You will love the rich and salty flavour of this tapenade. This dish is sure to quell your rich cravings and nourish your body by providing you with all of the anti-inflammatory benefits that olives and olive oil have to offer. Tapenade is a perfect appetizer, spread or topping to any of your favorite dishes.  READ MORE

These ‘milk’ shakes will certainly shake up your taste buds! Coconut butter boasts remarkable health-boosting properties such as protection against diseases, boosting metabolisms and offering an impressive amount of fibre to aid digestion and satiety. So skip the greasy diners and enjoy your own, better-tasting, version! Vary up the flavours from a creamy vanilla to a dreamy chocolate…or island strawberry!  READ MORE

Central Memorial Park offers a scenic reprieve among the skyscrapers peppering Calgary’s downtown core but burrowed even deeper within this scenic oasis is the real gem, Boxwood Cafe. The sensation that immediately floods your body walking into this cozy restaurant is similar to the warm embrace of a good friend you haven’t seen in a long time. From your toes to your nose, there’s an undeniable familiarity with a “take your coat off and stay awhile” comfortability. The intimate rustic design paired with wooden beams, menu blackboards and hum of laughter creates an oh-so welcoming farmhouse flair.  READ MORE

Urban Herbivore is changing the face of “fast food” or “grab and go food” as we know it. Food courts in malls were once dominated by fast food chains, today with the renaissance of healthy eating and the demand by consumers for healthy food choices, places like Urban Herbivore are taking centre stage.  READ MORE

You’ve heard it before: bran is an excellent source of fiber. Raisins are healthy. ‘My parents eat it, so it must be nutritious.’

Ah yes, the infamous Raisin Bran health myth.

And what about Mini-Wheats? To the untrained eye, they look like little packets of good health; after all, aren’t they just kid-sized versions of that wholesome, whole-grain cereal of the turn of the twentieth century, Shredded Wheat?  READ MORE

There is something about cookies during the holidays that always brings a smile to my face 🙂 The problem is that most cookie recipes are made with white flour, white sugar, and sometimes other unhealthy ingredients like margarine or shortening. What’s a girl to do when she wants the treat of a delicious cookie that is guilt-free and super-duper delicious! Enter…. my AMAZING Holiday Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies! READ MORE

Don’t you just love the taste and smell of peanut butter…mmm? I used to love putting a huge dollop on my steel cut oatmeal (when I had steal cut oats back in the day!) and boy did it taste good! Then one day I was reading some interesting information on health and peanuts and what I found was astonishing! It seems like most peanut butter contains aflatoxin…a toxin produced by a mold found in peanuts! READ MORE

Almond milk, it’s healthy, right? Maybe not! Yes, our beloved almond milk might not be the healthy alternative we think it is! Recently almond milk has been taking the lead as the healthy alternative to cow’s milk and even the once tooted soy milk. Just to clear things up, fresh home-made nut milk  is innately healthy but what we purchase in a tetra pack may not be. Why? Because it may contain carrageenan; a component derived from certain seaweeds. Since carrageenan is from a ‘natural’ source we think it is healthy but it is not, it can even be carcinogenic, oh my!  READ MORE

Did you know that the average American consumes 22 teaspoons of sugar per day?! That’s 355 calories, just from sugar alone. It’s a difficult thing to avoid when it is hidden in just about everything! Sugar is in packaged foods, cookies, bread, cereals, instant oatmeal, peanut butter, crackers, applesauce, sushi, baked beans, sauces, condiments, canned soups.. even vitamins and cough syrup?!  READ MORE

What does “Eat Real Food” mean to you?

To me it means going back to the way our great great grandparents used to eat. Choosing food that is preferably local or organic, and in it’s whole, natural form and doesn’t have anything added to it to preserve it or make it a prettier colour so that we want to eat it. Using fresh fruit and vegetables in my meals uses every colour of the rainbow, so why would we need any artificial colours?  READ MORE