Homemade Almond Milk Recipe

Going back to school this year looks a lot different than any other school year. While many families will be starting off the school year remotely, others are planning a return to school on a full-time or blended schedule. For a parent, sending your child back to the classroom, in whatever capacity, can be stressful and daunting. That is why it’s important to simplify your life and cut down the time you spend cooking by using meal planning, or meal prep, as I like to call it. Why meal prep? What is the point of meal prep? Why not just wing it and make food as you go? Well, whipping together five days’ worth of breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dinners can be very time consuming. Life is just so much easier if you plan in advance what your meals and snacks for the week will be. You can shop for all the ingredients during your weekly grocery shop, instead of having to dash out to the grocery store at the last minute. Meal prep also helps you eat better and save money. You can also make extras to eat on days when you don't feel like cooking. Meal prep basics When planning your weekly menu, try to choose at least a few recipes with similar ingredients. This will help you save money and prevent food waste. I meal plan from a wealth of free resources available online. I recommend sticking to a few favourite blogs or cookbooks, and using Pinterest boards or bookmark folders to keep track of the recipes you want to try that week. For example, when I’m planning my meals from online recipes, I create a bookmark folder on my browser with the date, i.e. “Meal Plan September 19-25”, and then simply place my weekly recipes there. Five benefits of meal prepping Save time: By investing some time on the weekend, you will avoid having to plan and prepare each meal during the week, saving you hours of time. Save money: By only purchasing what you need, you’ll save money and reduce food waste. Minimize clean up: Cooking dishes or prepping ingredients ahead of time makes weeknight clean up a breeze. Reduce stress: After a long day, the last thing you want to think about is what to cook for dinner. By preparing ingredients or meals ahead of time, you give yourself a much need break, and make better food choices to boot. Create healthy eating habits: Healthy eating is all about being prepared. If you have good food ready to go at home, you’ll be less likely to grab high calorie take-out. Shop like a pro Be Efficient: Choose a time of day when the grocery store is less busy (early in the morning or late in the evening). Make a List: Organize your list based on the most efficient path through your local grocery store. Buy in Bulk: Save money by purchasing non-perishable items like legumes, seeds, nuts, and grains in bulk. Supermarkets often have specials on things like tinned tomato, canned tuna, and bulk rice. If you have enough storage space, take advantage of these specials and stock up on these staples. Freeze Meat/Poultry/Fish: Minimize the constant visits back and forth to the supermarket or butcher by freezing red meat, fish and poultry on the day you buy it. The night before you want to cook it, defrost a portion in the refrigerator. Invest in Storage Containers: Whether you decide to cook the week’s meals in one go, or prepare the ingredients for each meal in advance, you will need airtight storage containers of varying sizes, and reusable freezer bags. Pre-cook meals or pre-prep ingredients? The choice is up to you. Both will save you time and money. Typically, I prepare ingredients in advance during warmer months when I eat a lot of salads. I can chop a host of vegetables in one sitting and create my own salad bar during the week! But during the winter months, when I crave soups, stews and other hot dishes, I tend to cook these more complex dishes on a Sunday in order to enjoy more time on weekday evenings with my family. Meal prep ideas Here’s a few things I do for my weekly meal prep: Prepare containers with dry ingredients for oatmeal. Chop up a variety of vegetables Rice cauliflower. Bake a spaghetti squash. Roast some sweet potato, yam or butternut squash. Make a batch of zucchini noodles Cook a batch of chickpeas (If you don’t cook your own, have canned on hand.) Cook a batch of lentils. Bake a package of extra-firm tofu. Bake some chicken. Bake some salmon. Cook a batch of a grains like quinoa or rice. Freeze veggies for smoothies (cucumber, kale, zucchini, squash, cauliflower). Tips for prepping snacks Buy fresh fruit for snacks on-the-go. My favourites are apples, banana, pears, berries and grapes. Make one or two healthy energy drinks or protein bars. At the end of this article, I include one of my favourite energy drink recipe Stock up on nuts. My family’s favourite nuts for snacking are almonds and cashews but anything goes! Keep packaged snacks as back up. I like Simply Protein Bars. For more tips, check out my Instagram, @idilsworld. You can also go to my website, idilsworld.com, and click on "Meal Prep”. Happy Eating!

