Vacation of Foods

I recently went on a 2 and a half week road trip to the east coast (It was cut short by Hurricane Irene, so we didn't get a chance to go through the US or to Southern New Brunswick) but I encountered a lot of new foods on the trip, and I will now share them with you! (both healthy and unhealthy... I was on vacation ;) )

New Brunswick-  We discovered Donair Sauce.  This is a essentially a combination of evaporated milk, sugar, vinegar and garlic.  This combination sounded absolutely disgusting to me at first... milk vinegar and garlic?  BLEH!  But no... it is delicious.  Wikipedia tells me that Donairs were originally introduced to Halifax, NS in the 70s (it is all over the east coast now) when a Greek restaurant owner found that gyros were not selling well... so swapped out lamb for beef and tzatziki for sweet garlic (donair) sauce.
Not liking tzatziki is insanity in my mind, but get your garlic however you like it.    As a vegetarian I have discovered more inventive ways to eat it than on a slab of meat (I am sure it is great on beef though, if you eat beef, try it... in moderations because it is definitely on my Unhealthy In Large Amounts list).


Prince Edward Island- In Charlottetown we discovered a cute little cafe on Victoria Row that was selling Poffertjes (in fact all they had were Poffertjes and coffee and a few other beverages)  These are Dutch pancakes that are made from Buckwheat and yeast.  They are little, have a consistency similar to potato pancakes, are slathered with real PEI butter (for some reason PEI butter tastes better than everywhere else... so do their potatoes... all of the east coast potatoes taste better than Ontario and Quebec, but PEI is even more delicious... perhaps it's all the Iron in their red soil) and topped with icing sugar.... probably decently healthy without the butter and icing sugar... but amazing with it.


Charlottetown also has a store called Liquid Gold, which we originally thought was a bar or alcohol store... but it is a healthy heaven.  It also is in Halifax (the original one is in Halifax) but we only went to the Charlottetown one.  It's full name is Liquid Gold Tasting Bar and All Things Olive.  It is a tasting bar for olive oils (they have a few others like truffle and almond) and balsamic vinegars.  We probably were in there for a good 30mins trying everything.   All the olive oils as far as I know, are Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I didn't see any that were not EVOO but they may exist) and are infused with natural ingredients to give you flavours like lemon, chipotle, cilantro, buttery... and many more.  They also have various EVOOs from different olives that give it distinct flavours.  They have a really big selection of balsamic vinegears as well.  I walked out with a Peach White Balsamic and a Meyer Lemon Olive oil, that are pure heaven in my mouth when combined (Thank you employee who got me to try them together!)   I can't wait to eat them together over salad.  This is a picture of the inside of the store:

If you go to Charlottetown or Halifax, you have to go there, it's a great experience!

We also drank (virgin) Raspberry Cordials in Charlottetown because the friend I went with was a huge Anne of Green Gables fan.  They were pretty good... a little bit like cough syrup, but a good tasting cough syrup, like the ones usually reserved for children because adults aren't supposed to spit out gross tasting things, especially if it's medicinal.


Newfoundland-  Oh you Newfies and your mix of insanely unhealthy and deliciously good for you items.   Let's start with Toutons.  We were told that this was THE thing you had to try in Newfoundland and that everyone eats it... no one bothered to tell us how HARD it is to find because everyone makes their own.    We found a place up in St Anthony that had it (all the local restaurants we went to did not... it was a chain restaurant that did.  Weird.)  Toutons are deep fried dough that is served with blackstrap molasses.  As healthy as Blackstrap is for you... I can not choke it down.  The Toutons were amazing in a you-know-your-arteries-are-clogging-as-you-eat-it kind of way, that is easier to justify on vacation.

Bakeapple- after repeatedly thinking that this was Baked Apples misspelled... I finally asked someone what kind of apples Bakeapple was... only to find out it isn't an apple... it's a berry.  It's also called Cloudberry (it looks like an orange cloud).  It is high in vitamin C and has B1, B2, B3 and Vitamin A in it as well.  Bakeapple jam is easy to find all over Newfoundland.  We had Bakeapple tea at a little cafe and it was delicious.  I regret not buying it now.  It is really hard to describe the flavour because it doesn't taste similar to anything else.  They make wine and vinegar out of it as well.

Partridgeberry-  also known as Lingonberry. Apparently this is the berry that a lot of Newfies love... I think it's gross on it's own.  It's decent as a jam, and I've been told it's really good as a wine (I don't drink wine).  It gets coolness points for keeping its leaves all winter- even in extreme cold.  Some of the phytochemicals in it are thought to be good for Urinary Tract Infections (In a similar way that Cranberries are).

Rhubarb Pickle- We bought Dark Tickle's Rhubarb Pickle (Which is just fun to say!) and freaked out the locals by eating it weirdly (really good on bread or toast with a bit of butter, I also had it on a cheese and apple panini)  APPARENTLY it is supposed to be eaten with ham.... or meat... and that's it.  It is delicious with cheese and crackers as well.  I bought 2 jars for myself.... we finished one of the jars before the trip was even over.   It has a flavour similar to carmelized onions... but much tastier.

Fun fact- all the water in Newfoundland is tinted brownish.  Toilet water, tap water, well water...

We also ate a chunk of iceberg... 10,000 year old water delightfulness.



Nova Scotia-  We were only in Nova Scotia briefly as we wanted to get the heck out of there before the hurricane hit.  Two things I learnt while there are:  Fresh sea salt is amazingly delicious, and I do not like scotch (bleh)... even expensive scotch (which I kind of think is worse than the cheap stuff).



