The Sunshine Vitamin-> D

I Woke up to grey weather this morning after a weekend of blue skies...and somehow I am thrilled about it!! am guilty of enjoying a rainy period that just seems to force the city to slow down...and also means snow in the mountains :) As much as I do love the grey skies, it also means less sunlight exposure- which means it's important to keep our body happy with the vitamins it needs in the winter. Here in Canada that's Vitamin D!

The Sunshine Vitamin

Vitamin D is considered the sunshine vitamin as it needs sunlight to help complete its process and function for our bodies. As we don't experience much sun in the Great White North, it's important to supplement through the winter! I can say this is the one vitamin I am strict about taking daily and I do 'encourage' my friends to take it as well. This vitamin is fat soluble and so it's helpful to take alongside fatty food. I most often take mine with my smoothie or morning drink that I put either coconut oil or ghee into.

Why Vitamin D supplementation?

Though I love to focus on food based nutrition, Vitamin D is a hard vitamin to get in just food alone. This is why supplementing daily throughout the year is so important.

The functions of Vitamin D make up a very long list, from calcium absorption to heart function and nervous system health, it is so important we are getting enough of this gem of a vitamin. It's also very easy to take, I personally prefer taking it in drops, they're affordable and quick and easy to travel with.

Vitamin D3 is an animal-derived form (fyi for all those veg/vegans out there), but is also considered the easiest for our body to absorb. I buy an organic brand that is 1000 IUD per drop. This New Roots Herbal is a great choice it's clean, budget friendly and available in most health food stores. Alongside taking a supplement, vitamin D can be found in small amounts in eggs, fatty fish as well as a few vegetables such as mushrooms which contain Vitamin D2. But remember this comes in trace amounts in food and so supplementation is the most effective way to get this vitamin!

As always be sure to check with your healthcare provider as every body is different!

My Simple Steps to Isolation Shopping

I don’t know about you, but I have found one of the greatest impacts I have felt during this time of isolation is my meal planning and prepping. Whether it’s missing ingredients at the grocery store, or increased time and energy devoted to meals- my routine has definitely changed! But a few of my meal planning techniques have stayed the same, or have been even more helpful for my personal cooking and grocery budgeting!

I have compiled a list of the steps I take each week to plan out my meals, keep myself on budget and reduce my overall time spent in grocery stores, and of course the number of trips I make each week. I hope you can find some of these tips helpful in your own weekly planning!

Step 1: Get Inspiration- skim through some of your favourite cookbooks, or search online for a few recipes you love! I like to save recipes I want to try to my instagram under ‘meal planning’ which helps me to get inspiration and keep my meal planning interesting for both my personal and client plans! With more time at home (for some) this could mean getting to try out more intricate or time sensitive recipes that you may not have otherwise considered. If you can plan for these recipes in advance you are more likely to execute and it will also support you in feeling accomplished at the end of the day if you have conquered something new!

Step 2: Make a plan- Previously I would grocery shop based on what I saw in the store and what I felt like in the moment, which resulted in a lot of random meals and spending over my budget. Now I try to always shop based on what I need for specific recipes and meals! This makes it a heck of a lot easier in the time of isolation to do your shopping and make alternates to what I need. When we enter the grocery store our options are more limited and our time spent in the store should be reduced, if you have your plan you can stick to those simple ingredients with a rest assured feeling that you have gotten what you need on your list!

Step 3: Go To List- Having this list during this unpredictable time means that you can keep up on what you need without needing to hoard or run out. For example I always try to keep a can or two of coconut milk, fresh ginger/garlic and some frozen vegetables in my freezer. These are items that I am constantly using and can be perfect for whipping up a quick meal! The best way to do this is to think back on the last few weeks, what are your go to meals? What do you LIKE to eat and what ingredients do you need to have to make some of these simple meals? Things don’t always go as planned at the grocery store and so having a few key things up your sleeve can be just the thing for making a few meals in a flash! Before heading to the grocery store I skim over this list and stock up (you only need a small amount if you keep it stocked week to week) when I go to the store for my weekly shops. This is also so important as our grocery stores work to ensure items are on the shelf and helps prevent us from buying six cans at a time!

