Spicy Shrimp Sushi Bowls…Deconstructed

Toronto Holistic Nutritionist Laurie McPhail Spicy Shrimp Sushi Bowls

I love sushi but I don’t have the patience (or skill, frankly) to make it myself. But you can whip up these Spicy Shrimp Sushi Bowls, which have all the scrumptiousness of sushi without the fuss, in no time. Here’s why I chose this recipe…

It’s a quick and easy meal for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Shrimp is super-nutritious (more on this below).
Sushi made with brown rice isn’t so easy to come by. But the added sugar and low fiber content of regular white rice sushi can lead to spikes in blood sugar and insulin levels.
Shrimp was a fave of my mom’s so it seemed appropriate given her birthday was this past week. And while I never did convince my mom to like sushi or raw fish, she would definitely have loved this!

May 13, 2022

Better Your Balance

Toronto Holistic Nutritionist Laurie McPhail Better Your Balance There’s no denying that maintaining balance is important for health. And balance comes in many forms. All this week during my I’m Sweet Enough 7-Day No Sugar Added Challenge, I’ve been talking about blood sugar balance, for example. We know it’s important to have a balanced diet to provide our bodies with adequate nutrients to function optimally. The body itself spends much energy devoted to maintaining homeostasis, which is essentially a fancy scientific word for balance or stability in the face of changing conditions. When you exercise, it’s vital to balance your strenuous efforts with rest and recovery to truly reap the rewards. And finding the right balance between work and home life is key to health and happiness.

But there is one type of balance we often overlook. And that is balance in the more literal and physical sense. As in, how long can you stand on one foot without falling over? So let’s talk about why it’s so important to better your balance.

April 28, 2022

I’m Sweet Enough 7-Day No Sugar Added Challenge 2022

Toronto Holistic Nutritionist Laurie McPhail No Sugar Challenge

I can’t believe a year has gone by since the I’m Sweet Enough 7-Day No Sugar Added Challenge. That means it’s time to do it again!

This Challenge is FREE as well as sugar-free and I only offer it once a year. So if you were thinking of joining in the fun last year but couldn’t make it, now is your chance! Registration closes Thursday May 5th and you can sign up right here right now!

There are many, many benefits to reducing added sugar in our diets (click here to read my blog post from last year for more on this). But sugar is everywhere, so it is very easy to slide down a sugary, slippery slope and have it more frequently than is good for us. Especially after fall and winter holiday feasting, chocolate on Valentine’s Day and spring holidays like Passover, Easter and Mother’s Day.

So I time the I’m Sweet Enough 7-Day No Sugar Added Challenge to come after these holidays but, perhaps more importantly, before the hot summer weather when we start peeling off our extra layers. 😉

The I’m Sweet Enough 7-Day No Sugar Added Challenge is a lot of fun. We go on an expedition to climb back up that sugary, slippery slope that we’ve just fallen down (and learn a little about summiting Everest on the way). And it’s free to join in, so what have you got to lose – besides maybe a little weight?

April 23, 2022

Stuffed Peppers…Deconstructed

Spring is in the air! It’s the perfect time to renew, refresh and be creative. And to spring clean, declutter and simplify.

So in the swing of spring spirit, I want to try something new going forward. Rather than a themed menu, I thought it would be fun to focus on a single recipe and delve a bit. Call it a recipe deconstructed (in this case Stuffed Peppers…deconstructed).

I might deconstruct the recipe either …

literally/physically, as I am doing this month with these Deconstructed Stuffed Peppers or
metaphorically, where I dive a little deeper into one or more aspects of the recipe.

For example, I might …

focus on the ingredients (their provenance, nutritional value, appropriate substitutions),
discuss the cooking method,
offer some shortcuts or
suggest ways to repurpose the recipe for another meal.

I hope you enjoy my Deconstructed Stuffed Peppers and the new format. As always, any and all feedback is welcome!

April 8, 2022

Dishing It Up on Forgetting

Toronto Holistic Nutritionist Laurie McPhail Dishing It Up on Forgetting

The theme of this month’s Dishing It Up newsletter evolved rather organically. First, as my level of busy-ness and business ramped up, I found I was forgetting to write the newsletter. Then, during a Pilates class, my instructor mentioned something about gluteal amnesia which piqued my interest since my glutes are certainly forgetting they exist. And there have been a few times in recent memory when I was sure I’d added certain items to my grocery delivery order but, it seems, I did not. I’ve either been forgetting things yet again or Fresh City is messing with my head and removing things without telling me.

So this month I thought I’d post a few items on forgetting and how to improve the situation. And I hope that, if and when you have some time this weekend, you’ll remember to read it. 😉

Dishing It Up on Forgetting

Optimal dose and type of exercise to improve cognitive function in older adults
Gluteal amnesia, aka ‘dead butt syndrome’
Sitting all day can cause ‘dead butt syndrome’. These exercises can help.
The best brain food to start your morning off right
Your brain needs you to focus on one thing at a time
Sleep, mental health and memory

Read on for a bite-sized summary and links for each story …

March 19, 2022

Easy Entertaining Menu

Recently I had a good friend over for dinner to celebrate her birthday. Whenever I have guests for dinner, I plan my menu strategically. The goal is easy entertaining. I avoid dishes that rely too carefully on exact timing. And I won’t serve anything that requires much in the way of last minute cooking. I’d much rather spend time relaxing and enjoying the company of my friends than fussing in the kitchen.

