When it comes to reducing one’s negative impact on our environment, there are few simpler lifestyle changes we can make than giving up beef and eating a more sustainable alternative instead.  

At For Earth’s Sake, we have been really excited to have All Out Burgers in the chiller section for the past few months.  Made locally from seitan (a wheat protein) these burgers have a meaty taste and texture that will make you wonder why you didn’t try them ages ago.  Not only do they taste great and have a much lower environmental footprint than beef, they are also much more healthy than beef burgers.  One patty contains a whopping 28g of plant protein, only 12g of fat, and ZERO cholesterol.

You can pick up 2 All Out Burgers for £4.00 in the shop or online (we deliver to GU1, GU2, GU3, GU4, GU5, GU6, GU7, GU8, RH4, RH5, RH12, RH13 & RH14). 

We all have our favourite ingredients to go alongside (and on top of and underneath!) our burgers and at For Earth’s Sake we have you covered there as well with some delicious vegan sauces.  Take your pick from this line up and check out the Sauces section of our Online Shop for even more options:

  So Free Egg Free Mayo with Garlic £2.65
  Inspired Vegan Hollandaise Sauce £2.35
  Inspired Vegan Horseradish Sauce £2.35
  Mr Organic Italian Ketchup £2.65
  Tracklements Smoky Chilli Sauce £3.65
  Tracklements Sticky BBQ Sauce £3.65
  Tracklements Strong English Mustard £2.30
  Homemade Greek Hummus £3.00

Personally, I usually go with this combination from bottom to top; hummus, green leaves (could be spinach, cabbage, rocket, or lettuce), sliced tomato, All Out Burger, sliced onions, BBQ sauce, then mustard).  Finally, try and get yourself a wholemeal burger bun for that extra fibre!

Neil Young, Healthy Life Neil
Guest Blogger
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I’m Neil Young, an exercise and healthy lifestyles specialist based in the Surrey Hills.   Right now I’m working with For Earth’s Sake to bring some of the shop produce to life with delicious recipes that you can source entirely in store.  I’m also adding on nutritional info and insights on the key ingredients.

We hear plenty of talk of superfoods these days.  Goji berries, matcha tea, chia seeds, beetroot, broccoli sprouts to name but a few.  They can be bought in their natural form or processed into teas, powders, snack bars, and smoothies.  These examples, and many more, are all very nutritious, but in the quest for discovering and promoting a new one-hit wonder we often overlook incredible food staples, which should form a high proportion of our regular meals and also have superfood qualities.  The food that I am particularly thinking of is beans. 
 
The variety of choices is huge and beans are included in the cuisines of every different region of the world, from red kidney beans in Mexican chilli, white bean stews from across Europe, chickpeas in a Moroccan tagine, tofu in Japanese ramen noodles.  They are undoubtedly tasty and filling, but what is the evidence about their health benefits and our quest to lose weight or keep it off?
 
Well, one of the advantages that beans have over other starchy foods that we might crowd our plate with (bread, chips, pasta, rice), is that they are really high in fibre.  This oft neglected nutrient holds one of the keys to weight management by making us feel full after meals without eating huge amounts of calories.  In fact, increased fibre consumption has been shown to lead to a 10% drop in overall calorie intake.  And it’s not just about calorie intake.  By eating high fibre foods like beans we can stop the absorption of some of the calories from all food groups in a meal because these calories are literally wrapped up in the indigestible fibre so that they then pass straight through us. 
 
There’s one more weight loss-related advantage of increasing our dietary fibre through eating more beans that I want to highlight and it’s all to do with the signals that our gut sends to our brain when a meal is being digested.  At the bottom of the small intestine (the ileum) there are sensors which can detect fats, carbohydrates and proteins in undigested food.  If this happens, signals are sent to the brain to say that we are full and that we should stop eating.  This phenomenon is called the ileal  brake.   High fibre foods (like my red bean and lentil chilli, below) slow the absorption of fats, carbohydrates and proteins higher up the intestines so that they are detected in the ileum and signals are sent to the brain to say, “You’re full.  Stop eating”.  When we eat low fibre, processed foods the calories are absorbed higher up in the intestine and never reach the ileal brake so we don’t get that signal to say that we are full up.
 
I could go on and on about the benefits of high fibre bean cuisine all day (and I will in future!), but for now I think that it’s time for me to introduce you to my bean and lentil chilli recipe. 
 
This recipe is plant-based, and by adding lentils, nutritional yeast and onion powder you get the deep savoury flavours that you expect from any good chilli and there’s sweet corn too, for an extra crunch.
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​Red Bean and Lentil Chilli - Recipe 
 
This recipe will make 4 servings; enough for the whole family, but if you want to make a batch for the freezer, just double the amounts. 
 
Ingredients:

• 6 round tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 2 red chillies, sliced
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 750g cooked red kidney beans
• 75g split red lentils
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• ½ tsp salt
• 300g sweet corn
• 250ml vegetable stock

 
Method:

• Heat a large, deep saucepan over a medium to high heat.  Add the oil and heat for 2mins.
• Reduce the heat to medium and add the onions, garlic, chillies, and 1 tbsp of the stock.  Cover the pan and fry for 8-10mins until the onions have softened.
• Add the tomatoes then recover and fry for 10mins, until the tomatoes have broken down to form a sauce (you may also want to squash them with the back of a spoon).
• Add the spices, nutritional yeast, onion powder, and the rest of the stock.  Give the sauce a good stir and heat for 2 more mins.
• Add the beans, sweet corn and lentils, stir, cover, and heat for 10mins until all of the ingredients have combined.
• Check the chilli for seasoning and spice heat.  Add salt and/or chilli powder to taste.
• Serve the dish on its own or with organic brown rice if you prefer.

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​Shopping list:
All of the ingredients can be purchased from For Earth’s Sake.  Each serving costs around £2.00.  Here the list of what to add to your basket:

• 3 tins Suma Red Kidney Beans
• 75g red split lentils (refill)
• Vine tomatoes
• Garlic
• Onion
• Red chilli peppers
• 1 tin Suma Super Sweet Organic Sweet Corn
• Marigold Engevita Nutritional Yeast Flakes
• From the herbs and spices refill section:
  • Ground cumin
  • Ground coriander
  • Chilli powder
  • Smoked paprika
  • Onion powder
• Kallo Low Sodium Vegetable Stock Cubes
• Extra Virgin Rapeseed Oil

​The wellbeing of our customers, staff and suppliers is paramount.
 
At For Earth’s Sake we are always concerned about hygiene and wellbeing, and would like to take this opportunity to reassure our customers that we are taking increased measures at this time, including:
 
•    Customers using our hand sanitiser on entry to the shop / using our gloves whilst shopping
 
•    Making customers aware of our hand washing facilities towards the back of the shop
 
•    Sanitising all handles, scoops, dispensers and surfaces at the beginning and end of each day
 
•    Regularly sanitising of the same throughout the day
 
•    Wearing gloves for handling of baskets, cash and cards
 
•    Asking customers to use Contactless Cards if possible for the coming weeks
 
•    Taking further advise and action as it becomes known
 
We feel we are doing all we can to ensure our staff, customers, suppliers, visitors, facilities and network of satellites are best protected, as we always do.  Should you have any questions or suggestions please do let us know.
 
And finally, we are OPEN so please do visit and help us lift everyone’s day.
 
Kindest regards
 
Vanessa and all at For Earth’s Sake