Healthy Life Lessons

If you avoid protein bars because you worry about the ingredients, don't like the taste of most of them, or can't afford the expense (These days the good ones are over $3 each!), than make your own. These are so super easy and you can customize them to your taste and nutritional needs. Using Vitafiber syrup makes them high in fibre. Using a plant-based protein powder will keep them vegan, and if you use coconut flour, instead of almond flour, they are nut-free. If you don't want strawberry flavour, you can sub another type of freeze dried fruit. You can also make them a bit more decadent by drizzling melted chocolate over top. But in warm weather, that will make them a bit messier if you are eating them on the go. Homemade Strawberry "Quest" Bars 1.5 cups Vitafiber syrup (or other IMO syrup) 2 cups vanilla or berry flavoured protein powder, sugar-free 1 cup freeze dried strawberries, whirled in blender 8 tbsp coconut flour (or 10 tbsp almond flour...

I know Canada's birthday was Saturday, but its still a national holiday here today. So yay for long weekends!! Its been great so far. Adam's brother and his family are visiting from Vancouver. Though I had to work Friday evening and Saturday morning, everyone came over to our place Saturday evening for a BBQ, and yesterday we went to Adam's sister's son's birthday party, so there has been lots of celebrating. I have the day off until tonight when I have a Skype counselling session with clients. There has been a whole lot of controversy surrounding the celebration of Canada's 150th birthday due to our colonial history. We are certainly not the only country who have a sordid history in this regard. What's more troubling is how horrible conditions continue to be for our indigenous peoples. That being said, I do strongly believe we have a lot to be proud of as a country. I have clients from all over the world who immigrate to Canada because of our accep...

My long time readers know I am a Freezer Fanatic. If you care about your health, and time and money, you should be too. Filling your freezer with the right foods means you always have ingredients on hand to make healthy, tasty meals. It is also a great way of reducing food waste. Here is what to stock up on: Frozen fruits and veggies (they are just as healthy - sometimes even better - than fresh) Meat and fish (I mostly buy fresh and then freeze, but also buy frozen chicken breasts from Costco and frozen seafood) Whole grain bread, pita, wraps, etc. that you are not using immediately. (They will get moldy quickly at room temp, and get stale in the fridge) Leftovers (if you've made a huge batch of chili, pasta sauce, soup, etc., freeze in individual or family serving size containers for a meal when you have no time to cook) Basically any food you aren't using can be frozen instead of letting it go off and then having to throw it away. This includes fruit and ve...

I am going to admit upfront that we (mostly me) are food hoarders.  The photo above is NOT our pantry. Ours doesn't look photo worth. We like to be well stocked with our staples, and when we find our favorites on sale, we stock up big time. We also have a Costco membership, and, well, you know how that goes! If you want to make it easy to be able to make quick, healthy meals at anytime, here are some things to make sure you have on hand (and these are the things you will find in our pantry...and massive storage room): Canned beans and lentils and dried beans/lentils Canned tuna, salmon and/or sardines Soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and other condiments Dried herbs and spices (buy in small quantities as they lose their flavour quickly, unless you use them a lot) Dried pasta, rice, oats, quinoa and/or other grains Jarred salsa and pasta sauce Nut butters Whole grain flours, cocoa powder, sweeteners (coconut sugar, xylitol, stevia, etc.), and other baking ingredie...

Is your fridge bare except for a 6 pack of beer and an old jar of pickles? Or is it full of a carton of sour milk and 50 bottles and jars of 3 year old condiments? We are a family with a full fridge. Always. Its usually over-full on market days, twice a week, but really its only empty when we go away on holiday. I don't understand how people live without fresh food available, if they can afford it. When our contractor doing our renos last summer recommended we unplug our fridge and live without it for a few weeks it was no deal. NO WAY JOSE! So what takes up all the space in our fridge? Here are the things we always have on hand: Fresh fruits and vegetables Cheese, veggie meat, tempeh/tofu, etc. Milk, eggs, egg whites, yogurt Miso, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, sugar-free ketchup, salsa Non-hydrogenated margarine Minced garlic in a jar, pickles, olives Salad dressing, sugar-free bbq sauce, maple syrup Shirataki noodles Many of my weight loss clients say th...

Any parent knows it can be a real challenge to get nutritious food into kids. So when Baby Gourmet offered to send me their new Shakers nutrition supplement for kids aged 1 and older, I thought it might be a great idea. They generously sent us 16 bottles of them, half vanilla, and half chocolate! The best way to describe it is its basically "Ensure" for kids. Unfortunately, that is not a compliment. You know, that's the meal replacement they often give seniors or people lacking appetite, that is essentially chemicals and sugar with added vitamins. Shakers are not nearly that bad, but my basic criticism is the second ingredient is SUGAR (after whole milk)! For that reason, I would never buy these for my kids, and I certainly would never have bought them when the girls were toddlers. Like couldn't they sweeten them with banana puree or something? Sure, the sugar is organic, but who gives a crap? Its still sugar. The girls certainly liked them. Big A liked bo...

The time I have available for blogging seems to keep shrinking. I used to try to write as many posts as I could ahead of time but I got nothin' for you right now. I have lots of posts and product reviews I plan to write, but haven't yet, and I have just been turning down requests for book reviews because I don't have the time. I used to read on the subway or bus to and from work, but now that I work closer to home, I've been riding my bike.  In fact, have just a few minutes to write this before jumping on my bicycle and rushing off to the office. To be honest, I couldn't be more thrilled about my dearth of time to blog. My practice has just gotten too busy, and there are too many other balls to juggle. But I am loving it all and so grateful to have a career I adore. Life is really good! I am trying desperately to still get out 3 posts per week, but I may have to cut back. I will keep you posted on that. Sorry folks, all I can do is wish you a happy, healthy...