Last weekend, while browsing through the complimentary Vancouver magazine I found in my room at the Pan Pacific Hotel, I scanned a review of the fresh baked goods at Giovane in the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel. Perfect, as I was directly across the street and craving just this sort of Sunday morning delight. It was actually my first time in the hotel, and I was impressed by the atmosphere on the whole. In Giovane, there was ample seating and a relaxed yet very modern,clean feel. The signature “sugar buns” were sold out (at 11am), so I took 2 chocolate ones to go, and sat down to a breakfast panini , a savory scone and roooibos tea. Absolutely hit the spot. The cake display was fantastic, I was especially taken with the peanut butter hedgehog globe which beckoned me to some altered state, but I resisted it’s siren song! Loaves of freshly baked bread, pizza, scones, almost a bit like Thomas Haas without all the chocolate, and bigger. We ate the chocolate buns at home, which were extremely decadent, (best to share) and returned the next day with my children (a treat on Victoria day for them, research for me). This time we got a creamy sugar bun and my 2 year old was in heaven, so was I. Go on, try it out, you deserve a break today……………..at Giovane’s.

There’s hidden sweetness in the stomach’s emptiness.
We are lutes, no more, no less. If the soundbox
is stuffed full of anything, no music.
If the brain and belly are burning clean
with fasting, every moment a new song comes out of the fire.
The fog clears, and new energy makes you
run up the steps in front of you.
Be emptier and cry like reed instruments cry.
Emptier, write secrets with the reed pen.
When you’re full of food and drink, Satan sits
where your spirit should, an ugly metal statue
in place of the Kaaba. When you fast,
good habits gather like friends who want to help.
Fasting is Solomon’s ring. Don’t give it
to some illusion and lose your power,
but even if you have, if you’ve lost all will and control,
they come back when you fast, like soldiers appearing
out of the ground, pennants flying above them.
A table descends to your tents,
Jesus’ table.
Expect to see it, when you fast, this table
spread with other food, better than the broth of cabbages.

Rumi

This is a poem I refer to every now and then at 11pm, when my stomach is rumbling and a bowl of Mesa Flakes with rice milk seem quite tempting. The whole reason for the rumbling is the fasting process in action- we are meant to fast during the night. Hence the word Break-fast. First meal of the day, signaling the breaking of the nights fast. Here are some yogic tips that I find helpful for beginning the evenings fast and for breaking it in the morning.

Evening

Don’t eat anything 2 hours prior to sleeping.

If you need to have a spoon of plain yoghurt or some warm rice milk/organic milk just before bed to help settle the nerves.

Brush your teeth early in the evening (with an ayrurvedic toothpaste preferable) to avoid the temptation to snack.

Morning

Make sure you scrape your tongue upon waking to remove toxins that have risen to the surface of the tongue during the night. (Who wants to swallow that again?)

Gargle with salt water after brushing your teeth.

Drink a cup of hot water with fresh lime juice (don’t boil the lime, add it after) before  you eat anything.

Chew a spoon of sesame or hemp seeds to stimulate the digestive system. (I have heard that uncooked rice works well too)

What you eat in the morning sets the energetic tone for the day. Try cooked quinoia, millet, muesli, plain yoghurt with nuts and seeds, or oatmeal. Sprouted grains, whole grains, they are all excellent. Recently I like cooked quinoia with sunflower seeds on top. Combinations are endless!

So, put that chocolate Easter Bunny away and let the body cleanse tonight!

My friend Tamara told me about the Good Stuff Connection Clothing Program in North Vancouver and I shop/donate there whenever possible. I was in the other day, when this book “Prescription for Nutritional Healing” by James and Phyllis Balch jumped out at me. It is a classic, well researched book that should be a part of everyone’s library. The price tag on it was $1.50, unbelievable. Snatched that one right up, and will be making a New Years donation to Sage Transition house next week. Here is some further information.

The Good Stuff Connection Clothing Program ensures that clean, good quality clothing, shoes, personal items and small household goods donated by the public are provided free of charge to women and children staying at SAGE Transition House and to men, women and children referred by other community social service agencies.  The Good Stuff Connection is funded by donations from the community as well as the sales revenue from the Thrift Shop portion of the program.

