One of my most beloved products is my Strawesome glass straw.  Drinking a smoothie or water through this straw makes it go down much easier, it’s eco-friendly (minimizes nasty toxins in landfills and your body) and let’s be real, slurping is fun!

Strawesome is a fabulous company who hand-make all their glass straws!  In all my dealings with them, they have proven to have outstanding customer service and a lifetime guarantee against accidental breakage!  How cool is that?

I’ve teamed up with Strawesome to host a giveaway of 1 decorative Strawesome glass straw! 

How to enter:

1. Leave a comment below telling me your fav smoothie or drink  to sip with a straw.

2. For additional entries, do the following and come back here and comment below:

• Follow me and Strawesome on Twitter
• Like me and Strawesome on Facebook
• Blog about the giveaway and link back here

Deadline for entry is Friday, January 20th 2012. Contest is open to US and Canada only.

Note – Recipient of Strawesome glass straw may not receive straw as shown above.

Vitamin C is an essential water-soluble vitamin that is super important for the growth and repair of tissues in the body, helps us make the protein collagen, helps in wound healing and repairs and maintains bones and teeth.¹ That’s a pretty important job!

This fab vitamin also acts as an antioxidant, meaning it helps prevent oxidation of water-soluble molecules that could potentially create free radicals in the body which contribute to aging and the development of serious health conditions.²

Because Vitamin C is an essential vitamin for humans we must obtain it from dietary sources. Foods that are high in vitamin C include bell peppers, strawberries, tomatoes and of course, citrus fruits such as oranges and lemons. Another great source of Vitamin C is a fruit from the Amazon region called Camu Camu berry which recent studies show as a source of antioxidant phenolics.³ Camu camu has a deliciously tart taste and is available in powdered form.

While studies dismiss the belief that an increase of vitamin C could the risk of catching the common cold, this vitamin does produce a positive immunological response to help fight bacteria and viruses; not to mention is beneficial for a host of other health concerns.⁴

Vitamin C Boost Smoothie

Ingredients

2 tsp Camu Camu Berry Powder
3 cups orange juice, freshly squeezed
1 cup mango, frozen
1/2 cup strawberries
1/4 cup goji berries, soaked
1 scoop vanilla protein powder, (I used Vega Sport Performance Protein) 
2 tsp chia seeds
1 tbsp flax oil

Directions

1. Soak goji berries in 1/2 cup of water for 20 mins to help soften them.
2. Combine all ingredients, including goji berry soaking water.

Post featured on Tera Warner’s website.

References
1. “Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid).” University of Maryland Medical Center. 2011. 18 Dec 2011. http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/vitamin-c-000339.htm
2. Haas, Elson M. Staying Healthy with Nutrition. New York: Celestial Arts, 2006.
3. Chirinos R., Galarza J., Betalleluz-Pallardel I., Pedreschi R., Campos D.  Antioxidant compounds and antioxidant capacity of Peruvian camu camu (Myrciaria dubia (H.B.K.) McVaugh) fruit at different maturity stages (2010) Food Chemistry, 120 (4), pp. 1019-1024.
4. Haas, Elson M. Staying Healthy with Nutrition. New York: Celestial Arts, 2006.

One of my favourite pantry staples is apple cider vinegar.  Made from raw, unpasteurized apples it is traditionally made by fermenting freshly pressed apple juice for four to six weeks at room temperature.¹  A bacterium called Acetobacter is usually used for the fermentation.²

Some of the minerals in apple cider vinegar include; potassium, magnesium, phosphorus and calcium. ³  Other benefits of ACV are;

• Vinegar may help lower glucose levels and was found to lower glucose levels of people with Type II Diabetes in a 2007 study.⁴
• There is initial evidence that vinegar may help slow down the rate at which our stomachs pass food along to our intestines which means better control of our blood sugar when eating high carb meals.⁵
• Can be used as a toner for the skin.  Use 1 part apple cider vinegar to 10 parts water to dilute and apple to clean skin.
• According to the book, Folk Medicine by Dr D. C. Jarvis, two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar and a teaspoon of honey in a cup of water can treat chronic fatigue, headache, obesity, insomnia, kidney inflammation, sore throat and arthritis. ⁶
• Although it is acid, in the body it has an alkalinizing effect.
• My favourite way to use ACV is in salad dressing.  Make a simple vinaigrette; 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1/2 fresh squeezed lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.  Mix and serve.

Do use caution with apple cider vinegar, undiluted it can damage the esophagus and other parts of the digestive tract as well as tooth enamel.  Undiluted apple cider vinegar should not be applied directly to the skin.  It can interact with various drugs and if you have any health concerns you should contact a medical practitioner before use.⁷

References
1. Wood, Rebecca.  The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia.  New York: Penguin, 2010.
2. Mateljan, George.  The World’s Healthiest Foods.  Seattle, WA: GMF Publishing, 2007.
3. Mateljan, George. The World’s Healthiest Foods. Seattle, WA: GMF Publishing, 2007.
4. "Apple Cider Vinegar.”  WebMD. 19 Sep 11. 11 Jan 12. <http://www.webmd.com/diet/apple-cider-vinegar?page=3>
5. Mateljan, George. The World’s Healthiest Foods. Seattle, WA: GMF Publishing, 2007.
6. Wood, Rebecca. The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia. New York: Penguin, 2010.
7. Wong, Cathy.  “Apple Cider Vinegar.”  About.com.  15 Sep 11.  11 Jan 12. <http://altmedicine.about.com/od/applecidervinegardiet/a/applecidervineg.htm>

Over the holidays, on December 28 2011, I lost my beloved best friend Tig.  She got sick very suddenly and rapidly and she and I spent hours in the pet emergency hospital on Christmas Day but sadly she was not getting better.

This entire process took a lot out of me physically and emotionally.  Not having my furbaby with me rips at my heart every single day.  I was never even a fan of cats until I got Tig eight years ago and we’ve been an inseparable pair ever since.  Everyone who met her loved her sweet disposition and she was most content getting her chubby little belly rubbed. 

I have experienced death throughout my life – pets, strangers, family.  I have experienced pain too.  But I can tell you that all of those experiences, even if you were to add them up do not even come close to the pain I feel for this loss.  There are lots of people, maybe more than I thought who don’t understand the loss of a pet.  To “animal people” pets become family and you share a bond like no other.  This loss really taught me a lot about people too.  Some were there for me and shared in my sadness and helped me pull through.  Sadly and surprisingly some who I thought would be were actually not that empathetic at all.

I think I really lucked out when I got Tig. She was like a teeny child that would follow me everywhere.  Tig would constantly have to sit on my lap, across my stomach or want to be picked up and held like a baby. She would lick my hands and headbutt me and needed constant attention. 

What I have learned most about this ordeal is the concept of unconditional love and I learned that from Tig.  I hope she knows, where ever she is, that she taught me more than I can ever express and there is a piece of my heart that will carry her with me where ever I go.  All my cat ever wanted was love and attention and to be surrounded with happiness. And I think we can learn from that. Tig really had it right all along; give love to get love and kindness will get you everywhere.

My wonderful and intelligent friend, Ashley was recently quoted in Hello Canada saying “Chocolate happens.  Wine happens.  Pizza happens, too.  We want to learn to incorporate those things in a healthy way, rather than feel we’re depriving ourselves.”

I really love this quote because there seems to be an idea that being healthy is about all or nothing and it’s not.  We need to change this to think moderation, not deprivation.  Healthy living does not mean giving up booze or never getting fast food again.  It simply means that we need to view these as items we consume occasionally and not as part of our every day diet.

A few weeks ago when I was at work there was a bag of chips left open, free for the taking.  I got myself a bowl, filled it up and proceeded to walk back to my desk.  Along the way, some coworkers stopped me and said “Dani, are you eating chips?  I didn’t think you ever ate anything bad.  Are you going to self-implode?”  The fact is I’m human, sometimes I eat chips and sometimes I like them.  And I didn’t self-implode nor did I feel guilty or bad.  Would a better choice have been an apple and almond butter?  Sure,  but sometimes it’s fun to eat junk food.  So I ate the chips and made sure I had a good dinner.

Food is meant to be enjoyed and in moderation, we can eat a bit of junk food and it won’t be the end of the world.  In my opinion, I think that it can be just as dangerous to be too healthy as it is to be too unhealthy.  We don’t need the pressure, it creates stress and unhappiness.

So whether it be your glass of wine, chocolate bars or my personal weakness, cookies; pick your poison and enjoy it sometimes but not too often!

When I made Joy’s Chocolate Chip Quinoa cookies, I fell instantly in love.  These cookies are easy to make and full of my favourite healthy ingredients.  After making quite a few delicious batches, I decided I’d add my own twist.

Oatmeal Walnut Raisin Quinoa Cookies
inspired by Joyous Health

Ingredients
4 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup cooked quinoa (I used red quinoa in above photo)
1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup quinoa flour (*optional)
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup raisins

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a large mixing bowl, mash bananas with a fork and add sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla.  Stir until combined.
4. Add cooked quinoa, shredded coconut, rolled oats (and flour if you are using it) and mix well.
5. Add walnut and raisins.  Stir mixture until combined.
6. Roll mixture into balls, flatten and lay out on cookie sheet.
7. Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool.  Enjoy with a cool glass of almond milk.  Keep cookies refrigerated.

