I find that a common excuse or complaint of many of my patients have to eating healthier and preparing lunches themselves is that they are too busy. No time. I'm not a chef. I'm just a Mom and a Naturopathic Doctor. Clearly I'm not a food photographer either. Oh, and I teach Nutrition at college too. I'm busy. We're all busy. So I decided to post my lunches to give ideas and inspiration for quick, easy and nourishing food. What we need is nutrient dense foods that won't spike our blood sugar to quickly or too high. Food that is tasty and food that is satisfying. Food that makes us feel satiated (=fancy word for full). My trick to eating well is making sure I have loads of fresh veggies and fruits in my house. This means shopping at least twice a week, if not more. But it doesn't take much time at the supermarket since I perimeter shop. This is a great way to avoid unnecessary calories and processed, unhealthy foods.

I start in the produce section (usually go the the back where the organics are - but also buy conventional produce to fill in the gaps). Then I go down the diary aisle at the back and pick up my organic, plain yogurt (with fat); my organic or free-run eggs; organic butter. Then into the meat and cheese section. Then I'm outta there. That's a whole other post. How to tackle the supermarket.

I'm working this afternoon and needed to make something quick. I don't think too much about it. Just throw things together. Whatever is around and makes sense. Pictured above is my Avocado & Egg salad. Took 10 minutes to put together. If you have pre-hard-boiled eggs in the fridge it would be even quicker. Avocado. Eggs. Squeeze of lemon. Salt (or gomashio - condiment made of sesame seeds and salt). Extra virgin olive oil. Pinch coriander spice. Would have preferred to put in either chopped cilantro or parsley, but didn't have any at home today.

The second salad I made is my Quick Out-the-Door Salad. Basically it's whatever is on hand. Cherry tomatoes, halved. Cucumber. Olive oil. Salt (or gomashio). Asiago cheese (but you could use whatever you have on hand - I almost used Buffalo mozzarella - or omit if you don't eat dairy). Sliced roast beef (no additives or preservatives). Dash of apple cider vinegar.

If you have any quick and delicious lunch ideas that you pull together share them with me! :) Bon appetit!

I'm currently putting together a bunch of breakfast recipes to provide my patients. I've found over the years that most people don't really eat a good, healthy breakfast. People tend to either skip breakfast altogether, eat highly processed sugar laden cereals (even the ones that you think are healthy for you), eat a bland boring breakfast of an egg white omelet and are left gustatorily unsatisfied (and then end up eating a high carb snack at 11am), or reach for the popular non-food item called 0% fat Greek yogurt (do we really believe that Greek people eat or ever ate 0% fat yogurt?).

As a culture we are confused. We are led to believe by bogus claims on cereal boxes that they are "heart healthy" or "whole grain" (have you ever seen fruit loops grow in fields?), and that we actually need to eat breakfast cereal in order to obtain fibre in our diet. Vegetables and fruits are FULL of fibre without the added sugar, processed grain or other additives, and they contain vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients in their natural form. I have so many patients come to see me that are diabetic (or soon to become so), and have high risk factors for heart disease and have abdominal obesity.

So I think the perfect place to start to improve your diet is by eating a great breakfast. I am passionate about breakfast. Breakfast needs to have protein, fat, vegetables and/or fruits but most of all it needs to be satisfying and delicious. In our house my husband typically is the breakfast maker. We call him the 'eggspert'. Right now we have my step-daughter visiting us on her college break and she too is becoming a passionate foodie. She is involved in the Berkeley Student Food Collective - who provide fresh, local, healthy, environmentally sustainable and ethically produced food at affordable prices to the Berkeley campus and greater community. We are working together during her visit to develop awesome, delicious, healthy breakfast ideas and recipes. It's so much fun! :)

We decided to make two versions of the egg muffins. One is scrambled and the other is more like a sunny-side-up version. The scrambled egg muffin is like a mini version of my husband's famous frittata that he makes for brunch every Sunday morning. The sunny-side-up version was my step-daughter's idea. They both turned out delicious! The beauty of these little muffins is that you can make a whole bunch of them ahead of time and keep them in the fridge for a few days as a quick snack, a grab-and-go breakfast, or to pack as a lunch.

