My new show...Found + Foraged

Hello friends,
Well, I just got back from an amazing workshop at Hollyhock on Cortes Island with none other than Paul Stamets - someone I've admired and who's work I've followed for years now. I think I'm still floating...
It was particularly special because my Mom and I attended together. What a unique experience; one we'll undoubtedly never forget. More on this later...

In other news...I am very excited to fill you in on a project I've been working on. It's a lifestyle series called Found + Foraged and it's all about foraging on the west coast of BC in various landscapes and interviewing experts in re: various wild edibles.

Please have a look at our Facebook page and/or check out our promo video on YouTube. With a little luck, Telus Communications might just pick it up for their Optik TV .... or who knows what other possibilities there might be.
We've already have a few VERY interesting experts that we'll be interviewing (hint: one of them is Wade Davis!!! I cannot tell you how stoked I am about him agreeing to be interviewed by me! I think my heart may still be racing now, a week later ;) I'm a big fan of his work.

Feeling very excited!

Foraging is something I spend a lot of time doing as a hobby, you could say, and my focus the past few years has been medicinal mushrooms. I'm very passionate about it and it feels very much in alignment with who I am.
And so I want to share it with everybody and inspire folks to get outside, eat healthier (and as local as possible) - all while learning, being inspired and hopefully benefiting the local environment and our connection to it.
Wish us luck...

Sending lots of love and healthy vibes out to you and yours...
Lisa Marie

My Encounter with Paul Stamets

Hello friends,
I want to share with you a wonderful day I had recently with fellow-mushrooms-enthusiast friends of mine; attending a talk by Paul Stamets in Vancouver.

It was a 2 hour talk by him, hosted by Banyan Books, about his work with developing various life-saving formulas with medicinal mushrooms, as well as a great deal of work he has done on environmental clean-up techniques using ass't fungi. It was a really inspiring talk. I have not been to something so inspiring in a long time. This is one man who is visibly changing the world for the better.

If you haven't watched it yet, please watch his TED talk video 6 Ways Mushrooms Will Save the World and you'll see many of the examples he described in this talk. Even though i had previously seen several of his videos online and have followed his work for over a decade, I still learned so much from him and his wisdom. I also saw old friends from the supplement industry there; the ones who never settled for the majority poor quality supplements out there. The ones who support whole food-based supplements; those made with integrity. And there were several Bowen 'neighbours' there too. It was a delightful afternoon.

I was very nervously excited to meet him after his talk; this man behind the fungi I had been studying rather fervently for several years now. I even brought my prized, rare Agarikon mushrooms to show him (see him holding it in photo). Lo and behold he had brought his too! Picture it; two mushrooms geeks sporting their trophy's!

The next day, my mushroom pals and I went out for a fungi forage and found quite the bounty of turkey tail (aka coriolus, or trametes versicolour, photo below right) and ganoderma applenatum (aka BC Reishi, photo below left) mushrooms. With them I make healing tea - which, by the way, would help almost any ailment, since it modulates your immune system.

 

After the talk I phoned my Mom to tell her how great it was and I guess she heard something in my voice and my excitement so she decided we should do his upcoming Workshop at Hollyhock as an early birthday present for me and a Mother-Daughter 'project'. Needless to say, I'm overjoyed and can hardly wait!!!

Thanks for tuning in to my geek speak :)

More practical info on mushrooms coming soon...

Yours in health...
Lisa Marie

Is the Scientific Community Finally Waking up to the Importance of WHOLE Foods!?

We can only hope! But this article gives me hope and is so refreshing!
Especially the part where the researcher says that we need to start looking at food in its whole form instead of always reducing it down to its individual nutrients! Yeah!
Please read...
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/saturated-fat-alone-doesn-t-predict-heart-disease-risk-1.2576252


(Special thanks to Nadine Ijaz for posting it to her Facebook wall and bringing it to my attention :)

Nourish Your Sweetie on V-Day...

Yep, the big commercial love day is fast approaching!
(For those of you a little out of the loop - it's tomorrow!)

Instead of buying your sweetie (or yourself) that junky chocolate, or those sickly sweet cinnamon hearts...
I implore you...do something a little different. Perhaps comething a little more traditional.

How 'bout a homemade card? Some poetry? A day out in nature?  A massage?

Or... one of my personal faves; a dynamite homecooked meal! (Yeah!)
Make a good effort to make what your sweetie's heart sings for...go on you can do it!

Bring on the vitamin 'L'...

Here is my list of inspirations (feel free to improvise!)

• For the Paleo lover...One-pan roasted (organic/free range) chicken with potatoes/onions and carrots in the same pot (so they get basted and the resulting liquid acts as an easy gravy. Mmmm...) *Of course it wouldn't hurt to sautee a little broccoli/chard/red cabbage on the side for added colour, nutrients & alkalinity.
• For the carb-loving Vegetarian love in your life...Wild Mushroom & Leek Risotto
• And for the ador-able Vegan...Grilled Tempeh with Orange/Maple Glaze... on a bed of thai red rice or quinoa

And don't forget that Valentine's Day should really be every day...so maybe make your sweetie (or yourself!) a fab breakfast or lunch more often...

