Making Love in the Kitchen

Sit through the storms, for the sunshine and rainbows will follow.

Have you noticed this yet? Have you noticed that even when you think that thing that happened is the worst thing ever in the whole world to ever have happened, you might also be able to find the most unbelievable thing that came from it? That’s what this line of the creed is about. Things happen, and they are icky and sticky and crazy tough at the time, but no matter what, you will learn something, if you want to, and if you look hard enough, you will see the bright spot, you will find your grace and be grateful.You know the phrase “in a perfect world…” or “in an ideal world…”? We use it all the time. Here’s the thing, my little coconut, this is the only world we have. Yes that storm cloud is going to come by once in a while and dump that rain (usually in the form of disaster, crisis, upset, disappointment, illness, pain and struggle) all over us right after we’ve put on our best new party dress. Does this mean then that there is no point getting dressed up? Of course not!

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Written by Brent Bishop, a sweet, sweet member of Meghan Telpner’s Superhero Posse. He is our Superhero KickAss Fitness Trainer. 80% of all New Year’s fitness resolutions fall short of completion. What makes such a large number of people quit so early and what is it that keeps those who are committed from dropping off? It all lies within finding your internal trigger – your Think Factor. Read on to learn how to make this year your fittest year yet using tips and tricks from the trade on sticking to your fitness goals. Many people go about exercise in the wrong way. If you are approaching exercise for the mere reason that you know you ‘have to’ do it, chances are you will become another New Year’s resolution statistic. You cannot maintain motivation without being inspired. Motivation through inspiration is an important concept that if embraced purposefully, pushes you to seek out activities that inspire you; therefore keeping you motivated and attaining results. Not only should your goals be realistic for your current fitness level and lifestyle, they should also be tangible. If you are just starting out or just getting back into a routine, try starting with 30min or more of exercises 2-3x/week instead of trying to commit to a 5-6 day exercise week. You can always ramp things up as you develop some momentum and consistency. Remember to have a game plan; in order to do so you need to know where you are at – so get a fitness evaluation to set some benchmarks then map out your plan before you get going.

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We often hear from peeps who tell us they are going travelling but haven’t a clue what they’re going to eat. That’s one kind of problem. I choose to go places where I can’t decide what I am going to eat. In Hawaii- I didn’t make a choice. I just ate it all! It has been a long time since I have adventured somewhere brand shiny new. A whole new environment to explore and loads of crazy weird fruits to eat! I figure pictures say loads and so I will just share some of the best delectables! Honestly- if this were available where I lived, I might actually turn into a fruit platter! Enjoy the show!
Every morning started with cutting up the market finds. I’d either make us smoothies, or a fruit plate and pack some up for our day out.

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I told you I had a Thai inspired New Years feast. This dish was the shining star of the night- next to me of course. (Joking. Only joking). Thai food had once been my extra super favourite in the whole world. It was also one of the first things I knew I couldn’t eat anymore. The last time I had Thai food from a restaurant, I was doubled over in such horrible toot cramps that I swore I would never eat it again. After doing the research I needed to do to create this recipe, I now know why. I knew that Thai food was loaded with sugar, but holly smokaroondles, I didn’t know there was that much sugar. Seriously. The combo of vinegar and sugar is a perfect recipe to create the biggest toot bomb to ever be ballooned in the belly… not to mention suspect fish sauce. Not to worry my Thai food lovers. I am here for you. I have you covered with this gem. Last week when we rocked the mango salad, I talked about my (now embarrassing) discovery of Sambal (seriously- how did you all know about it and I didn’t), so I thought I’d share some info on another ingredient that I have had before but never bought before. This one will for sure be knew to a few of you… at least I hope so.

