Do you know where your food comes from? On September 2nd Maritimers are asked to only eat Atlantic produced products that day and beyond.  With the rising awareness of ethical eating, consumers are choosing to shop closer to home. Locally grown produce is often more nutritious while producing a smaller carbon footprint.

Co-op Atlantic is organizing local events to help celebrate this special dietary day. Members of the public can enjoy samples of Atlantic produced products at the Charlottetown location on Walker Drive. Follow the Eat Atlantic Challenge on facebook wall to find out more details and to make your dietary pledge.

I signed the pledge, and here’s my PEI produced meal plan for today:

Breakfast:  2 PEI free range eggs + 1 local bakery whole wheat bread, PEI roasted coffee with honey drop

Snack: handpicked PEI apple + slice of Cows creamery cheddar cheese

Lunch: garden veggie stir fry with oishi sauce and uncle’s homegrown chicken

Snack: fresh fruit smoothie with Island berries and Purity dairy skim milk

Supper: PEI lobster, corn on the cob, garden fresh yellow beans, new PEI potatoes

Local eating just makes sense. It’s easy to do and often more affordable. Planning your meals a day in advance can help you stay on track. To find out more about local eating or where to buy food, read the 100 mile diet. 

The Eat Atlantic website hosts a kids club, which includes healthy inspired projects for kids and parents. Learn more about nutrition and how your food is grown on this interactive website. As a parent, it’s your responsibility to be a healthy food role model for your children. Openly discuss nutrition with them and take family outings to local farms.

How do you plan on enjoying Eat Atlantic day? Hopefully with lots of food

Sprouts are one of the most nutritious foods known to man. Praised for containing live nutrition, sprouts are a high source of vitamins, minerals and amino acids.  Sprouts are known to be major antioxidants which help to fight off many illnesses and disease. Studies suggest that 100 grams of sprouts a day may help to prevent cancer.

Add some more sprouts into your diet by placing them on all cooked/raw foods. They taste especially yummy in salads or as a topping for stir fry. You can purchase sprouts at your local farmers market or produce department. Make sure you wash sprouts prior to eating to avoid bacteria. 

I was shockingly surprised how easy it was to make my own sprouts when I made them for the first time last week.  The photo is from “my 1st batch”. The secret to growing succulent sprouts is timing; for rinsing and harvesting. Ideally sprouts should be rinsed 2-3 times per day and grown in a cool climate.

Want to grown your own sprouts? Watch this video to learn how.  

I created this recipe for my first batch using a little this with a pinch of that.

Tangy Sprout Salad

1 ½ cup (homemade) mung bean sprouts
1 cup shredded carrot
4 green onions, chopped
2 small boxes organic raisins
4 TBSP hempseeds
4 TBSP chopped parsley
3 TBSP Japanese salad dressing, Renee’s

Wash and dry bean sprouts. Shred carrot and place in bowl with sprouts. Add remaining ingredients and stir well. Place in fridge 3 hours before serving.  Tasty and nutritious, this recipe tastes great as a side dish for chicken or fish, or used to top salad.

Do you make your own sprouts? Share your secrets (and recipes) with me by posting a comment below or sending an email.

Tea can be as simple as hot water over some mint leaves, when you have an upset tummy, to a 9 Billion dollars annual industry in Canada.  There was a time when tea meant the same to everyone. When you offered someone  a cup of tea, it was understood that you were being offered a cup of  orange pekoe tea. 1 of  3 brands (depending on what part of the Maritime provinces you were in) either, Red Rose, King Cole or Tetley.   To us here in the east, Orange Pekoe is a traditional cup of tea. The kind of tea you would have with your Nanny, who by the way, makes the best cup of tea ever (minus the whole milk and sugar cube.)

Tea is rapidly becoming much more about health and  lifestyle than about just getting your caffeine jolt. Want to add some zip to the tea pot (lots of cool tea accessories too, really fun stuff out there) try a new flavour. With so many different kinds of teas some of which are: Black, White, Green, Oolong, Yerba Mate, Matcha, and Rooiboos (my personal favorite). Basically all tea comes from the leaves of the same plant, the Camellia sinensis.  With tons of  health benefits and an lots of kinds of tea, why not try a new one today. Lots of teas' taste good iced as well. Tea can be good to warm you up or cool you down. A year-round friend.

To caffeine or not, that is a good question. I personally do not recommend a lot of caffeine. I know some athletes swear by it. I think a little in moderation is fine as long as you know how it will affect you and the medications you may be on. Keep in mind that caffeine is an artificial stimulant, which stimulates your metabolic rate. The trouble with caffeine is that it makes your own natural stimulants, your thyroid and adrenal glands redundant and can become lazy. If you use caffeine to get you out of bed in the morning you may have a problem. 

When purchasing tea it's a good idea to purchase from someone who knows tea. One of my favorite spots to purchase Tea when I am in Halifax, is at the Halifax shopping center at Davids Tea. When purchasing tea at a grocery store make sure to read the ingredients. We assume it's just tea, not necessarily, for example when I picked up a box of Lipton Green tea - Raspberry Passion fruit. ( the one time I don't read a label, and it comes back to bite me), found more then just tea. After I got home and found the tea really sweet. I read the ingredients, are you sitting down? The ingredient list was: Green tea, Hibiscus, Corn Matodextrin, Rosehips, Apple Cinnamon, Sugar, Orange Peel, Natural flavors, Rose and Marigold Petals, Raspberry pieces, Passion fruit concentrate, modified corn starch (I mean really), Banana puree, Soy Lecithin. I just wanted a cup of Raspberry tea to make ice tea out of. Well that will teach me to read labels 100% of the time instead of 99.9%.  I don't believe I will be purchasing Lipton again.