Donations currently being accepted include:  gently worn men’s, women’s and children’s clothing items and accessories, books, toys, and essential household items (such as towels, linens, glassware, cutlery, dishes, pots and pans).  Toiletry items for SAGE Transition House are also accepted, as well as bus tickets (two zone and concession), grocery gift certificates and entertainment gift certificates for the women and children who are staying at SAGE Transition House.

Donations are accepted Tuesday to Friday from 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm and Saturdays from 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm at the front door of The Good Stuff Connection, 154 West 3rd Street, North Vancouver, BC  V7M 1E8 (North side of the street between Lonsdale Avenue and Chesterfield.  For further information, please call our recorded message at 604.987.1773.  The Good Stuff Connection is closed on all statutory holidays

Escape Essentials, the blog post about key things I keep in my car created so many interesting responses, that I thought it would be fun to write one about my kitchen essentials. As a nutritionist there are certain things I couldn’t get by without. Here is a list:

Maple Syrup and Stevia as sweeteners ( I use Sunnydew by Sunrider) rapadura is good too.

Flax seeds (whole) sesame seeds ( I like black), Cashews, Sunflower seeds, Almonds, Dried Cranberries, Organic Cocoa (I like Camino)Brown rice, Quinoia (red is fun!), Tamari, Braggs Liquid Aminos, Oats, Dates, Miso, TVP (Textured vegetable protein)

Almond and Sunflower butter (cashew is yummy for a treat), Black Beans, Garbanzo Beans, Sprouted Bread (Ezeiekel or Manna), Amy’s lentil soup(baby loves it!),Coconut milk, Vegetable broth, Curry cubes (from the Japanese grocer) coconut oil, olive oil

Organic plain yoghurt, Umeboshi (Japanese plums), frozen blueberries, fresh kale and spinach, leeks, yams, fresh garlic and ginger, broccoli, apples, limes

Cinnamon, tumeric (fresh root and powder, the root is for juicing. So far I have only found it at Choices on Cambie, anyone else able to find this and enlighten me?) Cumin (seeds to grind with mortar and pestle) cardamon, coriander, 5 spice powder, mustard seeds

My essential Sunrider foods: NuPlus, quinary, Fortune Delight

my juicer, mortar and pestle, my lime squeezer……………………………………..

How about you?

Pass the Cranberries Please!

With the arrival of the Harvest Moon this past weekend, comes the anticipation of a Thanksgiving weekend here on the Canadian West Coast.

Whether you are opting for a traditional feast of turkey, potatoes, stuffing, gravy and brussel sprouts, going veggie with a Tofu-turkey, or even going Vegan this year, chances are you’ll still find a dish of rich, red cranberry sauce on the table. Don’t pass it up!

Cranberries, the bitter relatives of the blueberry and bilberry are high in V-C and uniquely designed to be the perfect companions to a rich, fat- laden Thanksgiving dinner as they aid the body in digestion and elimination.

When the liver is overtaxed and can’t keep up with the digestion of fats (like after a Thanksgiving dinner), cholesterol gets deposited into other regions of the body, including the circulatory system.

The bitter taste of the cranberry signals that the chemicals found in it are working on stimulating the liver and fat digestion. Since most of us eat too quickly, and Thanksgiving dinners are often social gatherings with a lot of chit- chat going on, chances are that food isn’t being properly chewed (32 chews per mouthful, I know, I know!) This causes partially digested foods to prematurely exit the stomach to the intestinal tract in great chunks, which will, ferment and cause constipation! (Ever found yourself rolling around on the floor moaning, after a Thanksgiving feast?)

This is where the super-hero cranberries come in; to stimulate digestion and aid in elimination through their laxative actions!

If that weren’t enough according to Chinese medicine our kidneys run more slowly during the winter months, and as fat-laden foods clog the kidneys, guess what? Urinary infections are a result!

People prone to urinary infections are most likely also suffering from chronic candida (a fungus) or may develop secondary yeast infections on top of bacterial urinary infections. The candida is countered through parascorbic acid found in the cranberries, which fights against fungal infestations. (yuck) Cranberries acidify the urine, contain an antibacterial agent called hippuric acid, and also contain other compounds that reduce the ability of E. coli bacteria to adhere to the walls of the urinary tract. Since E. coli is pathogen responsible for 80-90% of urinary tract infections (who knew?) the protection provided by cranberries is quite significant.

