Filed under: Healthy Eating, Holistic Recipe
If you’ve tried some of my other salad recipes on That’s Fit, then you know how good a bunch of greens can taste! Making a side salad with dinner is one of the easiest ways to create a balanced meal, full of fibre, vitamins, minerals and … Read more
Filed under: Advice, Healthy Eating, Holistic Recipe
When you’re looking for a sweet mid-afternoon snack that won’t sabotage your health goals or send your blood sugar on a rollercoaster ride, try these delicious almond rice crisps. It will save the day for those of you looking for something to … Read more
Filed under: Advice, Health, Healthy Eating, Holistic Recipe
Last week I declared it complete insanity that someone would buy store-bought guacamole rather than make their own from beautiful, heart-healthy avocados. This week, I will make a similar claim regarding salad dressing. At this time of year, … Read more
Filed under: Advice, Healthy Eating, Holistic Recipe
If you’ve been looking around for healthy, dairy-free alternatives to cow’s milk, perhaps due to allergies or digestive intolerance (pain, gas, bloating), your research might have led you to either brown rice or almond milk, both of which I … Read more
Filed under: Health, Healthy Eating, Holistic Recipe
It’s fiddlehead season in Ontario again and it only lasts a few short weeks. If you’re lucky enough to find these curly little ferns that have yet to unfurl, which is how they got their name, you are in for a treat: They taste like a mix of asparagus or green beans with a touch of artichoke.
In Ontario, they grow along muddy riverbanks (which wild “foodies” love to pick), but they recently ended up in my kitchen when I found them at my local grocery store.
Fiddleheads are a wonderful source of vitamin A, C, potassium, and folate (the B-vitamin superstar for heart health and reduces the risk of birth defects). They are a wonderful addition to any meal as a tasty, vitamin and mineral-rich side dish or the main ingredient in a pesto. I was lucky enough to eat homemade fiddlehead ravioli at a friend’s house on the weekend. Her boyfriend is a seasonal foodie fanatic and my tastebuds were made to feel very joyous!
Recipe after the jump.
Continue reading Healthy Fiddlehead Recipe with Lemon
Filed under: Advice, Happiness, Health
Each week, holistic nutritionist Joy McCarthy tells us about a common health problem she’s seen in her practice and how she came to a solution.
This week’s client: Cindy, 30, a corporate trainer.
The Problem: Cindy had struggled with skin breakouts her whole life and she can’t recall a time throughout her teen years when she had totally clear skin. These days she experiences pimple outbreaks about five times a year.
When Cindy came to me, her skin was really dry from all the washing and scrubbing she put it through in an effort to remove any excess oil. The outbreaks focused around her chin and mouth and as her career often had her presenting and training large groups, she understandably found her pimples an embarrassment. She told me the situation was affecting her self-esteem and that she would even call in sick when a breakout was particularly bad.
Cindy had tried everything from expensive potions and lotions to pharmaceutical drugs, but with no success. As a teen she used to eat a lot of fast food, but had cut this out about 10 years ago. She almost entirely avoids refined sugar.
To start, I evaluated her two-week diet diary. These were the most common foods she ate:
Solution after the jump.
Continue reading Nutrition Solutions for Pimples and Skin Breakouts
Filed under: Advice, Happiness, Health, Healthy Eating, How to Be Happy
Each week, holistic nutritionist Joy McCarthy tells us about a common health problem she’s seen in her practice and how she came to a solution.
This week’s client: Leila, 27, a fashion design student.
The Problem: Leila came to me desperate … Read more
Filed under: Advice, Healthy Eating, Holistic Recipe
I baked these cookies last weekend and am happy to report they didn’t taste “gluten-free (GF),” which makes them a huge success in my book. Gluten-free recipes are often overly chewy and far too dense, something I know from first-hand experience as I … Read more
Filed under: Healthy Eating, Holistic Recipe
Have you ever checked the nutrition label of your breakfast cereal? You might be surprised to learn that your favourite, high-fibre, “healthy” cereal is jam-packed with sugar and sodium. Children’s boxed cereals are even worse and I’ve listed 10 … Read more
Filed under: Healthy Eating, Holistic Recipe
What do avocado, lime, almonds and a bit of creativity have in common? Well, when you toss them all together, you’ve got the makings of a rich, creamy, vegan key lime pie. The inspiration for the following recipe came from a mouth-watering photo on … Read more
Filed under: Advice, Healthy Eating, Holistic Recipe
Clients often complain that preparing any meal that requires more work beyond removing a wrapper and throwing a pre-made meal in the oven or microwave is going to add stress and complication to their day.
