Canada

Estoy en Mexico

November 10, 2009

Sugary treat from Dia de los Muertos and Laguna Bacalar

November! It's been a while. I've been all over the continent the past few months. After my cross-Canada trek, I spent a bit of time in the lovely Okanagan, enjoying all the bounty of late summer. After that, my sweetheart and I drove down the west coast USA, then east to the Sonora dessert, then south down into Mexico - hugging the west coast all the way over to Troncones, then across the continent again (and through sprawling Mexico city) all the way over to the south eastern corner of the Yucatan, where we finally arrived in the lovely little town of Bacalar where we are settling for the next few months or more...

Our travel route - wow! Thanks for charting us Crispin.

This time we are in town (rather than the jungle), so that we can have the internet, as well as people to speak Spanish with. Todavia estoy apreniendo español. (I'm still studying Spanish. Feel free to correct me!) We are also close to a sweet little mercado (market) with lovely ripe local tropical fruit and veggies. I even found a little shop that sells bulk fermented cacao beans! Sooo looking forward to concocting my own rustic chocolate... I will share info, tips, recipes, and pics while I'm here - but more often I'll be off swimming in the cenote, making awesome fruit salads, or studying my Spanish. :-)

Thank you for all of your comments and feedback - I'm really impressed by all the creative healthy baking going on. Since I'm back online, I can reply to comments and questions too - I love all the delicious healthy food banter you know. I've also been checking out your blogs - great stuff!

Abrazos (hugs),
Patty

Breakfast on a boulder & other delights

September 12, 2009

Wow, it's almost autumn. I have many lovely recipes, pics and stories from the past several months that I'm longing to share... Since I have a moment to spare between traveling, working, and living, thought I'd share a few travel and foodie pics from my cross country trek from Toronto to Kelowna BC. Canada is a gorgeous country.

We managed to do a bit of camping as we meandered across the continent: fun! Fresh wild blueberries and saskatoons from Manitoba. Amazing as is -

or mixed into hot oatmeal -

or mixed into hot chia cereal. Yum.

Our camping coffee making station. My sweetheart gets the credit for this efficient set-up. I particularly love the light camping kettle and hand-crank coffee bean grinder (both from mec) - the grinder sure beats the hammer-smashing-beans-wrapped-in-hankie method we used when we lived in the jungle in Mexico. Thanks for the great pic Crispin.

My favourite coat rack.

Loveliest spot for a tent. (Spruce Woods Provincial Park, Manitoba.)

Fresh off the grill: baked bananas filled with chocolate + hot chocolate.

Hiking the surreal Spirit Sands barefooted - anomalous sand dunes in Manitoba. (Spruce Woods Provincial Park, Manitoba.) Almost like a desert, we really loved this unusual park. Great hiking, biking, camping, and equestrian trails.

Nothing better than breakfast on a boulder. Hot chia cereal (great camping food) + coffee. Gorgeous camping at Lake Superior National Park. Thanks for another great pic Crispin.

Speaking of rocks - the Rocky Mountains, once again, blew my mind.

We hiked up to the teahouse at Lake Louise (awesome hike) and enjoyed a lovely cup of jasmine green tea and scones with strawberry preserves. (See first photo.) The teahouse is nestled in the mountains and only accessible by hiking up. The staff bakes everything from scratch at this off-the-grid spot. Sweet.

Thanks again for all your great feedback, recipe variations, and comments. I do check and reply often, as I really love meeting other life-loving healthy foodies. :)

Revised: Canada's Food Guide

February 9, 2007

Canada's Food Guide (2007)

The Canadian government has just released (on February 5, 2007) a revised version of the Canada's Food Guide.

This guide was first published in 1942 (during WW2) to inform Canadians on how to eat a healthy balanced diet. There have been several revisions of this guide, the last version was released in 1992.

Upon first glance, I think it's pretty good. It provides eating suggestions based on sex, age, and physical activity level. It also states that physical activity is important for healthy living, and provides some guidelines. It's friendly, colourful, and displays the foods in a rainbow - rather than a hierarchical pyramid. It includes "ethnic" foods like kefir and bok choy...

Interesting :-)