Healthy choices
MAKING time to enjoy healthy meals as a family is one of the best ways to model healthy habits.
This, Moira Vilsoni-Raduva says, is her way of emphasising healthy choices not only to her children but her family as a whole.
Married with three daughters AnnaMary Raduva, 17, Faith Raduva, 13, and Eunice Raduva, 2, Ms Vilsoni-Raduva is a communications officer at the University of the South Pacific’s PaCESD (Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development) Lower Campus in Suva.
Ms Vilsoni-Raduva says she is a full-time working mum by day and a campaign supporter by night, packing dignity kits until late at night or making sandwiches in the wee hours of the morning for a mangrove planting event.
“I try to balance work and the children’s campaigns with support from my husband and we are managing and learning as we grow,” she said
With Christmas two days away she encourages the public to embrace the culture of sharing in this festive season, be kind to our planet and take initiatives to live a sustainable lifestyle by sharing with family, neighbours, friends and the community.
“This is a time to sow seeds of love and respect for everyone, including our environment and oceans.
“Sharing is a genuine expression of the values rooted in our culture. Let us embrace this culture of sharing in this difficult festive season!
“I would like to wish everyone a blessed and safe Christmas! 2020 has been a hard year for everyone — the global COVID 19 pandemic and natural disasters.”
GROCERY shopping for the Raduva family is done monthly while vegetables, meat, fruits and flowers are done weekly.
Moira Vilsoni-Raduva, 37, usually shops at Extra Supermarket at Flagstaff and RB Market Point on Saturdays.
Ms Vilsoni-Rdauva said they loved to leisurely stroll the aisles discovering new items on shelves.
She said they preferred Extra Supermarket because of the variety of items and preference for certain food items. She buys in bulk and to save time too.
“I like how the store layout is easy to navigate especially when I am shopping with an energetic toddler and two teenagers. It is also closer to home so we do not really spend a lot on transporting our shopping too,” Ms Vilsoni-Raduva said.
“For RB Market Point it’s right in the middle of everything fresh on a Saturday morning — fresh flowers, seafood, vegetables, root crops and fruits.
“We also get our fresh supply of bila, vakalolo and then there’s a glass of freshly squeezed fruit juice for a dollar.
“There are five of us, my husband, three daughters and I. Our monthly bulk shopping is basically buying basic needs in large quantities. Think of the movie cheaper by the dozen — that’s how we do it.
“We also buy our toiletries and our baby’s products in bulk too,” she said.
Ms Vilsoni-Raduva said her husband is very practical and has a set menu for the week and they try to buy vegetables according to the menu to avoid bulk buying on perishable goods.
“We work with the vegetables that are in season too. And cooking our own food is just so much less expensive than eating out.
“Meal planning certainly helps ensure that we are not making multiple smaller trips to the shops every day.
“We don’t own a fridge at home so we only buy our meat on Saturdays from the butcher (Tebara or Leylands in Suva) and we only buy what we really need for the day.
“We have been practising this for almost a year now and we’re sort of adjusted and have survived not having a fridge — for environment friendly purposes introduced to us by our climate activist daughter.
“Monthly bulk shopping — around $300 now. Things are expensive and we have limited our basic needs — if we feel we don’t need it immediately, we go without it!
“We allocate as much in our budget as we can to groceries — simply because we want to make sure we are never short on food.
She says making time to enjoy healthy meals as a family is one of the best ways to model healthy habits as well as emphasise on healthy choices.
“We try our best to aim for balance. Our eldest daughter often has allergy reactions with seafood so we limit seafood to just fish (usually reef fish) but if I have spares from our grocery shopping budget and can stretch — our two younger girls and I treat ourselves to some mixed seafood, nama and lumi (sea urchin).
“We are aware of Type 2 diabetes and so we try our very best to balance our food shopping too.
“Healthy choices are always the recommended and we like to source our vegetables from our local farmers at the market.”
Ms Vilsoni-Raduva says shopping is a family affair and something they enjoy.
“When we hit the Suva fish market, I love to walk them through and I’d point out the ones I grew up eating or I’ve foraged during the low tides with my own parents and siblings back on the island.
Suva is blessed with the abundance and variety of seafood on a Saturday morning but, our kids cringe when they see undersized octopuses, lobsters and other crustaceans on sale.
“Our two-year-old toddler loves market day. We introduce her to vegetables and fruits and it can be a loud sing along but if it makes kids happy, do it! It’s an educational distraction!
“Every family’s staple differs. What may be essential to one, may not be the same for you.
“The best way to figure this out is to keep track of what ingredients are always first to run out in your pantry, what gets used the most and, more importantly, gets used in a variety of ways.
Shopping with teenagers creates a totally different dynamic — the conversations can swing from the latest K–Pop group to some rugby tournament around Fiji or some heavyweight chef on YouTube evangelising on organic produce.
“I do love to cook or bake in the weekends and I love watching my children enjoy whatever we prepare for them.
“I can share my cassava pie recipe with you (it’s my grandmother’s recipe) and I think I have mastered it!
Moira Vilsoni-Raduva shopping tips
Tip 1 — Only buy what is on the shopping list! We like to have a game plan – it always works. There are many good reasons for having a shopping list. There will be a lot of extravagant buying this Christmas week – trust me. Make sure you stick to your shopping list.
Tip 2 — Have a budget – it’s the best way to control impulse buying (I’ve been there and I know the feeling!)
Tip 3 — Look for Specials! Every supermarket has Specials – look for them in the newspaper and when you find it, check for expiry or used up dates. I love The Fiji Times Shopper!
Tip 4 — Award the kids after shopping to avoid toddlers throwing tantrums at the supermarkets. We usually award them with an hour at My Suva Picnic Park after shopping — that is where our younger daughters get to burn their energy and we also have the space for our AnnMary to visit her favourite spot in Suva — the mangrove sanctuary along the Suva foreshore.
Tip 5 — Eat first before you leave home on a shopping trip! No one wants to be around someone shopping who is “Hangry”.
Tip 6: Go on a day when you won’t be rushed! We’re all guilty of this from time to time. Go shopping on a day when you don’t have obligations afterwards.
Cassava pie
Ingredients
4 fresh cassava (peeled and grated); 6 coconut milk / Lolo or 6 coconuts/niu (grated and squeezed);
2 cans condensed milk; and
1 packet cheddar cheese.
Method
In a mixing bowl or basin, mix the grated cassava, coconut milk and condensed milk.
Pour the mix into a baking tray and then grate the cheddar cheese on the cassava mix.
Bake until the cheddar cheese is golden brown. (I’m not a good person with heat and timer – so I stick to the “golden coloured cheese” rule and a bit of poking the pie (with a dry and clean toothpick) every now and then for reassurance that the pie is ready to take out of the oven).