Christmas is coming...

Christmas is approaching, and Southbourne Farm Shop is here to help with your preparations for the festive period. We are offering a Christmas food ordering service, which allows you to place an order for collection on a day convenient to you, and we also have plenty of gift ideas including chocolate boxes, luxury condiments, olive wood homeware, scented candles and much more. We can also offer gift vouchers up to any value, which can be posted if you are unable to visit the shop yourself.

Our Christmas opening hours are now online, as well as the schedule for our own Artisan bread, Westbourne Bakery bread and Johnsons Fishmongers.

All the relevant information can be found on our new Christmas page, on the link below.

During the festive period, the best way to keep informed of updates is to follow us on Twitter and Instagram. We want to do all we can to help you have a special Christmas, in this most challenging year.

Christmas ordering, opening hours and gift ideas

Southbourne Farm Shop Twitter

Southbourne Farm Shop Instagram

Herbs & Spices to support your health

Herbs and Spices are usually more of a seasoning and we tend to sprinkle one or two into the odd recipe. However, did you know that Herbs and Spices are absolutely packed with Antioxidants and Anti-inflammatory compounds. This makes them a very cost-effective way of improving your health.

Herbs and Spices can be extremely helpful in common conditions such as poor digestion, inflammation, circulation, and immunity problems and much more. They are used in other parts of the world as the main - and sometimes only - medicine. They also add powerful flavour and taste to our foods. I am going to focus on Digestion and Inflammation and suggest which Herbs and Spices may be beneficial.

Digestion

Signs of poor digestion include irregular or loose bowel movements, bloating, pain, and Acid Reflux. Recommendations: Ginger, Basil, Mint, Cinnamon, Coriander, Cumin, Dill, Horseradish, Thyme, Black pepper, Nutmeg

Inflammation

Signs of Inflammation include inflammatory skin disorders like eczema, heart problems, depression, pain (such as arthritis), inflammatory bowel disease and many more. Recommendations: Turmeric, Ginger, Black pepper

One of my favourite ways to incorporate herbs and spices into my diet are through homemade Curries. Perfect for this time of year as Winter is approaching.

Homemade Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe

Ingredients (serves 4)

For the marinade

800g Chicken Thigh Fillets (cut into large bite size chunks).

75g Greek Yoghurt

1 tbsp Garlic paste

1 tbsp Ginger paste

1 tbsp Lemon Juice

1tsp Ground Cumin

2 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper

2 tsp ground Coriander

1 heaped tsp Garam Masala

1 tsp Salt

For the Curry

1 tbsp Rapeseed or Coconut Oil

50g Butter

1 large White Onion (chopped)

1 tbsp Garlic (minced)

1 large tbsp chopped Ginger

1 tbsp Paprika

1 tsp Ground Turmeric

1 tsp Garam Masala

½ tsp Cayenne Pepper

2 tsp Ground Coriander

1 tsp Ground Cumin

¼ tsp Ground Cardamon

400g Chopped Tin Tomatoes

200ml Chicken Stock

125ml Double Cream

2 tsp Honey or Maple Syrup

1 tsp Salt

Method

Put the Chicken in a mixing bowl with all the marinade ingredients. Mix well and leave in fridge overnight or for a minimum of 6 hours.

Put the Chicken onto some foil and Grill on each side for four minutes.

Next make the Sauce – add Oil and Butter to the pan, fry off the Onion and Ginger, until the Onion becomes translucent. Add the Garlic and fry for another 3 minutes. Add the dry spices and continuously sit for 3 minutes.

Add tomatoes and let the sauce summer lightly for five minutes. Remove from the heat and blend in a machine or handheld blender, until smooth.

Place back on the heat and stir in the Chicken, Stock, Cream, Honey and salt.

Bring back to a medium simmer for ten minutes. Finally add the Lemon juice.

Don’t be afraid of using some good quality Butter and Cream. Lower in Lactose, so easier to digest and full of beneficial fats and a good dose of Vitamin A. Lots of the above herbs and spices are also fat-soluble which means they need fat in order for us to absorb them. Fats also provide satiety which means we are less likely to overindulge. *

If you are Vegetarian or Vegan, you could use Cauliflower or Chickpeas instead of Chicken.

Written by Nutritional Therapist Emma Bulbeck. If you would like more information on the services offered by Emma, visit www.emmabulbecknutrition.co.uk or follow Emma on Instagram @emmabulbecknutrition

Lockdown 2: Business as usual

The Government has announced a second lockdown for England, to run from Thursday 5th November until Wednesday 2nd December. During this time, Southbourne Farm Shop will be open as normal: Monday - Saturday 7am - 5:30pm, Sunday 8am - 4pm. Our suppliers were able to keep us well stocked during the previous lockdown, and we anticipate the same to apply again.

Our own Artisan bread will be baked as normal, Tuesdays - Saturdays, and Johnsons Fishmongers will be with us every Tuesday and Friday, 11am-2pm.

We have hand sanitiser available for everyone's use at the entrance, and signage to remind customers to wear a mask and be aware of social distancing. At peak times, we will need to limit the number of customers in the shop at any one time.

Our Home Delivery service is still available for customers over 70 or with underlying health conditions who live in certain regions. More information can be found via the link below.

We also have an Order Collection service.

Home Delivery and Order Collection Service