My summer berry smoothie (or frozen yoghurt)

August 25, 2017

My summer berry smoothie (or frozen yoghurt)

Natasha Asselstine Nutrition | Summer Berry Smoothie or Frozen Yoghurt When I was younger, my mom, sister and I would go shopping and get super excited about having frozen yoghurt as a “healthy” treat from the food court. I absolutely loved it, but now learning about how much sugar and chemicals are in there, I definitely don’t consider it to be a healthy option anymore.

So when I accidentally made a smoothie that tasted just like these frozen yoghurts, I went nuts! It was so reminiscent of the taste that I immediately jotted down my recipe and am sharing it with you here.

August 16, 2017

Where to get locally-grown grains

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This past weekend, I experienced one of the best day trips ever. My husband, Josh, and I drove out to Agassiz to tour Cedar Isle Farm – a family-run farm that grows organic grains. It was such a special experience that I had to share it with you here…

Up until recently I didn’t think it was possible to purchase local grains – oats, wheat, barley, rice, etc. from our part of the world. But I learned that Cedar Isle Farm is doing this very thing when I read Claire Livia Lassam’s story in Edible Magazine. I was super excited to learn more about them, so when I heard of the opportunity to tour their farm, I jumped on it – and took Josh with me, too.

August 8, 2017

My recipe for homemade yoghurt

How to make homemade yoghurt | Natasha Asselstine Nutrition

The more I learn about the world around me, the more I realize how important it is to become as self-sufficient as possible. I’ve been making more things from scratch, and one that I make on a regular basis is yoghurt.

When I first started making yoghurt at home, I was absolutely terrified. The idea of creating “good” bacteria rather than the “bad” seemed like something best left to the professionals. But when I learned how non-healthy the store-bought versions are and I watched my brother-in-law making it, I immediately wanted to try my hand at it, too. And so, he taught me!

Yoghurt is super nutritious because it is fermented, and therefore feeds our gut with a lot of probiotics (good bacteria). Good bacteria play many roles in the body, and one of its essential roles is to take up space so that there isn’t room for the bad guys to move in.

Imagine that you want your gut to be inhabited by a beautiful garden, rather than overgrown with a bunch of weeds…

August 4, 2017

My kid and adult-approved Coconut Cupcakes

I can’t believe this is my first post since March! I’ve had so much to share but my time was taken with other things… my Spring was busy with design work (my other business is a custom cookbook design business, Heirloom Publications) and my Summer with in-person nutrition clients. All so great, but it took me away from my blog for longer than I anticipated.

Until now. I recently made these coconut cupcakes that were so delicious I knew I had to make the time to get the recipe up on here.

February 16, 2017

Why are we so overwhelmed?

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I often hear my mom comment to my sister during a particularly stressful episode with her (much-adored) grandchildren that, “It wasn’t like this raising you two.”

Overwhelm seems to be the plague of the 21st century in North America. For most of us, life has never been more convenient than it is today, and yet many of us struggle with keeping our head above water. Sometimes we’re even paralyzed by our daily to-do lists. Why is that?

I think there are many reasons for this:

too much choice can cause paralysis (as outlined in The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz)
endless access to information and entertainment, and comparing ourselves to others
working and raising children simultaneously
constant communication in the form of phone calls, emails, texts and social media alerts

Rarely does anyone feel bored anymore.

But there’s another thread to overwhelm that I hadn’t recognized until I became a Nutritionist.