These are often the same clients who complain of having no energy, lacklustre sex drive and little zest for life. What I tell them, time after time is that you must eat food that energizes you, fires up your metabolism and feeds your cells and eating packaged and processed foods will not do any of that!
That said, I understand that cooking after an eight or nine hour day isn’t always an attractive endeavour. My solution: take advantage of leftovers. This strategy works magic for me as I rarely ever spend more than 15 minutes in my kitchen. As much as I love to cook and bake, I much prefer to socialize with my dinner guest or family, rather than be chained to my kitchen counter.
The other night I made brown and wild rice, a dish that takes about 25 minutes and only requires a couple stirs. I served it with fish and a mixed green salad, in other words, an easy, fresh, spring-like dinner. And, as a bonus, I got another meal out of it as the next day I whipped up this little number. This is a great recipe (sans goat cheese), if you’re following our 30-Day Nutrition Challenge.
Recipe after the jump.
Continue reading Brown and Wild Rice Salad: Healthy Leftover Recipe
Filed under: Advice, Health, Healthy Eating, Eat This
Each week, holistic nutritionist Joy McCarthy tells us about a common health problem she’s seen in her practice and how she came to a solution.
This week’s client: Nellie, 37, a yoga instructor and waitress dedicated to green living.
The Problem: Nellie’s energy levels were unpredictable due to the fact she often forgot to eat (not hungry) and drank a lot of coffee. When she did finally get around to eating, the first thing to often hit her stomach was a muffin and coffee (not nutritionist-approved, FYI). She complained of having low energy mid-afternoon to which her solution was more coffee. This is a vicious cycle as drinking coffee when you are tired only makes you more tired once the artificial buzz wears off.
My recommendations to Nellie after the jump.
Continue reading Lemon Water to Start Your Day: Healthy Coffee Alternative
Filed under: Healthy Eating, Holistic Recipe
Many people dismiss healthy eating as consisting solely of salads aka rabbit food. Even I remember a time when I ate only salads for an entire year thinking that was the only “healthy” food available. Boy did that ever backfire as I was nutritionally-deficient and hormonally-imbalanced, not to mention totally bored. Fast forward 10 years and one holistic nutrition degree later and I can tell you that while salads are most definitely part of a healthy diet, eating the same foods all the time denies not only your tastebuds, but your body of essential vitamins and minerals.
These days I am lucky to have friends who can not only cook, but who know how to cook delicious and healthy meals. Enter Candice, my neighbour and foodie extraordinaire. Candice and her boyfriend are so enamoured by food that she writes a blog (www.therealdishto.com) about all their Toronto restaurant adventures. Knowing my penchant for gluten-free recipes, Candice emailed recently to say she had a bread recipe that I just had to try. I must admit that I was at first hesitant because mastering the art of gluten-free bread can be a challenge (when I was a teenager my boyfriend’s dad had celiac disease and ate a bread that had the texture and weight of cement). The verdict: It was very moist and the most delicious gluten-free bread I’ve ever had.
Gluten-free recipe after the jump
Continue reading Gluten-Free Foods: Bread Recipe with Pumpkin Seeds
Filed under: Advice, Happiness, Health, Healthy Eating
Each week, holistic nutritionist Joy McCarthy tells us about a common health problem she’s seen in her practice and how she came to a solution.
This week’s client: Ashley, a 10-year-old girl and her worried mom.
The Problem: Ashley’s mother … Read more
Filed under: Advice, Healthy Eating, Holistic Recipe
For a brief moment last Easter weekend, it felt like winter was over (as I write this there are flurries outside) and my friends and I got in the mood to BBQ. We grilled vidalia onions, plump and juicy sweet bell peppers and asparagus, which was cooked to mouth-watering perfection. The natural sweetness that grilling gives vegetables makes them one of the healthiest and delicious ways to indulge in outdoor cooking.
Here are some facts on how those veggies promote vibrant health:
Onions balance our blood sugar as they are a source of chromium, which is a mineral that helps yours cells respond to insulin. Essentially, this means onions are a great food for diabetics and anyone wanting to regulate their blood sugar, it’s a bonus they are sweet and delicious. Who can live without onions?
