Sunday, April 17, 2011

Another Delicious Detox Review By Colleague!

It's been a busy weekend. Friday I did another Delicious Detox seminar; this time in the newest of the Goodness Me stores. The Waterdown store is a beautiful spot and the 50 or so people that showed up for the talk and cooking demo were fantastic.

Saturday I saw patients at the clinic and then crashed at home with Chris where he made a delicious tomato sauce with kale for some brown rice pasta.

Today we went out for breakfast at one of our favourite spots in our area - Mitzi's. A cute little spot on Sorauren Avenue in Parkdale where I had some tasty scrambled eggs with fresh dill and sundried tomatoes. Palm Sunday at Church and then this afternoon flew by as we were prepping for my sister's visit. Cleaning, groceries, baking some cosmic cookies from the Planet Organic cookbook..... mmmmmm.

And last but not least I was reading this issue of The Pulse and found a colleague's review on my cookbook. So nice to read and hear how people are enjoying the recipes. Thank you Elmira Francinelli, an ND who practises in Woodbridge!



Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Artichokes Into a Stir-fry

Last night we made a quick stir-fry of veggies to go alongside our Crunchy Chicken Nuggets (from Delicious Detox). What started out as a quick mix of fennel, peppers, asparagus, and some olive oil, S+P, and red chili flakes turned out to be a wow mixture with just a fancy little addition of artichokes. This is a great reminder of how your fridge does not need 5 bottles of prepared stir-fry sauces from the grocery store that contain sugar, salt, and preservatives to make a tasty dinner meal.

I had a bought a jar of artichokes on the weekend with the intention of making some halibut with an artichoke sauce and decided to throw a few in at the end of the stir-fry. Sometimes I'll do the same thing but with sun-dried tomatoes.

Artichokes are definitely a veggie that I would love to use more -- too bad they are so much work to cook! From time to time I'll buy frozen artichokes or a jar of artichokes in olive oil. They are super liver friendly which is key for the Spring. They stimulate bile secretion and are included in many digestive tonics. They are wonderful to help lower cholesterol levels and help support the liver from alcohol damage. The latin name is Cynara Scolymus.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Le Scandinave Spa

Sometimes it's nice to remember that we don't have to take a flight to escape and relax for a weekend. We are so fortunate to have so many great things to see and do in our own backyard. Last weekend was one of those weekends. We booted up to Collingwood for Saturday and Sunday to relax and check out Le Scandinave, a spa in the middle of the woods!

If you have come to see me as a patient and you have had a cold or sinus congestion you probably were prescribed cold wet sock treatment, a simple hydrotherapy technique to increase flow and decrease pain. I love hydrotherapy as it really matches my philosophy in how I practise Naturopathic Medicine: back to the basics. So at Le Scandinave after a nice massage, Chris and I trekked outside to the waters. They have 3 hot pools ranging in temperature from 102-104 degrees and then 3 cold 'plunge pools' ranging from 56-58 degrees. So we would sit in a hot pool for 5 minutes then plunge in the cold for a few seconds and then go to one of the 3 relaxation rooms where we would sit for 15- 20 minutes just sitting in silence and reading magazines. There was also a eucalyptus steam bath and a sauna that we rotated through.

Everyone was very respectful of the silence and the goal of relaxation. No talking, no blackberrys... it was lovely. Great spot that we'll for sure go back to and enjoy.

Chris was giving me grief though because although I was good to do these hydrotherapy baths I wouldn't let us do the traditional banya in Moscow or St. Petersburg 4 years ago when we had the chance. We spent HOURS looking for these damn baths in the confusing streets in Russia and after we finally found them and walked in I chickened out. Maybe the yelling in Russian and the neon signs scared me off. Next time!