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It almost seems to me that these creed topics come up at some kind of exactly perfectly timed moment. I am going line, by line, in the order to which they appear. But somehow- it’s always just the right one. Yesterday, I had an appointment with a personal shopper at Anthropologie to pick out my ensembles for my book shoot that’s happening next week. Colour was the theme of the day, let me tell you! My parents had me in montessori school for pre-school. Part of the philosophy of the school, if you’re not familiar, is letting kids find their own way and their own path. Part of this means that parents are encouraged to let their kids pick out their own outfits. And did I ever!
I remember so incredibly clearly, walking into my parents room, my face barely coming up to the edge of their bed and modelling my latest ensemble for them, asking “Does this go?”. It never did, but looking at old photo albums, it is clear that my parents just lied to me and said “you bet!”. I can remember being asked by a boy in my class in grade three or four, why I had so many barrettes in my hair. I used to try and wear as many hair accessories as my little head of hair could withstand. I wore tap dancing costumes to school as my outfit of choice, and believed it a personal flaw if I ever had the same article of clothing as someone else. Wearing clashing, ridiculous, colour combos seems to have been born and bread in me. It’s just more fun that way. (And you’ve met my dad, right? Genetic maybe?)

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We’re busy bees in the kitchen today- or more accurately, on our computers as we manage your Q’s with our A’s and all the deets and registrations for our Fab Detox. Yep. It goes on sale today at 10:00am EST and we have just 45 spots available. We sold out on our pre-registration in just 24 hours and we expect the same to happen today. Remember- $79 when you buy today, up to $89 if you hum and haw and wait until tomorrow (and there may not even be any left). Back in November we sold out in a crazy five hours! Now, on with the show. I cooked up a storm for our New Year’s eve dinner with three amazing brand new recipes that I will be sharing soon. For now, though, I will share a little post-holiday detox juicing loving. This drink is a treat and a half whether you are in post-holiday recovery mode, ready to get started on your Fab Detox adventure or just want some new smoothie or juicing inspiration.

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Isn’t that a picture to start the year off right.

Those are my feet. They obviously don’t always look like that. usually they are rather nice, I think. Clean, small, evenly coloured. These are my feet after an 8 mile, 7 hour hike in the Northern paradise of Kauai.

As much as I would love to deliver you a fresh new detox loving recipe on our first day back at it in the New Year, the truth is that I have nothing for you. I’ve been on holidays and before that I was finishing my manuscript. Without any kind of excuses, I am telling you that I haven’t got a single new recipe to share. Wowza- how’s that for pressure? I probably will tomorrow though…

Today, with our first day back at it, what we are talking about is the WORST DISEASE there ever was.

This is the disease that keeps you from getting sh!t done, that keeps you from chasing your dreams, that keeps you from being your best, your healthiest, your most amazing. This disease is epidemic. We like to blame the symptoms of the disease like not having enough time, or space, or love or money. But those are just the symptoms. They are not the cause.

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Right so I saw snow last week and the holiday party invites have started to roll on in. What does this mean to me? It means only one thing. It is time for me to pack up and get out of dodge. I often talk on the blog about how we can’t control external things in our life but what we can control is our response to them. I can’t control that it is about to get unbelievably freaking cold and gray, but I can control whether I choose to spend the whole winter shivering in it or not. I choose not and work my bottom off all year long to make that sunshine my winter reality. See, my feeling is that to make the most of the holiday season, you either have to choose to embrace the holiday party circuit or run away. I host parties all year long in the form of cooking classes, workshops, events and other such shindigs.
When it comes time to not working, I am very happy to be very quiet. And so I run away. I’m one of those extroverted introverts- I think anyway.

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Smile at strangers. I live in downtown Toronto. People think of this city as cold and unfriendly, but I gotta say- I don’t see it. I’m thinking that all it takes is for someone to make the first smile. You have to be careful with this smile as a friendly smile to a stranger can quickly become really creepy if too big, or held for too long. Also- men growing Movember moustaches, might want to refrain from smiling at young children in school yards. Just saying. I spent a great part of my early 20′s travelling around the world alone. I made dinner companions, travel partners and friends by smiling. Despite travelling alone, I was never alone. We actually never have to be alone if we don’t want to be. It’s truly amazing what can happen when we take the time in the day to smile at strangers, and open the door for conversations with the people we encounter. I make friends in very random places- hat stores, yoga classes, and now, more often than not, in my own kitchen.

