Creamy Roasted Garlic Sauce

I must confess…

I LOVE GARLIC!

Lucky for me, it is amazing for your health!

Garlic has so many healing properties, antiviral, antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, and it tastes so good. It is also great for cold, flus, chest infections, digestive disorders, and fungal infections because of its healing abilities.

Since it is currently winter, and everyone and their brother is getting sick, I made creamy roasted garlic sauce.

So simple

I roasted 6 heads of garlic and one shallot, until they were soft, about 30 minutes. Squeeze them into a blender with 1 cup of almond milk a pinch of salt and pepper and blend!
Just pop in the fridge for a few hours to thicken up, this makes enough to freeze for later too.

At my house we use this as a dip, to add in eggs, add to other sauces, the list is endless. I find this a great condiment to have on hand I go through it like crazy!!

What is a Health Coach?

As many of you know I am attending the Institute of Integrated Nutrition. This is a one year online program to become a certified holistic health coach.

A lot of people ask me, what is a health coach? Where I live, in Canada, health coaches are not as popular as they should be.

A health coach is someone who has been trained in health and nutrition, who supports clients one on one to achieve their health and lifestyle goals. We work with people on the ground level, to challenge their ideas about healthy living, support them to set and follow through with their goals. We help to make small incremental changes, which leads to a transformation which in turn is sustainable, because unlike diets, which don’t stand the test of time, learning new healthy living skills, over a six month period, creates a sustainable change. We are trained to ask high mileage questions, to provoke clients to search within themselves to find the answers to any problems they have. Lots of people think that a wellness coach and a health coach are the exact same thing, while similar, a health coach uses food as medicine to correct problems. The idea of “you are what you eat” plays a huge role in how we help people.

Why are health coaches important?

Today we have an epidemic of health problems! Everyone has been touched by disease in some way. The majority of problems are related to diet or can be significantly improved by diet. It is common knowledge that today’s children will have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. This has never happened before. Obesity is everywhere! I have sat in grocery stores and observed what people are buying. Meat, dairy, processed foods, and highly advertised junk is what we are eating, there is a huge lack of fresh produce, whole grains, and nuts and seeds. So on one hand, we are being inundated with marketing message constantly, and the other we are completely confused by what to eat because the publishing industry is currently controlling our views on healthy living, with extreme diets, in order to catch our attention and sell books. Then to top it all off, it is expensive and hard to find fresh organic produce. This has lead us into sickness. I think it’s fair to say that no one wants to feel sick. We all want to be healthy, but many of us are confused about what to do about it. No kidding when you have whole grain symbols on Lucky Charms, which is the furthest thing from a whole grain. This is where health coaches come into play, we have a lot of information about healthy cooking and living because we are ourselves have gone through the transformation. It is someone who is always in your corner fighting for you, holding your hand through out the process to hold you accountable.

I take this idea one step further, to help clients build backyard gardens to take back control of our food supply along with my coaching. Backyard gardens used to be common everywhere, when we were much healthier. The biggest misconception about gardening is that it take so much time, it really doesn’t. Yes you have to build the garden beds, however once built the maintenance is so minimal. I advocate setting up an irrigation system (from actual irrigation to a sprinkler on a timer) so you don’t have to even water it, which means you are NOT a slave to your garden. Another misconception is the time it takes to harvest, which is silly when you actually think about it. What really takes more time, going outside and pulling something out of the ground and washing it, or getting ready, driving to the store, finding what you want, waiting in line, paying, driving home, and washing the produce. Clearly, we can see that gardening actually saves time and money. This also guarantees you the freshest produce and YOU KNOW WHAT IS IN YOUR FOOD! It builds a deep connection with your food, children are MUCH more likely eat vegetables if they grow them, and being outside in nature has a positive effect on human spirituality, which is essential to healthy living.

So let’s change the world! It is time that we stand together and take power away from huge corporations who don’t care about our well being. We need a healthy revolution and I am dedicated to changing the way people think about food production.

Let’s do something about it!!

