Make wholesome weeknight cooking simple with this hands-on whole-food plant-based and gluten-free class focused on nourishing one pot meals. Learn to create Chickpea Cauliflower Curry, Quinoa Chili, Lentil Sloppy Joes, and West African Red Bean & Sweet Potato Stew, hearty, flavourful dishes perfect for easy meals at home.
Tuesday, November 10, 2026: One Pot Wonders
North Saanich Middle School, 10400 McDonald Park Rd.
Register through Pan Rec will open in early August.
Create vibrant plant-based appetizers in this hands-on class featuring a variety of gluten-free, whole-food bites and dips. You’ll make Salad Rolls, Tamari Almonds, Walnut Meatless Balls, Cashew Queso, Oil-Free Hummus, and Quinoa & Lentil Fritters, perfect for entertaining, sharing, or building a beautiful, nourishing spread at home.
Tuesday, December 1, 2026: 6:00 – 9:00 PM $110
North Saanich Middle School, 10400 McDonald Park Rd.
Register through Panorama Rec opens in early August.
Celebrate the flavours of fall with this cozy whole-food, plant-based and gluten-free cooking class. Together we’ll prepare a seasonal menu featuring Harvest Squash & Pear Soup, Quinoa & Tofu Stuffed Peppers, Citrusy Kale Salad, and a comforting apple crisp dessert using nourishing, wholesome ingredients.
Thursday, September 24, 2026: 6:00 – 9:30 PM $120
Royal Oak Middle School – Home Ec Room
Registration through Saanich Rec will open in early August.
Bring the vibrant flavours of Mexico into your kitchen with this whole-food plant-based and gluten-free cooking class! Learn to create bold, satisfying dishes including Black Bean Tacos, Mexican Brown Rice, Chipotle Cashew Cheese, and decadent Chocolate Cake. Fresh ingredients and bold flavours come together in this vibrant class.
Tuesday, October 20, 2026: 6:00 – 9:00 PM $110
North Saanich Middle School, 10400 McDonald Park Rd.
Register soon at Panorama Rec
There are not many books written exclusively about bowel movements, which is why I appreciated You’ve Been Pooping All Wrong: How to Make Your Bowel Movements a Joy by Dr. Trisha Pasricha. When I first stumbled across it, I knew I had to read it. This is a subject that few of us talk about, yet it’s so important to our overall wellbeing.
The book is divided into three main sections: Part 1: The Secrets, Part 2: The Science, and Part 3: The Survival Guide. In the first chapter, and in a few other sections throughout the book, it was sometimes hard to get past what felt like a somewhat boastful tone. That said, I found the chapter on the ten myths about pooping fascinating, and it sparked more than a few conversations around the dinner table with my family.
The second section focuses on the gut-brain connection, something we’ve been hearing more and more about in recent years. I found this part a little dry, and I suspect it may not be of great interest to many general readers. Throughout the book, however, Dr. Pasricha draws on current research while explaining the science in a way that’s accessible to readers without a medical background.
I think most people will find Part 3 the most valuable. I actually cheered when I read the discussion about bidets, as I’m a relatively new convert, having installed them in my home only a year ago. Now, whenever I travel, I miss them terribly. If you don’t have one, I’d highly recommend doing a little research. Mine isn’t anything fancy, it cost about $50, and my husband installed it in about 20 minutes.
The most enlightening chapter, in my opinion, was the one on women’s gut health. If you do find a book, blog, or article devoted to bowel movements, how often does it focus on the differences between men and women? Dr. Pasricha discusses how bowel habits can be affected by the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and menopause, topics that are often overlooked.
Other standout chapters include No One Poops Normally on Vacation, Runners with the Runs, and Where the Sun Don’t Shine. The last covers hemorrhoids, flatulence, and accidental bowel leakage, all common issues that many people experience but few are comfortable discussing with anyone.
Although parts of the book can come across as a bit boastful and the humour occasionally feels forced, I really enjoyed it. I’ve read a lot of books about the gastrointestinal tract, and this is the most comprehensive one I’ve found that focuses specifically on bowel movements. Whether you struggle with constipation, diarrhea, IBS, hemorrhoids, or simply want to better understand how your digestive system works, this book has something to offer. The truth is that almost all of us will deal with one or more of these issues at some point in our lives.
