Receptionist Position Available

Well Alexis is leaving.... :(

She has a great opportunity to move to LA so she is outta here - just in the nick of time as the Canadian winter approaches!

I need a part-time receptionist; so if anyone out there knows someone who is organized, loves people and multi-tasking, and has an interest in the health and wellness field tell them to send me their resume!

carol@zawadahealth.com

Chocolate Brownies - A Hit This Weekend.

Saturday my in-laws came over for a little lunch-time feast and this was dessert. I just served a large square of it with a handful of fresh raspberries and it was a hit! Of course I played my little game of 'guess what's in this' and as always my audience was surprised! I got it off a raw vegan blog a few weeks ago and knew I'd want to try it sometime in the future so I kept it in my 'must try' recipe file. I didn't use the almond extract but I had some ground almonds left over from something else so I put 1 tbsp in the mixture instead. I also didn't have medjool dates so I used regular dates.

1 cup raw walnuts

3/4 cup raw pecans

1 3/4 cups (packed) pitted medjool dates (see note)

1/4 cup dried organic pitted cherries

1/3 cup + 1 tbsp raw cocoa powder (or regular cocoa if you prefer)

1 vanilla bean (see note)

¼ tsp sea salt

½ tsp almond extract (optional)

In a food processor, first add walnuts and pecans. Pulse through until fine and crumbly, then add dates and cherries and pulse through again to partially combine (mixture should be crumbly, but not yet coming together). Then, add cocoa powder, salt, and almond extract, and pulse through. With a sharp tip knife, slice the vanilla bean down the outer side to open up the bean. Using a blunt (butter) knife, scrape out all the tiny seeds from the bean on both sides, and add them to the processor. Process again, along with the almond extract if using (almond extract enhances cherry flavor). Process until the mixture starts to come together but do not overmix so that the nuts release their oils (see note). Then remove the mixture and press into a brownie pan (8” x 8”) lined with parchment paper. Use a small piece of the parchment to help press and flatten the mixture evenly into the pan. Refrigerate for a couple of hours, and then cut into squares. You can also freeze the squares after cutting, and enjoy them out of the freezer!

Notes:

1. You can substitute 1 – 1 ½ tsp of pure vanilla extract for the vanilla bean seeds.
2. If your dates are on the dry side, you can add 1-2 tbsp of water to the mixture to help assist the pureeing and the mixture easily coming together. Or, you can presoak (then drain) the dates to soften before pureeing. Also, if you use presoaked nuts, the mixture will puree easier (though presoaking is not a must).
3. If you process the mixture too long, the heat generated by the food processor will bring the oils out of the nuts. If this happens, the brownies won’t be ruined necessarily, but they will have an oily appearance and be oily to the touch. So, process minimally to begin, rather than over processing the nuts at the outset.
4. If you don’t have the pitted cherries, you can substitute another dried fruit or simply add another 3 or 4 dates to the mixture.

Royals Going Vegan?

Ok so I have the Royals on my mind.... Prince Charles and the Duchess Camilla are in Canada this week and I had the opportunity to meet them both last Wednesday night at a reception. They were warm and gracious and surprisingly 'less stuffy' than I thought they would be. The Duchess even said to my friend and I that she was jet-lagged and tired. Darn! I should have told her I'm a naturopathic doctor and offered her melatonin!!!

So today I find out that Prince Philip, hosted 200 people in Windsor Castle, for a "Celebration of Faiths and the Environment" and did a vegan feast! Yes meat-less and dairy-free! For a gathering that included Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and Hindus among others it was almost necessary because of all the dietary restrictions - Halal, Kosher, vegetarian etc. How do you make vegan glamourous? You can't just give the Prince tempeh and quinoa and some butternut squash and call it a day right? Apparently one of the dishes was a pearl barley risotto with a portobello mushroom stuffed weith artichokes with a sprinkle of lemon zest and parsley on top!

If anyone wants an 'elegant' vegan cookbook one of my favourites is called Voluptous Vegan. It is entertaining based in that there are meals put together with 3 or 4 dishes that are thoughtfully combined. The recipes do have many steps and aren't ideal for a quick meal but can easily be made on a weekend to be enjoyed later in the week! The shepherds pie is delicious - it was one of my first vegan dishes 8 years ago!!

