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.