Green Juice Feast Day

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Well I certainly didn’t plan on a juice feasting day, but that is what seems to be what’s happened.  It’s time to kick this fight against my sinus infection into high gear anyway.  Bring on the greens!

This morning, Yuri made over 2 L of green juice to take to U of T Soccer Training Camp.  However, the green juice didn’t make it to training camp.  I ended up drinking at least 1 L and it was so good that I just made another Liter!  It is just amazing how much nutrition you can pack into your day when you include green juices.

To top off my efforts to kill this sinus infection, I finally bought some apple cider vinegar (organic, unpasteurized, with the Mother).  If you’ve got sinus issues, get some apple cider vinegar and add 2 TBSP  to a glass of water, several times a day. You will instantly enjoy some nasal draining!  I am contemplating adding some ACV to water and throwing the mixture into my Neti pot, but I’m still working up some bravery to run vinegar through my nose!  I made the mistake of trying hydrogen peroxide in the neti pot…DON”T DO THAT IT BURNS and apparently can do some damage!  Rookie move on my part.

Today alone, I have personally consumed the juice of:

1 bunch of dill

1 bunch of parsley

1 1/2 apples

5 carrots

1 1/2 bunches of swiss chard

2 heads of celery

1 lemon

2 inches of ginger root

1/2 a cucumber

Shocking, isn’t it?  I bet I have eaten more vegetables today than most North Americans get in a week or even a month!  I am officially back on the green juice train.  This baby is going to come out green!

Here is the recipe for my new favourite juice.  Let’s call it the…

Dill-Inspired Green Juice

1 bunch dill

3 carrots

1 apple

1 bunch swiss chard

1 head of celery

2 inches of ginger root

Juice all ingredients and enjoy approx. 1L of amazing green goodness!

A Pregnant Woman’s Natural Cold Cure. It’s Your Cure too!

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I am sick.  Not with morning sickness, but with a cold. The kind that sits in your throat, your nose, your head, and your ears.  The mucus is so thick and disgusting that I can barely breathe. And I can’t taste anything at all.

One of the toughest things about being pregnant is being sick.  Your immune system is slightly relaxed due to your little  angel of a parasite and little things can get you down.  In my case, I think I ate one too many toasted tomato sandwiches.  I’m sensitive to wheat, but I gave into the cravings anyway and now my body is rebelling.  Fear not body, I will be nice to you from here on in. Most of the time, anyway :).

Many people believe that whole grain bread is healthy, and while it’s better than white bread, if you’ve got a wheat sensitivity, it’s all the same.  It’s a heavily processed food, so it’s not something you should be eating every day like most North Americans do.  Toast or cereal for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, and pizza or pasta with garlic bread for dinner ring a bell?  And it’s not just wheat that can make you sick.  If you eat too many processed foods and not enough fresh foods, you will tip the balance in favour of sickness.  Sickness is your body’s way of saying “HEY!  Give me some respect please or I’ll MAKE you!”

Now, that being said, what do you do when you get hit with a freight-train-type cold? Here is my personal, natural cold remedy.  It is good for pregnant, and non-bun-in-the-ovens alike.  This is something that everyone should do when they come down with a cold.  You don’t need to run to your pharmacy and load your self up with unnecessary drugs.

The Plan:

1. Drink plenty of water. Water helps flush out your body, and keeping it well hydrated will allow your body to get things done.  Add a bit of lemon to help flush your liver.

2. Lay off the wheat and the dairy and other processed foods. Get rid of them completely if you can at least until you feel better.  Wheat and dairy are the most common allergens and since you’re body’s immune system is already compromised, consuming these foods only hinder it further.  These foods are acidic and therefore not health promoting in the slightest.  That being said, lay off the beer too!  If you are concerned about calcium, go get yourself some kale, broccoli, and swiss chard.  Some of the world’s biggest animals are solely leaf eaters.  There’s a reason they don’t drink milk.

3. Increase your anti-oxidants. Eat plenty of colourful fruits and vegetables in their raw state.  These foods hold the building blocks that will help you overcome any sickness and build a healthy body.

