Du La
475 Broadview Avenue M4K 2N4 Toronto, ON, Canada

Here are 3 simple options to help you get your day started on the right path.

Take good care everyone. We are in this together.

Superfood Energy Bites These raw, vegan, gluten-free Superfood Energy Bites are the perfect midday snack! We love them so much, I doubled the recipe and have them in the fridge, ready for our second week of virtual school! If you don’t have time to make them now, SAVE this recipe for later! All you need is one big mixing bowl and the following ingredients:... 1 3/4 cups of rolled oats 2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut 1 cup sunflower seed (or pumpkin seed) butter 1/2 cup maple syrup or wildflower honey 1/2 cup ground flax seeds 1/4 cup hemp hearts 1/4 cup mini vegan chocolate chips 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp pure vanilla extract Pinch of sea salt Place the ingredients in a large mixing bowl, mix well and refrigerate for 10 minutes or so. Then roll into bite size balls. If the batter is too dry (not sticking together), add a bit more sunflower seed butter and maple syrup/honey. Keep stored in the fridge and enjoy anytime you need a boost of energy! If you make them, let me know how they turn out!

Morning Routines So many people believe that how they spend the first 30 minutes of their day, sets the trajectory for the entire day. This is the whole idea behind Morning Routines. I am a huge fan of morning routines and do find that I am more calm, focused and productive if I wake up before sunrise and start my day with at least 10 minutes of meditation followed by a run. That is my morning routine for most mornings but after listening to an interview with Dr. Jim Loe...hr, I decided to take him up on his challenge of journaling every single day for 10 minutes. Who am I to question a world-renowned performance psychologist? So, here is my New Morning Routine: 10 minutes of meditation 10 minutes of journaling Run (or yoga/walk/foam roll if I’m tired or stiff) I’m really excited to spend more time journaling and I’ll let you know how it goes. Oh and the other thing I’ve committed to is to run a total of 200 km this month. I’ll also let you know how it works out! Curious, are you starting a new morning routine or do you have a tried and true routine that you love and would like to share?

A little walk down memory lane. The days are long (somehow even longer since covid) but the years certainly do fly by. @ Toronto, Ontario

Winter wonderland (Whatever you do today, promise me you’ll get outside!)

Happy New Year my friends! Thank you 2020 for the gifts of connection, community and health. Thank you for the growth, the clarity and the redistribution of time and energy. Thank you for changing patterns, disrupting routines and deepening relationships. Thank you for the loneliness and solitude. It was one helluva year!... And hello 2021! Looking forward to getting to know you!

So many people are excited about the recent vaccine reports and efficacy rates of 90%, 94.5% and now 95%. With the hopes of life returning back to normal being dangled in front of us and the hopes of stopping the spread of this out-of-control virus and preventing deaths and illness, it’s no wonder everyone is excited. Being a critical thinker and evidence-based practitioner, I have been spending my evenings, after long days in the my practice and after the girls are aslee...p, educating myself on these new vaccines and Operation Warp Speed. There’s a lot in the media but my sources are from reputable medical journals and people I trust in medicine. I thought I’d share two resources that I found informative and thought provoking. They both involve vaccine expert, Paul Offit. I appreciate his clear explanation of the vaccine trials and what we are still waiting to find out. Both interviews may be a bit heavy and technical BUT worth listening for anyone who wants to think critically. The Pitfalls and Promise of Covid Operation Warp Speed https://geneticliteracyproject.org//video-vaccine-expert-/ Paul Offit, M.D.: An expert perspective on COVID-19 vaccines https://peterattiamd.com/pauloffit/ One of the take home messages is that the hygienic approach (mask-wearing, avoiding groups and physically distancing) is still essential and will be part of the landscape for some time. I hope you find this information helpful!

