NOUR-ISH

While we’re on the topic of calories I’ve got to say something about point systems. I don’t want to name names (you know who you are) but it rhymes with shwait splotchers. 

There is something very disturbing and unhealthy about assigning a point value to a food. A brownie should not be “worth” the same as an avocado. That’s crazy talk! There is nothing remotely similar when comparing the two. Refined sugar, flour and chocolate (and not the good kind) vs good fats, protein and nutrients like potassium and lutein. 

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I used to be in seriously good shape! When I was 10 my mum had us doing just about any sport she could enrol us in (except basketball, which explains why I’m a notorious double dribbler). She’d bribe us with pizza for swimming a kajillion lengths. And it worked. We’d swim until our arms fell off if it meant we’d get pizza for dinner. In high school I was on the field hockey team, the cross country team and the track team. And when I wasn’t at practice for one of those teams I was doing ballet. There were days when I’d have back-to-back practices where I’d run 5km for cross country and then do an hour of sprinting up and down the field for field hockey. My post-workout snack was a blue Powerade and 6 Nutrigrain bars.

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Sooo I was at the Jays game last Sunday (where we killed Boston…at least one of Toronto’s sports teams is clear that it’s not just about having fun…that bringing home a win every now and then is kinda nice too) and as we were approaching the Sky Dome (yah, I said it) the aroma of hot dogs filled my nose. It was intoxicating! I was salivating at the thought of one of those smoky, juicy dogs. Mmmmmmmm…

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I made this salad last week for the DivaGirl Conference and it was a hit. It’s a great salad for the upcoming summer weather as it’s light and fresh but still filling. I promised all the ladies who attended that I would post the recipe so they could recreate the deliciousness in their own kitchens. 

So without further ado, here it is:

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Three letters for ya: M-S-G! 

*gasp*

Say it ain’t so?!

Big shocker, I know! That ingredient “natural flavour” isn’t quite so natural! It’s actually a super secret code name for the not so healthy flavour enhancer MonoSodium Glutamate. It alters our perception of how things taste, making it hard to stop at just one potato chip, chocolate, candy, and so on.

Why should we care that it’s in our food?

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Last night Mark and I got into a bit of an argument. A harmless one but, nonetheless, a dispute. Fear not, we have since made up and are happy once again. Read on to find out what happened…

Yesterday I was running errands and thought I’d be a nice girlfriend and pick up some shampoo for my dear man as he was running dangerously low. I walked into Aveda and purchased one of their manly looking shampoos. It came to $27.12. Does it seem a wee bit steep? A bit. But you really can’t put a price on quality.

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What’s with all the cow vids you ask? Well I was on Farm Sanctuary reading about sad animals. Weird way to spend my evening, I know. But who doesn’t like baby animals? No one! And who doesn’t like it when baby animals, seemingly destined for a short life, are rescued by a do-gooder and find a happy home? Again, no one. 

AW!

I want one!

These would be way more fun (and cuter bath toys) than rubber duckies!

So I didn’t get much further than the whole dairy cow debacle. See VIDEO #1.

Read on after you’ve watched the video or the rest of this won’t make a whole lot of sense.

How did we get to the point where that kind of shiznat was acceptable?!

Factory farming, in general, is all kinds of messed up. People who take part in that ridiculousness have a whole lot of bad karma heading their way. They are totes coming back as a dung beetle next time around.

I was left feeling pretty :(

So as a pick-me-up and to prove that not all cow people are bad guys I went to one of my favourite dairy sources (Organic Meadow) and found VIDEO #2.

Here is what I’ve concluded…

• Treating animals like sh*t is unacceptable. PERIOD! Something about “do unto others as you would have done unto yourself” rings a bell. 
• If we are going to consume dairy do your absolute best to find out where it came from. A local farmer or a certified organic company are your best bet. 
• If your milk/cheese/ice cream came from a farm like the Pronk’s or another of the Organic Meadow farmers then chances are those cows are frolicking in the grass, living in non-blucky conditions and aren’t immediately separated from their babies
• Baby animals and stories with happy endings make me feel all warm and mushy inside. Time to hug a kitty.

Not sure where to find happy dairy?