Step 3: Grocery List - When making a grocery list I love to be as detailed as possible, especially through this isolation time when shopping needs to be done efficienitly with little contact with the items. This means I can plan my groceries based on the flow of the store which allows me to efficiently shop and plan. You can even add a few alternates to your list so that you can ensure that if the ingredient isn’t available you will have another way to make that meal!

5 Tips To Packing Air Travel Meals

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, the visions of busy airports are dancing in my head. For many of us Christmas means a season of travel. Whether you are off on a sunny vacation to Hawaii or like me, a trip to the Great White North of Ontario, airport travel can be hectic.

To reduce my struggle with unexpected delays and missed connections, I pack all my meals. This saves money on expensive airport food, helps to clean out my fridge when I am leaving for a period of time and also helps reduce the waste we see on so many planes! I also love that it helps to keep me feeling fuelled and ready for travel days. Our bodies already struggle with the changes of travel and so it’s best to support with foods that fill you in the right way! I always pack my lunches with hydrating beverages, fibre rich foods and satiating fats and proteins! Packing your own meals means not being stuck eating foods that leave you feeling bloated, lethargic and parched!

Here are my Top 5 Tips to keep your travel food airport ready!

1. Waste: I love to have 1 nice set of cutlery I carry with me throughout travel. I chose this bamboo set that is lightweight and easy to clean. I wrap this with an elastic band in a cloth napkin and voila it’s an affordable and chic travel kit! I also pack my food into recyclable containers. I prefer to not have to lug tupperware with me throughout the trip so I opt to recycle when I land! I also have a nice mug that I use for all my hot beverages while on the plane and for elixirs while waiting in the airport. I simply ask a coffee shop for a bit of hot water! I also pack all my tea bags, fruits and odd and ends into a cloth grocery bag that keeps everything together when going through security!

2. Liquid: I don’t know about you but the most anxiety I get at security is always what’s in my lunch. I have had so many encounters around dips,yogurts, salads and dressings that I have now determined the foolproof way to travel with these items. Whenever I buy something that is in a jar labelled under 100ml (capers, sundried tomatoes etc) I save them and pack any liquid like substances into them! That way it’s easy for anyone at security to verify and send you on your way! I usually bring a powdered Elixir blend such as my Adaptogen Mylk Latte from Organika . Or a mix of dandy blend, cocoa and some cinnamon which just needs water and a bit of milk from the coffee bar added!

3. Where Are you going? Borders/Customs, what are you restricted from travelling with? Remember that International and Domestic Travel have different regulations which means your meal may have to look a bit different! Even if you can’t bring your typical citrus salad, there is still opportunity to buy the bare basics and bring your own customizable items. For example I will buy one of the small yogurts and bring rolled oats, dried nuts and seeds and add a bit of hot water once I pass through security! It’s fun to be a bit creative!

4. Fibre Rich Foods: It’s no surprise that air travel can slow things down a bit in the digestion department and that’s where fibre rich foods come in handy! Its important on travel days to pack your meals with some soluble and insoluble fibres! With breakfast you can do oats with some nuts, seeds and dried fruit! Lunch can be a kale salad with a sunflower dressing and crispy tempeh. Dinner can include a noodle bowl with zucchini noodles and lots of raw veg! By avoiding high starch foods and refined carbohydrates you can assist your body in keeping things flowing!

5. Hydration: Flying and stale air leave you feeling very dehydrated and so I always pack a few Nuun tablets, elixir blends, and a variety of herbal teas. Be sure to bring a cup that is good for hot + cold and then you can fill it as you need! These things will keep you hydrated throughout your trip and even help with jet lag!

I hope some of these tips can make for hppy and safe travelling this Holiday season!

5 Tips For Plant Based Meal Prep

Plant Based meals have been all the rage as of late, and for good reason! Animal proteins put a huge stress on our planet and whether you choose to remove or to simply cut back on consumption, you are doing a favour for both your body and environmental footprint! When we add more plants to our diet we can fill up on high fibre foods in a variety of colours, keeping our plate filled with foods that fuel us!

