How to Make Healthier Food Choices + Buckwheat Crepes with Vegan Cashew Ricotta Nut Cheese Filling

Being healthy. What does that mean? Where to start? I think the first step is to realize that every decision you make is either towards health and feeling amazing, or towards disease and feeling crappy. Living a healthy lifestyle means choosing what is best for your body, mind and spirit. If something doesn’t serve you, it doesn’t deserve you.

It also means feeling balanced. Taking the leap towards a healthier lifestyle does not mean that you have to give up your favorite goodies. It just means that you have to choose wiser, more nutrient dense options that nourish your body, instead of harming it. When we begin to restrict ourselves, we automatically start to feel like we are missing something, like we are limiting ourselves. To actually sustain a healthy lifestyle, we need to first understand what true healthy food is and begin to make subtle substitutions in our daily lives. It’s all about adding in the good stuff that increases our energy levels, our mood and our health. By removing some processed junk that adds zero value to our health, we can begin to move towards optimum health.

So what are truly healthy foods? To begin with, they are whole foods. They come from the earth and are not chemical concoction made in the lab by “food technicians”. They are also organic foods and come from primarily a plant based source.

Here are 4 simple steps you can follow to begin to make healthier foods choices:

Read the label. Not just the nutritional values, but the actual ingredient list. Are there items on the list that you have never heard of? Can you pronounce them? How long is the list? If you can understand it, without having a degree in bio engineering, then it’s a good start! A great example is bread, which is a staple in most homes. Check out the scary list of ingredients on some conventional popular big brands. Then check out the list of a smaller scale local company, there are usually just 5-6 ingredients, all of which you can pronounce!

Choose more plant based foods. Study after study has shown the health benefits of a diet that consists of primarily plant based foods. I’m not saying you have to become a vegetarian/vegan to be healthy, but choosing to eat more easily digestible plant based proteins, healthy fats and antioxidant filled fruits and vegetables is bound to do your body some good! Choosing more plant based proteins is also easier on the budget and the environment. Try a new bean variety, lentils or check out tempeh. Be aware of overly processed vegan options, they are just another form of junk food. Watch out for gimmicky marketing on packaged vegan foods, which often contain GMO soy, fillers, additives and sugar.

Choose local and organic as much as possible. When you buy local and organic, you are choosing foods that have higher nutritional value due to the mineral rich soil. Your food is also free of dangerous pesticides, herbicides and is guaranteed not to be GMO. The food has traveled less, which means it has retained more vitamins and nutrients. It is also healthier for the farmers, the economy and the earth!

Keep the balance. To sustain a healthy lifestyle and all the amazing benefits that accompany it, we have to stay in balance. Balance to me means throwing out words like never and always. It means enjoying nutrient dense whole foods that taste amazing to the fullest and not feeling guilty when treating yourself to something delish and devilish:) (for me it’s croissants filled with almond paste and chocolate). I recommend my clients to try the 80/20 rule. If you eat a clean diet 80 per cent of the time, you won’t feel the guilt when you have a cheat meal or a glass of organic wine:) As you start to incorporate more healthy treats made of whole foods, your cravings for the processed white stuff will start to decline. I promise.

I love pancakes so I’m always working on recipes that allow me to keep the satisfying flavours, but still satisfy by body’s needs as well. The recipe below is my take on crêpes filled with ricotta cheese, topped with sweet blueberry syrup. My version is gluten free, dairy free and made with healthy coconut oil that actually helps to speed up my metabolism. They are super simple to make and can be made ahead and kept in the fridge or freezer. LOVE them!!

Buckwheat Crêpes – GF, dairy free

¾ cup buckwheat flour
¼ cup brown rice flour
2 Tbsp tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour)
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup water
3 eggs
3 Tbsp coconut oil
1 Tbsp coconut sugar (optional)
¼ tsp sea salt

How to make:

In a blender, or with a whisk, mix together all the ingredients until smooth. Cover and chill for 2 hours or overnight. You can substitute the coconut milk and water for 2 cups of any type of milk. (The coconut milk I used was from a BPA free can and didn’t contain carrageenan)

To fry the crêpes, remove the batter from the refrigerator about an hour before frying. Stir it briskly, it should be the consistency of heavy cream. (If not, you can add a tablespoon of water)

Heat a medium skillet on the stove top, cast iron or heavy bottom skillet works best. Skillet should be fairly hot, at medium heat. Lift the pan and pour ½ cup of the batter in the middle of the hot skillet, swirling the pan to distribute the batter quickly and evenly. Cook for about a minute, then flip and cook for another 30 seconds.

Makes 14-15 crêpes.