Sunday, May 30, 2010

Eco-Party

This week has been one of those crazy crazy crazy weeks. After a short but amazing weekend getaway to NYC, and a long LONG flight home (we left 12 hours late because American Airlines oversold the flight), it was a week of catch-up. An intense schedule of patients, a board of governors meeting and CCNM graduation on Friday (congratulations Claire!), all made me so grateful the weekend came quick. Thank goodness for some frozen soup in the freezer (thanks mom!) and a wonderful husband who did some key fruit and veggie groceries!

It was also one of those weeks where I heard or read the same story 4 or 5 times which of course made me want to blog about it. I had a new patient this week that was referred by another one of my patients (SM) who has really embraced healthy living. She told me about an eco-party that my patient hosted earlier this year that really taught her a lot and opened her eyes to options.

8 friends all went to Toronto's Green Living Show for the day and then went to SM's place where she made quinoa (no one had tried it!), they then made all-natural cleaning supplies and soap, and then everyone got a little goody bag with some ground flaxseed and information about healthy living. How amazing! This is truly an inspiring party that anyone can imitate!

I also picked up the June issue of Tonic, a healthy monthly paper always filled with great tips and stories. One of the stories was how to throw a green party. Their tips were a little different - most of the tips being about how to throw a eco-friendly party like sending evites instead of paper, using veggie or herbs to decorate, using soy and beeswax candles instead of paraffin and planning a local and organic menu.

Happy party planning!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Fiddleheads

Too scared to try eating ferns? The fiddleheads in grocery stores right now are still fresh. Buy and eat them soon as the season is closing up.

Friday night I wanted to make some pesto (Parsley Pesto from page 88 in Delicious Detox) but didn't have quite enough parsley. The only other green thing I had in my fridge that was a potential addition was a bag of fiddleheads that I bought a few days earlier. So I carefully washed the fiddleheads, brought a pot of salted water to a boil and then cooked the fiddleheads for 10 minutes. I dumped them in ice cold water afterwards so they would preserve their beautiful green colour and set them aside. I then turned my attention to the parsley pesto. I processed the garlic, sea salt, and walnuts and then added the parsley I had and half of the fiddleheads (1 cup) I just cooked. I whizzed it around and then slowly added the olive oil. Beautiful.

I ended up putting the pesto on 2 fillets of rainbow trout (yes it's fish fridays at our house!) and then sauteing the rest of the fiddleheads with a red pepper and leftover broccoli, added some dried thyme and parsley and bam - dinner was done and was a hit!

Fiddleheads need to be thoroughly washed and cooked completely before eating. They can be used in any recipe where asparagus is used as they are quite similar.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Spinning into Electricity Grid

Love this. I love this because I used to be a spinning instructor and can appreciate how difficult it is to motivate people to get on those bikes and keep spinning hard to get a great workout.

I read about this in the Globe and Mail earlier in the week and just remembered I wanted to check it out. So this company, Green Revolution Inc., has created this technology to attach to spinning bikes that creates electricity to feed back into the spinning facility! The company's mission is to involve people in the process of creating clean renewable energy from human activity. Now while people are getting a great workout, they can also have a positive impact on the environment by creating clean electricity that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps to connect a healthy body with a healthy planet.

Can you imagine if the class participants weren't working hard enough during the workout and the lights started to flicker and shut off? Ha!

You can always check out the following link for more info:

http://www.spinning.com/spinning-instructor-news/2010-2-2.asp

Wellpath Clinic - Muskoka Location and Delicious Detox

There is a clinic in Toronto (Avenue and Bloor) that opened up in September 2008 that just opened up a new location in Port Carling that I had to share. The website is great... very informative, simple and easy to read and professional. Two naturopathic doctors are available for a variety of services - Dr. Porter and Dr. Campitelli.

http://www.wellpathclinic.com/page/locations/Muskoka/

If you scroll down the events in Port Carling you'll see that I'll be doing an appearance in Port Carling with my new healthy cookbook - Delicious Detox. The date is still tba but keep checking!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Misdiagnosed Food Allergies and Global TV

My home page on my laptop is the NY Times Health section. So every morning I get to the clinic, make my green tea, and turn on my laptop to take a quick glance at the health headlines. (Yes I love routine!)

Yesterday I glanced at the following headline on a study that came out saying alot of food allergies are misdiagnosed: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/health/research/12allergies.html?ref=health

Funny enough Global did a story on it so came to the clinic to get a few thoughts:
http://www.globaltoronto.com/video/index.html?categoryID=1051988478

Essentially I agreed with the story. I do find a lot of people come in and say they are allergic to milk or wheat or corn etc... however in reality these people probably have food intolerances or sensitivities. If a food allergy occurs, symptoms would be swollen lips, or itchy throat or lips, or a feeling of throat closing - an anaphylactic response. Food intolerances or sensitivities express themselves in a variety of ways that may include: heartburn, bloating, headaches, joint pain, etc.

