Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.

Albert Camus

I love Autumn. Almost as much as I love summer. After I went Apple picking on Monday I was looking for ways to use them up and I immediately wondered how I could incorporate them into my favorite butternut squash soup. You'll have to bear with me because I don't really follow a recipe here. The first thing I did was preheat the oven and roast 2 heads of garlic. There is no better smell in the world (well maybe a new baby) then roasted garlic!! It adds such a lovely flavour to everything too!

While the garlic was roasting I sliced 1 butternut squash in half length wise, scooped out the seeds and drizzled with olive oil. I roasted it in the oven until it was tender. While that was all roasting and smelling so good, I heated up my dutch oven with olive oil and sauteed 1 onion and 2 stalks of celery until golden and soft. Then I added in a few shakes of my favourite curry powder, some sea salt and some freshly ground pepper. Add in 4 cups of stock. When the squash and garlic are done pull them out of the oven to cool. Scrape the squash flesh out with a spoon and add to soup. Squeeze the soft roasted garlic out of the skins and into the soup also. Puree the soup until smooth and taste to see if it needs more salt or pepper. That's it :)


Wellness Tip ~ Every morning when you wake up poor yourself a 10 ounce glass of water and squeeze half a lemon into it. Drink this before you do anything else. Lemon and water have a clarifying effect on your body. Lemon is a very alkalizing fruit. It is even more important to do this if you drink coffee as coffee is acidifying. Lemon is one of a handful of foods that enhances your liver's detoxifying pathway. Lemon stimulates your liver to produce bile and bile is a carrier of toxins.

Keeping your kids and yourself healthy this fall/winter

I've been wanting to get a post together on how I keep myself and my kids healthy, especially at this time of the year. I will preface this by saying that Jayden, Zander and Gabbi have never been on antibiotics. They have never even been to doctors. They get a few colds per year and they maybe last a day or two. You might think I am just lucky but I don't believe so. When Ryan was a baby I knew nothing about nutrition. I fed him jarred baby food, arrowroot cookies, cut up hotdogs and sliced cheese. Ryan had 8 ear infections in his first 18 months of life. This was not acceptable to me and I knew there was a better way. This is when I started talking to people, reading everything I could find on nutrition and taking him to alternative health care practitioners. The main thing I did at that time was take him off dairy and refined sugar. Since then he has never had another ear infection. Over the years I have learned even more about food and supplements and health and I have seen all my kids health improve so much. This is not to mention my own health. I have cleared up my acne, treated my anemia and given myself so much energy!! In the past year or so I have really learned the importance of adding in fresh raw fruits and veggies to our diets. We started with the green smoothies, but we also have a juicer and I try and juice every day for the kids and myself. I do supplement the kids too. This is my daily routine. In the morning everyone gets up and drinks a glass of water and takes a probiotic and vitamin D. There has been some exciting research on vitamin D lately. The research says that Sufficient vitamin D prevents prostate cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, depression, colon cancer and schizophrenia. Your risk of developing serious diseases like diabetes and cancer is reduced 50% - 80% through simple, sensible exposure to natural sunlight 2-3 times each week. Of course in the winter this isn't possible for everyone. Infants who receive vitamin D supplementation (2000 units daily) have an 80% reduced risk of developing type 1 diabetes over the next twenty years. So in my house over the fall/winter the Adults get 5000 iu's of D3 and big kids (over 8) get 3000 iu's. Little ones get 2000 iu's. Then before I make breakfast I make them a juice. (do not mistake freshly made juice with the stuff you buy at the supermarket). That is pasteurized and all the enzymes and some of the vitamins are killed during that process. I think of fresh pressed juice as a vitamin supplement. Because all the fibre is removed from the fruit the vitamins are more available to your body. The immune boosting juice I make for the kids is apple, orange, lemon, kiwi (did you know kiwi's have more vitamin C then oranges), beet and carrot. For myself I have a grapefruit, orange, lemon ( I Also have a green juice in the afternoon). Then I make breakfast. Usually oatmeal topped with chia seeds, flax seeds, homemade almond milk and blueberries. Lunch is different every day depending on if they are school or home but I can tell you it is always whole food. Sprouted grain breads, hummus, raw veggies, nut butters, kamut pasta, tuna, chicken ( no deli meat), homemade muffins or cookies, soups. For snacks they eat apples, bananas, raisins, nuts, seeds. After school I make them green smoothies. And dinner again is different all the time. The main thing i do when planning their food is make sure it is dairy free, refined sugar free, wheat free and heavy on the fruits and veggies. We don't use artificial colours and flavors either. I hope this helps you to keep your kiddies and yourself healthy this season!!

Soup!!

Now that I am back working at Lululemon I need to find healthy things that I can bring and eat on my break. With fall coming I Have been craving soups! One of my favourites is potato leek but I wanted to boost the nutrition content so I made a few tweaks to this classic.

Fall Soup

1 tbsp of olive or coconut oil
the white and pale green parts of 3 leeks
4 red potatoes
1 head of cauliflower
1 carton of veggie or chicken broth
4 cups of water
2 heads of roasted garlic
1 can of chick peas
sea salt and pepper to taste

Roast garlic (instructions here)
In a large pot heat oil and saute the sliced leeks until soft (about 5 minutes). Add in the potatoes and cauliflower and saute for a few minutes. Add in stock and water and salt ( about 1 tsp). Cook until veggies are soft and then use an emersion blender to blend soup but leave some chunks. Open your can of chick peas and put them in a blender with some of the soup and the two heads of garlic and blend until smooth. Add back to soup and season as needed.

