Lifestyle

It’s spring! It’s spring! It’s spring!

Spring is one of my most favourite times of the year because the sun starts to shine more often, the air is fresh and we start to get excited about Farmer’s Markets!

This week, I wanted to go through a list of foods that are available in the spring along with their health benefits.

Before I get started on that though, I want to make sure to mention that I believe in a balanced approach when it comes to eating real food.

I don’t believe in a one size fits all food that will cure disease or make you super healthy (Eat kale and live to 100!!).

Instead, I believe in eating a wide variety of nutritious foods each day to give our bodies optimum nutrition from various sources instead of relying on only one source.

Not too much produce is available locally in the spring, but what is available is packed with nutrition that our bodies need after a long winter of cooked root vegetables.

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Here are four fruits and vegetables on the spring list:

Rhubarb

One vivid memory I have from childhood is going into my Aunt Carole’s garden to cut a piece of rhubarb and eat it raw with white sugar.

It was the perfect combination of sweet and sour.

Health Benefits:

• Tons of fibre (5 grams of fibre for a 3.5 oz serving).
• Used in Ancient Chinese medicine to sooth upset stomach and help with constipation.
• Every serving provides 45% daily value of Vitamin K which helps with bone strength and brain health.
• Also includes Vitamin C, Vitamin A, calcium, folate and B vitamins.

Strawberries

I’ve noticed that strawberries are available at places like Farm Boy throughout the colder months because they are now grown in greenhouses in western Ontario.

The great news is that greenhouse strawberries use ‘beneficial insects’ to kill pests which means that fewer pesticides are used compared to their conventional counterparts.

One thing to note about strawberries overall is to buy organic if you can. According to the Environmental Working Group, strawberries are at the top of the Dirty Dozen list for pesticides.

Health Benefits:

• High levels of vitamin C (use those greenhouse or organic strawberries in the winter to boost immunity).
• Super important for heart health due to the high antioxidant content.
• Each cup provides 24% of manganese which helps with bone production, collagen production, blood sugar control and free radical damage protection.
• Strawberry seeds contain a small amount of Omega-3 fats.
• Help to prevent cognitive decline as we age.

Asparagus

I try to eat asparagus only when it’s in season, otherwise it comes from Mexico, which means it’s not fresh (We want to eat asparagus within 48 hours for optimum nutritional benefit).

Asparagus is a perfect spring treat and it has a ton of health benefits.

Note! Asparagus doesn’t take as long to cook as you might think.

Steam or lightly sauté the spears for only 3-5 minutes. Say no to soggy asparagus!

Health Benefits:

• Anti-inflammatory food.
• 101% daily value of Vitamin K per cup serving (Vitamin K is important for blood clotting and bone health).
• Also high in folate which is good for brain and nervous system health as well as cardiovascular health and red blood cell production.

Radishes

People have a love hate relationship with radishes. They’re spicy and kind of weird, but I tend to like them all the same. They’re also super healthy to eat!

Health Benefits:

• High in Vitamin C.
• Helps to detox the body of toxins.
• Excellent for helping to regulate diabetes.
• Helps to regulate blood pressure.

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The bulk of the produce bounty will come closer to the end of spring and summer, but get a head start by adding these spring fruits and vegetables to your daily meal rotations to get the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to your health!

What are your favourite spring foods?

If you find it difficult to cook at home, you’re not alone.

More than ever, families are packing their hours with work and extra curricular activities for their kids (and themselves) and it’s tough to find time to be at home to make a decent meal.

But I truly believe that health and wellness starts in the kitchen.

Now you may not like cooking, or you’ve lost interest in it or you find it’s too much pressure to cook a picture-perfect meal like the ones you see on Instagram, so I wanted to offer a few tips on how to make it easier to cook at home more regularly.

1. Have the Right Tools.

Sharp Knives
I mentioned this in my post about cutting butternut squash: we need to have the right kind of knife to cut it! If you have dull knives at home, it’s not going to be fun to cook. I can attest this every time I go to an Airbnb where the knives are dull—I don’t want to cook either!

So get a couple of good knives. You don’t have to spend a lot. My favourite knife is from Loblaws for $18. I do recommend having a couple different kinds of knives however:

• A Utility Knife
• A Chef’s Knife
• A thinner utility knife or slicer
• A couple paring knives
• Also a knife honer or steel so you can keep them relatively sharp!

Various Cutting Boards.
Personally I like bamboo cutting boards and it’s nice to have a few of them. I have a bigger board that I use to chop a lot of veggies at once, as well as a couple of medium sized boards for cutting fruit and meat. Some people will tell you not to use wood for meat, but I don’t want to use plastic so I always use the same one for meat and then give it a good scrub.

Measuring Cups and Spoons.
A set of stainless steel measuring cups is a great thing to have in the kitchen and it tends to last the longest (compared to plastic). Also I personally find it helpful to have a few sets of measuring spoons, but one will suffice. Winners and HomeSense always have them on sale in the cooking section.

Blender and Food Processor.
I use my blender daily so this is an important tool for me, but even still I think it’s a great thing to have in the kitchen. It’s not necessary to get a Vitamix or a Blendtec (although fun if you can afford it). I bought a Cuisinart blender for the cottage and it works really well (I even used it to grind coffee once!).

Again a food processor isn’t affordable to everyone, but even a smaller handheld blending system like this one will work really well in the kitchen.