Two is always better than one, like when Harry met Sally or when pepper was placed next to salt. Everything is generally better together! Combining two macro nutrients, such as fat and protein, is a great way to add a balanced and healthy ‘kick’ to your daily routine. That’s why putting both collagen and MCT together will add benefits to your day in more ways than just a tasty combo. Let’s talk healthy fats; specifically, MCT (Medium-Chain Triglyceride). With all of the new information emerging, we recognize that fat does NOT make you fat. Fat is a superior source of energy. It helps us with proper brain and nerve functioning, as well as with absorbing fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E and K. Fat helps us maintain healthy skin, and is required to help form our body’s steroid hormones, like estrogen and testosterone. It is important to note that there are good quality fats on the market, and not-so-good fats. Avocados and avocado oil, coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil, are fantastic sources of healthy fat. These fats will help you with all the energetic and metabolic demands required for your body to function optimally. This includes vegetable oil, such as corn, soy, and canola oils. They may sound healthy, and they are even marketed as such. But that’s just not the case! These types of oils are highly processed, cause inflammation, and can be damaging to your health in many ways. Consuming these fats often puts you at a higher risk of heart disease and obesity. MCT is derived from a healthy fat, which, most of the time, comes from coconut oil. The original fat is prepared in such a way that the most absorbable and efficiently working part of the fat is extracted and put into a compact form. This compact form then makes it easier for your body to absorb and utilize immediately. For those of you who have not yet tried MCT: Pay attention to the abundance of energy this healthy fat gives you the first time you try it! Along with better energy levels, you might notice an easier time focusing on the task at hand, since improved mental clarity and focus are more of the benefits you can expect with using MCT. Up next is collagen! Collagen is a protein, and proteins are the building blocks of life. Protein is found in all foods and is abundant in collagen products. Collagen makes up a large portion of who we are physically - it is responsible for the elasticity in our skin and the stretch in our tendons. This abundant protein helps our joints move more freely and keeps our bones strong. Collagen is rich in amino acids such as glycine and glutamine, which are both great for brain health and overall mental well-being. These two amino acids also help support the immune system and strengthen the gut lining. The benefits of consuming collagen are endless! So why put the two together? MCT and collagen are a great combination because they will give you the energy you require as well as keep you satiated. Fat and protein both do a great job of making you feel more balanced by keeping your blood glucose levels in check. The combination of these two go well in a warm beverage, in any type of pudding or even in your baking. Mixing the two together will give you the necessary nutrition your body needs to perform every day! From effectively absorbing nutrients, to keeping our skin firm and resilient, it all starts in the gut. From there it makes its way all around the body, right to the hair on your head! It is best to take this combination first thing in the morning for a good boost to your day, or in mid-afternoon when you need a ‘pick me up’, instead of reaching for that afternoon sweet. Enjoy this combination daily and thrive from the benefits both collagen and MCT have to offer! What's your favourite way to combine MCT and collagen? The best way is to use it in your beverage of choice, either in the morning, or if you're fasting, after your fast is complete. Combine your collagen and MCT powder in a coffee, tea, or smoothie. Just as you would use collagen, you can add MCT powder. Try MCT Oil Powder, a dairy-free MCT powder containing 0 g of sugar and made from GMO-free coconuts. For ease, you can use Enhanced Collagen Boost: 7 g collagen powder combined with 3 g MCT powder in every serving. TIP: To get the full benefits of collagen, it may be a good idea to supplement again with a full dose of collagen later in the day on top of the Enhanced Collagen boost... especially if you're over the age of 30. Amy is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist with over 7 years of experience working in the health and fitness industry.

