Susan Alsembach

Above: A little-known grain, millet is a healthy alternative to rice. In North America millet is mainly used for bird food and is not something people eat very often, if at all. But, there are many health benefits that can be gained by including this amazing little grain in your diet. It's handy [...]

Coffee is one of the most consumed beverages on the planet, averaging about 2.25 billion cups of coffee a day, that is a lot of coffee! This week I will be looking at a brief history of coffee, its components and how this affects our health and well-being. As research has now shown there are indeed health [...]

Above: Chicken and sweet potato stew with cumin, turmeric and coriander. With the fall well and truly with us, we are looking for soups and stews that have a soothing and warming effect on the body. This week, I will be looking at sweet potatoes as not only do they add a touch of colour to any dish [...]

Autumn is the traditional harvest period in Canada, and I thought it time to be looking at the various foods that we can use and enjoy throughout this season, without feeling that we are limited. The fall is a great opportunity to incorporate foods such as apples, Brussel sprouts and pumpkins, which [...]

With the fall well and truly with us, there are many foods that nature provides us with before the cold of winter. One of these foods which are not often talked about is mushrooms. Although you will find mushrooms amongst the fresh produce in the grocery store, they are not a vegetable but a fungus, [...]

Our bodies are constantly requiring energy to function, our main of energy coming from carbohydrates (sugars). We often hear people talking about needing a sugar ‘boost’ or ‘rush’ when they might be tired or about to tackle a difficult and long project. However, what if instead [...]

Coconut flour I find is one of those ingredients that people know of but do not know what to cook with it. There are so many advantages and health benefits of cooking with coconut flour that I am surprised that it is not more popular, although it appears to be making some headway recently. Coconut flour [...]

Previously, before we were able to refine foods and process them, fibre was found in nearly everything we ate, from fruits and vegetables to whole grains, and legumes. However, today these foods are often refined and processed with the fibre being removed and if we eat too much of these foods, we often [...]

Above: Locally grown vegetables are available from farmer's markets across Ottawa. (PHOTO: ROCHON GARDENS) As we make our way through the summer heat, no one really what to spend time in a hot kitchen, so this is a time of year when our family eats more and more salads and raw vegetables. This [...]

The word fasting often conjures up ideas and feelings of constantly being hungry, feeling deprived or even worse starved. However, this could not be further from the truth, as there is a difference between fasting and starvation. Fasting is a choice of voluntary abstinence of eating food for a certain [...]