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I thought all my dreams had come true when I got accepted as an intern here at Meghan Telpner Inc., but then came along the CNE program…
The Culinary Nutrition Expert program has given me all the tools, confidence, and inspiration I need to coach others on the wonders of whole foods, along with three capital letters on my resume so that people can now take me seriously. After all the research papers and meal plans (seriously, am I really not a nutritionist yet?), we finally got to the assignment we had all been anxiously waiting for: the presentation.
So, with my brand spankin’ new dehydrator in hand, I flew home to Ottawa for the weekend to present “Get Flexi With Lexi: Adopting A Flexitarian Lifestyle”.

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About a year ago, as the demands on my time grew, and grew and the waiting lists for my classes began to stretch, I realized that I couldn’t do this on my own. There needed to be more people teaching this style of cooking classes- to extend the goodness far and wide. I put out the first notice for the Culinary Nutrition Expert Program last May and within four weeks we were full. After three months of loads of chopping, washing, cooking, reading, writing and delicious eating, these amazing eight people- Odelia, Alexa, Dominic, Vicky, Miranda, Joanne, Kristin and Kim will be the very first to call themselves Certified Culinary Nutrition Experts. And experts they are! After reading their assignments, seeing their presentations, chatting with them, dining with them each week for the last ten weeks, and listening in on their conversations with each other- I have a confidence a thousand times over that these women and man are fully qualified to create the most amazing health promoting recipes, teach AwesomeTown classes, counsel, coach and entice people that fresh, whole, real foods cooking is the VERY BEST way to go to get a kick start on achieving not just our health goals but personal goals as well.

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Laugh at the ridiculousnessness of seriousness.

Have truer words to live by ever been written? At this very moment, I would have to say no. Pooperhnickle stuff happens in life. As it goes. And we can do very little to change it. What we can do, is change how we respond. There is no greater antidote to stress, worry and being serious about seriousness than laughing your head off, rolling on the floor, with tears streaming down your cheeks. We will always encounter people and things and places that take it all too darn seriously. It doesn’t serve anyone.

If you ask me, there is nothing more disarming about a person than someone who can have a good old chuckle at themselves- especially in the ickly prickley situations. When I was diagnosed with Crohn’s, I made a choice to make getting better the most fun in the whole world. See, there are those times where if we didn’t laugh, we would cry. I have often found that as someone who can laugh very easily, the tears can come just as easily. Have you noticed this too?

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September 7th 2010, will be a day that I will always remember.

My life changed that day. At 1:30 pm about one year ago, I heard those four words…you have prostate cancer. I guess my life actually changed before the 7th. It was on August 25th that I had my biopsy at the Princess Margaret Hospital.

It was not a pleasant experience.

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There are so many things in life that can make us anxious. After all, anxiety is one of the mind’s way of dealing with stressful situations. In our everyday lives when we get so consumed by the things that cause us stress like relationships, work, sitting in traffic…we tend to lose sight of the bigger picture. Perspective becomes distorted causing our emotions to take over and our health to suffer. If depression is worry and regret of the past, anxiety is an intense worry of the what if’s of the future.
When we become anxious our bodies go into sympathetic nervous system mode. The fight or flight response takes over and that’s when the heart pounding and sweating begins. How we learn to cope and or prevent anxiety is key. Although consuming a bag of potato chips may sound tempting when stress hits, we all know that there are better ways to manage that will better our health.

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The four words “You have prostate cancer” are shocking.

I heard those words over a year ago and it has taken me this long to feel comfortable writing about this journey. When most men hear those four words they rush to eradicate cancer from their bodies. They want surgery or some other form of treatment. They pray they’ll be one of the lucky ones who does not experience erectile dysfunction or incontinence. I have chosen a path of active surveillance and hope I will never have to have anything more invasive.

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