Food for the Soul

Sometimes even us dietitian's don't have time to make lunch so it's great to know we can grab a healthy nutritious meal on the run. 

Pre-packaged products can often be misleading with their labels and be packed full of either calories or additives. Often clients fall into the trap of thinking they are doing the right thing when in fact the meal they've grabbed can be lacking a significant amount of nutrition. 

We were beyond delighted when we came across this brand: Essence Food for the Soul .

Essence produce ready-to-eat meals and desserts for retail outlets and cafes across Melbourne.  Local chefs Jim Walsh and Melanie Houston combine their passion for all things delicious with years of experience in catering and hospitality to create meals that are truly ... food for the soul.

At Essence they pride themselves on using organic, free range and gluten free ingredients — perfect if you care where your food is sourced and how it is prepared. 

Essence have such a great variety of products from the soups that pack a health punch to decadent chocolate tarts and vanilla bean custard to pies and tarts (it's so so bad but so so good). Now we can hear you asking since when was chocolate tarts healthy and if so sign us up, but the main theme of this health food company is to supply good food, made from good quality ingredients. 

There are so many areas of nutrition to mindful of.... For insistence healthy doesn't mean low-calorie, just as low-calorie foods can be packed full of artificial crap. (and this is a whole other topic for another day but you get the point)!

Personally if we're going to have something 'bad' it might as well be good quality hence devouring their chocolate tart and custard for "MARKET RESEARCH" (and yes a lot of "market research" happens at NFHQ).

Back to the point of this post is we were stoked to come across Essence products. 

We first tried the 'Detox Soup' and this product is :

• Gluten free
• Organic
• Vegetarian
• Additive free
• Preservative free
• 462kJ per serving

and most importantly delicious. I was sceptical when I read detox and saw kale as an ingredient but its honestly just as good as the soup I make at home. 

It's the perfect CBF, running out of time, or sick as dog meal and its great know that you are doing the right thing for your body. 

Another thing to love about Essence is that they use local sourced products (when possible) and work out of the Mornington Peninsular. They cook all products in small batches to ensure the flavour and consistency are just right and that shows as each mouthful is as delicious as the next. 

They stock products throughout Melbourne and bay areas. Look out for it at :

• Thomas Dux
• South Yarra Finer Fruit
• Renaissance Super IGA 

but for a full list of stockists see their site.