQ Outside. When you do need to cook, keep the heat out of the kitchen by using the BBQ. But aim for quick cooking, so get the butcher to butterfly a leg of lamb or a whole chicken (and leftovers can be served cold the next day). For a delicious Yoghourt Pesto Marinade or Salad Dressing, just blend 2 cups lightly packed basil leaves, 1/2 cup pinenuts, toasted, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese and 1 cup Jalna Fat Free Natural Yoghourt.

Or stir fry beef strips tossed with a mixed leaf salad and sliced strawberries - whisk a dollop of Jalna Strawberry Yoghourt into a simple vinaigrette dressing (vinegar, oil, salt and pepper) and drizzle over the salad. Yummy.

5. Cold Desserts. The easiest are fresh fruit kebabs served with a selection of Jalna fruit yoghourts as dipping sauces. Or you can dollop Jalna Premium Strawberry Creamy Yoghourt onto lemon tarts for a tasty dessert. Or perhaps you’d prefer to marinate fresh summer fruit (peaches, apricots, rockmelon, mango, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries) in Cointreau for 15 minutes. Combine fruit with Jalna Premium Strawberry or Honey Vanilla Creamy Yoghourt and serve in martini or wine glasses, garnished with toasted flaked almonds for a perfect end to a summer meal.

So this summer there’s at least five reasons to keep your cool!