4. Exercise. I know it’s hard to exercise when you feel awful, and walking from the couch to get the remote knocks the wind out of you, but you’ve got to move.  The best exercise tool I know of for this situation is the rebounder.  Lightly jog on the spot on a rebounder to get the lymphatic system moving.  Put on your favourite music and dance while jogging.  15 minutes a day is a fantastic place to be.  Have three 5-minute sessions if it’s what you need.

5. Use a neti-pot. This delightful contraption can be used in conjunction with sea salt (less than 1/4 tsp) and warm water.  You tip the water into one nostril, and tilt your head so that the water runs out the other nostril.  Daily use of a neti-pot when you are in good health will keep your body’s first line of defense (your nasal passages) free and ready to defend your body!

6. Drink ginger tea. The easiest and best way to make ginger tea is by cutting up an inch cube of ginger into small pieces, and letting it steep in a french-press (traditionally used for steeping coffee).  Ginger is not only effective in relieving morning sickness, but it has many positive effects on the digestive system.  It is useful in the treatment of colds and flu because it is an anti-inflammatory and a natural pain killer.

For those of you who are NOT pregnant, I will add taking a few drops of oil of oregano each day and eating a clove of chopped up raw garlic each day to your regime.  These are potent disease killers, but are not recommended during pregnancy.

Well, it has been 24 hours since I started taking my own advice. I can breathe, my headache is gone, my ears have very minor to no pressure in them, and my throat is clear of mucus and doesn’t hurt anymore.  I can taste my food better and by tomorrow or tonight even, I should be tasting 100% of my food.  I used the neti-pot twice yesterday and had about a liter of ginger tea.  I used the neti-pot again this morning and rebounded for 15 minutes.  So far I have eaten a banana, an apple, 2 cups of spinach, 2 large tomatoes, and plenty of water with a bit of lemon today.  Things are looking up.  As soon as reinforcements arrive, I’ll be making a green smoothie with apples, banana, greens, ginger, lemon, and water.  Yummy!

Things to do and NOT to do When You’re Pregnant.

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Alright, hopefully this is going to be funny, and not completely sad.  Here are a few things I have learned in the last few weeks about being pregnant:

1.  You may hike “but not on uneven terrain or at high altitude”…so you may NOT hike?  Confusing.

2.  Don’t leave the house without eating and/or packing a 5 course meal.  You will get sick.  Very, very sick.

3.  A waffle with ice cream is not an acceptable dinner for baby.  Baby will make you throw it up.  5 times.

4.  Drink plenty of water…like GALLONS of water…and eat tons of fruit and veg.  If you don’t, bad things will happen in the pooping department.  Trust me, bad things happen when you drink gallons of water AND eat tons of fruit an veg.  So you can imagine…

5.  Schedule naps or you’ll be at the will of narcolepsy.

6. Don’t jump up from a seated position.  Sudden movements will lay you flat on the floor until your vision comes to and the blood reaches your head.

7.  Don’t downhill ski, no matter how much you want to.  Only uphill skiing is acceptable behaviour at this point.

8.  Don’t jump or dive into pools due to the high risk of this behaviour.  Oops…

9.  No bicycling on wet pavement.  At least it doesn’t say anything about motorcycles.

And last but definitely not least,

10.  Don’t try on your skinny jeans.  You will cry.  For that matter, don’t even try on your fat jeans or you’ll cry harder.

Eggs Florentine with Potato Latkes

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Today I think I really outdid myself.  I made the best eggs Florentine I have ever produced.   There has been a lot of trial and error over the years and this is the best hands down which is why I have to share it!

I love to make gourmet meals, especially homemade gourmet versions of meals that scare me in restaurants, because you never really know what’s in them!  Take Hollandaise sauce for example.  In the restaurant I work at, ingredients include MSG and some other pretty nasty stuff.