Quebec- We didn't stay in Quebec, but had to drive through it for a good 5 hours each way (Since we didn't come back through the USA).  We did pick up tortillon cheese a few times.  It is the REAL string cheese and is packed with salty goodness. 50g has about 600mg of sodium  (That's 1/4 of your Recommended Daily Intake for those who are keeping score) so it's definitely more of a "treat".  We had prepackaged ones from a gas station, as well as fresh ones from a Fromagerie. (The Fromagerie definitely was better)


We did a ton of other stuff besides eating, but all these new experiences in food felt blog-worthy to me.  I always think it's cool to try new things.  If you're somewhere new, don't be afraid to try local fare, hopefully you'll be pleasantly surprised... and if not.. well, at least you know to avoid it.

Stay healthy!

Cult Vegans

I don't like anyone who thinks that they are better than everyone else because of a choice they have made... I especially don't like people who try to force their beliefs upon other people and try to take away peoples right to choice...

... and that brings us to Cult Vegans.

I have encountered a lot of them in the past few weeks.  What are they?  They are Vegans who think that anyone who does not practice Veganism is going straight to hell.   I want to know when Veganism became a religion?  A scary, scary one at that.   I am a realist in that I know the world will never be vegan... unless all of the animals in the world suddenly die... and really, I think there's a large population of people who would rather eat people than never eat meat again ;).... so really... vegans who think no one should eat animals are advocating cannibalism :D

The biggest peeve off for me is the ones who say that no one needs to eat meat...  there are actually a good portion of people who have a really hard time absorbing certain vitamins and minerals (Iron and B12 are the main 2) who would benefit from a meat eating diet.  I recently spoke... okay... argued with a vegan who tried to say that vegans get more B12 than Meat Eaters... That's a big fat outright lie.  Know what the greatest source of B12 is?  MEAT.  The average person needs about 2mcg of B12 per day, up to 3mcg for pregnant women.  B12 is great because it can be stored in your body for up to 7 years before you run out... but you actually have to give your body B12 if you want it to store it.  Out of the top 5 best sources, 4 of them are meat, and 1 is red star nutritional yeast (I still don't know how vegans think yeast is vegan... it's a living organism but I digress).

 I often see Cult Vegans twist nutrition to make themselves seem better than everyone else, and it peeves me off (I haven't decided yet if I'm actually going to swear in this blog).   You will hear them say Vegan Children are Healthier than Omnivore Children... that's a mistruth.  Children who eat a wide range of foods including plenty of fruits, vegetables and grains are more healthy than children who live on McDonalds and candy.  An Omnivore child who eats a wide variety of protein, fats, carbs, fruits and vegetables can be equally healthy as a vegan child... in the same respect that a Vegan Child who lives on the same foods, lacks variety and isn't getting enough protein can be as unhealthy as a child who lives on McDs and crap.   Cult Vegans need to be better educated.

I am a vegetarian, partly by choice, partly because my body decided when I was young that it didn't want to digest animal proteins anymore.  I believe that we should treat animals ethically, believe in ethical farming and free range products.  Partly because animals are living creatures and partly because if we're going to eat them, they should be as healthy as possible for us.  There's a reason we took antibiotics and hormones out of our cows in Canada... it was impacting the health of humans.

If you want to eat vegan because you want to save the animals, or the environment, or you think it's healthier or for whatever reason, good for you!

If you want to eat meat because you like it, it tastes good, you eat ethically treated organic meat, or you just don't care,  then good for you!

Everyone is entitled to chose their own paths in life... and their own food in life (be thankful that we live in a society where we have plenty of food and you are even ABLE to decide what you want to eat or don't want to eat)

I will leave you with a Ron White joke:

Why are you a vegetarian?' I asked him. And it wasn't even because meat is bad for you. He said that raising cattle was bad for the planet -- with cow flatulence in the ozone and the clearing of land for the raising of cattle. 'What are you doing to help the environment?' he asked... 'I'm eating the cow.'

Introduction

So I finally decided to start a blog.  I have been toying with the idea for several months.

My name is Elyse.  I am a Certified Nutritionist. I have also studied Western Herbalism, Chinese Nutrition and Chinese Herbalism.  In Fall of 2012 I will be pursuing a degree in Nutraceuticals.  I love the science of nutrition.  I love how all vitamins and minerals play an important role in our bodies and am excited to go more in depth in my studies.  I work as a Regional Sales Representative for an all natural laundry detergent company.  I am also a nanny for 2 vegetarian boys and work in a pharmacy.  My wide array of jobs have lead me to encounter many diverse experiences when it comes to nutrition and health.

My biggest annoyance in life is people who seem to think that nutrition has no importance, even though science will tell you otherwise.  My other biggest annoyance is people who treat nutrition and natural health care as a cult.   You will likely hear some rants about that....   Keep your "Drink The Grape Kool aid" away from my nutrition! (it was technically Flavor-Aid not Kool Aid... both of them are gross though)

I am a big believer of better safe than sorry... If there have been clinical studies to show that something is bad, and clinical studies that show it's inconclusive... I air on the side of caution and avoid them.  I will share this information with you.

All the opinions expressed in this blog are my own, most are based on science, some are based on people driving me crazy, and some are based on really cool things I have come across.   Anything I mention isn't meant as an endorsement of a product, or a boycotting of a product to anyone else... (so don't sue me!)

I am also definitely willing to answer any questions people have!  My specialization was in vitamin and mineral deficiencies, as well as psychosomatic disorders, but I have a fairly broad range of knowledge.

I guess this is the end of my intro post... stay tuned for more interesting updates!