Making Love in the Kitchen

Should sugar be regulated like other ‘drugs’ we can so easily get our hands on if we want? This was all over the news last week and I thought I should offer my view. It may surprise many but hear me out on this. The argument in favour goes like this: “Sugar poses enough health risks that it should be considered a controlled substance just like alcohol and tobacco, contend a team of researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)”. Read the full Times article here. I opted out of going on to the mainstream news to discuss this because what I really wanted to say isn’t what the peeps over in mainstream generally smile upon. Understandably- as it tends to offend a lot of advertisers. Since I don’t allow advertisers that I think are part of the problem to advertise, I have no one to please but you, my mom and my dad. So- here are my thoughts.

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What fun I had when Wilder Weir from Oh So Cosmo! (airing on Cosmo TV) came back to the kitchen for a visit. Remember the last time he was here? I flirted my heart out with him and it seemed he wanted to come back for more. On the menu were our kitchen fave veggie rice wraps with almond dipping sauce and our conversation quickly went off course. One moment we’re talking flaccid cucumber and the next we chatted ‘poo juice’ and how pooping makes us pretty. Watch my love sweet lovers. Watch, laugh and learn. I often have a tough time watching myself on TV- but this clip even had me giggling. The peeps at Cosmo did a superfantab job of this segment and now I will just wait by the phone to see if I get called for a magical third date with Wilder.

This time, we were talking detoxing.

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I have weird collections. It used to be shoes. Now it’s foraged mushrooms, and sea weed. Everywhere I go, I check out the local sea vegetables. People now send me gifts of seaweed from their own fair shores too (feel free!). Nothing, however, has stolen my heart quite like Irish or Sea Moss (twin brothers from different mothers). This unsuspecting superfood has been my top of the charts seller since I started carrying it. Not an easy thing to find but an absolute smoothie essential, if you ask me. Also a top, top, top food to eat to help with all your daily detox efforts. Cleans up the thyroid, sheds radiation, strips the gut of excess mucous buildup and other fine jazz. Makes the drinks so silky smooth, keeps all the goods you throw in there in solution, and heals the gut and thyroid like nothing else. You have been asking for it and at long, long last- I have put together my how-to video for Irish Moss. Now, save your Q’s ’cause I now have your A’s answered. All in this video…

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Oh me oh my! I am back from the most magical 17 days playing till I couldn’t play no more on the shores (and in the hills and volcanoes) of Hawaii. I am bursting at the seems with all the goodies I want to share with you, all the gems of info I learned, all the places I experienced… But that will have to wait. We have a year to close out and a new one to ring in. First- watch the video!

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Now this was an incredibly fun post to work on. I felt like I was going undercover. My guise was that of a cute, perky nutritionista, perhaps playing a little dumb. I came forth with the some harder hitting questions than Ms. Boyardee was expecting and her discomfort, even made me uncomfortable. This was my firsy venture into the exposing of HealthWashing from a straight forward approach. I truly believe brands and businesses need to do they’re work with integrity. There is simply none in trying to pass canned spaghetti with processed cheese and meat that gets zapped in a microwave. I haven’t been able to get anyone to agree to any interviews on film or recorded since this one- but not for a lack of trying. Wait till you see what I’m sharing about my correspondence with Pop Chips in the new year. Now that we’ve defined the dirtiness that is Healthwashing, it’s time we start addressing some of the viscous culprits. Back in May, I received a press release for a brand shiny new cook book by Anna Boiarde, granddaughter and niece to the brothers behind Chef Boyardee (they changed the spelling for phonetic reasons). I thought I should take the PR rep up on her offer and schedule an interview, that they agreed could be filmed. The PR rep claimed to love my website and all my recipes and when I arrived at the downtown hotel for the interview, she went to the trouble of lining up all these Chef Boyardee “foods” beside me.

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We work our patooties off around here- as you may have noticed, but we also cook a little here and there, and do our best to laugh until we cry once in a while. It’s part of our creed really. Up there I am rocking the awesome onion goggles Alexa introduced to our kitchen. Speaking of Alexa, I am pretty sure she never wants to look at cauliflower again.

And Jill, she is so over squash.

