What's in your pantry?

    Jonah claims that  I have a problem.  Apparently, I like to hoard food.

    I can't argue with the guy.  As soon as my mason jar of almonds is half full, I add it to my grocery 

    list and start wondering when I can get myself to the health food store.  

    I guess I just like to be prepared.  As you can see, our pantry is generally well-stocked.  

    Here's a short list of my must haves…

    raw nuts of all kinds (almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts, pistachios)

    raw seeds of all kinds (pepitas, sunflower, hemp, chia, sesame, black sesame, flax)

    dried, unsulfured fruit (apricots, medjhol dates, Thompson's raisins, cranberries, goji berries, currants,  

    figs)

    varieties of rice (brown basmati, red, wild, japonica, jasmine, brown rice pasta in many shapes)

    grains (red, black and white quinoa, buckwheat groats, millet, steel cut oats, rolled oats, pearl barley, 

    orzo)

    legumes (split peas, lentils, adzuki beans)

    pickles and preserves of all kinds 

    flour of many varieties (Bob's Red Mill's gluten-free mix, spelt, rice, whole wheat and white all-

    purpose)

    coconut in all forms:  oil, desiccated, flakes, flour, palm sugar, milk, cream

    good quality cacao powder and nibs

   This is just what's in the mason jars…don't even get me started on spices...

   Please share with us, what's in your pantry?  

The lazy naturopaths...

    Jonah and I used to be very active people.  

    We used to commute to our clinic by bike everyday (60 minutes of cycling a day).  If we weren't on     

    our bikes, we walked everywhere.  Weekends would consist of long walks from our west-end home       

    in High Park to downtown and back. Yoga was a regular part of our lives, whether it was Bikram's, 

    Moksha, Hatha or Ashtanga.  A 30-day yoga challenge took some effort but was always do-able 

    once we decided to do it.  We played volleyball weekly in the winter.  Jonah played basketball 

    weekly in the summer.  I ran half-marathons and loved trying out new activities, such as dragon 

    boating and aerial silks.  

    All in all, we were active people.

    Cycling through High Park.

    Dragon boating for Team Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine.

    Aerial silks with instructor, Sabrina Pringle.

    Now, one car, two kids and a home practice later, we have become lazy naturopaths.

  

    As much as we love the move to our home practice, there are times when I don't leave the house for 

    days (especially in the deep freeze).  Our commute is now 16 steps.  With two kids in tow, we drive   

    everywhere.  Most of the time I pick up groceries by car.  Sadly, I have not gotten on my bike in over 

    two years.  

    Every year our goal is to get more active and this year is no different.  As we suggest to patients,   

    when setting goals, keep them simple, attainable and measurable.  So this year, we have a game plan.   

    And here it is...

    1.  Jonah is going to play basketball weekly on Sundays.  

    2.  I will start something weekly on Saturdays, whether it is suspension yoga, pilates or swimming.  

    3.  I will start running once a week when the weather is better.  

    4.  We commit to one car-free day a week.  

    5.  We actually get on our bikes this summer.  

    All reasonable goals and all things we enjoy doing.

    If you are planning to get more active this year, sit down and write out a wish list.  Now, go back to
    that list and really think about what is doable.  Now, pare it down to only what is doable.  Perhaps its
    a 10 minute stretch in the morning, a15 minute walk at lunch time, or a new aerobics class once a
    week - whatever it is, put it in your calendar, set a reminder and treat each event as though it was an
    important meeting.  Better yet, set this up with a friend or a co-worker so that you have someone to
    enjoy it with and be accountable with.  You can do this.

    Good luck and let us know how it goes!  We'll keep you posted too.
  

Holiday fun!

Around the holidays, we get extra crafty and make gifts for our friends and family.  Soap-making has become a holiday tradition since before the girls were born.  Not only is it easy to do, it makes lovely gifts that people enjoy.  We don't make the soap from scratch (maybe one year) but use great quality "melt and pour" glycerine soap from K & W Specialties that is sodium lauryl sulfate, paraben and propylene glycol-free.  We simply add our own essential oils, shea butter, flower petals, and our gingerbread man soap gets ground oatmeal and fresh cinnamon sprinkled in.

        This year, I found toy soldiers that just needed a coat of paint. I had as much fun, if not more, than Esmé painting these little guys.

Jonah's parent's "Charlie-Brown Christmas tree".  Every year his dad finds a tree at the cottage and brings it home.  I was hoping to cut down our own tree this year but it just didn't work out.
Perhaps next year this tradition can begin…  

Anja is full of smiles.  

She has such a great sense of humour and loves to make those around her laugh.

 Jonah and I even had some time to reconnect.  We went for a long walk after the ice storm and enjoyed scenery that reminded us of a Japanese wood block print which we coveted in Kyoto many years ago.