I was extra strategic when coming up with this menu. Since I haven’t done much entertaining in recent history (thanks, pandemic), I was a little worried I might have lost the knack. So I set this menu up to be pretty foolproof. You can make most of it ahead, so it is low-stress as well. Yet the result is a restaurant-quality feast that looks as if you’ve slaved.

March 4, 2022

Reduce Food Waste: Root-to-Top Eating & Other Strategies

Toronto Holistic Nutritionist Laurie McPhail Reduce Food Waste Today I’d like to chat about how to reduce food waste with root-to-top eating and other strategies. I’m riffing, of course, on the carnivorous nose-to-tail concept where you consume as much of an animal as possible in order to reduce waste. Though in this case I am talking about vegetables. Why should we be concerned about food waste? Because:

globally, we waste more than one third of our food (in Canada, food waste is estimated at approximately 20%), with food waste responsible for 10% of greenhouse gases and
the price of food appears to be going nowhere but up.

Canada’s food inflation rate hit 6.5% in January compared with a year earlier. And I read in this recent article that “one in five are buying less fresh fruit and fewer vegetables” as a response to inflation. This saddens me since they are so vital to optimal health.

So I’d like to offer up some suggestions for:

storing vegetables so they keep well,
using as much of the vegetable as possible and
how you can purchase vegetables more economically, including those that would otherwise go to waste.

February 19, 2022

Gung Ho for Garlic Menu

February is Heart Month in many countries. The goal is to spotlight cardiovascular health and increase awareness of what we can do to reduce our risk of cardiovascular disease. There are many steps we can take but I’d like to suggest one simple and delicious one. Eat more garlic!

So this month I’ve created a menu that is Gung Ho for Garlic. I chose garlic because it is a brilliant example of how food can directly impact your health. Garlic has numerous evidence-based healthful properties. As well as improving cardiovascular health, garlic can benefit physical and sexual vitality, cognition and resistance to infection. This last one is especially useful at the moment. Garlic also has anti-aging properties, which are always useful! For Heart Month, however, I’d like to highlight the heart-healthy aspects of garlic.

February 4, 2022

Dishing It Up on New Year’s Resolutions

Toronto Holistic Nutritionist Laurie McPhail Dishing It Up on New Year's Resolutions

Here we are in February and so you’re likely wondering why I’m talking about New Year’s resolutions. That’s because by February most of us have given up on the New Year’s resolutions we made with such gusto in January. Consequently, the New Year New Me is no more. So here’s a chance to breathe new life into them. How? Paradoxically, by making them smaller.

You see, the reason we often fall short and give up is because our resolutions ask way too much of us. We set our bar too high. After all, if you’ve been a couch potato since the pandemic began, resolving to run 5K every day may doom you through overambition.

Instead, start smaller. Maybe commit to walking around the block each morning. This will make it easier to build a morning exercise habit because it isn’t asking too much of your time or effort. According to Dr. Brendon Stubbs, a physiotherapist and senior clinical lecturer at the King’s College London Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, “if we start with smaller, more realistic changes in health habits we are much more likely to sustain them.”

So in this edition of Dishing It Up I offer four suggestions. These are smaller things you can do and/or changes in perspective that may bring you closer to your intended New Year’s resolutions for 2022. A Feb Four, if you will.

The first is to select a word that, like a mantra, guides your year. I chose equanimity. Oxford dictionary defines it as “mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation.” I also like the Buddhist interpretation: “Neither a thought nor an emotion, it is rather the steady conscious realization of reality’s transience. It is the ground for wisdom and freedom and the protector of compassion and love.” It resonates with me in the midst of this pandemic where things aren’t quite as I’d like them to be and there isn’t a whole lot I can do about it.

I hope you find these suggestions helpful. Perhaps they will inspire your own ideas. It’s worth it to recalibrate your ambitions for 2022 rather than abandon them. When it comes to behaviour change, it’s the least you can do. Because starting with the least will ultimately yield the most.

Dishing It Up on New Year’s Resolutions

22 motivational words to propel you into 2022
Balance your body budget
Get outside in the morning light for 2 to 10 minutes
Make simple food swaps

Read on for a bite-sized summary and links for each suggestion …

January 15, 2022

Island Dreams Menu

I may not be able to travel anywhere right now but I can dream about it. And I have. Perhaps because of the extreme cold snaps Toronto’s been having, I’ve been dreaming of the tropics. Or possibly it’s because it feels like forever since I’ve ambled along a sandy beach caressed by warm, salty ocean breezes.

Like dreams, food can also magically transport us to other places. In this spirit, I have created my Island Dreams Menu. I invite you to turn up the tunes (reggae? calypso? salsa? soca?) and the heat. Not just the heat in your home but spicy heat.

I’ve kept the recipes fairly mild as not everyone is a chili-head like I am. But if you are, now’s the time to shake it up with your favourite hot sauce. I have several. My brother added to my collection by giving me this one as a stocking stuffer: the mango and habanero-based Hotel Oscar Tango Sauce. Get it? HOT sauce. Hotel Oscar Tango spells out HOT in the phonetic alphabet. As airline pilots use the phonetic alphabet extensively, it seemed ideal for this menu inspired by virtual travel. Especially as it is locally made here in Toronto by Damien. As Damien’s website says, “Blandness is cold, cold, treachery. Step out of the cold forever with Damien.”

I started the menu off with a mocktail for those of you joining me in forgoing alcohol this month. Even if you didn’t Ring in the New Year with Dry January, it is never too late to take a trip down sobriety lane and enjoy the benefits of taking a break from alcohol.

I hope my Island Dreams Menu takes you to a warm, happy and healthy place! Sign up here to receive the recipes.