When it comes to incorporating more plants into your diet it can seem confusing and a bit daunting. But worry not, it’s actually quite a simple process and if you check out my tips below you will be well on your way to planning and diversifying your plant based meals!

1.Macronutrients! Always try incorporating a bit of all the macros, Fat, Protein and Complex Carbohydrates. These will help to make up a design plan for your meals as you look to add a bit of each of these!

Fats: Sliced Avocado, Nuts and Seeds, Drizzle of Quality Olive Oil,

Protein: Tempeh, Pinto Beans, Butter Beans, Red/Yellow/Green Lentils

Carbohydrates: Cruciferous Vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli and Brussel Sprouts), Dark Leafy Greens (Kale, Spinach, Watercress), Bitters (Radicchio, Arugula and Endives)

Complex Carbohydrates: Quinoa, Wheat Berries, Rolled Oats, Legumes, Buckwheat

2. Pantry Stocking, having a few key ingredients stocked in your pantry makes for very easy meal planning! For example tonight I am having a friend for dinner but have a busy day so no time for grocery shopping. Instead I will be making a Lentil Dal as I have all the ingredients available in my pantry! I don’t have a huge walk-in-pantry or a lot of storage in my kitchen (it’s tiny), but that doesn’t mean I can’t keep the necessities stocked! Keep a note on your phone throughout the week of what you need and buy enough for a few weeks by refilling containers and having one area for all the overflow!

3. Diversity! It can be easy to get stuck in a tofu and bean rut, but there are so many other great plant based options to consider. I love to throw red lentils in my pasta sauces, or keep a seed salad dressing in my fridge to add to meals throughout the week! It’s also important to remember that protein can be found in all sorts of plants and so as long as you stick to a diversified diet with all sorts of these plants, you can be sure to get the majority of nutrients you need! I find it inspiring to take a few plant based cookbooks out from the library or do some research on various blogs and cooking accounts- research is all part of the fun of experimenting with plant based cooking!

4. Flavour Profile is so important when it comes to plant based meal prepping. I like to keep a few quality spices in my pantry to be sure that I have the right flavour to add to a dish! Curries are always an excellent go to and can be a warmer flavour using Cardamom, Garam Masala, Cinnamon, or a bit more savoury with spices like Cumin, Turmeric and Ginger. When I make a bowl with grains and greens I rely heavily on a good quality salt and something tangy like nutritional yeast! I highly recommend creating a spice section in your kitchen with refillable jars. This means you can keep your spices easily accessible but also ensures they keep their freshness as you go through them!

5. Think Before You Shop, it’s so important when choosing our produce that we consider where it’s coming from. Whether it’s local, organic or GMO, it’s best to understand what we are buying! I tend to stick to local produce when I can. Supporting farmers in my area and reducing carbon footprint is something that is important to me! I am fortunate to live somewhere that has farmers markets all year long and an unseasonably long growing season. It does mean I try to avoid tropical fruits on a regular basis, but sometimes you just want that papaya. I also tend to buy specific foods Organic. I use the EWG Dirty Dozen Clean 15 list (https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/dirty-dozen.php), as well as choosing highly GMO crops like corn and soya in organic options. It can seem like a lot of misleading and redundant information but by doing your own bit of research and determining what you deem is important is key. An informed decision is always better than an uninformed one!

I hope these tips are helpful in your kitchen and when planning some of your plant based meals!

The Seeds of Hormonal Health

With busy schedules, late nights and snoozing alarms, breakfast can be the last thing on our mind in the morning, and coffee the first. The thing is, breakfast is such a great meal to pack in much needed fuel for your day and an opportunity to fill your plate, bowl or cup with foods that get you what you need. For women these fats are especially important as they support our hormone health and ensure we are providing our body with the appropriate building blocks.