Needless to say, we had a great holiday.  Not only did we close the clinic for two weeks, we spent most of the time at Jonah's parent's house which allowed us to come and go as we please.  The girls played happily with their cousins and we shared many late nights with his family.   It was the most restful holiday we have had in a long time.  

I hope everyone can look back at their holiday from 2013 with hearts (and bellies) as full as ours.  

Anja's fever

Anja started to feel a bit warm on Wednesday morning and she had been dealing with a runny nose and dry cough since Monday.  She was with my parents during the day (as she usually is while we work) and my mom reported that she has felt warm all day.

So, needless to say, her sleep was a bit restless that night.  She was nursing every 3 hours, which is quite typical for her.  We co-sleep so I know her sleep patterns very well since they become my patterns.  Her head felt hot and feet hotter.  She was awake for one hour whining and wanted to go downstairs.  So, we went downstairs and I danced her back to sleep.

Thursday morning she did not look well.  She was clearly fighting something.  Her eyes were a bit glazed over, her breath was "off" and her mood was down.  She wanted to be held.  She went to my parents again (mainly because I was also not feeling well otherwise I would have kept her home with me.  I was dealing with a mild case of body ache, headache and general weakness which in the end was mastitis) and slept most of the day.  My mom asked if I would like to give any medication to reduce the fever.  My answer was what most naturopaths would say, "No, but call me if she starts to vomit or looks like she's going downhill".   Luckily, I didn't get a call. She slept most of the day and came home looking about the same.

That night, I braced myself.  I knew it would be a rough night for both of us.  Luckily, after several doses of homeopathic medicine, Phytolacca 200 CH, extra immune support, Herbal first defence botanical tincture by Viriditas and lots of pumping and much needed rest, I was ready to take it on.  She woke every 1 - 2 hours to nurse or be held or just out of irritability or discomfort.  She never vomited.  She had slightly softer and more frequent bowel movements (which in traditional Chinese medicine is a good sign - bowel movements are a way to get rid of body heat and helping to naturally reduce a fever) .  She had only slightly drier diapers but was nursing so often, I knew she was well hydrated.  She felt hot all over, especially her head.  I gave her homeopathic medicine, Chamomilia 30 CH for the inconsolable irritability and lots of love and attention.  By the morning, we were both exhausted.  Her fever finally broke around 9 am Friday morning and she slept for 4 hours straight afterwards.

During the day, her eyes looked brighter and breath had gone back to normal.  Her body temperature felt normal again and her mood was much improved.  Our little Anja had battled her first fever at 17 months and it lasted for about 2 days and 2 nights.  A couple of days later she had a very mild rash on her trunk.  It was a slightly red, mottled looking rash.  A high fever followed by a day or two of no symptoms, then a rash with this appearance was surely Roseola.  A typical childhood viral infection with no long term consequences other than immunity against the viral infection again.  Esme also had Roseola when she was an infant and we dealt with it pretty much the same way.

I decided to share this story because so many of my moms ask me about how to handle a fever.  They want to know what is the best fever-reducing medication to give and what temperature they should give it at and how often it should be given.  My answer is simple:  No fever-reducing medication.  Don't even take their temperature.  Just look at your baby and respond to how they are handling the fever.  If they are whiney and irritable, nurse them if you are still nursing, comfort them by holding them (even if it means all day and all night long), hydrate them, be with them through it.  If you get exhausted, ask your partner to jump in.  But I ask parents to avoid taking the temperature for two reasons: One, most of my moms freak out as soon is they know their child has a fever or if they reach a certain temperature.  And two, it is rarely and accurate reading anyways.  So, avoid all that by responding to how they are handling it.  Look at your baby and comfort them.

The only time I would consider reducing it is if they were screaming in pain and I could not comfort them with homeopathic medicines which, luckily, has never happened in our household.

The only time I would take them to emerg is if they were feverish and vomiting, particularly projectile vomitting or feverish and very confused (speech slurred or saying strange things) or feverish and just going downhill fast (I don't know how else to describe this one) or if my gut was telling me to do it.  Follow your gut (one of my colleagues literally saved her daughter's life by just going to emerg on a gut feeling that her daughter Sadie was unwell).  Otherwise a fever is our friend.  It is our bodies innate immunity that is trying to fight off an infection by getting to that specific temperature that will make our bodies inhospitable to the virus or bacteria that is trying to find a home.  Our immune systems are so wise to be able to respond in this specific manner, please let it do it's job.  Don't suppress it.  Just support it.  Hydrate, rest and let it ride.  It will peak.  It will "break".  If we avoid suppressing it, it will probably break sooner than we think.  Usually in 1 - 3 days.  If we reduce the fever, our body keeps fighting back and trying to mount it again and we end up prolonging a 1 - 3 days process that is really very effective to a 2 - 7 or more day struggle that is getting them nowhere.  Also, when our child's fever is artificially reduced, they seem fine and we treat them as though they are fine.  We send them off to  school, we feed them sweets, we send them to that birthday party, all the while there is still a little battle going on in their little bodies and now they are defenceless.  This sets the stage for more complications.  Recurrent colds anyone?  A cough that lasts for a month anyone?  How about an ear infection?