• Smoked Salmon Eggs Benny w/ Sauteed Spinach
• Gluten-Free or Spelt Pancakes (* hint: use fresh-ground Buckwheat groats and quinoa as flour + eggs to bind) loaded with berries & topped with peaches and full fat greek yogourt (Made this last weekend for my sweetie and brought him on his knees!  - not literally, dirty bird!!)
• Wild Mushroom & Braised Greens Omellete (sounds way fancier than it is!)
• Sensational Smoothie with fresh-ground pumpkin seeds and walnuts, kale, coconut milk, - fresh/frozen/seasonal fruit (ie: apples, pears, berries) - topped with cinnamon.

Hope this post got your juices flowing...I know it did mine!

Keep on keeping it real...Lisa Marie xo

New year (new you) tip #4

Remove wheat from your diet.
I know this is controversial (what natural practice isn't these days?!).
I personally believe that wheat is no longer a natural healthy food for us (not even organic wheat, unfortunately). I won't go into all the details other than it has been so modified that our bodies no longer recognize it. Therefore, it stresses our digestive and immune systems (a little or a lot, depending on your system).
And who needs more internal stress!? Not me. And nor do you.

You may be saying to yourself right now, "but i don't react to wheat".
Wellllll, you likely don't know that you are because it isn't an instant reaction, nor does it only manifest in your tummy.
It can also take up to 4 days and it can occur in many forms; skin inflammation, headaches, weight gain (or difficulty in losing weight), any gastro-intestinal issues, acne, back pain (this is how my body reacts to wheat), low energy, inablity to absorb nutrients efficiently, heart burn/acid reflux, susceptibility to colds/viral infections, yeast issues, etc.

At least give it a try. A good old college effort. About 6-8 weeks is needed to really notice any difference. Some people notice an improvement in as little as a day or two.
Try and be as thorough as possible.
*FYI: wheat comes in many disguises, for example: cousous, semolina, durum, gluten (usually from wheat), farro, einkorn, orzo, bran, germ, etc.

If you are not very familiar with alternatives, here are a few:
Bread: Spelt, Kamut, rye (often mixed with wheat so look for pure rye), gluten-free varieties (look for whole grains ones and skip the starch-laden ones)

Pasta: brown rice, kamut, or quinoa are all really good and much healthier than wheat varieties.

Crackers: brown rice, rye, spelt, quinoa, nut thins.

Wraps: brown rice, sprouted corn, buckwheat

Enjoy your journey to better health...(it's easier than you think)...
Lisa Marie

New Years tip #3...

Eat a new vegetable this week.
Pick one. Eat it every day.

*The key is to have it in addition to the other veggies you are already eating so you are upping your veggie intake.
It is, afterall, unanimously agreed upon; we all need to eat more veggies.

Do it. It's easy.
->Turn off the story loop that keeps telling you that you're too busy, don't like veggies, life's too short to eat so many veggies, it's too hard...just do it. It's actually easy.

Remember every positive change you makes, makes a difference in your health.
So do small changes gradually and they will certainly add up.

My choice this past week has been sprouts.
I like the 'deli blend' you can get at the supermarket, or sometimes just alfalfa is all that will do.
I use them as a salad base, because leafy green are not where it is at at this winter-y time of year.

(Note: raw leafy's are hard to digest and not very nutrient dense nor seasonally appropriate. Skip them and eat sprouts instead. You'll like it :)  Wait 'til Spring and then go crazy on the leafies again. I will too.

Keep well my friends...
Lisa Marie

PS: So by now you have figured out that I don't post daily...or even weekly. I post when I'm moved to post (and when i have time to). Hopefully that will be more often this year (as i shut off my internal story loop that keeps me from doing what I really want to do). That is my goal. Stay tuned...and spread the food love...

New Year's health tip #2

Turn off devices/distractions at mealtime. Just eat. Relax (breathe, be grateful). And enjoy...

*This new habit will be of the single-most transformational things you do for yourself and your health. It improves digestion and absorption of nutrients, and it will also improve your state of mind and mood as well as your relationship with food and self-nourishment.... all of which improve your immunity and your overall health.

Not bad for something so simple huh?  It's all about implementing simple daily practices to bring you to sensational health!

Do it. You won't regret it...

Best in health to you,

Lisa Marie

New Years tips for a healthier YOU

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Here's to a new year that is bigger, brighter and healthier!

TIP #1:

Drink more filtered (chlorine free, not demineralized) water.
*Drink water on an empty stomach in order to adequately hydrate and avoid diluting digestive juices.

One more step toward a healthier you!

Yours in health, Lisa Marie