For example, Knorr brand Hollandaise sauce mix that you can buy at your local grocer lists the following as ingredients:

Modified Food Starch (Corn, Potato), Maltodextrin, Wheat Starch, Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Whey Protein Concentrate (from Milk), Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Lactose (from Milk), Fructose, Salt, Citric Acid, Onion Powder, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Guar Gum, Spices (Including Paprika), Turmeric (for Color), Caramel Color, Natural Flavor, Garlic Powder.

I mean, SERIOUSLY?  What the hell is that stuff?  Is it even “food?”  Guess what the ingredients are in a classic Hollandaise sauce? Water, egg yolks, butter, and lemon juice.  Four ingredients, none of them artificial.  FOUR natural foods – not EIGHTEEN chemicals!

Eggs Florentine with Potato Latkes (serves 2)

Classic Hollandaise Sauce

  • 2 tbsp water
  • 2 egg yolks
  • ½ cup butter, melted
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice

Place a mixing bowl on top of pot of barely simmering water.  Make sure the bowl is not submersed in water. The idea is to “steam cook” the Hollandaise.  Place 2 tbsp of water and 2 egg yolks in the bowl.  Mix with whisk until mixture becomes thick.  Then slowly add the melted butter while stirring constantly.  When mixture is combined and thick, slowly add the lemon juice while stirring.  Set aside.

Other Ingredients:

  • 2 large handfuls of spinach
  • 1 handful of feta (optional)
  • Green onion for garnish, diced

You can use a steamer to cook the spinach. Alternatively, put a bit of water in a non-stick frying pan and place a lid over top and steam it that way.  Once spinach is cooked, place it on a plate covered with paper towel until ready to use.

Set feta and diced green onion aside until ready to assemble Eggs Florentine.

Potato Latkes

  • 2 medium Yukon gold potatoes
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tbsp gluten free all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • Pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil for frying

Dice the onion and grate the potatoes, placing them into a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients (except oil) and mix well.  You may have to add more flour depending on how wet the mixture is.

Separate the mixture into 4 equal portions and heat oil to medium-high.  As you get ready to place the potato pancakes in the oil, squeeze out any extra moisture.  Make a pancake shape and carefully place them in the pan.  Fry until golden brown on both sides, turning as little as possible.  Once done, place them on paper towels to drain.

Poached Eggs

  • 4 eggs
  • 2 tbsp white vinegar
  • Pot with roughly 2 inches of barely boiling water

Poaching eggs is an art.  It has taken me a long time to learn to poach the perfect egg, so be patient and don’t worry about perfection at first!  I break my eggs, one at a time, into a small bowl and slowly pour them into the boiling water.  I find this way easier than breaking an egg so close to boiling water because this way I don’t burn myself!  And, the fresher your eggs, the better they poach.

Place your pot on the heat source and add the white vinegar.  When the water is just boiling, turn the heat down to medium (or whatever your barely boiling temperature is).  Add the eggs, one at a time to the water.  Once in, take a wooden spoon and carefully move the egg white over the yolk.  Hold for about 10 seconds.

By the time I have my 4 eggs in the water, it is usually time to take the first one out because I like my eggs runny.  I think they’re in the water for 3-4 minutes at this point.  Using 2 wooden spoons, I take each egg out and place them in one small bowl.  This way, they stay warm while you are putting together the rest of the ingredients.

Putting It All Together

Place 2 potato latkes on each plate.  Cover with spinach and optional feta.  Place one egg on each mound and spoon over Hollandaise sauce.  Garnish with green onion.  Serve!

Final Notes

This recipe takes some time management skills at first.  I generally make the Hollandaise first, and set it aside.  I then steam the spinach and make the potato latkes.  While the Latkes are frying, I start the poached eggs (using the water used in making the Hollandaise sauce) and set the eggs aside while the potatoes are finishing.

“Eggs Benedict” recipes traditionally use English muffins as a base, but my objective is always to use as many whole food ingredients as I can. Enter the potato.  Once you have tried these potato pancakes you will be addicted! Obviously, frying them in oil is a nutritional “no-no” but sometimes you’ve got to take one for the team, right?



The Greatest Health Tragedy: “I feel fine.”

