Pasta is considered a comfort food for many people. Growing up in an Italian household, it was a staple. I certainly never ate rice pasta with kale….but I must say, it’s quite delicious. I’m all about adding vegetables when I can, and above all I want it taste good. Hopefully you think so too:)
Serves 4

Ingredients

• Fresh Kale
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper
• 500 grams of rice pasta. I use a brand called Rizopia, which is found in most grocery stores
• 1.5 cups of fresh additive-free ricotta

Directions

1. Brush olive oil on to kale leaves and season with salt and pepper. Place in oven at 350F until crispy. Once complete, crumble several kale leaves for pasta garnish and enjoy the rest of them as kale chips!
2. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions. I like my pasta al dente! And be sure to reserve about 1/4 cup of the cooking water.
3. Drain pasta and return to pot. Add some extra virgin olive oil and cooking water as required to ensure pasta is moist.
4. Transfer pasta to serving bowls and scoop about 1/3 cup of ricotta into each bowl. Garnish with crumbled kale and enjoy!

Not only are white kidney beans a good source of protein, but they stabilize blood-sugar and lower cholesterol due to their high-fiber content. Enjoy this super easy, super healthy appetizer at your next party!! I topped this over Ace Bakery Rosemary baguette crisps.

Ingredients

• 1/4 of red or white onion
• 1-2 garlic cloves
• 2 cups of washed canned white kidney beans. (or cook dry ones!
• 6-8 cherry tomatoes
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Crisps or crostini’s

Directions

1. Mince the onion and garlic.
2. Cut the cherry tomatoes in halves or thirds
3. Sautée garlic and onion until golden.
4. Add beans and cherry tomatoes and cook util mushy
5. Place in bowl and add salt and extra virgin olive oil as desired.
6. Serve hot or cold with crisps

Can you actually achieve the weight you want without the deprivation of a strict diet? Yes, you can!

I realized a long time ago that people love diets. They love boundaries and they love being told what to eat. Funny enough, no one cares to understand why they are given certain foods, drinks or pills. If you are losing more than 1-2lbs per week, you’re probably engaging in an unrealistic diet that will, in the long run, do more harm than good.

Even though i’ve been physically active my entire life, it took me a long time to understand what eating healthy was all about. Food is fuel that is converted to energy for our bodies to use in order to successfully function. It shouldn’t be abused nor restricted. What you eat and how you eat has to do with your behavioural habits. It’s psychological as well…it has to do with how you feel about yourself. Of course your taste-buds, culture and upbringing play a big role in this too. My goal isn’t to get people to only eat seeds and salads, but to actually recognize what they’re eating and why. We have to understand how to nourish our bodies properly. Above all, the goal here is to live life fully and have a healthy relationship with not only food, but our bodies too. Diets are nothing more then an unrealistic fix to a much bigger issue. In real life, you may eat a piece of cake at the office on a Monday afternoon because someone received their first promotion….Because well, life happens.

Balance is the epitome of what a healthy diet is all about. For some reason, this is the hardest diet for people to follow. It has no rules or restrictions….it’s simply a matter of having awareness of what your body needs nutritionally, versus what you want in that moment. Most of your cravings and eating habits stem from emotional, hormonal, or environmental influences. Appreciate and eat that piece of cake in that moment if you really want it, but also be aware that it isn’t nutritionally sound. Hopefully this knowledge will help you to only eat one piece versus three! I don’t deprive myself of anything and therefore don’t feel the need to binge or restrict.

I also believe I lead a balanced lifestyle; steadily working out 3x per week, eating a variety of food and never skipping meals. I don’t eat the same thing everyday. I also don’t wait until the weekend to have a treat. I’ve become comfortable and happiest living this way and believe it’s the healthiest for me. My diet IS the real-life diet. It’s comprised of awareness of both good and bad food but ultimately, an enjoyment for ALL food. Perhaps my only “restrictions” if you will, are to eat fresh, preservative-free, organic food. However, i’m also aware that in the real-life diet that can’t always be the case. I cannot control what others serve me at a dinner party, or restaurants etc, but I can control how I fill my fridge and cupboards. When given the option, I do my best and choose wisely.

If you’re looking to change how you eat and what you eat, try to dig a bit deeper. Once you understand food from a nutritional stand point and look further into your habits, you will want to feed your body properly and engage in a balanced way of living. The real-life diet is just that.

Dessert or snack, pears are full of vitamins C, E & B2 and high in fiber. Ricotta cheese is whey, and so it is a great source of protein. I grew up eating this delicious cheese and love its smooth and sweet taste. Purchasing fresh ricotta without additives is always best.

Directions

1. Slice pear of choice in half and bake with skin at 350F for 30min or until soft. I prefer Bosc pears!
2. Top with fresh ricotta cheese
3. Add granola of choice. I used my sesame-hemp granola with raisins.

New Year…New You?

Here we go again. It’s that time when you say “this is my year to get healthy.” That time when you start your raw-juice cleanse, dust off your old gym membership-card and dig out your runners from deep in the closet.