If you’re like us here at Organika, it’s likely you follow along with all the new health and wellness trends. And one of our favourites that has been a star recently, is MCT (medium-chain triglyceride) oil. What are MCTs? MCT stands for Medium-Chain Triglycerides. Triglycerides are a type of lipid that is made up of something called a glycerol backbone, as well as three fatty-acid tails. Because it’s “medium” these tails are usually made up of about 6-12 carbon atoms. There are actually four types are MCTs that can be used: caproic acid, caprylic acid, capric acid, and lauric acid. But enough with the scientific stuff. MCTs naturally occur, and are most abundant, in foods like coconut oil and palm oil. That’s why many people also love coconut oil so much! And while it does contain a significant amount of MCTs, that’s not all it has. It also contains LCTs (long-chain triglycerides), which is broken down differently. LCTs are actually digested and broken down to create fat cells. However MCTs head straight to your liver for digestion, and because of the shorter chain of fatty acids, it breaks down more efficiently and can be used more quickly for energy. It also gets broken down to create something called ketones. As part of the foundation of the not-so-new ketogenic diet, ketones are a secondary source of fuel for our bodies to use, usually tapped into when we’ve finished off our primary stores of glucose. What are some of the benefits of using MCT oil? Brain health. While your brain, like the rest of your body, uses glucose as its primary source of energy, it can also use ketones. As we already discussed, MCTs can be broken down directly by the liver, into ketones that can be used quickly by our brains. This is especially important for people who are on a ketogenic diet. Because you consume so few carbohydrates on a ketogenic diet, it is essential for your body to utilize this other source of energy efficiently. There has also been a lot of research being developed around the effects of MCT oil and ketones on those living with Alzheimer’s Disease (1). Along with this, ketones have actually be shown to help with neuron repair… and we need these healthy to ensure we pass messages properly through our body, like those from our hormones. Increased energy. Many people have noted that they have increased energy when they are in ketosis (well, after they potentially experience the keto-flu), especially as they balance their blood sugar levels and reduce the number of energy peaks and lows throughout their day. However, you do not need to be in ketosis to feel these effects. Studies have shown that many people can exercise for longer periods when consuming MCTs. Lactic acid found in the blood was also lower, meaning people took longer to feel tired, even if they were doing the same exercises (2). Being able to do a better workout and walk down the stairs the next day without complaining? Yes please! Weight management. MCTs are a thermogenic food (3). So, let’s talk about what thermogenic means. Foods that are thermogenic actually produce more heat as we metabolize them, so they tend to burn more calories. Other thermogenic foods include protein, caffeine, and Garcinia Cambogia. Along with thermogenesis, MCTs can also help to regulate our hormones. And when our hormones are balanced, we are less likely to hold onto excess weight. This is done in two ways. One is through balancing blood sugar (which we’ll talk about soon - like, actually soon. It’s right below!), the other is by protecting the neurons that are responsible for proper hormone uptake and release. This can include stress hormones like cortisol, reproductive hormones like estrogen, and satiety hormones like leptin. Blood sugar balance. How the heck can MCTs balance blood sugar? As with most fats, when you pair foods that are higher in carbohydrates (most fruit, grains, etc.), with a healthy fat or protein, like a scoop of coconut oil in your oatmeal, or a smoothie with collagen powder, it slows the digestion of the carbohydrates. Think about it like 2 types of roller coasters. The first is when you eat carbohydrates on their own (that’s the really big, scary one with higher drops). The second is when you pair your carbohydrates with fats and protein (that’s the child’s roller coaster). Reduced cravings. Cravings can be impacted by hormones such as “leptin” and “ghrelin” (4). Think of leptin as the good angel sitting on your shoulder (that helps to cue satiety), and ghrelin as the gremlin on your other (cueing cravings, especially for carbohydrates). Alongside using MCT to help increase leptin and your feelings of fullness (4), good quality sleep in another great way to keep your leptin and ghrelin levels balanced. How do I use MCT Oil? Our favourite way is by using it in a Ketogenic coffee, alongside collagen powder, or combined with Maca to also get adaptogenic benefits! Have you tried MCT Oil? Tell us your favourite way to use it, below!