When you’re in the middle of a pandemic and under constant threat of a second lockdown and your 8 year old wants to put sprinkles on her cookies, you say YES! These are the cookies she sprinkled, Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. The recipe is healthier than most AND is so incredibly versatile. You can substitute most ingredients with anything I listed. Not only is this for my sweet girls but I posted this for any of my patients who just received their food... intolerance results and are on an Elimination Diet (you got this!) Here goes Wet Ingredients: 1 organic egg or 1 flax egg (1tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water) 1/2 cup natural organic peanut butter (or almond butter, sunflower seed butter, pumpkin seed butter, tahini, cashew butter or any nut butter I didn’t list!) 1 1/2 tbsp pure maple syrup 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 1 tbsp sesame seeds (or hemp seeds or chia seeds) Dry ingredients: 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut 1/2 cup GF rolled oats or any flour (coconut, rice, spelt, almond meal, etc.) 1/2 cup brown sugar (or coconut palm sugar) 1/4 cup vegan mini chocolate chips 1 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp sea salt Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, whisk the flax egg or whole egg. If making a flax egg, set aside for a few minutes. Add peanut butter, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Stir until well combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the rolled oats, shredded coconut, brown sugar, chocolate chips, baking powder and sea salt. Spoon the wet ingredients in with the dry and stir until thoroughly combined. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat. Lightly wet your hands and form the dough into 12 balls. Gently press down on each ball to flatten and bake for 10 - 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes and enjoy! Whenever you can, just say YES to sprinkles (and joy!)

Hi everyone, During this stressful time, Jonah Lusis and I are offering a free flu webinar to help keep you and your family protected. We plan to do the webinar on Sunday, November 29th from 1 - 2 pm. Please register by sending me a DM by Monday if you’d like to join. We’re capping it at 100 attendees and are pretty close to the cap. ... Keep safe everyone!

Studies show that vitamin D supplementation can improve immune function and is a cost-effective strategy to protect those who are more at risk, such as seniors and anyone with comorbidities.

Almond Thumbprint Cookies with Fig Jam These little bad boys are buttery like shortbread cookies (without the butter and flour) and the fig and cardamom flavours are a perfect pairing. They’re also vegan gluten-free and paleo-inspired (not 100% paleo because of the maple syrup and jam on top ). The girls and I baked them last night and they only took 30 minutes to make from start to finish.... Here’s what you’ll need... 2 cups almond meal tsp baking soda tsp fine sea salt tsp ground cardamom cup + 1 Tbsp coconut oil melted 3 Tbsp pure maple syrup 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 1 tsp pure almond extract fig jam or jam of preference or just a bunch of whole blanched almonds INSTRUCTIONS Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Add the dry ingredients to a bowl and stir to combine. Add the remaining (wet) ingredients to the bowl into the dry ingredients and stir until well combined and a dough forms. Texture: think wet sand. Roll a small ball of cookie dough in your palms, and gently press the center with your thumb. The dough is crumbly but if it’s not binding, add a bit more coconut oil. Place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment or silicone mat. Repeat for remaining cookie dough. Fill the cookies with preserves of choice by measuring about teaspoon of jam per cookie, and placing in the center well of the cookie or top with a whole blanched almond (we prefer the jam!). Bake in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until cookies are golden-brown around the edges. These little cookies are so yummy and best eaten warm. They will stay crumbly and fresh for several days but I bet you they won’t last that long! Enjoy my friends!