January is that time when everyone seems to want to press REFRESH on their lives. I’m not saying the motivation and inclination to change is a bad thing, but be realistic with your expectations of change.

You won’t go from never working out to working out 5x a week. From eating no fruits or veggies to becoming a vegan! The first and biggest change has to be in the way that you think. Health starts in your mind. Achieving that mind to body connection isn’t easy, but be completely honest with yourself and don’t follow something just because your friends told you too. Don’t be so eager to join a gym you will never go to…. Or start a crazy diet that you know you can’t follow through with… Blowing money just to force you to commit to something isn’t a good idea.

Start simple. Do something realistic.  Something that you enjoy. Something that fits into your routine and that you actually look forward to doing.  For instance, for those of you who are not active at all, a daily or nightly walk with a loved one or friend may be just enough to get you to want to do more. Or, if you don’t eat breakfast on a regular basis, make an extra effort to eat it everyday. Look at the New Year as a starting point to your eventual goal. It took you a long time to get to this point, it will take you some time to fully commit and understand what a healthy, balanced lifestyle is all about. Remember, it’s a gradual process, not a drastic one.

You have to WANT this change. And only you can make it happen!

Get into the season with one of my Holiday favourites. It’s not just pretty, it’s simply delicious and healthy too. I think it’s important to eat fruits and veggies that are in-season. Pomegranates are an incredible fruit filled with powerful antioxidants, and when paired with the sweet liquorice taste of fennel, the combination is really delicious.

Ingredients

• Sliced Fennel
• Sectioned Orange
• Pomegranate Seeds
• green onion
• Pine Nuts
• Dress with olive oil, honey, salt and pepper

I switched up this traditional family recipe and used pecans and chocolate chips instead of almonds. A simple, nutritious and very quick treat to add to your Holiday baking.

Directions

1. slice figs horizontally part way through
2. fill organic chocolate-chips into the top layer (I used 3)
3. fill a pecan halve into the bottom layer
4. bake for about 10 minutes at 350f

I had a look in my cupboards…and came up with this. Simple, yummy and nutritious. I prefer jarred peaches over canned peaches. Fortunately, my family picks and jars peaches every summer and so I always have them on hand.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of quick oats
• 1 cup of sunflower seeds
• 4 tbsp of agave or honey
• canned peaches
• cinnamon
  (Makes approximately 24 mini tarts)

Directions

1. For dough, mix quick oats, sunflower seed and agave or honey and blend until dough is formed.
2. Place muffin-tin liners in your muffin tray and press mould your dough to the shape of the cup
3. For filling, slice jarred peaches, add cinnamon and fill cups
4. Bake for 10min at 350f

I workout for sanity!! I also workout because frankly, I don’t know any other way to be. My entire life I was extremely active and that was my normal. I grew up dancing 12 hours plus a week. As you can imagine, adding work, a home and kids into the mix doesn’t allow for that kind of time. Today, my life is very different and I have other priorities so I’m happy working out 3x per week. While teaching and training is my work, I’m careful not to overwork my body. I’m fortunate that I’ve never had a weight issue and my sole focus is on building and maintaining strength. Feeling strong is really important to me and I love that feeling of being strong enough to do push-ups.  For me, it’s invigorating!   I grew up very disciplined, so keeping physically active is as natural as brushing my teeth.

Since having entered the fitness world, my new drive is to inspire others.  In turn, people (my clients), give me energy and truly inspire me to be better.  I was never one to work out on my own. Apart from my dance classes, a gym was actually quite foreign to me. Teaching classes in the format that I do is closest to my training.  I’m most comfortable in a class setting, surrounded by others who want to be there and who want to work hard.  People taking my class are like my audience and I need to be at my best.  It evokes similar feelings  to those that I had while performing dance in my younger years… this excites me!

Everyone works out for different reasons; whether for weight-loss, muscle-gain, stress release etc, we all have a different goal. For overall good health, doing some sort of light activity 30 min’s everyday is essential. It’s important to figure out what you’re working out for. You cannot commit to something if you don’t enjoy it and if it isn’t catered to your needs. Once you understand your focus, it will make implementing fitness into your lifestyle much easier.

If you need a simple and healthy snack or dessert for yourself or your kids, this is a great guilt-free one!  Chickpeas are naturally sweet and high in fiber, making them a perfect go-to base for baking.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp of flax meal
• 6 tbsp of water
• 2 cups of organic chickpeas
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp of pure vanilla extract
• 3-4 tbsp of natural smooth peanut butter
• Large organic chocolate or chocolate chips as desired

Directions

1. First prepare your flax-eggs by mixing 2 tbsp of flax with 6 tbsp of water. Stir well and refrigerate for 10 minutes
2. In your food processor, blend organic chickpeas, agave or maple syrup, vanilla extract and peanut butter and flax-eggs.
3. Stir in chocolate or carob chips.
4. Scoop generous tablespoon size cookies onto your baking tray on parchment paper.
5. Bake for 20 minutes at 350f
6. Let cookies cool for 20 minutes uncovered.