Healthy Life Lessons

Next weekend is Passover as well as Easter so many of us will be sitting down to large celebratory meals with loved ones. Unfortunately for Ashkenazi Jews, Passover can be a challenging time of year from a dietary perspective.  I have never been a fan of traditional Eastern European Jewish cuinine (heavy, starchy, meat laden foods), but Passover foods can be even worse.  I know I'm not the only one to not be the biggest fan of traditional Passover food.  I can name few people (i.e. none) who rank gefilte fish or matzo as one of their favorite treats.  Even if you enjoy a good matzo ball soup, charoset, or potato kugel, you may have experienced what I call "Passover Gut", particularly if you abide by the Passover dietary rules for the full 8 days of the holiday. Passover Gut is essentially sluggishness and constipation brought on by eating refined flour matzo and all the other dishes where matzo meal hides.  Combine this with the elimination of hi...

What did the grocer say to the kid who stole the brick of pepper jack?  "Hey buddy, that's nacho cheese!" I know, I know, I'm hilarious!  A little humour to warm up your chilly Friday morning. Anyways... These burritos are making some serious yummy lunches for me this week.  You can adapt this recipe with whatever veggies you prefer.  I simply used what I had on hand: a bag of rainbow salad and a massive bunch of kale. I have fallen in love with Joseph's lavash recently.  They are whole grain wraps and really what makes them so special is they are soft and sturdy and RECTANGLE.  I'm not the best rapper...I mean wrapper.  I find these babies hold a ton of filling and are still rollable.  This recipe definitely requires a knife and fork to eat, but when I want an eat-out-of-hand wrap meal, Joseph's are a perfect fit. Nacho Cheeze Burritos Nacho Cheeze Sauce (Adapted from http://ohsheglows.com/2011/10/13/vegan-pumpkin-mac-n-cheeze-sa...

P R E S C H O O L The preschool stage is not an easy one in this house. Big A challenged us from the time she was about 18 months old, until she turned 5 last year, when things finally started to improve.  And that's certainly not to say that things are now easy or perfect! Big A is still prone to erupting into tears over every little bump and bruise (like as minor as a breeze blowing a hair on her arm kind-of-thing!), and I still struggle to get her to respect my authority.  She is definitely much less defiant, moody and emotional than she used to be, but when she is happy and having fun she often ignores me, which is incredibly irritating.  For example, she'll come into the bathroom after I take a shower and slap me on the butt and laugh.  Then she'll keep doing it, and when I ask her to stop, she will ignore me and keep doing it over and over until I lose my temper.  A minor thing, but she does annoying stuff like this to me all the time.  ...

What is it about cereal squares that kids love so much? That is not a rhetorical question.  I never ate them as a kid.  But my kids adore them. Problem is, they are either full of junk (sugar, sugar and more sugar) or made with nut butters, which means they can't go to school or daycare or virtually any public space for kids. My solution was to come up with these babies.  Healthy AND yummy is always the best outcome.  No compromise required.  In fact, these treats are gluten free, nut free and vegan, so they can accomodate most dietary restrictions. Choco Crispy Squares 375g pitted dates 2 cups water 1/4 cup xylitol (or other granular sweetener: coconut sugar, Splenda, stevia, etc.) 1/4 cup cocoa powder 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 tbls coconut oil 340g (about 10 cups) brown rice crisp cereal Place dates in a large pot over medium heat with 1 cup of water.  Simmer until dates are soft.  Add remaining cup of water and puree in pot wi...

I suppose the bright side of the drastic dip in temperature this week is that it makes this recipe more appropriate to make.  It was inspired by Big A's insistance that because of her wiggly top front tooth, she must eat only very soft foods.  I am very dismayed that she is just as distraught over this tooth, as her two bottom ones, which have already fallen out.  Since this is only tooth #3 that she is losing, we are going to have to go through this drama many more times over before she has all her adult teeth in.  Sigh!  I am going to have to remind her again that she will never be able to get her ears pierced until she can deal with pain a bit better.  Perhaps I'm being insensitive...it's possible that it's really painful, I just don't remember being distressed about losing my teeth as a kid, and certainly most of  Big A's friends seem fine with it too. Anyways, this is a healthy, kid-friendly, wiggly-tooth friendly recipe that makes a great lun...

Good morning!  Isn't life wonderful? If you feel like throwing your coffee at me for being so perky on a Monday morning, don't worry, if I try hard enough, I can find lots to complain about. My tongue still hurts like CRAZY, which is really pissing me off since my cracker accident happened last Wednesday.  And I can't even elicit much sympathy from Adam who thinks I'm quackers for hurting myself in such an absurb manner.  In my defence, it really hurts to either talk or eat, and since I do so much of both, it's basically hurting all the time! It's also COLD here in Toronto after weeks of spring and summer like weather, which meant a bit of a battle this morning trying to convince the girls that they had to wear their winter jackets. Big A discovered that one of her top front teeth is starting to get wiggly, which made her unwilling to eat breakfast and cry all the way to school because she claimed it hurt so much.  Adam and I are convinced she has the lo...

I am not vegan.  I am not even vegetarian.  But I try to eat a plant based diet as much as possible.  I like to think of myself as a flexitarian, if I have to give myself a label.  But hey, who needs a label? Adam?  He prefers meat, or even fish, and flour-based products (i.e. bread and pasta) to beans, tofu and whole grains.  Sigh! He always accuses me of trying to turn him into the gassiest man on the planet because of all the veggies, beans and whole grains I feed him.  Geez, he's so paranoid!  Or...is...he...?  Anytime you do increase your fibre intake it may take some time for your body to adjust, but it will adjust.  You should also increase your fluid intake.  The health benefits of a high fibre diet are plentiful.  Most North Americans don't get enough.  You should aim for 35 grams of fibre per day. Anyways...I love creating hearty vegan recipes like this that satisfy even the most carnivorous appet...