Interesting how the cranberry becomes ripe at the beginning of the cooler winter months, just in time to help us with this uncomfortable infection. One more sign that nature really does provide amazing natural healing remedies.

There are many cranberry products available on the market, but like always, it is “Buyer Beware”. Make sure you are buying pure cranberry juice and not “cranberry cocktail” as that is often just tasty sugar water which can actually worsen symptoms. Pure, organic cranberries and juice are available, as are cranberry extract in capsules at your local Health Food Store.

I discovered and joined Liberation BC at this years Epic Convention that was held at the new Vancouver Trade and Convention Center. The information and newsletters I receive are thoroughly researched and well written. With the concept of “Ahimsa”  (non-violence) in mind, Liberation BC educates and informs the public on animal , food and social issues. Since Thanksgiving is right around the corner they are holding their annual “Walk for Farm Animals ” on  Sunday Oct.4th , noon to 1.30 with a vegan Thanksgiving dinner and talk with Jon Camp of Vegan Outreach following. The walk will start in the park on the corner of 10th Ave and Fir street in Vancouver, BC.

All funds raised go to Farm Sanctuary, and last year with your help the walk raised over $5,500 to help them care for rescued farm animals and conduct their important advocacy work.  Learn more about it at  Vancouver WFFA page! 

This was last Sunday morning at about 9.30am at Goldie Lake up on Mt.Seymour. My friends and I headed up for a late summer hike and I highly recommend this lake loop. At first I had thought to take the trail toward the lookout bluffs (don’t know the exact name) it’s the popular snowshoeing trail. As I can snowshoe that one without a problem carrying little one on my back I figured it would be easy-peesy w/o snow, but I was sooo wrong. It’s all roots and rocks, NOT exactly what you want to be scrambling with a toddler on your back.
The trails that are the Seymour Snowshoe area were lovely, gave me a good dose of cardio without wrecking my knee or my ankles. And what better than a Sunday breakfast of freshly picked wild blueberries!

I discovered these bars this summer and they saved me many times. With kids often strikes and catches you offguard, and if your aren’t fully prepared with a nutritious , and tasty snack, things can turn very nasty. Especially if you are in a ferry or border line up. My toddler only has 4 teeth and my older daughter has some major food intolerances, but with Sunbars I was able to feed them both safely and quickly. They are made of herbs, flax, dried nuts, psyllium and asparagus root. Sounds like they taste bad, but are delicious. No wonder the Israeli Olympic team eats Sunrider foods for optimum health and nutrition!

Lets not forget that not all calcium is the same. Where is your calcium coming from and are you absorbing it?
This is the one my family chews, and we highly recommend.

Sunrider^® Cal^™ Tab

Using calcium mined from fossilized coral, chewable Sunrider^® Cal^™ Tab is a superior calcium supplement. It is formulated with concentrated herbal extracts, enzymes and Vitamin D₂ to enhance absorption.

Calcium is necessary for building strong bones and teeth.* Adequate intake of calcium may reduce the risk of osteoporosis. Regular exercise and a healthy diet with enough calcium helps teen and young adult white and Asian women maintain good bone health and may reduce their high risk of osteoporosis later in life. Calcium helps the nervous system work properly.* It helps muscles contract and blood to clot.*

A superior calcium supplement, Sunrider^® Cal^™ Tab contains calcium from a combination of carbonate, citrate and gluconate forms that is mined from fossilized coral for purity. Many other brands contain calcium from oyster shell, which may contain lead, mercury, arsenic or other heavy metals from industrial run-off. Each tab contains 250 mg of calcium, 25% of the recommended daily value.

skinny-bitch-book-cover1

I have to say that I LOVE this book. A friend had lent it to me, and I just didn’t feel like reading it. Thought it may be some kind of Hollywood Crap that I just can’t take anymore of. Quite the contrary, this book is more on track with “The Omnivore’s Dilemna” than with Paris Hilton. It is a basic, fact-laden, well researched book into why we should all abandon meat , sugar and dairy (slowly) and adopt a more planet/body friendly approach to how we eat.
“Skinny Bitch in the Kitch” is their cookbook, I made blueberry vegan pancakes for my kids just yesterday.
Hoorah!