Sunday in the forest

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Blessed are they who never read a newspaper, for they shall see Nature, and through her, God. ~ Henry David Thoreau

Island Adventures & Sweet Potato Fries

There is nothing more soothing to my soul than a long weekend trip to the west coast of Vancouver Island to explore the ruggedly beautiful beaches.

After a fun day exploring the PNW, sweet potato “fries” hit the spot.

Method

• Wash and slice two large sweet potatoes
• Arrange on baking tray
• Drizzle with olive oil, nutritional yeast and freshly ground pepper
• Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes

Enjoy

SOS Free Eating Plan

I discovered the SOS (salt, oil, sugar) free eating plan a couple of weeks ago and having been eating an oil, sugar (mostly) and salt free diet for the past couple of weeks and I feel amazing. Thus is a great cleanse to start
the new year off right.
There are a lot of studies that show most North Americans eat two or three times the healthy upper limit of salt consumption every day. What does this mean for our bodies? An increased risk of heart disease and kidney issues, and excess salt also ages you by slightly dehydrating the body.
Next on the avoid list is oil. Most of us have been taught that oil is healthy for us but nothing could actually be further from the truth. Oil is a very manufactured product that often includes chemically separating the oil from the whole food and it is also very susceptible to oxidation. So much better to get your fats from whole foods such as hemp hearts, avocado etc.
And sugar, I feel that we all know about the evils of sugar but, in case you don’t, I’ll dedicate an entire future post to what is wrong with refined sugar.
Eating SOS has also opened up a whole new world of delicious recipes.
Here is one: a turmeric and nutritional yeast covered roast potato dish with a cilantro, parsley walnut dipping sauce.
So healthy, so good.

Method – Potatoes

Wash 10 small, red potatoes and slice into quarters lengthwise. Dip in nutritional yeast, turmeric and freshly ground pepper mix.

Place on baking sheet and roast for 35 minutes.

Method – Walnut Dip

· 1 cup walnuts (soaked overnight)
· 4 Cloves Garlic Whole
· 1/2 Bunch Cilantro
· 1/4 bunch parsley
· 3/4 cup filtered water (add more if you prefer a thinner consistency)
· 1 tablespoon Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Enjoy.

Mountain Adventures & Black Bean Brownies

Hiking season is here. And after a long trek up a mountainside there’s nothing better than something sweet and delicious to treat yourself with.

This recipe hits both categories and is also really healthy, made with black beans and sweetened with maple syrup.

Black Bean Brownies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup black beans (equals one can)
• 2 T raw cacao powder
• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• pinch sea salt
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients, except chocolate chips, in a food processor and blend until completely smooth. Then add chips and  pour into a greased 8×8 pan.

Easy and delicious.

Intermittent Fasting Sleep Benefits

It’s my first week of intermittent fasting and I’ve noticed a few amazing things already. I am sleeping like a baby. Yes, a baby. I used to be a late night snacker. I loved being a late night snacker and most nights would have a peanut butter toast, a big handful of cashews, yogurt or potato chips, depending on my cravings, but then I almost always would have a restless sleep and then awake the next day exhausted. Have you ever eaten right before bed? It’s actually a very uncomfortable feeling. And I all of the work your system is putting into digesting food at night actually gives you an anxious sleep where you might not even go into REM, the restorative stage.

So, my number one exiting benefit of IF this week is sleep. I’m starting to wake up feeling pretty rested for the first time in a long time and it feels amazing.

The second benefit this week is that I’m actually paying more attention to my body and my digestion. It’s a bit shocking how little attention we pay to our bodies on a day to day basis. Especially during times like this were most of us have a baseline of higher anxiety and are prone to a little too much comfier eating.

Intermittent Fasting helps you really tune into your body and your digestion and allows you to nourish your self with our over eating or inducing I’m mindless comfort overeating. Personally, I really like the structure of feeding myself from 11am to 7pm and then just giving my body a break. IF is helping me stay healthy in unsettling times.

Staying Healthy during a Pandemic

Panic surrounding the covid-19 virus is spreading every day with the world slowly but surely shutting down, one service at a time. Panic buying of toilet paper, fights in wine stores and general hysteria seem to be prevailing.

In reality though, there are a lot of things you can do to stay safe and healthy and none of them involve stock piling TP in your home.