Brussel Sprouts

I know, I know.... no one likes these little trees. I never liked them either but one day last year I bought them, (because I know how good of a cruciferous vegetable they are for my liver and hormones!) and decide to roast them. We both love dijon mustard so I slathered the brussels with dijon, salt and pepper and olive oil and roasted them at 450 for 20 minutes. I've never looked back since - delicious!

Now we have them this way every couple of weeks. I especially love the little crispy leaves that fall off during the roasting process.... mmmmmmm.... they're what we pick at while everything else is cooking!

I'm picking right now while I'm waiting for the cauliflower to steam and Chris is BBQing our fresh tuna steaks!

If you want to disquise brussel sprouts even more take a look at Zawada Health's October newsletter for my shredded pecan brussel sprouts recipe!

Cold vs Flu

Yes I know it's crazy pandemonium about this cold and flu season..... lots of information out there... the spin on this topic is unbelievable. I'm doing a lunch and learn for a company on Tuesday about H1N1 - what the facts are, symptoms, how it's spread AND what are some immune boosting or prevention strategies. I'll try and post some of the presentation later next week.

For now it's important to stay calm and treat this like any other flu season and be able to recognize the difference between a cold and a flu.

The incubation of the H1N1 is 1-4 days, possibly as long as 7 days and the clinical symptoms include:

• Sudden onset of fever (usually high);
• Headache;
• Extreme tiredness;
• Dry cough;
• Sore throat;
• Runny nose; and
• Muscle aches and stomach symptoms -- more common in children.

The symptoms of H1N1 are similar to those of a seasonal flu but the trend is more GI symptoms emerging i.e. diarrhea and vomiting.

Colds may have similar symptoms but usually no fever and no muscle aches. Be vigilant, wash your hands and stay at home if you are sick.

AND with Halloween coming up be careful with sugar .... 1 tsp of sugar can decrease your immune system for 24 hours.

Morguard Health Fair

This week I was at the annual Morguard Health Fair. Morguard owns the office building my clinic is in and their head office is a few buildings down the road. Michelle Johnston of The Working Well, (http://www.theworkingwell.com) organized the health fair bringing together some great businesses, including Toronto Sprouts, an organic farmer from Brampton, a golf swing analysis guy, a fitness centre - Wynn Fitness, among others.

I've done a lot of health fairs over the last 6 years and have to say this health fair is one of the best organized and easy to do. The employees of Morguard are also great to chat with, most being very conscious about their health. Here's a pic of me talking about the importance of taking a fish oil - great for hair, skin and nails, very anti-inflammatory, wonderful for decreasing LDL cholesterol.....

I'll be back at Morguard in 2 weeks to do a lunch and learn about the H1N1 - history of the virus, symptoms, the vaccine, prevention and immune support from a naturopathic perspective.

Quinoa? Kale? Strange Foods?

Sometimes I take for granted what I know and how I eat. Sometimes a patient, (if not Chris), reminds me that these foods are not in the regular repetoire and seem scary.

Today was one of those days where 4 of my patients today wanted (or needed) to make some changes in their diets and were scared about trying different things, in particular quinoa and kale.

If you want or need to try something different and want to up the nutritional quality of your meal start with quinoa. It is a grain, looks like cous cous, cooks like rice and is eaten like you would eat rice. Where do I get this funny grain? Bulk barn, health food stores like Whole Foods or Planet Organic, or the health food aisle in a grocery store like Loblaws or Highland Farms.

Now I have it at home... what do I do with it? Put 1 cup of the quinoa and 2 cups of water into a saucepan, cover the saucepan, and put the stove on high heat. When it starts to boil, turn the heat down to low and let the quinoa simmer for another 20 minutes. It should be done!

You could use vegetable stock instead of water to flavour it up or saute some onions and carrots and celery and add it into the cooked quinoa or let it cool and make it into a cold salad by adding cucumber, celery, some parsley and some herbs. Another thing you can do is make a breakfast hot cereal out of quinoa by adding some cinnamon, fruit, and nuts or flaxseed!

New foods don't need to be overwhelming. One thing at a time... baby steps.... this week try quinoa, next week try making kale, the following week buy swiss chard... after a couple of months you'll have a whole new repetoire!