I find that through my cycle my needs at breakfast can change. As I move through Ovulation and approach PMS I need a fattier more sustaining breakfast that is satiating and filled with good healthy fats. Throughout my Period/Menstruation my appetite changes and a simple smoothie with some ground flax and hemp protein is what my body needs. Whatever it is your body is asking for, be sure to listen and to incorporate a variety of these fats, specifically Essential Fatty Acids- these are the building blocks of our Hormone Health and essential for women throughout their cycle! EFA’s are found in all sorts of nuts and seeds and are a simple addition to our daily meals.

I love to keep a variety of seeds stocked in my pantry and fridge to easily throw into salads, on top of toast, in my oatmeal and ground into my smoothies. They add awesome crunch, fibre and provide a great source of these EFA’s our bodies crave! A few of my favourites are

• Hemp Seeds, I keep mine in the fridge or freezer for freshness, also Canadian grown and a sustainable crop

• Flax Seeds , be sure to grind these little guys, otherwise it’s difficult for our body to absorb

• Pumpkin Seeds, awesome on salads and pretty much anything

• Chia Seeds, my favourite for making jams and toppers with leftover fruit

• Sesame, awesome on sweet and savoury foods and even better when toasted!

• Sunflower Seeds, my go to for making salad dressings, for that creamy texture without the nuts and dairy

Oatmeal to me is the ultimate blank slate for creating a delicious and hearty breakfast. I use rolled oats as they are less processed and still maintain their texture and chewiness! I cook them with nut milk for creaminess, add cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg and a finely chopped apple. I top them with all sorts of seeds, nut butter (another great healthy fat) and some type of chia jam to add flavour. I often keep these chia jams in my freezer in the winter as a simple addition to my meal!

If you don’t already, I highly recommend adding seeds to your shopping list. They are often quite affordable in bulk sections, or Costco, have a long shelf life and provide women with much needed nutrients!

Anti-Inflammatory Broth

Golden Coconut Broth

As women age and shift through the various stages of their cycle, Inflammation can be a major cause of pain and discomfort. Whether it’s bones and joints or gut irritability, inflammation can be an important factor to consider. Including foods that help to fight inflammation in your diet is a great way to encourage our bodies to heal and thrive!

There are a variety of supplements and tinctures available for easing this type of pain, but with the addition and removal of certain foods we can work towards relieving some discomfort. Turmeric is my favourite food for addressing inflammation, it’s packed with flavour and nutrients! It’s important to note that Turmeric cannot take all the glory when we speak of it’s healing properties, instead the real hero is Curcumin! Curcumin is the active anti-inflammatory compound in Turmeric and also gives the root it’s very yellow colour (be warned when using the root for cooking it will stain anything and everything). Curcumin or just plain old Turmeric comes easily in supplement form and can be taken daily alongside a diet of supportive anti-inflammatory foods.

The recipe I am highlighting today comes from ‘The First Mess’ blog and is absolutely delicious and so essential in our path to reducing our inflammation as well as supporting our immune system! It is packed with Fresh Turmeric and Ginger and the broth base is made from Coconut Milk providing a nice healthy fat to keep us feeling satiated through the day!

I mixed this up a bit and instead of using broccoli, I poured my broth over a bed of steamed Bok Choy. Both of these deep green vegetables are a great source of calcium and fibre which are supportive in providing nutrients to our body and also removing toxins by keeping us nice and regular! I recommend following the step to strain out the floaties as I did not follow suit in my first recipe and it turned out a bit tough to chew!

I highly recommend enjoying this meal on one of these cold dark evenings. It’s warming and grounding and leaves you feeling just the perfect amount of full and nourished.

https://thefirstmess.com/2019/04/10/coconut-broth-bowls-crispy-tofu-recipe/

Kombucha The Happy Healthy Drink

As I write this I am just popping the bottle on a brand new bottle of Home Brew Booch! This effervescent drink is not only incredibly delicious and easy to home brew, but it's also a terrific beverage with a variety of health benefits!

1. A Drink For Your Health!

   This fizzy and fermented beverage has been around for a long time and for very good reason! Through the process of fermentation the Scoby (or Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria) eats away at the sugar and caffeine and ferments the liquid which turns it into a very important Gut Friend! Remember traditional Kombucha has no added fermentation and instead this is all natural from healthy fermentation!!