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Today I have been thinking a lot about health, and I have come to the realization that there is nothing more detrimental to our health than feeling pretty good.  My diet is pretty good, but it can could certainly be better.  I feel good, but I could feel better.  The problem with having no major health concerns is that you can get away with eating processed foods because you feel fine. Sooner or later, your diet will catch up with you.

I was raised eating crap.  It’s not my parent’s fault.  I’m not blaming them. I’m not blaming anyone.  They didn’t know any different.  Blame never solved anything and it never will.  If you blame anyone for anything, do yourself a favour and just let it go. Your parents may have been responsible for you once upon a time, but at some point the torch gets passed.  The responsibility and the blame become yours.  You and I are 100% responsible for our health.

Why do we not value our health as we should? Why is it that we’ll only pay attention to what we put in our mouths when we’re ill?  Assuming we are fortunate enough to realize that what we put in our mouths affects our health.  Some people go through chemo while eating a highly processed diet (hell, they serve Jell-o in hospitals!  WTF?) and end up in the grave without ever being told that what they eat matters.  It matters a whole lot.  You are what you eat.  Everyone has heard the saying but they don’t know it. You are what you eat.  Read it, absorb it, know it, and abide by it damn it.

It’s really hard to get around food marketing and the impact it has on us.  Companies spend billions of dollars finding out how to get us to buy their crappy dead foods.  The food industry is hunting us.  If food conglomerates were vampires, we’d be the weak humans who get glamored and eaten alive. But what good is a car, a house, a closet full of clothes, or a family when we’re gone? Fight the food corporations. Eat your fruit and veggies.

The more I think about it, the less I want to feel pretty good and the more I want to feel amazing.  So although I am feeling pretty good having the occasional coffee and treat added to my otherwise healthy diet, I want to perform these behaviours less and less because I want my excellent health to continue as I age.  I don’t want to hit a wall – ever.

As the year ends and I make my resolution for the next, I’ve decided to take even more responsibility for my health. I’m not going to wait for the new year.  I’ve already started.  I started to improve my health 3 years ago, so why stop where I am?  There is always room for improvement.  It’s very simple.  Improve your health one decision at a time. My latest healthy decision occurred just a few days ago when I bought tons of loose-leaf organic tea.  No more coffee in the house.

What’s your next healthy decision going to be?

Boosting my Immune System

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I’m not getting a flu shot. There is no way anyone is sticking me with a needle and injecting who-knows-what into my system.  Instead I choose to focus on eating well and cleanse my body so it can better handle any antagonist it faces.  Knock on wood, but I haven’t been sick in a few years except for a few brushes with food and alcohol poisoning.  Hint: a hangover = alcohol poisoning.  I rarely drink alcohol these days.

I’ve started using Chinese medicine to cleanse my liver. I’ve been using the product for about a week now, and I have already noticed improvements in my skin.  My hands have been rough and dry for as long as I can remember, and they are starting to heal and finally have some moisture in them.  If this rate of healing keeps up, in another week or so I should have soft hands!

Skin is a mirror of organ health. If you have unhealthy skin, your internal organs are in need of a little love and care.  Eating fresh organic fruits and vegetables are great for the liver, but you’ve also got to eliminate all the substances that make the liver sluggish like alcohol, cooked fats, coffee, and refined foods.  Foods that keep your liver healthy are foods that keep your entire body healthy.

Back when I was in high school, I was aware that my skin had a yellow tint to it.  I didn’t know then, but yellowing of the skin is a sure sign that the liver is in trouble.  My skin is now a very healthy colour and I know that my liver is doing much, much better.  It may have something to do with the fact that I drank copious amounts of Diet Coke back then.  Now I drink more water than anything else, and Diet Drinks never pass my lips.  I’ve still got some bad habits that I need to work on, but learning the truth about aspartame made me quit consuming it that second. I like my nerves, my eyes, and my brain a whole lot.  I never mess with aspartame any more and I know my liver is very happy about that!

Running in the Rain.