So, my take home message is simple.  No fever reducing medication.  Don't even take their temperature.  Comfort your child and respond to how they are handling the fever.

What about febrile seizures?  I have never had one in our household but have several patients with little ones who are proned to them so let's discuss this another time.  I think there is a lot to digest already.

Good night everyone and I hope you found this story helpful.

Anja watering our herbs on our front balcony.

Esme's lunches

So many of my patients ask what I send Esme to school with so I decided to share two weeks worth of healthy, delicious, balanced and doable lunches.  I generally wake up around 6:30 - 7 am with Anja so I have time to make Esme's lunches the morning of school.  Most of the items are either leftovers that have been re-heated or pretty simple meals to make the morning of.

Since Esmé started kindergarten, she has noticed that other kids are getting "treats" in their lunches and so she has requested for treats.  What I have agreed to his a juice box on Fridays and I have been baking a bit more so that she can have a baked good once in a while.  Her other "treat" would been dried fruits, such as dried apricots, dates and figs.

 Ricotta and spinach ravioli (Rowe Farms) with steamed green beans

Snacks:  Apple slices and organic cheese with dried figs

 Baked white fish with boiled corn off the cob and cucumber slices

Snacks:  Peaches and gluten-free strawberry bread

 Pan fried pork chops with baked brussels sprouts and turnips,  cucumber slices and carrot sticks

Snacks:  Grapes and clementines with gluten-free banana bread (with chocolate chips!)

 Fried chicken breast with coleslaw and kale salad

Snacks:  Apple slices and clementines and gluten-free banana bread (with chocolate chips!)

 Spaghetti and beef balls (Rowe Farms) and steamed broccoli

Snacks:  Carrot and steamed green beans with hummus and orange slices

Kiju juice box (on Fridays!)

 Steamed broccoli with boiled egg and breakfast sausauge (Rowe Farms)

Snacks:  Cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes and carrot sticks with organic cheese and Dr. Krackers

 Baked white fish with beets, celery root and parsnips with steamed green beans

Snacks:  Clementines and cucumber slices

 Chicken and vegetable soup 

Snacks:  Baked rice crackers and organic cheese, banana and clementines

 Baked white fish, steamed broccoli and baked sweet potato

Snacks:  Grapes and clementines, cucumber slices and carrot sticks

Chicken ravioli (Queen's Pasta) with fresh parmigiano-reggiano with steamed brussel sprouts and yellow beans

Snacks:  Strawberries and grapes, Fig bar and Friday Kiju juice box

To end this blog, I just want to remind parents that we have A LOT of control over our kids eating habits, whether they are "picky eaters" or not.  They will eat what we give them and develop a palette for healthy, REAL food if that is what is offered.  We have to model good eating habits and they will pick up these habits.  It is a slippery slope, once they eat more "treats", they want more so be mindful to moderate it.  

Riverdale Park

Living across from Riverdale Park, we are graced with a pretty incredible view.  

It keeps me motivated to jog in the morning so I can get a really good look at the city while working out all my mental chatter.  Running for me is a great way to "meditate".  I am familiar with Buddhist monks who practice mindful walking but I like to think I practice mindful running.  I have just started running again and it feels so good.

Where's Esmé?

Mornings are always a bit hectic.  Getting a healthy breakfast in, getting dressed in the right style for the day, walking to school by the bell…I rushed to get Esmé to school just in time to find out...it was a PA day!  Mommy fail!  We ended up at Riverdale park, running down the big hill and playing on mounds of dirt instead.  It turned out to be a day to remember.

Jonah and I...

Waiting for Anja...

Princess Goldenrod

Jonah and I decided over the Thanksgiving weekend that we would start a blog together.  It would be a place where we could share a bit of ourselves and how we strive to find balance in our lives.  I have to admit, balance doesn't come naturally.  We work at it.  We are mindful of not over-scheduling ourselves and our kids.   We are mindful of not multi-tasking when unnecessary.  We are mindful of being as present as we can, with our patients (we are both Naturopathic Doctors), with each other, and with our girls, Esmé and Anja.

This weekend was a great example of being present.  We went for a walk with our girls, and Jonah's dad, Maris.  It was splendid.  We did not rush.  We had no agenda.  We just walked and let the girls explore... 

I hope you have a chance to explore being present today.

Du