   Fermented foods are superior when it comes to gut health as they encourage our digestion in so many very important ways. Through promoting healthy bacteria in our gut, Fermentation allows us to digest better, absorb nutrients better and to fill our gut with healthy probiotics. All of these processes also encourage our immune system and support it’s ability to produce immunoglobulins which in turn keep us healthy and strong!

2. Keeping Your Wallet Happy

   I originally began brewing Kombucha when my partner and I started to realize how much money we were spending on our healthy (but expensive) habit. I did some research and realized that brewing my own Home Brew would cost less than 10$ a month and would give me pretty much endless amounts of this liquid gold. And even better, I could also decide what flavours I wanted to have and how sweet I wanted it to be. I prefer a less sweet and a bit more acidic version and so I now get to cater the taste to exactly how we like it!

3. A Very Excellent Alternative

   I haven’t really ever been much of a drinker, whether it’s the interruption of sleep, the cost or honestly the empty calories, it’s never appealed much to me beyond that lovely glass of wine or pint. But I realize that nowadays drinking is primarily a social habit, we go out with friends for drinks, we finish a hike with a cold beer and we meet up at the beach for something cold and wet on a hot summers night.

   The thing I found with this is, I don’t always need the alcohol but instead just something fizzy and delicious which isn’t packed with sugar and doesn’t leave you with a night of interrupted sleep. This is where Kombucha has won over my heart. I love bringing a bottle to parties, on a camping trip or as a happy hour bevvy! At our place we love to mix our Booch with a bit of beer to give it a cocktail like flavour- and this means you can reduce the alcohol and still enjoy a bubbly beverage!

I strongly encourage trying your own Kombucha Home Brew to begin discovering the beautiful benefits of this traditional drink and to feel the real benefits it provides!

Eating For Your Mental Health

As we sit in the middle of winter, I thought it would be a good time to provide you with some of my regularly used tools for calming stress, dealing with anxiety and brain health! These tools range from medicinal herbs that can be found at your local health food store, to pantry items that are most often stocked in your home!

I’ll begin by sharing some of my favourite plant medicines Adaptogens!! These are restorative herbs that help our body to combat stress and support our adrenal glands which manage our stress response! Examples of these are Ashwagandha and Maca, which are commonly found in powder form and easily added to smoothies and drinks. As well as holy basil that can be brewed as a tea and is great for combatting stress. I personally love to add maca to my coffee as it is rich and creamy and pairs well with a hot drink, it’s also a great way to start your morning!

Nervines herbs support your nervous system and response to stress! Both St. John’s Wort and Oats are nervine tonics that are supportive in dealing with anxiety and considered antidepressant herbs! I personally have a cup of St. John's Wort tea in the am, especially when I know I am approaching a deadline or engagement, that may put stress on my nervous system. Oats, as you know are great soaked and eaten as a meal, but also added to a bath they can be the perfect way to combat stress (just put them in a clean sock and throw them in your bath).  

Lavender and Passionflower are nervine relaxants. You are most likely familiar with the use of lavender in diffusers, tea or even desserts- it is an incredible herb for calming nerves and bringing about a sense of relaxation. Passionflower is a favourite of mine for sleep, and to help turn off my ‘busy’ mind. I brew up a cup of tea add some chamomile and quickly feel the effects of this herb!

Rosemary is much different, and instead is a nervine stimulant. It supports memory and promotes a clear mind, helping you to feel calm and much more relaxed. It’s also delicious in cooking and I love to add it to recipes just because the aroma is absolutely wonderful! Many of these herbs can be found in essential oil and added to baths and diffusers!

Ginger soothes an anxious stomach and provides warmth and groundedness. I include omega 3 oil in my daily routine to reduce anxiety and inflammation and chia pudding that is a good source of protein, important for brain health and building chemical messengers such as serotonin which influence our mood!

**It is important to it’s essential if you are pregnant or on any pharmaceuticals that you consult your physician before taking any herbs!

I get all my herbs from Quidditas and Eternal Abundance both on Commercial Drive, here in Vancouver