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This morning I went for a 50 minute run with my boyfriend in the rain. When the going got tough I wanted to stop.  I was getting bored and mentally I wasn’t in the game anymore.  Then I realized that this time last year I ran a half marathon without training (don’t EVER do that by the way) and I was able to push myself for the last 10 minutes.  Mind games can make us or break us.  Don’t let your mind chatter get the best of you.  Step out of your comfort zone and show that mind chatter who’s boss!

This is why I love yoga so much.  All I do for the entire class is focus on my breath. I breathe as deeply as possible for an hour and all my muscles have to do is follow the voice of my instructor.  Rarely do I ever start to question the work being done and rarely do I think about quitting.  I find if I just breathe the rest takes care of itself. However, if I start thinking too much and lose the breath I get into trouble.  I think about quitting.  I think about how difficult the pose is, and I think about laying on the floor in Savasana – corpse pose.  There is nothing better than Savasana!

So today when I ran and my mind chatter took over, I returned to my breath and kept on running. Deep breath in and slow breath out.  Over and over. It’s amazing what the mind can do when you push it.  If I had been un the middle of another half marathon I would have finished it, no problem.  But when you aren’t running with thousands of other people, it’s hard to stay motivated.  But each one of you has the ability to keep on strong.  Keep with your breath, keep calm, and carry on.

Living Allergen Free is a Lifestyle.

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Today was a day filled with pears and barley grass. I ate pears when I was hungry and drank a liter of barley grass in-between.  We buy powdered barley grass juice and mix it with water.  It’s a bit intense if you’ve never drank greens before, but I’ve been drinking it for years now and I actually love the taste.  Yes, it tastes like drinking grass.  Yes, I know I am strange.  Barley grass is highly alkaline and such a good treat for the liver.

I really don’t miss all the highly allergenic foods I used to eat.  My diet has been improving over the last 3 years, but in the last month alone it has improved by leaps and bounds. For instance, I tried some “healthy” soup from can yesterday that my boyfriend bought for a video shoot.  Nothing from a can can really be healthy, but it depends on where you are with your diet.  If you eat tons of processes crap you may like the taste of a healthy can of soup. There was really nothing wrong with this particular soup.  It was full of vegetables and the ingredient list was alright, but the taste was awful.  I haven’t eaten anything processed in over a month now, and my taste buds have changed so much that the soup tasted like nothing.  The vegetables didn’t taste like the organic vegetables I eat every day.  The soup had texture; nothing else.  If I’m going to have soup, I’m going to make it myself.

Now, when I bite into a crisp organic royal gala apple, I am in flavour heaven.  No two apples taste alike. They are all so different, so flavourful and intense.  It’s something I never noticed until I started eating more of a whole foods diet full-time.  Royal gala apples are so sweet.  I love them and I could eat them every day.  I pretty much do eat them every day.

The one treat I like to have is pure, dark maple syrup. I’ll mix it into my almond butter energy bar concoction and I make it a little sweeter than I should.  It’s my treat and I make sure I have a treat every day.  Sometimes I’ll stray, but never too far.

Today we went to Lit Espresso Bar to do some work.  I had a soy latte with some dark chocolate.  Since my entire diet is based on whole foods, I don’t freak out on myself if I have a stray treat here and there. Now, please note that I rarely have soy and I don’t recommend it to anyone due to the heavy phytoestrogens it contains.  It just happens to be my current, personal vice.  I think the only tho things I have left to give up are coffee and chocolate.  If I give up coffee, I pretty much give up soy and chocolate at the same time. They are a package deal.  I know I don’t do well with caffeine.  Caffeine is next to go!  I’ll give myself a month to weed it out.

I do abide from some pretty stiff rules all the time: no wheat, no dairy, and therefore, no diarrhea! A few days ago I found some amazing berry tea that I’d choose over a latte any day.  The trick to quitting a bad habit is to replace it with a healthier habit that makes you happier than the initial one. I don’t think why it makes you happier matters, just so long as it does.  That loose berry tea is the best tea I’ve ever had, and if I meet anyone for “coffee” you can be sure I am going to take them to that place!