Decent Pots and Pans.
I steer clear of teflon these days and opt for cast iron pans and stainless steel pots. It’s nice to have a few different sizes: I have five sizes of pots—although this many isn’t necessary (maybe if I had fewer pots I’d have fewer dishes to do??) and two sizes of cast iron pans (10 inch and 12 inch).

I also regularly use a big cast iron enamel pot for my soups and stews. HomeSense always has affordable cast iron and enamel pots and pans in fun colours.

I also love having two double size aluminum baking pans so I can roast a lot of veggies (and bake a lot of cookies!) at once. Just be sure to use parchment paper as you don’t want to cook directly on aluminum.

2. Make a Meal Plan.

Yes I’ve said it a million times, but making a meal plan is one of the easiest ways you can get on track for regular cooking at home.

Making a full meal plan might overwhelm some people, so you can start small to begin with. I like the idea of making a big batch of cookies or bars to eat for the week or make a big batch of baked oatmeal to eat all week for breakfast. Starting small and working yourself up to making a full plan will help you get used to cooking regularly at home.

3. Keep it Simple.

I’ve also said this before: keep your meals simple. Pick meals that take fewer than 30 minutes or less to cook so you’re not scrambling during the week to make dinner and keep the elaborate meals for the weekend.

Another idea is to choose a couple veggies to roast on Sunday that you can use for various meals during the week. Roasted sweet potatoes are great with chicken thighs, but also taste fantastic in a frittata or taco. Cook once, eat twice (or three times).

I hope that gives you a few tips on how to start cooking regularly at home.

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We’ve all had them—a crappy week!

Those weeks where nothing felt like it went your way.

Your boss was a jerk. 

Your office mate said something rude.

Your kids were driving you nuts.

You had to shovel more snow and go to work while everyone else seemed to get to stay home.

Life kind of sucks sometimes!

The even worse part about those crappy weeks is that we still have to eat! Blah! Where’s the personal chef when you need it.

I want to help you figure out what to eat when you’ve had a crappy week.

But the kicker is that I’m going to give you some ideas about what to eat that will nourish your body instead of making the week worse by eating food that will make you feel worse.

Ok yes we can get take out and these days there are so many options for healthy-ish take out. But what if we had our pantries and fridges stocked so that all we had to do was make a simple meal that helped us inch forward toward feeling great again?

It’s possible!

Here’s what I eat when I have a crappy week (or just don’t feel like cooking):

Eggs and Toast

My kids love eggs and toast and guess what? It literally takes five minutes to make. Fry an egg (or scramble it!), pop the toast in the toaster and Bob’s your uncle. Eggs are super nourishing—full of healthy brain fats and protein. Opt for a sourdough bread for better digestion and throw in some cut veggies or some avocado for a well-rounded meal.

Look at this eggs and toast meal and it only takes minutes!

Avocado Toast

The sister to eggs and toast is avocado toast! Even quicker than eggs and toast, you can get a super nourishing meal by mashing green stuff on sourdough toast.

Sometimes I’ll sprinkle hemp seeds for added protein or sunflower seeds for crunch. Add a pickle on the side! Delish and easy.

Pasta with 5-Minute Sauce

I see a theme starting… my kids love pasta and this is one of the meals I will make when I don’t feel like cooking or I’m having a crappy week.

I almost always have brown rice or chickpea pasta in the cupboard and I’ll make this 5-Minute sauce from 101 Cookbooks to eat with it.

If you can find a sauce that’s low in sugar, even better for keeping the cook time short (this one is great). Many times I’ll just grab a handful of spinach, sprouts or mixed greens and shove them in the bowl and dinner’s ready in about 10 mins.

‘Snack Dinner’

I make the kids ‘snack lunches’ all the time in the summer. Goat cheddar, crackers, cut veggies, hummus, hard boiled eggs, olives—you can have that for dinner too!

Put it on a cutting board in the middle of the table, grab a glass of organic wine and pretend it’s the most beautiful charcuterie board you’ve ever seen. It might just boost your mood!

Stir Fry

I love making stir frys because they don’t take long and you don’t really need much to make them.

Use up whatever you have in the fridge, throw in some cashews, sunflower seeds (adds a great crunch to your meal!), some chickpeas; throw on a few tablespoons of tamari, some grated garlic and ginger, a squeeze of lime and you have dinner.

Something from the Freezer

If you’ve been meal prepping for sometime you might find that you have some leftover food in the freezer—eat that! Soup? Pasta? Marinated chicken? This is the time to use it.

Take Out…

If I really don’t want to cook I try to find the best possible place for take out.

In my area there’s a health food restaurant called Thrive so we’ll go there often, and Freshii has a tonne of locations where you can get a nourishing meal.

Pick up a burrito bowl from a burrito place. If you want pizza, look for a high-quality pizza joint (850 pizza or Cellar Door in my area are decent options) or a burger joint with healthy options.

The point I want to make is that we don’t have to sacrifice our food choices and eating habits when we’re having a crappy week. We just have to find something simple and nourishing to eat that will help us feel better, not worse.

From my experience, people feel guilty because they’re not able to put a gourmet meal on the table when they’re having a bad week, or they equate having a bad week with eating junky food.

But meals don’t have to be fancy.

I want people to stop putting so much pressure on themselves to do the Pinterest thing. We can make simple and nourishing meals even when life gets hard.

In fact, our bodies are under more stress during those weeks so we need to be kinder to them. The same goes for when we’re sick—cookies and cakes are great ‘comfort foods’, but they won’t help you get better faster, if anything they’ll prolong the sickness.

We can have nourishing foods that takes no time to make. I promise you it will help your crappy, dark week a bit brighter in the long run.