by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Mar 28, 2013 | Cooking, Dessert, Elimination Diet, Food, Food Sensitivities, Gluten Free, Nutrition
Everyone loves baked things. They help fuel social gatherings, solo study sessions, go well with tea and coffee. What’s not to love? The problem, however, is that most are laden with sugar, wheat flour, usually processed and virtually all contain milk and eggs, which a growing number of people are developing intolerances to.
Gluten-free goods can be expensive and have the quality of cardboard. So, what’s a health-minded individual to do? No worries, many common recipes can be converted quite easily, depending on your dietary needs and preferences.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Mar 14, 2013 | Dessert, Elimination Diet, Food, Food Sensitivities, Gluten Free, Health, Nutrition, Recipes
Have you ever been invited to a dinner party and charged with the task of bringing dessert to one of those groups of people who always seem to be onto the next dietary fad? If not, you probably don’t have any naturopathic friends. If you have been in this situation,forced to peer at food labels, wondering how many words there are for “dairy”, I have a solution for you. This recipe is vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, paleo, raw and dairy-free, so it should satisfy everyone. In fact, the list that these things don’t contain is way longer than what they do, which are: coconut. nuts. dates. Unless you’re date-free, you can eat these. And, let’s face it, if you’re date-free you’re probably looking anyways, right? 😉
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Mar 5, 2013 | Dessert, Diet, Digestion, Elimination Diet, Food, Food Sensitivities, Gluten Free, Health, Nutrition, Recipes
Being on a diet makes it hard to snack, especially when on the road. Any true Canadian will tell you that no road trip is complete without a stop at Tim Horton’s, our favourite roadside coffee hub. And, of course, no Tim Horton’s coffee is truly satisfying without a delicious box of “Timbits”, or assorted doughnut holes, by its side. Every Friday, while teaching English in the summer, I would bring in a box of Timbits for my students to sample some “authentic Canadian cuisine”. They loved them, not surprisingly. Sadly, most people on a naturopathic diet – whichever naturopathic diet you follow – can’t eat Timbits, which are basically little balls of gluten and sugar. But don’t despair, this snack makes a delicious grain-free, whole foods substitute. And the best thing about these coconut-covered balls? They’re good for you!
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Mar 1, 2013 | Cooking, Diet, Digestion, Elimination Diet, Food, Food Sensitivities, Gluten Free, Nutrition, Recipes
This recipe is based on the one provided to me by my colleague Amy, who is currently putting together a cookbook. It’s a fabulous idea for a good-for-you flatbread made of 3 simple ingredients. When my cousin came to visit from Calgary, she brought homemade focaccia made with rosemary and olives. Not being able to eat gluten, I was tortured by that bread for the entire weekend. The sense of deprivation inspired the need to create a gluten-free version of her forbidden bread, using Amy’s grain free recipe as the bread base.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Feb 11, 2013 | Dessert, Detoxification, Digestion, Elimination Diet, Food, Food Sensitivities, Gluten Free, Nutrition, Recipes
I first heard about chia pudding, where else, but among my colleagues, fellow students of naturopathic medicine and self-professed health nuts. Chia seeds are chock full of fibre and omega-3 fatty acids. When placed in water and left for a while their fibre begins to form a gel, creating a “pudding”. I love pudding, but there are few things less naturopathic than the traditional store-bought pudding cups. Here is a great way to get your fibre, omega-3’s and to quench your cravings for soft, comforting pudding.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Feb 8, 2013 | Cooking, Detoxification, Diet, Digestion, Elimination Diet, Food, Food Sensitivities, Gluten Free, Nutrition, Paleo, Recipes
My family and I have been doing Natasha Turner’s Hormone Diet for the past few weeks. The diet mainly consists of eliminating all sources of starch (grains and root vegetables, mostly), sugar, caffeine, alcohol and processed foods, and eating a whole foods diet. While we thought it would be hard – there are a lot of rules to follow – it’s not too bad. We’ve helped each other get through it as a family, taking turns cooking and preparing meals. And as a family, we’ve become healthier: I feel lighter, more energetic and have experienced less cravings for sweets or “unhealthy foods”. I also find that my blood sugar is more stable throughout the day.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Feb 1, 2013 | Cooking, Elimination Diet, Food, Food Sensitivities, Gluten Free, Holidays, Nutrition, Recipes
Pancakes for breakfast can only mean a few things: a lazy Sunday morning, the first morning of a long break (like Christmas) or vacation! All great things, it’s no wonder I love pancakes. There really is nothing like lazily flipping over a page of the thick weekend paper, sipping the forbidden juice of strongly-brewed arabica coffee beans and helping yourself to yet another delicious flapjack. Fortunately, you can have your pancakes (and eat them too) without encouraging full-body inflammation and upsetting your hormone balance. These babies are fit for any Elimination Diet and I’m pretty sure can fool your grandparents into thinking they’re the real (i.e.: wheat flour and actual whole-fat buttermilk) deal.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Jan 18, 2013 | Cooking, Dessert, Diet, Gluten Free, Holidays, Recipes
Wednesday was my mom’s birthday and, to celebrate, I made her a very chocolate-y gluten-free cake. Since cake and chocolate are not exactly naturopathic (although dark cocoa has been shown to modestly lower blood pressure), it’s important that, when eating and preparing dessert, we make sure we create a 10/10 on the delicious-ness scale. Making sure that birthday cakes are as chocolate-y and delicious as possible makes it worth it and justifies the extra sugar and calories. I hope this one was a 10.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Dec 19, 2012 | Cooking, Dessert, Diet, Food, Food Sensitivities, Gluten Free, Health, Holidays, Recipes
Christmas fruitcake. I’ve always hated that dry, brown loaf with its bitter, plastic-tasting chunks of “fruit”. Only my dad would eat it; I guess nothing says Christmas like dipping a piece of dry, tasteless plastic/bread into an espresso cup, and then picking the gummy fruits out of your teeth for days afterward. It’s all a part of the holiday cheer! This Christmas fruitcake, however, is not like that. It’s even (dare I say it)… good!
Now that my family is gluten-free, it seems like the skies have opened and baked goods (baked at home) have become reinvented. Old, store-bought staleness has reinvented itself as warm, moist deliciousness.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Dec 17, 2012 | Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, Community, Cooking, Exams, Food, Food Sensitivities, Gluten Free, Holidays, Paleo, Recipes, Student
For the last Monday of classes for the 2012 school year we had a cleverly named “Ugly Potluck and Delicious Sweater” party at CCNM. Much fun (and good treats) were had by all and people did wear quite delicious sweaters, including some homemade masterpieces featuring Christmas trees that actually lit up via a battery pack. Celtic Christmas songs droned on in the background and it was a nice study “break” to foster school spirit and a sense of community before the real heat of exams set in and then we all disperse for the holidays.
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