Staying calm, well rested, connected to friends and family, and nourishing our bodies should be priorities right now. Here are a few more tips to keep you healthy during this anxious time:

• Eat lots of fresh fruit, veggies and take your vitamins to keep your immune system healthy
• Don’t panic. Panic and anxiety are huge immune suppressors. Stay calm.
• Meditate. Do yoga.
• Wash your hands often and thoroughly.
• Walk in nature. Nature heals.
• Don’t completely isolate. Being part of a community strengthens our immune system and uplifts our mood.
• Do something nice for and elderly person or immune compromised person. They are the ones who are truly at risk.
• Refuse to live your life in fear and greed.

This too shall pass. Be balanced, care about others, wash your hands, do the elbow bump, and we will survive this beautifully.

I’m ending this post with a few photos from my morning nature walk. Nature will always calm, heal and rebalance.

Golden Glow Smoothie

There is nothing better than a walk through the pumpkin patch at the end of October.

And after picking the perfect pumpkin I can’t wait to get home to start making muffins, pies and smoothies.

This smoothie is one of my fall faves. It’s sugar free and full of skin beautifying antioxidants, turmeric and collagen.

Here’s the recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cashew milk
• 1/2 cup fresh pumpkin
• 1 banana
• 1 tsp lakanto monk fruit sweetener
• 1 scoop unsweetened whey protein powder
• 1 scoop vital proteins collagen
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Blend all ingredients together and enjoy this sweet smoothie that will make your skin glow.

Sugar Detox Challenges

I’m on sugar free day 7, feeling amazing and power walking around Vancouver’s beautiful seawall.

The first few days were rough, feeling low energy, foggy thinking and wanting to go home to sleep for most of the day. It truly felt like a typical detox from an addictive substance. Day 4 was better. And now I’m feeling really good and really energized. I’m also spending my spare time researching the effects of sugar on the human body. Did you know that the average North American eats 20 tsp of added sugar per day? 20 teaspoons!! Think about how much that is for a moment. And that’s not fruit sugar.

That’s cane sugar, high-fructose corn syrup and other refined, processed sugars. 20 teaspoons of sugar is not going to do your body good. That amount will mess with your blood sugar, your hormones and your mood. How can people be eating so much? Try checking the labels of pretty much any packaged food and you’ll find sugar lurking there in some form. Soups, salad dressing, condiments, drinks. There it is. So, before you know it, you’re consuming several teaspoons without even knowing it. I’ve definitely been scrutinizing labels the last week and it’s been an eye~opener.

Step one on a sugar~free journey: Read Labels

Food Combining

 I’ve recently tried food combining. I’ve been struggling with pesky digestive issues lately, and by lately I mean the past few years. So I decided to see if this method of eating would help my bloated belly feel better.

Spoiler alert! It did.

What is food combining? It is the belief that protein and starches digest at different rates and, if eaten together, cause a sludgy build up of undigested food in the gut. This build up can lead to an unhealthy gut, bad bacteria, disease and allergies.

There are a few major rules around food combining and here they are:

• Only eat fruit on an empty stomach, especially melons.
• Don’t combine starches and protein.
• Don’t combine starches with acidic food.
• Try not to combine too many different types of protein.
• Only consume dairy products on an empty stomach.

The last rule is to wait at least three hours ~ preferably four ~ between eating starch and protein.

This may sound like a lot of rules but food combining is relatively easy, and delicious, once you get used to it. And if you’re suffering from gut issues and their symptoms, it’s so worth putting the extra thought into your meal plans.

It can be as easy as eating that burger wrapped in lettuce “paleo style” or having your pasta dish with vegetable only tomato sauces.

The benefits of food combing is so worth the extra effort. Here are a few:

• Kick ass digestion
• Improved nutrient absorption
• Glowing skin
• In cases of overweight – weight loss

Who doesn’t want at least a few of these benefits?

Beach Yoga & Choco Energy Balls

Throwing it back this Thursday to last summer’s beach yoga. Practicing barefoot in the mud during low tide took me right back to happily playing in the mud when I was a child.

And what is summer all about if not keeping your inner child happy?

Another thing that keeps my inner child happy is chocolate. Here’s a grown-up, healthy and vegan chocolate snack that will make your inner child smile and do your body good:

Choco Energy Balls

• 1 cup raw cashews
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup raw cacao
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup