Happy World Vegetarian Day!

October is a busy month, food wise!

It is October Unprocessed (join me and take the pledge!)...Fair Trade Month...Non-GMO Month...and Vegetarian Awareness Month! And you thought you were busy...we are supposed to find time to actually eat this month, too!

Today is World Vegetarian Day, the kick-off to Vegetarian Awareness Month. I have been a vegetarian (with occasional "I am going to be protein-starved unless I eat this fish" lapses) since 1996. Over the years, my approach to eating has continuously evolved. As a teenager, I loved telling people all the horrible things about the meat they were eating...as I downed veggie dogs and candy. I got over the militant phase pretty quickly; it doesn't make you the life of the party. I also realized that taking a militant approach to vegetarianism was another form of violence - which I was trying to reduce in my life. Soon after I became a vegetarian, I started doing a lot of reading on yoga and Buddhism which solidified my thoughts on this path. Next stop in my vege-morphosis was the I-can-eat-it-as-long-as-it-has-one-veg phase. My early years in university were a steady stream of Annie's Macaroni and Cheese with a big pile of broccoli on top.

I would like to say that I had some grand conviction that led me to vegetarianism. In reality, my mother and I didn't eat a lot of meat to begin with (is it a girl thing?) and I really wanted to impress the saxophone player in my high school band. There. I said it. Oh, the days when you actually did things to impress a boy. 

I digress...

Vegetarianism still holds conviction for me: I believe in minimizing harm to living things, including our impact on the earth. I also believe that a plant-based approach is a healthier one. However, now I realize that it is not all-or-nothing. Each positive choice is a helpful one. And vegetarian-at-all-costs is not a winning formula to me. I strive for a whole plant-based approach. A life of white bread and veggie dogs is not kind to your body or the planet. Of course, into every life a little cheesecake must fall...

So today, on World Vegetarian Day, I wanted to send out a little love to all the plant-based peeps out there...the vegetarians, vegans and even the flexitarians. Here is wishing you peace, love and veggies for the month ahead. And for those of you that don't feel that a vegetarian diet is right for you...just through a little extra broccoli on your plate. It will do a body good.

PS...my newest book for Choices Markets, Beyond Broccoli: Plant-based Nutrition, will be out in the stores on Wednesday. I brought in some amazing collaborators such as Brendan Brazier, Dreena Burton and Brenda Davis RD. I hope you like it!

Happy World Oceans Day!

Did you know that today was World Oceans Day? I had the extreme good fortune of starting the day at the Vancouver Aquarium's Yoga with Belugas event so I thought I would share a few photos from the day...

The stars of the show! Beautiful Belugas.

 The class was taught by Eoin Finn, legendary Vancouver yogi and passionate ocean lover. If you don't know about Eoin, check out his website. 

Getting cozy, just like sardines in the ocean!

The event was a fundraiser for Ocean Wise and Sea Choice and it was a sellout! There was such a positive vibe in the room and everyone was in awe of the beauty of the whales.

Myself (2nd from left) and the amazing crew at Ocean Wise

 I had the honour of representing Choices Markets, who put on an amazing healthy and organic breakfast featuring sustainable salmon lox from the Okanagan Nation Alliance.

The beautiful, organic spread we served from Choices Markets

I hope you all got a chance to celebrate today! If not, venture out this weekend and spend time by the ocean if you are lucky enough to live by one. If not, consider choosing sustainable seafood, buying biodegradable products or create a personal way to show respect and care for this most precious resource.

Eat...to find YOUR Healthy Weight

In my day job, I get to do a lot of cool stuff and this month is no exception. 


I am proud to announce (shameless plug!) that I wrote a little weight loss plan for Choices Markets, our first ever, called Find YOUR Healthy Weight. 


Before you go doubting my intentions...this is no fad diet. Find YOUR Healthy Weight is all about getting off the diet roller coaster (a familiar theme around here, n'est pas?) and eating whole food, plant-based diet to help you normalize your weight for life. Included in the book is a workout plan designed for us by Innovative Fitness, a 7 day meal plan, grocery shopping lists and 25 recipes to help get you started. The book is just $11.95 at your local Choices Markets. 


We are also hosting an unprecedented amount of programming at the stores to support you on your path to health: nutrition tours, dietitian consultations, a weight loss club and seminars. 


You can learn more in our newsletters and at the Find YOUR Healthy Weight home page.


If you want to hear me speak about finding YOUR healthy weight, you can do so at the following times and locations:


Thursday, January 5 7PM Choices Markets Kelowna 
Monday, January 9 7PM Choices Markets South Surrey 
Thursday, January 12 7PM Canadian Memorial Centre for Peace West 16th Ave @ Burrard
Tuesday, January 17 7PM Choices Markets at the Crest (Burnaby)


All seminars are $5 at the door.


Good luck to you as you make 2012 your healthiest year yet!
Desiree

Eat...Kale!

Lovely Photo by Melissa Quantz!

To give you a little inspiration for your kale fest this week, enjoy this recipe by my friend Melissa, The Bounty Hunter....Be sure to check out her blog for more great recipes and beautiful photos!

Recipe: Wholegrain Spaghetti with Kale and Turkey Sausage

Chicken or Italian pork sausage work well too, be sure to get the best quality you can.  I like to use the kale stems as well as the leaves, but feel free to remove them and save for soup. 

Note from Desiree...our sausages at Choices Markets are all made in house and feature no added preservatives, MSG or other nasties...give them a try!

Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 lb turkey sausage, casings removed 

1 large bunch kale, washed and cut into bit sized pieces (any variety)

3 cloves garlic, minced

Couple pinches dried chili flakes

¾ lb whole grain spaghetti or your preferred shape

2/3 cup chicken stock

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus a little for garnish

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil.  Blanch the kale in the hot water for 2-3 minutes, until bright green and tender.  Remove with a slotted spoon and drain.  Use this water to cook your pasta.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the sausages and cook, breaking them up into small pieces with a spatula, until browned, about 10 minutes.  Add the garlic and chili flakes and sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, when the reserved cooking water is boiling, add the pasta and cook until al dente, see package for cooking time.  Somewhere between 8-12 minutes for wholegrain pasta.  Drain, reserving ½ cup cooking water.

While the pasta cooks, add the kale to the sausage in the skillet and sauté for 2-3 minutes.  Add the broth, stirring and scrapping the brown bits from the pan. 

Add the cooked pasta and parmesan cheese and toss until combined.  If a bit dry, add a little of the reserved cooking liquid from the pasta.

Serve with a fresh grinding of pepper and another sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

New Year...New You!

It’s resolution time again…whether your goal for the New Year is to lose weight, learn to sail or finally get that promotion, your body is the vehicle for all of your ambitions. So how are you fueling that body? Busy lives can leave nutrition on the back burner, as we mistakenly think that any food that fills our belly will help us get to the finish line. If you find yourself constantly relying on takeout and “instant” meals, soon you’ll be running on empty. Good food is the foundation of good health and a healthy body has the energy to help you achieve all that you want out of life.


I am all about the UnDiet...so much so that I created a special 10 week plan for Choices Markets, where I am the Nutrition Operations Manager when I am not at home with a little bambino! You can check out the Choices Markets "New Year, New You!" Program on their Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/ChoicesMarkets where each week you will view a new challenge. It is a great plan to get a jump start on the New Year (if I do say so myself)...and then continue you can continue the success each week back here on my blog with a full year of UnDiet!

To help you reach your goals, Choices Nutrition Team is offering informative seminars throughout the month of January and personalized nutrition consultations by donation in Vancouver, White Rock and Kelowna. Look for more helpful resources in store and at www.choicesmarket.com/nutrition.

A Local Table...in stores now!

Here it is folks! I am officially (self) published....A Local Table: the Choices Markets Cookbook launched at Choices Markets and Cookworks yesterday. It has been a labour of love over the past six months and it is amazing to finally see it in print. I hope you all love it!

The cookbook features 98 recipes by Choices Markets' executive chef, Antonio Cerullo. Antonio comes from an Italian fine dining background but he is a bit of a cowboy when it comes to food. No matter what we throw at him, from tofu to gluten free, raw foods to reinvented Italian classics, his flair for creating simple yet elegant and delicious meals that anyone can create makes his monthly cooking classes at our White Rock store pretty popular!

A Local Table reflects what Choices Markets is all about  - there is something for everyone! Many of the recipes are gluten free and there are plenty of meal ideas for the vegan, vegetarian or meatarian in your life. Each recipe is colour coded according to diet suitability and comes with nutrition facts to help make diet planning a snap, just in case you're counting calories....I prefer to count sheep, myself!

What makes this cookbook unique is that not only is it about local foods but it also focuses on what is local right where we live, here in BC. The recipes are divided amongst the seasons -yes, you really can eat local in February! To help prove it, our wonderful friends at Farm Folk/City Folk provided us with their Get Local Metro Vancouver map and they even created an Okanagan calendar for us too! So if you live in Kelowna, you can crack open our book and see that in November, you can get local cauliflower and garlic to make a curry. In Vancouver, you might take advantage of the local potatoes and leeks to make a soup to ward off the rainy days.

We have featured 4 amazing local farms in BC and other local businesses who are making healthy and sustainable food for our family tables. I have also written a section on sustainable nutrition that talks about how each one of us can help to reduce the carbon foot print of our meals every day.

If you are in the Lower Mainland this weekend, join us at Cookworks on West Broadway (near Granville) on Saturday, November 21st between 11:00AM and 4:00PM for our launch party or attend our Cooking Class at our White Rock store on Monday November 23rd (call the store to pre-register).

A Local Table is just $19.95...with $5 dollars from each book to Farm Folk/City Folk!

Let me know what you think of the book...and get cooking!
Desiree