BBQ season is about to officially hit here in Canada as we count down the days to the summer kick-off that is the May long weekend. The following is the list of ingredients from a package of commercially popular hot dogs which claim to have an "authentic ball-park taste": modified milk ingredients, modified wheat flour, dextrose, sodium erythorbate, hydrolyzed soy protein, onion powder, smoke flavour, sodium nitrite...and on and on.

Passover is a Jewish holiday that extends for eight days, requiring observers to avoid leavened bread. That's the basic rule. No problem. I don't remember the last time I ate leavened bread. Beyond this -- the rules get a little fuzzy. You could join 10 different families for Passover on the same street and have 10 different experiences of what Passover is.

This cake wasn't dry at all. It was super moist, just sweet enough and way too good to have around the house. What was my secret weapon? Apple sauce. I love using apple sauce in my gluten free baked treats because it works in three magical ways to make for baking success.

I was both delighted and surprised when I was contacted by a casting agency for a President's Choice TV campaign around their healthier choices Blue Menu products. But "healthier" is not the same as "healthy." I was not the only nutritionist called in for an interview. I was also not the only nutritionist who wasn't willing to put their name or professional reputation behind these products.

Following a night of over indulgence the key to resetting and feeling great as quickly as possible is in hydrating and alkalizing the body. Both sugar, alcohol and most other treats along with a lack of our ideal amount of sleep, will strip the body of vital nutrients and water. Repair from a night of indulgence with a one day re-set cleanse.

Egg nog is gross. Really gross. It is made of cream, sugar, spices and traditionally, raw eggs. For many of you, this might still sound like an amazing holiday treat. For me, it sounds like the makings of a massive hork-worthy-throat-phlegm-wad. Now, my recipe uses Irish Moss (also known as Sea Moss), to give it that creamyness and this super sea veggie actually has the absolute opposite effect.

Vaccinations are a hot, hot, and very heated topic. We all want to be healthy and we all want to do our best for ourselves and our family to maintain great health throughout the winter season. My best approach is to do all I can to keep the terrain, my body strong and healthy, and focus on prevention strategies.

Family events can be tough and you don't have to be a vegetarian or a vegan to recognize that the typical Thanksgiving meal is heavy. My best advice, therefore, is to stick with the side dishes. Choose carefully and load up on the lighter options, taking small portions of the heavier, more decadent delights. Here are some of my favourite Thanksgiving Feast creations -- season appropriate, taste-bud delighting and wonderfully health promoting.

Going into a health food store is daunting -- even for me. There is just so much stuff, so many labels, so many claims. Multiply that by a hundred and that is what the annual Canadian Health Food Association's Trade Show is like. Out of the loads of products I taste tested, reps that I chatted with, and packaging I scrutinized, a few products stood out.

Every single year we know that this is cold and flu season and instead of doing what we need to do, we just sit and wait for it plough us over. It's the germ that gets us but our own terrain that sets the stage to welcome in the germ. There are some crazy simple things we can start doing now to help ward off the autumn cold so that instead of calling in sick, we can call in healthy and go out and play.

Wednesday, the Huffington Post picked up a blog post by Meghan Telpner, which described her impressions of the PinkNic. I'd like to correct some inaccuracies and share some information about the event and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. The CBCF is the leading community-driven organization in Canada dedicated to creating a future without breast cancer. Since our inception, we have invested some $274 million in our cause. We know much work remains to be done.

"Orthorexia nervosa - obsessed with eating to improve your health" defined "orthorexia" as "a new type of eating disorder [...] where people are becoming obsessed with eating to improve their health." Uh... where does that leave you and I? I have often said that we could only be so lucky to be named "the healthy one" by those around us.

The windchill has set in and it is that time of year again when our calendars fill with the fun (and not-so-fun) holiday soirées. There are easy ways to make it through the season without needing to buy new jeans one size up come January -- and to do so without feeling totally deprived.