These should get me through lockdown. Raw, vegan, nut-free, gluten-free granola bars. So good and so easy to make. I promised in January to share this recipe twice a year...and here we are, almost in December! Here’s what you’ll need...... For the dry ingredients: 1 cup gluten-free rolled oats 3/4 cup puffed quinoa 1/4 cup white sesame seeds 1/4 cup sunflower seeds 1/4 cup hemp hearts 1/4 cup ground flaxseed 3/4 cup unsweetened dried shredded coconut 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt For the wet ingredients: 1/2 cup brown rice syrup 1/4 cup sunflower seed butter 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract Optional: Vegan chocolate chips, melted and drizzled on top. How to make them: Line a 9-inch square pan with a piece of parchment paper. In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Add the brown rice syrup into a small pot over low heat. Stir in the sunflower seed butter, and coconut oil until combined. When the mixture is warm and runny remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Immediately pour the brown rice syrup mixture over the dry ingredients and, mix well until the dry ingredients are fully coated in the wet ingredients. Scoop the mixture on to the prepared pan and spread out evenly. Simply press down firmly with your hands (I leave extra parchment paper so I can press down with parchment covered hands). Place the pan in the fridge until firm. Drizzle with some melted vegan chocolate and put back in the fridge until chocolate is solidified. Chop them up when firm and enjoy your bars! To keep them firm, keep refrigerated. And hey, this recipe is very flexible. You can substitute other nuts or nut butter instead of sunflower seed butter or seeds (pepitas anyone?)and play around with the dry ingredients till it works for you. Also, feel free to add in raisins or dried cranberries or other dried fruits for sweetness instead of chocolate. Just keep the dry and wet proportions about the same so it’s not too dry or wet. So yummy! I double the recipe every time. Enjoy all you lovely people!

We are open on Monday as planned!

Couples in Lockdown So, it looks like the world is going into lockdown again so I thought I’d share something fun that Jonah and I did the other day to spark some joy back in our relationship. Lockdown, quarantine life, bubbling together (whatever you want to call it) generally has been fine for us. But you have to remember, we also work together so there’s a whole lotta togetherness. It’s not that we bicker or argue, it’s more that things get a bit dry.... So, a few weeks ago I was listening to Modern Love, one of my favourite podcasts and they featured a story about these magical 36 questions to fall in love. Have you heard of them? Apparently, in the late 90’s, a psychologists came up with 36 questions, that made two strangers fall in love. These questions have been repeated by other strangers and have led many others to fall in love. Although not everyone who have shared these questions have fallen in love, they have experienced a moment of accelerated intimacy. Well, I needed to know what those 36 questions were and felt Jonah and I needed to spend time asking them to each other. So, we ran a hot bath and started the series of questions. We actually only got to 22 of the 36 questions since it sparked some beautiful conversation between us and took us over 2 hours (not the one hour that was suggested for all 36 questions). The bath was also tepid by this point. I thought I’d share my 7 favourite questions with you so if you are wanting to spark some joy or go on a date in your living room (or bathroom) with your partner, you can start right away #4 What would constitute a perfect day for you? #11 Take four minutes and tell your partner your life story in as much detail as possible. #14 Is there something that you dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it? #15 What is the greatest accomplishment of your life? #17 What is your most treasured memory? #18 What is your most terrible memory? #33 If you were to die this evening with no opportunity to communicate with anyone, what would you most regret not having told someone? Why haven’t you told them yet? For those interested, here are all 36 questions: https://www.nytimes.com//s/no-37-big-wedding-or-small.html

DIY costumes, ghosting and candy apples. As many parents, we are finding fun ways to celebrate Hallowe’en with our kids. They both designed and made their own costume and were thrilled with the outcome. I usually help much more but was very hands off this year.... Esmé was a jar of Peanut Butter and one of her besties was Jam. Anja dressed up as her favourite drink in the whole world, Bubble Tea, featuring her business venture, Dream Boat Café. Last night we ghosted a number of neighbours and hope they are able to ghost others (if you know, you know). It was a ton of fun and made us all belly laugh for hours! Esmé asked if we can make candy apples, which I would not normally agree to because I’m not a fan of all the sugar but we are going to make them tomorrow after carving our pumpkin. Lastly, we are planning a two-family outdoor gathering in the afternoon and ending the day with a movie and some Zombie food. I’d love to know, how are you celebrating Hallowe’en this year? Please share! Happy Hallowe’en everyone! Keep safe and have a great time celebrating!