What does radiant health look like?

Last summer I was sick. I was tired! I looked awful. I had acne, sallow skin, dark circles. I wrote it off as having 4 kids. But something deep down was telling me it was more. I decided to go a see a naturopath and she drew some blood and discovered that I was anaemic, my blood sugar was very high, my cholesterol was high, my adrenals were out of whack and my hormones were out of whack. No wonder I felt like crap, lol. Since I am a photographer I know how to fix pictures. I know how to clone out blemishes and dark under eye circles, I know how to smooth skin and fix red blotches. I do this quite often.. even with children!! But since changing my lifestyle and discovering my radiant health I have not had to do it with myself. My skin tone is even, my dark circles have vanished, my eyes are brighter, my blemishes are almost gone. If I do get a blemish now I can trace it back to either stress or food. (if you see me with pimples then you know I have been eating dairy) But the above picture I took this morning. The only make-up I have on is lip gloss. The only thing I did to the picture was run my standard photo shop action and sharpen it for the web. I did not even out my skin, I did not cover any dark circles and I did not clone out any pimples. Lot's of people email me asking me what I eat in an average day so here it is.

7:00am freshly squeezed juice of 1 orange, 1 lemon, 1 grapefruit and a green tea
10:00am green smoothie and a hard boiled egg
1:00pm green salad with field greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, goats cheese, walnuts and balsamic vinaigrette and an herbal tea
3:00pm fresh veggie juice of tomato, beet, carrot, cucumber, kale, parsley, celery
5:00pm soup with bread and pesto or free range chicken with salad or a bean based meal
8:00pm coconut ice cream or a chocolate super smoothie or ezekiel bread with almond butter and honey

Hope you have an awesome day!!

xo Sebrina

Mysterium Tremendum Cookies

I don't know where this recipe originated but it seems vegans all over the world know it. And you don't have to be vegan to make and enjoy these cookies!! They are delicious! and almost guilt free. I mean yes they still have calories but if you are going to have a cookie you might as well have one that is healthy, high fiber, high protein and super yummy right!! I love using hemp seeds or ground flax seed in my baking because you can't notice them and you up the nutrition! I make these for the kids to take to school and if your school is nut free then just leave out the walnuts.

2 cups whole spelt flour
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup hemp seeds (optional)
3/4 cup rolled oat
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch nutmeg
1 tablespoons organic cocoa powder
2/3 cup maple syrup
2/3 cup coconut oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Place dry ingredients in large mixing bowl and mix well. Combine wet ingredients in another bowl. Add wet to dry, mix well and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Scoop onto a greased baking sheet. Leave room for them to spread. Bake about 10 -14 minutes. Cool on rack.

Enjoy!!

A trip to the health food store

This is what my trip to the health food store looked like yesterday. I thought I would talk about some of the products I bought and why.

First up is chia seeds. Chia seeds are little power houses for nutrition. They are really high in omega 3 oils. In fact 1.5 tbsp contains 3 grams of omega 3 oil. The recommended dosage for omega 3s (based on a 2000 calorie diet) is 4 grams per day. Chia seeds are a complete source of protein. They actually have 2 times the protein of any other seed or grain. 1.5 tbsp has 3 grams of protein and 5 grams of fibre. They also contain 3.5 grams of iron and 125mg of calcium. All this nutrition for only 80 calories! You can add chia seeds to your smoothies or sprinkle on your oatmeal (do not cook with them as it destroys the beneficial fats).

Next up is Cacao powder. I talked about it's wonderful benefits in this post.

Let's not look over the fresh young coconuts I have here. I bought these from an asian market. Coconut water is so good for you. It's fantastic after a workout, yoga or a run. It is so much better at hydrating then your typical sports drinks. It is low in calories, sugar and sodium. It has more potassium then 2 bananas.

I'll leave you with a yummy green smoothie recipe

water from one young coconut (or from a small carton of vita coco)
2 cups of spinach
1 cup chopped kale
1.5 tbsp of chia seeds
1 banana
1/2 cup of fresh pineapple
1 cup of frozen strawberries
handful of ice

Super Chocolate!!

So you've made yourself some beautiful fresh almond milk. Now what do you do with it. Well you can drink just like you would milk, either cold or warm. You can add vanilla extract and cinnamon for a lovely fall drink. You can use it as you would regular milk on cereal or in tea or to make a chai latte! But yesterday I discovered something so yummy and so healthy that I just HAD to share!!

Raw Cacao Smoothie!!
1 cup almond milk
1/4 cup organic raw cacao nibs
Blend together until smooth
Add in 1 banana
1 date and a handful of ice and blend again until smooth


This tastes like a chocolate milkshake but let me tell you of the health benefits of this shake! First let's talk chocolate. Not the kind you find in the store mixed with sugar. Oh no this is raw cacao. (pronounced ka cow). Raw Cacao has amazing beautifying and healing properties. Raw Cacao blows green tea, blueberries and red wine out of the water with it's antioxidant content. Antioxidants help to keep your skin young and supple. Cacao is really high is magnesium, chromium and iron. Magnesium is the number one nutrient deficiency in North Americans today. Magnesium balances brain chemistry, builds strong bones, and is associated with more happiness. Raw Cacao is super high is vitamin C (but be aware that there is no vitamin C in refined heated chocolate).

Raw Cacao is very high in anandamide. This compound gives you a feeling similar to falling in love. I can attest to this after my shake yesterday I had this "walking on clouds" feeling. It was awesome!!!

I could go on and on about Cacao but if you really want an interesting read on it I suggest David Wolfe's book "Naked Chocolate"