When peaches are in-season, this delicious summer dessert is a must!

Directions

• Cut and pit peaches in half
• Pour pure maple syrup and cinnamon overtop (as desired) and mix well
• Grill peaches on bbq
• Sauté natural pecans in a tsp of organic butter or coconut oil
• Scoop your favourite ice cream of choice into the peach halves and top with pecans

If you don’t like to drink your smoothie, than make a smoothie bowl! This blueberry bliss bowl is loaded with fiber and calcium. Start your morning off with this filling, nutrient-dense meal.

Ingredients (Serves 2)

1. 2 organic ripe bananas
2. 1/2 cup wild frozen blueberries
3. 1 cup organic plain yogurt
4. 6 tbs chia-seeds

blend all ingredients in your food processor. I topped this off with carob-chips, crushed peanuts, chia-seeds and goji berries.

One of my favourite go-to snacks is this sweet/salty/spicy crunch! Chickpeas are good source of protein, they are high in fiber and above all, heart-healthy. I used some comforting spices which layer this snack with a ton of flavour!

What you need:

• cooked chickpeas
• turmeric
• sea salt
• chili powder
• coconut sugar
• cinnamon
• olive oil

  Place cooked chickpeas and sprinkle all the above spices and olive oil (as desired) into a closed container and shake vigorously until mixed well.
  Spread chickpeas over your baking tray and bake at 350f for 15-20 minutes or until desired crispness.

Enjoy this super quick brunch or lunch meal that you can pair with some side salads

Ingredients (makes 12 regular muffin sized)

• 12 large Organic eggs
• 1/2 white onion
• 1/2 cup grated cheese of choice
• 1 small zucchini
• 1/2 cup organic milk
• olive oil, salt and pepper

Directions

1. Dice white onion and zucchini.
2. Mix milk and eggs in a bowl and whisk.
3. Add onion and zucchini.
4. Add olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.
5. Mix all ingredients and pour into muffin tray.
6. Sprinkle grated cheese
7. Bake at 350f for 25 minutes or until golden

What I love about visiting small countries – especially ones that have tropical climates, is eating the freshest produce possible. The warm weather allows for crops to grow all year round. It’s pretty amazing to purchase produce that was literally picked a few hours earlier! These fruits I purchased didn’t look perfect. They weren’t flawless. I noticed that their shelf life was also much shorter than that of the produce I purchase at home. However, they were tasty and more importantly very natural!

When you stop and think about how far some of our favourite fruits and veggies have to travel before they reach our grocery stores and more so our tables, it’s pretty disappointing. We live, (materialistically speaking) very rich lives. But for some reason, when it comes to the quality of food we ingest, we seem to be okay with settling for very poor quality. Ideally, we should only be eating foods that are in-season and locally grown. Unfortunately, when living in colder climates, you are forced to purchase mostly imported foods. While these tropical countries live rather poorly, they have the luxury of enjoying the freshest food possible all year round.

Most of us don’t own a farm, and many of us are too busy to maintain a garden and so produce is almost always purchased. The problem is that a lot of people tend to purchase these fruits and veggies without ever really considering where they come from or how they were grown. Most of the fruit and vegetables we consume here in Canada are from Mexico, China or the United States. Apart from being genetically modified and filled with pesticides, they are also fumigated in order to prevent spoilage during its travels. We are living in a time where there is a divide in our food industry. There are now two categories in your local grocery store; the generic produce and the organic one. Many people don’t really know what to buy or more so if they should even “believe” in the organic label. It is important to take an interest in educating yourself on what food you are buying and feeding your families.

While it’s convenient to not have to spit out seeds when eating a juicy slice of watermelon, it was refreshing to eat a REAL seeded melon on my vacation. Most of our favourite fruits have now been modified to be seedless and are sprayed with chemical pesticides. These chemicals are harmful to our body and so we shouldn’t be taking this too lightly. Many illnesses and learning disabilities have been linked to pesticide accumulation. Pesticides are especially dangerous for growing children because they tend to eat more food in ratio to their body-mass. Children love fruit and tend to eat a lot of it, so be sure to purchase the best quality possible.

We can argue that without pesticides or genetic modification, there wouldn’t be enough food for our worlds growing population. This mass production of genetically modified produce has helped to feed millions of people. However, what good is that to us if in the end it makes us ill and creates further health issues that we can only try to overcome with more toxic chemicals! We are now given a choice to purchase organic, or better yet, buy from our local farmers market. I think it’s worth the extra effort to save us from ingesting this new chemical concoction of what appears to be real food. Next time you’re grocery shopping consider buying organic. You will notice that the fruits and veggies are smaller, maybe not as bright and certainly filled with seeds. When shopping, choose local, organic food first. If you must buy imported, always look for the organic label. Organic food is usually stamped and the sku number begins with a 9. Look for the USDA Organic or Canada Organic symbols. I recommend choosing organic because otherwise you’re choosing a modified version that is sprayed with synthetic pesticides and herbicides. To be clear, organic food is sprayed as well, but the sprays are plant derived and the actual seed is organic as well.

We may be living more lavishly then some of these small, underdeveloped countries, but they are definitely eating way better food than we are in terms of freshness and quality. Ultimately, our health is dependent on three things: genetics, environment and food. We cannot control everything, but we are privileged to be able to control what we buy. I think wealth has a different meaning for everyone, but as the saying goes “your health is your wealth” and that is still the one that means most to me.

My travels inspired me to add this amazing fruit to my smoothies. Passion fruit has a distinct taste, a bit tart, but still sweet. Its seeds give an added texture to smoothies. Next time you need a vitamin c boost, make this delicious smoothie!