Sweet bell peppers are colourful veggies packed with vitamins such as A and C and powerful antioxidants. They are also a great source of lycopene, a carotenoid correlated with reducing certain cancers such as prostate, cervical, bladder and pancreas. When it comes to choosing produce, the brighter the better as you get more antioxidants.
Seeing asparagus in the stores is a sure sign of spring. In Canada you can locally-grown asparagus at farmers’ markets and grocery stores. Most notably, they are a source of vitamin K and folate. Folate is a heart healthy vitamin you want to eat every single day. A natural diuretic, asparagus is helpful for water retention because it’s a source of potassium.
Recipe after the jump.
Continue reading Grilled Vegetables Recipe: Sweet and Healthy
Filed under: Advice, Health, Healthy Eating, Holistic Recipe
It’s no secret that increasing fibre in your diet is a sound strategy for happy bowels. Just about every single packaged cereal advertisement on TV sings the praises of a high fibre diet listing benefits ranging from lowering cholesterol to improving bowel health by reducing constipation. And it’s true: The more fibre you eat, the more bulk in your stools, which aids your body in removing toxins. The bottom line (no pun intended) is that many Canadians suffer from constipation and fibre is critical to combating it.
That said, I’m pretty sure my mom wasn’t thinking about happy bowels when she baked these molasses-infused, dense and delicious bran muffins with juicy bursts of raisins for me the last time I went home for a visit. Lucky for you, she was kind enough to write out the recipe so I can share it here.
My mom’s recipe after the jump.
Continue reading Best Bran Muffin Recipe to Get “Things” Moving: Benefits of Oat Bran
Filed under: Advice, Health, Healthy Eating, Holistic Recipe
It’s no secret that increasing fibre in your diet is a sound strategy for happy bowels. Just about every single packaged cereal advertisement on TV sings the praises of a high fibre diet listing benefits ranging from lowering cholesterol to … Read more
Filed under: Advice, Health, Healthy Eating, Holistic Recipe
A few weeks ago, while in a nutrition consultation with a client, we discussed our love of a scrambled egg dish with tons of veggies that we like to call a scramelet. While a scramelet won’t win any awards for presentation, it gets a gold medal for … Read more
Filed under: Healthy Eating, Holistic Recipe
Last week I was invited for dinner by my friend, and fellow nutritionist, Elaine. As much as I love to cook, I love it even more when someone else is cooking, particularly when that someone else is a foodie who shares my commitment to eating “real” food.
It had been a really busy day, it was damp outside and I was certainly looking for some comfort food, all of which is to say it was the perfect evening for some girl-gab and a warming meal. While it would flatter me to think that Elaine had slaved all day in the kitchen, and this dish certainly reflected a chef’s loving touch, the truth is, it’s really easy to throw it together. Next time you are entertaining, try this recipe as your friends will be wowed by your perceived culinary skills.
Even if you’re not a fan of veggies, you will love this recipe as the heat of the oven caramelizes the natural sugars of the root vegetables. Root vegetables are available locally in Ontario, which is great for me. I love food that is both local and organic because this means it hasn’t been picked before it’s ripe and it hasn’t travelled thousands of miles. In short, organic and local foods are much more nutrient-dense than those that have travelled long distances.
Recipe after the jump
Continue reading Roasted Root Vegetables: Healthy, Easy Recipe
Filed under: Advice, Health, Healthy Eating, Eat This
Each week, holistic nutritionist Joy McCarthy tells us about a common health problem she’s seen in her practice and how she came to a solution.
This week’s client: Patricia, a 37-year-old mom, college professor and amateur photographer.
The Problem: Patricia had mouth ulcers (otherwise known as canker sores) for seven to ten days out of every month. She described them as “very painful” and they prevented her from eating some of her favourite foods. She had tried everything from rinsing with salt water to various over-the-counter medicines to dull the pain. When she experienced a flare-up she sounded like she had a golf ball in her mouth, which really affected her job as she taught, on average, two to three classes a day.
There are varying causes of mouth ulcers and some of the most common are:
When Patricia came to me she was really at her wit’s end. There is no magic solution, but only a process of eliminating what’s not causing the ulcers.
Solution after the jump
Continue reading Mouth Ulcers, Canker Sores? Cut These From Your Diet