*Note – The flour is optional because when I was putting together this recipe I, like an idiot wasn’t paying attention and left the flour out!  I didn’t realize it until I pulled them out of the oven.  They turned out very nice and moist, adding flour will make them a bit more dense but equally delicious.

Cheeky I know, but soaking your nuts as well as seeds and grains can help improve the digestion and assimilation of the nutrients in these foods.

Nuts, seeds and grains contain phytic acid (or phytate), the principal storage form of phosphorus in many plant tissues, especially the bran portion of grains and other seeds as well as in tubers and trace amounts in certain fruits and vegetables.¹

While phytic acid does have some beneficially properties, phytic acid also has some concerns as discussed further below.

Up to 80% of the phosphorus-a vital mineral for bones and health-present in grains is locked into an unusable form as phytate.²  When we ingest more than small amounts of phytate from our food, the body will bind calcium to phytic acid and form insoluble phytate complexes resulting in a lose of calcium and unabsorbed phosphorus.³  Ingesting phytic acid can also impact the absorption of other important dietary minerals in the intestinal tract, such as magnesium, iron, zinc and chromium.⁴  All which are necessary for a healthy body.

Traditional societies usually soak or ferment their grains before eating them; processes that neutralize phytates and enzyme inhibitors and in effect, predigest grains so that all their nutrients are more available.⁵  By soaking and sprouting or cooking grains, nuts and seeds you are lowering the phytic acid content making the nutrients available to the body.

Phytic acid is not all bad though.  It is a well-known antioxidant, can help balance blood sugar levels, decrease plasma cholesterol and triglycerides and chelating heavy metals.⁵

Try soaking you nuts and seeds over night before eating.  If you have a dehydrator, the soaked nuts and seeds can be drained, rinsed and dehydrated to make them hard and crunchy again.  Soak grains and pseudo-grains like quinoa and buckwheat overnight and add a piece of kombu when cooking to add minerals to the grains.  Take note if your digestion improves from soaking.

References
1.  Nagel, Ramiel.  “Living With Phytic Acid.”  Weston A. Price.  26 Mar 10. 7 Jan 11.  <http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/living-with-phytic-acid>
2. Nagel, Ramiel. “Living With Phytic Acid.” Weston A. Price. 26 Mar 10. 7 Jan 11. <http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/living-with-phytic-acid>
3. Nagel, Ramiel. “Living With Phytic Acid.” Weston A. Price. 26 Mar 10. 7 Jan 11. <http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/living-with-phytic-acid>
4. Mateljan, George.  The World’s Healthiest Foods.  Seattle, WA: GMF Publishing, 2007.
5. Mateljan, George. The World’s Healthiest Foods. Seattle, WA: GMF Publishing, 2007.

Greek yogurt has become increasingly popular in the fitness and healthy living communities, Chobani especially.  I was recently contacted by the company to review some of their products because of their Canadian launch and I was certainly eager to learn more.

The first question out of my mouth was “does this dairy come from factory-farmed cows?”  I was assured by Chobani’s PR company that the dairy used in their Greek yogurt come from free-range cows  from carefully selected dairy co-ops and while they are not certified organic, the dairy does not come from factory-farmed animals.  Alright, bring on the samples! 

I tried pomegranate and a friend had black cherry.  It was thick and delicious without being overly sweet.  I really enjoyed the taste and the serving size was just enough (comes in individual 6 oz cups and larger containers.)

So what’s the deal with Greek yogurt anyway?

In Greece and the surrounding Mediterranean countries, Greek yogurt is not called Greek yogurt but strained yogurt.  It was brought to North American by a Greek company and voila, Greek yogurt.

It is made by extensive straining removing most of the liquid whey, lactose and sugar giving it its thick consistency.  This process also cuts the amount of sugar while increasing the amount of protein.  Pretty fantastic.

Here’s the catch.  North American society has a fear of fat.  We think fat makes us fat.  Which is not true but we’re scared if we consume fat we’ll gain weight.  So what do we do?  We remove the fat from our foods.  And because we remove fat, we need to add sugar for flavour.  So it is important to read labels to learn how much sugar you are consuming.  Chobani sweetens their yogurts with evaporated cane sugar which is less processed than refined white sugar, however it is still an added sugar.  If I were to purchase this again, I would probably opt for the full-fat plain yogurt to reduce the sugar.

Chobani’s PR company also confirmed that “natural flavours” is their technical term for the essences and concentrates that are separated from the real fruit during preparation.

Visit Chobani’s website for information on where to purchase their products.