1/2 a pineapple
1 large mango
2 passion fruit

Serves 2

Blend well and enjoy!

Breakfast or Dessert?

You’ll never know with this raw cacao smoothie bowl. Did you know that cacao has 20x more antioxidants than blueberries!! Switch up your breakfast with this yummy treat perfect for you or your kids

Ingredients (2 servings)

• 1 cup organic quick oats
• 2 Bananas
• 2 tbsp organic cacao powder
• 1 cup of Vanilla Rice Milk or milk of choice
• 2 tbsp natural peanut butter

Directions

• Blend well
• Sprinkle with shaved organic chocolate or carob chips

Often people ask me what type of workout is best for them. The truth is every workout provides different results. Depending on your body-type and goals, choosing the right fitness routine varies from person to person. Ask yourself a few of the following questions prior to committing to a workout:

Is this workout fun?

Is it challenging?

Is it giving me results?

Is it working the right areas of my body?

Will it help me to achieve my goals?

Everyone has different goals. For some, that may be weight-loss. For others, it may be muscle-gain. I highly recommend meeting with a personal trainer to understand how these goals can be achieved.

For heart-heath, try cardio-based workouts like Zumba (dancing), walking, running or cycling.

For muscle-gain, the focus should be on lifting weights. This can easily be achieved by using free-weights in either fitness classes or stationary equipment at a gym.

Body awareness is extremely important in any form of exercise. For some, understanding how to breathe properly during movement is quite challenging. If your goal is to find that mind to body connection, then Pilates and Yoga are the two kinds of training I recommend. The strong focus on technique and breath will only help you to understand your body further. In addition,  ballet-barre is another technique-based workout that requires that mind/body connection. It’s also a great way to learn body alignment and focus on smaller muscle groups. In sum, Pilates, Yoga and ballet-barre classes all incorporate flexibility, balance and isometric exercises which all help to promote lean-muscle mass.

If you’re looking for a real challenge, then endurance type training like HIIT (high intensity interval training), Tabata, Bootcamps or Cross-Fit, are workouts that really try to push you past your limits. If you’re just starting out, I don’t recommend these. While these workouts are great to infuse in your routine every so often, I don’t encourage them to be a part of your day-to-day exercise routine. The constant repetition along with high intensity levels tire the muscles out a lot faster, which can in turn make you more prone to injury.

Workouts that use your own body-weight, and incorporate higher levels of intensity with the use of bands to create more resistance, are great for building strength. The TRX system and the Pilates Reformer are good examples of these.

If you don’t have many hours to spare in your week, and you’re looking for something that gives you a little bit of everything, I highly suggest an aerobic-type class. Classes infuse all aspects of fitness; Cardio, resistance-training, floor-work and stretch. Ultimately, they are a great calorie-burn and a good way to get everything condensed into an hour. I especially prefer classes because they are appropriate many fitness levels and for people with busy lifestyles.

In an ideal world, it would be great to be able to do a variety of workouts throughout your week. Ultimately, you have to do what you enjoy, what gives you results and what will realistically fit into your lifestyle.

If you’re a cookie-dough lover, here’s a quick and healthy option that satisfies the craving!

Although I’m not a vegan, I gravitate towards making a ton of vegan treats. With no eggs and dairy, and no baking required, these bites get made pretty quickly. I don’t love working with a lot of ingredients and perhaps that’s why I love making these so much!

The nuts provide healthy fats and protein, while the oats are full of fiber and whole-grain goodness. Hope you enjoy this simple and tasty treat:) I bet you can’t just have one…..

Ingredients

• 1 cup Cashews
• 1/2 cup organic old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 tsp organic vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1 tbsp organic liquid honey
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• Organic chocolate chips
• Hemp seeds

Directions

• Blend all dry ingredients until fine. Then add wet ingredients
• Dough will harden and form into a ball in your blender. Once this happens, separate into size or shape of preference.
• Add chocolate chips or roll in hemp seeds

This green plant food gets the green light  for so many reasons…

Spriulina powder is extracted from blue-green algae that grows in salt or fresh water. It’s a nutritiously complete superfood. If you’re looking to buy one supplement that has it all, this is the one.  It’s packed with vitamins (especially high in B vitamins), minerals, antioxidants, omega’s 3-6-9 and all of the essential amino acids, making this a complete protein.

Chlorophyll, which gives it that green pigment, is detoxifying for the blood.  Spirulina’s high levels of beta-carotene (an antioxidant) produce anti-cancer properties. It’s also high in fiber and iron. If you’re suffering from any type of disease, inflammation, stress or recovering from illness or surgery, this is something you should definitely add to your diet.  I recommend looking further into this super food, as the range of both nutritional and health benefits it provides will amaze you!

Spirulina powder should be bought organic. The best way to ingest this powder is by mixing it with a liquid like water or juice in order for it to re-hydrate.  As with any supplement, do your research to ensure optimal quality guarantee.

In all honesty, I don’t love the taste and odour of Spirulina, but I do love all the goodness it provides!  I like to add Spirulina  to my smoothies, especially when  I’m in need of an immune-boost or extremely fatigued.  This smoothie can be enjoyed for a mid-morning or late afternoon snack or even post-workout. Here’s a simple and tasty smoothie recipe.

– 1 tbls organic spirulina powder
– 1 cup water
– 2-3 ice cubes
– 2 tbls organic peanut butter
– 1 Bosc pear
– cinnamon to taste
– 1-2 tbls pure maple syrup

Blend all ingredients in your high speed blender until smooth

Top with coconut flakes and hemp seeds and enjoy!