If you like blackcurrant tea give this recipe a try:

6 Black Current tea bags

2 Cups boiling water 

2 TBSP of honey  

3 Cups of cold water

Splash of Cranberry Juice to taste 

Ice

Pour boiling water over tea bags and steep for 90 seconds; then remove bags. Stir in honey to dissolve and add cold water. Next add cranberry juice and ice. The sip and watch the corners of your mouth turn up. Great on a hot day.

A good site to find more information on tea

What's your favorite tea? We'd love to hear your thoughts. Post your comments below. 

My taste buds are on overdrive, and we’re in 4th gear. Driving towards the homestretch I take another gulp. Succulent and surprisingly tart, I just may need another cup.  This new healthy beverage has got me hooked.  I’m talking about Tetley Tea Infusions.

If you’re tired of drinking just water, and aren’t a fan of artificial sweeteners….this product is for you.  Tetley tea infusions are concentrates of brewed teas, fruit juices and cane sugar.  Sold in single serving sizes, this tea is the perfect choice for any healthy lifestyle. With several flavors to choose from these teas infusions contain no sweeteners, preservatives, flavors or colors. Sounds fantastic, but how do they taste?

This week I sampled the white tea+ cherry + orange blossom flavor. I followed the directions correctly by adding 1 packet to 500 ml of filtered water, and then mixed well. Success, this drink is fantastic but perhaps a little too sweet.  Check out some lovely free Tetley tea recipes here.

One thing I didn’t like about this product is the nutritional label. Although this product is sold in liquid packets, the serving size states ½ packet or 15 ml. So really you must multiply by 2 if you’re drinking it according to the directions. Pretty sneaky with 100 calories per serving on average.

Prior to trying this product, I enjoyed my own version of infused tea. Here’s my recipe 

1.    Brew 2 of your favorite tea bags in 4 cups water.
2.    Let it brew for 1 hour.
3.    Pour tea into a glass container, fill with filtered water.
4.    Sweeten if desired ( coconut sap, cane sugar, setvia, honey )
5.    Place fresh lemon/lime/orange on top or fresh mint
6.    Serve in a glass with plenty of ice and enjoy.

I’m giving this new product 3 stars,

Do you have a healthy product for Rachelle to review? Email your suggestions..

Over the past few weeks I’ve had the opportunity to travel through 5 Canadian provinces.  I’ve always been fascinated with the cost of food. This probably came from my previous employment as manager for Natures Harvest health food store and Smythe Street Superstore Natural Value Manager.  While stopping in each province I visited local health food stores, grocery stores, cafes and airports on the hunt for new products.  

When it comes to food, Ontario = Accessible.  I noticed that this province stood out from others when it came to quality and price.  In Toronto I stayed in Bloor West Village (aka Korea Town) where fresh fruit and vegetable stands overtook several blocks of sidewalk. Each morning I would walk “downstairs” to the street vendor to buy fresh fruit. A box of local strawberries sold for $2.00, while the imported mangoes were only $0.79 each.   

In Ottawa I visited an impressive small grocery store called Farm Boys (which actually inspired me to write this post ).  I loved everything about this store: service, cleanliness, quality and most importantly price.  Farm Boys stocked MANY organic, specialty and local products.  You can buy 3 bunches of radishes for $1.00, and 5 English cukes for $4.00.  I was especially impressed with the deli section, and they even stocked the famous PEI Cows Extra Old Cheddar cheese, YUM!! 

A quick trip to Gatineau, Quebec as well as a stopover at the Montreal airport showed me how the Quebecois eat.  The Gatineau grocery store was relatively well priced, with seasonal produce stocked at the front. The tomatoes were on sale for $0, 88 a pound.   Even the sandwich I ordered at a café in Gatineau was healthy, well priced and washed down with local full bodied coffee. Delicious!  At  the Montreal airport I grabbed an Odwalla Lifefood fruit smoothie which filled the void in-between my flights.

When I see my favorite foods less than 1/3 of the price in Central Canada (compared to PEI)-  it makes me want to fill my suitcase even more. I’ve been known to fly a few special goods home. A trip to Toronto is never complete without a shopping trip to China Town. Last time I picked up a HUGE bag of organic brown rice for $2.29. In Ottawa at Farm Boys I picked up a bag of 12 organic lemons for $2.99. They made it all the way home in my checked suitcase.

My clients often complain about the high cost of food in PEI. Because we live on an Island the majority of food must be imported across Confederation Bridge.  If customers are willing to eat seasonal and local foods, the price will be less expensive.  It is cheaper to buy Island produce, especially when in season. I like to shop at the Riverview Market in PEI, and feel good about helping out my local farmers and supporting the Island economy. 

Are you a frequent traveler? What are your thoughts about regional food prices? I’d love to hear your thoughts and write your comments below.