      

Shepherd's pie is a favourite meal for my husband (and now for the rest of the family). It's his comfort food. He started making his own to serve the family when I'm teaching or working late. Since we don't tend to use white potatoes he uses alternatives such as cauliflower and/or sweet potato or even squash. He wants me to let you know that his shepherd's pie is always changing depending on the ingredients available in the house. This time it was cauliflower, sweet potato, zucchini, carrots and celery. But you could use other vegetables such as peppers or frozen corn (organic non-GMO of course) and peas. My kids devour it and even their friend love it and don't even notice that the topping isn't made of potato.

LOVE - SOUP - SUNSHINE - FOREST

I kept my 2.5 year old son home from daycare today. He had a bit of a cough and a stuffy and runny nose. No fever. Just a cold. Since the daycares only send kids home if they are either vomiting or have a fever it's not a wonder that they catch everything under the sun. But I remind myself that it's good for his immune system. I had the time today to be with him (I'm sure I could have gotten a zillion other things done, but I would rather take a break). I decided to keep him with me today because when he woke up in the morning his cervical lymph nodes were the size of golf balls (okay I'm exaggerating).

Parents often ask me how to prevent their children from getting sick so often. Children will get sick when they are small. It's normal and natural for our bodies. They need to build up their immune system, and fighting colds does just this. But having said that, to keep their bodies strong and healthy you first have to provide a strong base. Good food.

What does good food look like? Good food is real. Vegetables (especially seasonal vegetables), fruits (not fruit juice or fruit roll-ups), meats and some whole grains (and I mean in the whole form - not whole grain breads or flours). Anything that is processed is harder on the body. Processed and refined flour products (cookies, crackers, cakes, breads...) and all carbohydrate foods eventually break down into single sugar molecules, such as glucose (dextrose), galactose and fructose, in order to be absorbed into our body. The processed refined carbs are broken down more quickly and therefore raise our blood sugar (glucose) more rapidly. The measure of how quickly a food raises our blood sugar is called 'glycemic index'. For instance white table sugar (sucrose = fructose + glucose) has a glycemic index of 68. White bread has a glycemic of 73. The higher the number the faster the food spikes our blood sugar (not a good thing). Pure glucose has a glycemic index of 100. And would you believe it? Whole wheat bread is right up there with a glycemic index of 71. That's higher than table sugar. Our body cannot differentiate whether it is whole wheat bread we are eating or some candy! Foods that are highly processed (and yes, bread is a processed food). So what's my point with all of this? Simply put - sugar has a negative effect on our immune system for a couple of reasons:

1. Glucose interferes with the absorption of Vitamin C.
2. Sugar depresses our immunity. There is a famous study that showed that sugar decreases the responsiveness of neutrophils (white blood cells involved in our immune response) - this effect lasts for hours.

Low/moderate glycemic index food is much easier on our body. But if you do decide not to eat wheat flours then you must make sure you and your children are eating foods high in folate (leafy green vegetables, lentil and beans). Wheat flour is now enriched with folate (since most people don't get enough through eating a proper diet).

So what to do with a child that is sick with a cold, but not too ill on a cold winter day (well, right now it is unseasonably warm - a balmy 4 degrees Celsius where we are)? First, I decided to make my super immune Carrot Ginger soup (quick and easy since I didn't have a chicken on hand to make my delicious immune strengthening Soulful Chicken Soup).

The cooking pot with carrots, ginger, turmeric, garlic, onions and water cooking.

My LO enjoying his carrot and cooking with Mom.

Next we decided to enjoy the sunny day, get some uplifting UV rays and Vitamin D. Our favourite walk is to the forest. A small hike and then a snack of organic apple and toasted pumpkin seeds. Forest bathing, I've written about in another post, increases the immune system and decreases stress (something all of us could use).

Our favourite place to be (husband included - he's taking the photo).

I wanted to make a gluten-free gingerbread cut-out cookie for my kids for Chanukah (but of course you could make them for Christmas). We always love baking gingerbread starting in November every year (I have to listen to Bing Crosby whilst making gingerbread - that's my secret for good gingerbread). I used to make the cookies with whole rye flour, but this year I wanted something with gluten-free and with less grain in general. I prefer not to use any starch or gluten-free flours that have a high glycemic index (=the speed at which a carbohydrate turns into blood glucose). My son is allergic to tree nuts or I would have tried almond or another nut flour. They actually turned out really well - my daughter was surprised. But both of my kids loved them. Just watch the cookies and don't burn them! Next I'm working on a paleo coconut flour shortbread for a retired Scottish fire fighter (one tough customer!).

Yield: 24 gingerbread cookies (depending on cutter size)