References
1. Prasso, Sheridan.  “Chobani: The unlikely king of yogurt.”  CNNMoney. 30 Nov 11. 6 Jan 12. <http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/29/smallbusiness/chobani_yogurt_hamdi_ulukaya.fortune/index.htm>
2. Haupt, Angela and Kurtis Hiatt.  “Greek yogurt vs regular yogurt: which is more healthful?”  U.S. News Health.  30 Sep 11. 6 Jan 11. <http://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/diet/articles/2011/09/30/greek-yogurt-vs-regular-yogurt-which-is-more-healthful?PageNr=1>

Love my Mother but dang the woman cannot make a bowl of oatmeal to save her life.  Growing up I thought oatmeal was suppose to be the consistency of thin, watery soup (think prison food.) It wasn’t until I was 9 and visiting a friend when I learned that a good bowl of oatmeal “should be thick enough to stop a bullet” as the commercial saying goes.  Eventually I learned to fend for myself and make oatmeal on my own, thick and hearty and not the least bit soupy.

Oatmeal is quite popular among the athletic crowd and you’d be hard-pressed to pick up a fitness magazine without finding a recipe featuring rolled oats.  This is because oats are an excellent source of complex carbohydrates and soluble fibre which promote slow digestion and blood sugar stability. 

Different types of processing produce different types of oat products including¹:

• Oat groats: unflattened kernels that are good for using as a breakfast cereal or for stuffing
• Steel-cut oats: featuring a dense and chewy texture, they are produced by running the grain through steel blades that thinly slices them.
• Old-fashioned oats: have a flatter shape that is the result of their being steamed and then rolled.
• Quick-cooking oats: processed like old-fashioned oats, except they are cut finely before rolling
• Instant oatmeal: produced by partially cooking the grains and then rolling them very thin. Oftentimes, sugar, salt and other ingredients are added to make the finished product.
• Oat bran: the outer layer of the grain that resides under the hull. While oat bran is found in rolled oats and steel-cut oats, it may also be purchased as a separate product that can be added to recipes or cooked to make a hot cereal.
• Oat flour: used in baking, it is oftentimes combined with wheat or other gluten-containing flours when making leavened bread.

Some interesting oat facts:

• Contain a form of dietary fibre called beta-glucan which has been found to help lower cholesterol levels.²
• While they do not contain gliadin, the gluten protein found in wheat, barley and rye, they do contain glutelin which may cause allergic reactions in some people.³  While they are technically gluten-free there may be cross-contamination in the growing and manufacturing process so unless explicitly labelled gluten-free, they may be contaminated.
• Seeds can be sprouted and fed to cats as “cat grass.”
• Can be used as an oatmeal bath, grind up 1 cup of oatmeal to a fine consistency and add to a tub of warm water.  Is known for soothing dry or irritated skin and has a calming effect on the mind.
• Are a good source of the B vitamins thiamin, riboflavin and B6 and the minerals calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc.⁴

Awesome oat recipes:

• Baked Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal
• Cherry Chocolate Bomb Vegan Overnight Oats
• Pumpkin Seed Oatmeal Cookies
• Savoury Steel-Cut Oats

References
1. Mateljan, George.  The World’s Healthiest Foods.  Seattle, WA: GMF Publishing, 2007.
2. Mateljan, George. The World’s Healthiest Foods. Seattle, WA: GMF Publishing, 2007.
3. Woods, Rebecca.  The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia.  New York: Penguin, 2010.
4. “Oats Nutrition.”  Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board. Date unknown. 3 Jan 12. <http://www.hgca.com/content.output/561/561/Food%20and%20Nutrition/Nutritional%20Information/Oats%20Nutrition.mspx>

I think it’s safe to say quinoa is no longer a fad and is a staple for many of us, myself included.

But honestly, I was pretty bored of the plain ol’ beige coloured kind and decided to get a bit crazy and try red quinoa.  The results were delicious.

The nutritional profile does not differ that much from the standard quinoa but red quinoa has a nuttier taste and nicer texture.

Red Quinoa with Spinach, Apple, Cranberries, Walnuts and Goat Cheese

Ingredients

1/2 cup red quinoa, cooked according to directions
1/2 apple, chopped (I used a delicious Honeycrisp)
1/4 cranberries (fresh not dried, sure they’re tart but cranberries are supposed to be)
1/2 cup spinach, chiffonade
2 tbsp walnuts, chopped
goat cheese (I used about 1/4” round and chopped it into cubes)

Dressing

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp raw honey
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of cumin

Directions

1. Assemble all ingredients into bowl and mix.

2. In separate bowl, combine dressing ingredients and whisk.  Add dressing to quinoa mixture, mix again.

3. Divide and serve.