Sometimes I will do a IgG Blood Spot test at the clinic to see what foods the person is reacting to, causing a food sensitivity. This just involves a quick finger prick test and 96 potential foods are tested. Alternately I will do a food challenge or elimination diet to see which foods may be causing a problem.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

New Blog to Follow: Shelley Gibbs

Last night my colleague and good friend Shelley Gibbs, went out for dinner to Raw Aura in Mississauga. The raw restaurant catered my Christmas Zawada Health party and I've been a couple times on my own and have never been disappointed. Last night was no exception.

Normally on a restaurant menu I wouldn't even dare look at a 'mac n'cheese' item but since the 'mac' was zucchini and yams and 'cheese' was a cashew nut concoction I decided to go for it! Shelley had the lasagna which was mostly zucchini noodles with the same cashew 'cheese' and a walnut pesto on top. The lasagna is one of my faves. We finished off the meal with a lemon avocado cheesecake which was nice and light.

We were talking about tweeting and I told Shelley I would be an awful tweeter because I am so long winded but I thought she would be great because she always has something smart to say or sarcastic and has some great little one-liners. Anyway she informed me she's been doing a blog... so I just checked it out and of course I'm not surprised that it is wonderful. Great info Shelley!

Check it out: http://shelleygibbsnd.wordpress.com/

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

I Love My Sister and This is Why!

This is going to be a strange blog post but I had to share. If anything I'm sure anyone reading this will get a good laugh. This is an email copy and pasted straight from my sister Angela. I sent her a copy of my cookbook, Delicious Detox a few weeks ago and she has finally set aside the time to do the exact detox outlined in the book. She was determined to follow the 14 day meal planner and the accompanying grocery list.

We talked on the phone earlier today and she was excited about going to the grocery store. So I asked for her to email or call me after her grocery shopping so I could get her thoughts on the way I organized the shopping list and to see if there were any difficulties. Ang has probably done 3 or 4 detoxes in the last 5 years under my guidance but being a busy busy woman she usually defaults to plain brown rice and quinoa, basic chicken and fish, and easy stir-frys.

So here's the email... it is her running commentary at a grocery store out in Edmonton with my cookbook in hand and some of her suggestions.....

"Start time - 3:10pm- started with veggies and fresh herbs. Felt all over the map in the grocery store :) Wondered where I should start. I should've brought a pen to check things off the shopping list (mental note for next time) Oh and suggestion Carol- please make a tear out list next time!!

Hhhhmmmm what does a ripe acorn squash look like? There's some really green and some
with lots of yellow?!?

3:20pm and I'm in produce isle... Wondering if Delicious Detox is going to make me
broke? Good I just got paid but maybe I should've went grocery shopping before my
lululemon adventure at the mall today! I feel like I'm on a scavenger hunt hahaha.

What's the difference between english cucumber and non english?

3:30pm - veggies and fresh herbs complete and my shopping cart is full... Should've
started with heavier stuff first so I don't squish my spinach, maybe put that as a
side note in your book hee hee! Moving onto fruits! I'll skip
lemons as I have a lot at home. Oh no... No fresh blueberries... Blackberries are in season so I'm getting those instead - a little modification!

3:40pm - done fruits moving onto nuts! Raw vs blanched? I don't know u tell me?!?!?
I'm stressed I don't want to mess up! Yes! I have flaxseeds at home! Save money
and time ... Check!

Oh whoa.... I almost picked up a jar of nutella instead of tahini. Ha! Gotta watch that... Carol wouldn't approve.

Whole black pepper vs whole black peppercorns? Is there a difference? Don't worry I got peppercorns but just want to know!

3:55pm- pantry done now all that's left is proteins and whole grains! What's
amaranth? I'm going to have to ask someone. I should've went to the other grocery store because they have a health food section and this one doesn't -- this isn't going to be a one stop shop for this detox ...Mental note that too!

The lady now tells me that rainbow trout doesn't come in fillets because their so small ... Really? I told her my sister made this cookbook so she should know!

Ok so I asked and they don't carry adzuki beans or amaranth ... the guy has never
even heard of them ... hmmm and this is a big grocery store wow ... I wasn't going
crazy but not a fan of this not being a one stop shop!

4:20pm- Ok I'm done and now to the check out! Stay tuned! Would've taken my a lot less time but I had to email going through the aisles!

oh wow surprise surprise I picked the correct day to come because it's 10% tuesday
YES YES YES this is the greatest news ever! Ok that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed my play by play."


Hilarious. I love it. She has such an amazing zest for life and has kept me laughing over the years. I could feel her stress going through the grocery store. Doing a detox isn't easy and it does take a lot of preparation. But this short term pain in getting proper groceries and having a stocked pantry and prepping some foods will bring such great rewards. Doing this will save her the daily stress of not having foods around or meals prepped or being hungry. Ang has set herself up for success! This was a great reminder for me on what the majority of people go through when I put them on a detox. Love you Ang!!!