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Now that we’ve defined the dirtiness that is Healthwashing, it’s time we start addressing some of the viscous culprits. Back in May, I received a press release for a brand shiny new cook book by Anna Boiarde, granddaughter and niece to the brothers behind Chef Boyardee (they changed the spelling for phonetic reasons). I thought I should take the PR rep up on her offer and schedule an interview, that they agreed could be filmed. The PR rep claimed to love my website and all my recipes and when I arrived at the downtown hotel for the interview, she went to the trouble of lining up all these Chef Boyardee “foods” beside me.

Anna’s book is truly beautiful and has some really delicious sounding, back to basics style Italian recipes. She claims to shop organic, feed her family well and from our interview, clearly has an appreciation for top quality ingredients.

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Did you catch my segment on Breakfast Television last week? If you missed it, do check it out. You can watch it online here.

Since the show last Friday, we have been flooded with requests for events, interest in our scholarship, and of course oodles of class registrations (I have included the full schedule at the bottom of this post).

The power of TV continues to amaze me! Which brings me to something very special I’ve been wanting to share.

Over a very, VERY cold two days way back in March, some extremely talented people came together to put together this little project for and with me. They see the potential and are helping others to see it to. Are you ready for the big reveal???

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As I kid, I loved staying over at my grandparents house. For one, grandparents have way less rules than parents and two, my grandma always had Chocolate Quick. Remember that? The chocolate syrup that was squeezable out of the bottle and mixed up to make the best chocolate milk or ice cream topping ever? It was a treat though. Always a treat!

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With my newsletter that went out yesterday. I received all kinds of congratulations on how far and wide things have grown. And the moral of the story here is that to pursue our dreams, you have to start somewhere and at the beginning is usually a great place. We all want to get from A-Z and skip the entire alphabet along the way (I am as guilty as the next). But it didn’t happen for me overnight. It was a bum-load of work and I’ll be honest and say that not all of it was fun and games. My week this week was rather astounding. I recipe tested all day on Monday and then did an interview for a National news channel that evening, did some desk work and prep for Tuesday night’s workshop and taught the class Tuesday, Wednesday I did a corporate presentation to 60 peeps and tonight I have the first of my four week program.

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What fun I had last Friday after Josh and I did our live web chat. We went adventuring around the west end of Toronto and most certainly made time to stop and smell the flowers- the cherry blossoms in this case, that were in full magical serene bloom over in high park. Beeee-youtiful.

So with the first official long weekend of ‘summer’, or at least the weekend that is supposed to resemble the kick-off of summer, go on and have some fun around town or get yourself out of town. If you’re like me, you may be feeling like every season seems to be a ‘busy time of year’, let’s do our best to make this coming season a time of being busy doing what we love most, which might just be smelling the flowers, playing outside, and having fun around town.

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The time has come my fine feathered chocolate warriors. All these days and weeks go by and I make chocolate treats and you comment on how amazing they look. And they do. Oh yes, they do. But have you tasted them yet?

I am all about empowerment. And so I set out to make this video to empower you to start making your chocolates!

Now if I were to start a new blog (as if!)… but if I were, I would call it “And That’s Health Food”. On this imaginary new blog, I would just make chocolate. All kinds of chocolate. Chocolate smoothies, chocolate pudding, chocolate covered kale chips (wait… better write that one down), and chocolate treats. Chocolate treats like the ones I have listed below because if you think about it, it’s sort of everything that I put into my breakfast smoothie just in a different form.

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Yesterday I introduced you to one type of doctor. Now let’s meet another!

In December, when I had the pleasure of holidaying with my family in Jamaica, we met an herbal medicine man named Charlie who took us on a tour of some local herbs. Not THAT herb… the healing kind. The OTHER kind of healing. Come on now!

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There is something so striking about the pomegranate. Not just striking but uber sexual. This fruit is the ultimate symbol of fertility! Bring on the sexy fruit my lovers. And not just sexy sexy but sweet, tart, tangy and tantalizingly delicious!

Right when you cut it open and reveal those little ruby gems, you know you’re in for a real treat. I think the abundance of gorgeous and delicious pomegranates is one of the few things I enjoy about the winter months. And sadly, pomegranate season is coming to an end! Well, we better give this fruit some lovin’ while we still can

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Oh my sweet mommas! It has been a while since I was this excited for an event. Maybe not since my St. Lucia retreat (which sadly will be ending in 2 days). So because I knew I’d be in a funk when the fun in the sun came to an end, I had to bring in some sunshine. That sunshine is coming in the form of the Groove Master trainer herself, Ms. Brooke Yanzte.

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