You Are What You Eat

I recently listened to a lecture by Steve Gagne about the energetics of food and it was eye opening and has been stuck in my mind. By looking in nature to notice characteristics of the plants, we can learn how the plants will benefit us. He uses the example of leafy greens. In nature they breathe in opposition to our own lungs, and they have veins that take nutrients from the soil, by their roots and transport them out into their leaves by these said veins. This would mimic how leafy greens react in our bodies, by improving our respiratory and circulatory system. Another example are root vegetables. They absorb nutrients and minerals from the soil, and store it, as well as centering and grounding the plant, for example, in very windy conditions. The characteristics will therefore work for us the same, absorbing and improving function in the small intestines, where we absorb our nutrients and thus, leading to improved digestion. As well, having a grounding and centering effect.

All over the world, in many different cultures chicken soup has been used as a healing food to help us recover from ailments. Gagne explores the question why? Why not beef, or lamb? Again, looking to nature for the answers, we see that cows are large, lumbering animals, lambs are smaller but still lumbering. Chickens on the other hand, are full of vitality, running around with so much energy. They also are working sun up to sun down everyday, turning over soil and hunting for food. So when we feel sick and lethargic we should consume food with the opposite energy. Like someone who feels cold and dry in the winter something warm and moist like oatmeal would be completely satisfying and help to balance you out.

The food we eat that makes us feel tense and anxious, are the processed, refined foods. Such as, sugar, alcohol, drugs, caffeine, heavily processed foods, microwaved foods, and factory farming food. (when the animals/vegetables grow under stress you will take on the stress energy)

The food that make use feel connected and harmonious are organic, whole foods, that are local and seasonal, especially from a home garden, and home cooked. It create a link between our understanding and caring, and our food.  Here is one of the gardens I have created.

Do an experiment, for two weeks eat only organic, whole foods, that grow locally and are in season. What do you notice?

For me, the immediate changes I saw were weight loss, clear skin, clear thoughts, more energy, less anxiety, and an overall feeling of calmness and balance.  Try it out on yourself, let me know the changes that you notice!

Cinnamon Raisin and Oats Cookies

What You Need:

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)

1/4 almond milk

1 tbsp. flaxseed meal

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup spelt flour

1/4 cup quinoa flour

1/2 tsp.  baking soda

1 tsp.  cinnamon

2/3 cup  raisins

1 1/2 cup oats

parchment paper

What To Do:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

2. Combine flours, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and flaxseed meal in a bowl.

3. Add milk, oil, and honey to the bowl, stir to combine.

4. Add raisins and oats, stir to combine.

5. Line baking trays with parchment paper.

6. Spoon out cookies onto tray, pressing down slightly with the spoon, or your hand. Cookies should be approximately 2 tbsp. and a 1/2″ thick.

7. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes, when cookies are golden brown and starting to crisp around the edges. Let cool on the pan for about two minutes, then transfer the paper and cookies to a wire rack, let cool completely.

8. ENJOY!

This recipe was inspired by “Rosemary’s Bakery – Oatmeal Raisin Cookies – Macrobiotic”

My Birthday Present

I am the proud new owner of a Samson 9006 Juicer!

It is a masticating juicer, which means to grind or chew, so it has slower moving parts compared to the centrifugal juicer. I like this better because it is quieter, easier to clean, is more efficient at juicing a wide variety of vegetables, and preserves more vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients in the juice. This juicer is able to make nut butter, pasta, oriental noodles, sorbet, mince vegetables, grind meat, and has an attachment to make oil. It also comes with a 15 year warranty.

If you are considering getting a juicer, I highly recommend this one.

 

Hot Water With Lemon

I just recently completed a detox, one of my new favourite habits has to be hot water with lemon.

Every morning I have a mug, it completely energizes my day. The citric acid promotes enzyme function in the liver which helps to rid the body of toxins. Lemons are also very alkalizing inside our bodies, due to their mineral content. When our bodies become an acidic environment, we become prone to many different diseases. Eating more alkaline foods will lead to a more balanced environment

I noticed my mood was lifted and my thought process became more clear. I will definitely be making this a daily routine.