These are the brands I like: 

• Organic Meadow - Their website is full of information on why “organic” is awesome, how their cows are treated (Meet Esther: A Cow Story), information on their farmers and their YouTube site has lots of videos posted by farmers showing their cows being…cows!
• Harmony Organic - “Our cows are treated as though they were members of our family”
• Mapleton’s Organic (Fun fact: I once sold a bike to a farmer who use to work for these guys and he said the cows had better nutrition plans than most humans)

So that’s about all I’ve got for you this fine evening. Remember folks, just because something’s cheap or everybody’s doing it doesn’t make it right. All the cool kids are a) not eating dairy at all or b) eating happy cow products. 

Cool kid Zach Morris likes happy cows!

Oh, one more thing. Just because I support organic dairy products doesn’t mean I necessarily support dairy. Big diff! The nutritional side is a story for another day. The point of this post is that if you are consuming dairy then organic, from an ethical standpoint, is the only way to go. 

Healthy fast food is pretty limited. Sad but true. Subway, despite what Jared whatshisname says, is not a healthy choice. Not the worst choice but we can do better than that.

Cue IQ Foods. Stumbled upon it one day in the TD Food Hall (downtown) and I never looked back. The guy who started this was a finance dude who wanted to go into the food biz making honest, good-for-you food. Gold star finance dude! You did good!

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If you’re reading this it means you’re on the new nour-ish site! Woohoooo! The old one just wasn’t cutting it anymore. 

Sooooo I did a little work and came up with this one…

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Ugh, Valentine’s day. The day of loovveeee. A day of chocolate, flowers, greeting cards, heart-shaped balloons, wine, dinner and, if all goes as planned, some loovvvinnn’. Nothing wrong with any of those things but I think the day is a bit silly. People who are in relationships should show the person they love that they care every day of the year. And people who aren’t in relationships hate seeing the lovey dovey propaganda shoved in their faces. I have the best Valentine this year but for many years before this one I didn’t. And, to be quite honest, it kinda sucked. I have no problem being a single lady but Valentine’s day seems set on making those going solo feel like crap about their status. 

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My grandparents have a cottage up near Kingston and every summer since I was an itty bitty baby we’ve gone up there. It’s a magical place filled with spiders, bocce ball, water skiing, mini putt and my Nan’s banana muffins. Now Nan’s no Chef Ramsay (I’m a bad granddaughter for saying that), and she is the sole reason I get nauseous thinking of pork chops (she’s of the mindset that if you can still chew it then it’s not cooked enough), but boy can she bake a mean banana muffin! She’ll bake a couple dozen muffins at the beginning of every stay and because they’re in such hot demand we’re only allowed two muffins each morning for breakfast (or a third as a snack when she’s not looking - hope she doesn’t read this as my plan is very much in the open now). They’re good cold, they’re good hot, they’re good anytime and anywhere! The perfect treat!

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One of the great things about making my own schedule is that I can skip out to Ikea during a weekday and miss the chaos of the weekends when every Torontonian flocks to the home of self-assembled furniture and $2.99 Swedish meatballs (just as an aside I’m almost certain these aren’t “happy” meatballs). I refuse to go to Ikea on a Saturday or Sunday because it turns my enjoyable excursion into an absolute nightmare! Tiny children, left to their own devices run everywhere, darting in front of you, nearly taking you out at the knees. Adults who have no perception of what constitutes “too close” or how to follow arrows (these are probably the same drivers that frustrate the bleep out of us) are allowed to roam free, resulting in the chance of a collision every few seconds. And the LINES! Don’t even get me started on the lines!

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Go to Fresh for a delicious juice.
Give your main squeeze a big, wet kiss.
Eat your greens (and lots of ‘em). Dress them up in olive oil, lemon juice & sea salt.
Go skating outside and then race home to a big pot of DAVIDsTEA.
Watch a movie and make your own popcorn on the stove with coconut oil & sea salt. 

Whatever you do, make it a little more amazing! Bonus: you’ll feel that much more amazing!

I stumbled across this poster the other day. It was used by the Americans during World War 1 to encourage people to ration their food (and their money) carefully. I think it’s still relevant now what with there being a kajillion of mouths to feed, a growing obesity epidemic and a world that’s fuelled on crappity junk foods. To be honest, it makes more sense than a lot of the propaganda we’re fed now, almost a century later. 

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