Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Organic food to become mainstream?

This is a bit of old news but worth mentioning. A Dec. 14th update from AMonline reports that the Organic Trade Association (OTA) forecasts that by 2025, organic products will be considered “commonplace.” From the article:

Strong government support will help boost the organics market, said the study,
which also predicted that one challenge due to be faced by the industry will be
consumer confusion about definitions around the organic labels.

Cruising soon

Five days before Christmas, and seven days before I leave for my cruise vacation! My Christmas shopping is done, so is my holiday decorating. Isak is Jewish so both the Christmas tree and the menorah are out. Interesting tidbit: the eve of Hanukkah and Christmas Day both fall on the same day this year.

I still have some holiday baking to do; and I need to wrap my presents. Yet I must admit, the constant thing on my mind is 11 nights of cruising in warm waters, having fancy dinners in our best dress, and soaking up the atmosphere of each exotic destination.

Isak and are will be on this holiday with his parents. Esther, Isak's mom, will be celebrating her 56th birthday during this vacation.

We are sailing on the Galaxy, part of the Celebrity cruise line. I've read good and bad reviews about this ship on Cruise Critic, as well as on Cruise Reviews. Generally though, I have only great expectations for this vacation, my first cruise, and intend to have a fabulous time.

Monday, December 12, 2005

The Village Market

In Thornhill, there is a an organic market located in the lower level of the Toronto Waldorf School, at 9100 Bathurst St., about 1 mile north of Hwy 7 and one traffic light south of Rutherford Rd. It's about a 20 minute drive from where we live and yet in the nearly two years we've been living in Richmond Hill, we've only visited it twice.

This past Saturday was our second visit. We woke up early-- always a struggle-- to try and make it to the market as early as we could. The market is open every Saturday only from 8:30am till 1:30pm. We got there at around 10 (sigh...).

As this was our second visit, we knew exactly what we wanted and were prepared to just pick up what we needed. The market is in a fairly small space with a few vendors, and one visit (for a couple or so hours) is enough to get familiar with what products are being sold.

We wanted to pick up free range chicken eggs from a vendor named Achim Mohssem-Beyk, so we were disappointed not to see him that day. He did say that he was only going to be at the market every two weeks, we just forgot which week he was supposed to come in.

We bought some lamb (shoulder) from Achim last time and I made a lamb dish with white beans (yummy). This meat was so tender and tasty... such unbelievable flavour. Some credit has to go to me for my cooking (and Emeril's recipe) but there is nothing like organic meat. I wish we could afford to buy it all the time.

Achim is from Reachview Farm, which sells "unusual organic meats such as goat, lamb, duck, rabbit, plus vegetables. You can also check out www.organicmeat.ca

This time, we brought home some venison. I yet have to make a stew out of it. We did sample the vendor's cooked venison meatballs. Not bad.

There are several vendors in the market who sell cooked dishes every Saturday. A few cook and serve hot dishes. I haven't tried every item but intend to :-). My personal favourite to date is the whole wheat samosas, and other Indian goodies that include pakora-like items made of beets or sprouted grain. Delicious!

Our friend Simmy sells beeswax candles. She also has her own website.

We still spent two hours at the market, but we had a lot of fun.

To review the complete list of vendors, visit www.villagemarket.ca.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Countdown to bikini wear

It's that time of year... no, not Christmas-- a carribean winter holiday. And for me, this usually means cramming in some time to lose some unwanted fat so I can look decent in a bikini (I'm going on a cruise in December). And every time, I always say to myself: "What happened?! Why didn't I maintain my last ideal weight?!" Well, we know the answers to that one. Although I generally maintain a proper healthy diet, I've made every excuse in the book not to exercise as often as I should-- too tired, too busy, too late to go to the gym, don't feel like it... and so on.

So, for those of you who are making the same excuses as I am, this list from health expert Kirsten Hawkins may help you to ignore that ugly voice that glues you to the couch to veg in front of the tv, and instead, encourage you to hit the gym or do something good for your body.

"No Excuses Exercises" - http://www.hotlib.com/articles/show.php?t=No_Excuses_Exercises

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Workouts can lighten heavy hearts

"Work can lighten heavy hearts". This is the title of an article from HealthDay News. According to the article, participating in moderate solitary or group exercise affects your mood, and alleviates depression. An exerpt:

Robert E. Thayer is a professor of psychology at California State University, Long Beach, and the author of Calm Energy: How People Regulate Mood with Food and Exercise. He said that while workouts probably affect key brain chemicals like serotonin and dopamine, physical activity may also trigger positive changes in other areas, too. "Depression is a condition characterized by low energy and moderate tension, something I call 'tense tiredness,'" he said. But exercise has a clear "mood effect" that seems to ease that anxious but lethargic state, he said.
I (and I'm sure many of us) have known for a long time that exercise makes us feel good, makes us feel better about ourselves. I'm glad that studies on and articles about alternatives to prescription medication continue to be investigated, published and discussed.
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