If you have food allergies, focus on the foods that you can have. It won’t do you any good to pine over old foods that make you sick.  Focus on fresh fruits and vegetables.  Keep a long list of foods that you can eat handy, and stock your fridge with those foods too.   Hang out with people who support the way you eat.  It’s going to be pretty hard to eat allergen-free if you’re hanging out with your friends in a bar!

Allergen-Free Diet: Day 2

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Day 1 of my self-imposed challenge did not go so well. I didn’t have time to shop and had to survive on bananas and peanut butter through the day.  Neither of those foods were on my “Perfect” list, but I still consider the day a success since I didn’t eat and dairy, wheat, soy, or corn.  Dinner consisted of a garden salad with a 3 oz rib eye steak and organic acorn squash.

I have included meat in my diet once again to see if I can balance my iron levels and clear up the last of my eczema.  All meat that we consume is organically and locally raised at pasture.  I still have the moral dilemma that comes with eating a living animal, but I am starting to lean toward the hunter gatherer diet as one that suits both my mind and my body best.

I enjoy experimenting with my diet and I’m a firm believer in food as therapy.   Time will tell if meat is in my diet to stay.

Day 2 of my challenge is shaping up nicely. We just received our local organic food delivery and there are plenty of fabulous fruits and vegetables at my disposal.  Breakfast consisted of a smoothie made with bananas and almond butter and lunch consisted of a few pears.  I’m not too hungry today, so dinner will likely be a large salad!

Allergen-Free Diet for 30 Days.

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I have multiple severe food allergies. If I eat wheat I get intense abdominal pain and gas.  If I eat pineapple my mouth will bleed.  Anything with yeast or sugar makes me itch instantly all over.  I haven’t drank milk in years, and if I did I would almost certainly have instant diarrhea.  I am so grateful for coconut milk ice cream!  Coffee makes the skin on my fingers swell, split and bleed within half an hour.  I guess you could say that for these reasons and more I study nutrition faithfully.

I stay away from these things most of the time, but for 30 days I want to commit to eating an allergen-free diet, catered specifically to myself.  We are all sensitive to the foods we eat to a certain degree. None of us have the same allergies, but you can bet that the foods you eat the most often are likely food sensitivities.   Most people eat the same foods day in and day out.  And most people are sensitive to these 5 things: milk, wheat, sugar, corn, and soy.  I am sensitive to the first 4, but for estrogen-dominance reasons I try to avoid soy as well.

Without going into too much detail, your body can come to crave the foods to which you are sensitive and those  foods can become drugs on which you are dependent.  Take coffee for instance.  A few days without your morning java and you could have yourself a nice little detox headache for 24-72 hours. If you are curious, go cold-turkey.  I had mine for a solid 48 when I stopped regular caffeine consumption.  You might as well add coffee to the common allergen list above at #6.  And if you eat bananas every day, your body can become sensitive and dependent on them too.  The same rules generally apply.

This is why I want to give my body a break.  I want it to heal substantially.  I want to feel even more energy on a daily basis and I want to identify the foods that are holding me back.  To aid my quest for optimal health, I will use my food sensitivity screening as my guide. This test uses your hands to complete an energy circuit and give you detailed information on how your body reacts to food.  It’s not expensive.  I believe mine was somewhere in the $120 range.

From my test I learned that there are:

118 foods to which I have a severe intolerance

34 foods to which I am moderately intolerant

16 foods to which I am mildly intolerant

And 139 that I am perfectly capable of eating!  Finally, some good news.

My method of attack in this 30-day challenge is to stick to the list of foods I can enjoy. I glanced over the list of foods I need to avoid, but there is no need to dwell on things I am not supposed to eat.  Mangoes were a surprise.  But then again I reacted to organic mangoes after my 31-day water fast back in 2007.  Mango skins gave me a rash and I was in denial.  My body knew back then that it didn’t want to eat mangoes.

As I look over the list again, there are no big surprises and nothing I can’t live without for at least 30 days, and I’m kicking off the challenge right now with a tall glass of high quality H2O 🙂  I will keep you posted as to how things are progressing – the ups, the downs, the meals, etc.