Bowel movements may not be a topic we discuss very often, but we should. Our digestive health plays a significant role in our overall wellbeing, and conversations like this help remove some of the unnecessary stigma. My hat’s off to Dr. Pasricha for helping bring the conversation into the mainstream.
Summer is finally here, and with it comes one of the best parts of the season, fresh, local produce at its peak. In this month’s newsletter, I take a closer look at why fruits and vegetables often taste better in the summer and how eating seasonally can support both flavour and nutrition.
You’ll also find two new recipes: Strawberry Shortcake Baked Oats, a protein-packed dish that’s perfect for breakfast or dessert, and Creamy Coconut Lentils, a simple, comforting meal for easy summer cooking. Plus, I’ve added several new meal plans to my shop, including two free one-day menus created for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
Food waste has always been one of my pet peeves. There’s something especially troubling about seeing perfectly good food discarded while so many people struggle to put meals on the table. That’s why I was inspired by a recent CBC article about Vancouver chefs TJ Conwi and Sean McDonald, who are proving that food waste and food insecurity can be tackled together.
Many of us think of food waste as wilted lettuce or forgotten leftovers. But as chef TJ Conwi discovered while working as an executive chef in Vancouver, a staggering amount of perfectly edible food is discarded long before it ever reaches our plates.
We’re talking about crates of tomatoes, eggplants, mushrooms, and other produce that are perfectly safe and nutritious but may be the wrong shape, size, or colour for commercial standards. In Canada, nearly half of all food is wasted, and much of it is entirely avoidable.
Those numbers are hard to ignore, especially when almost one in four Canadians experiences food insecurity.
When the pandemic disrupted the hospitality industry in 2020, Conwi found himself with access to surplus food that had already been ordered. Rather than let it go to waste, he began preparing meals for laid-off kitchen staff and friends facing financial hardship.
Along with fellow chef Sean McDonald, he co-founded ReRoot Kitchen, a Vancouver-based organization that transforms surplus ingredients into nutritious, chef-prepared meals for charities and community organizations.
Since then, ReRoot Kitchen has produced more than 500,000 meals using food rescued from farms, food service companies, and food rescue organizations.
It’s a remarkable example of what can happen when creativity meets compassion.
One misconception Conwi often encounters is that surplus food is somehow undesirable or destined for the compost pile.
In reality, surplus ingredients can be incredibly abundant and high quality. One recent haul included 18 large cases of mushrooms and hundreds of kilograms of spot prawn heads. Rather than going to waste, these ingredients became chowders, bisques, laksa, and rich cream sauces.
As home cooks, we can take inspiration from this resourcefulness. Vegetable stems can become soup stock. Overripe bananas turn into muffins. Leftover rice becomes fried rice or pancakes. Slightly bruised fruit is perfect in smoothies or baked goods.
Sometimes reducing food waste simply means looking at ingredients with a little more imagination.
Conwi’s mission is deeply personal. Growing up in the Philippines, he experienced food insecurity himself. Today, he gives back by preparing healthy meals and snacks for children at Vancouver’s Landing Youth Centre using donated ingredients.
Sadly, the need is growing. What was once estimated at one in four children going to school hungry has now risen to one in three.
Those statistics are heartbreaking when we consider how much edible food is thrown away every day.
Food waste and hunger are often treated as separate problems, but they’re really two sides of the same coin. Every effort to rescue food helps preserve the resources, labour, water, and energy that went into producing it in the first place.
Not everyone can rescue hundreds of kilograms of produce, but we can all make a difference.
Here are a few simple ways to waste less food:
Make a grocery list and buy what you’ll realistically use.
Proper storage can extend the life of fruits, vegetables, and leftovers.
Crooked carrots and oddly shaped tomatoes are just as nutritious and delicious.
Bread, herbs, berries, cooked beans, soups, and leftovers freeze beautifully.
Soups, smoothies, casseroles, stir-fries, and grain bowls are wonderful ways to use up odds and ends.
Composting is valuable, but keeping food in the human food system whenever possible is even better.
Stories like ReRoot Kitchen’s remind us that food has value far beyond its appearance. A slightly misshapen tomato or a surplus box of mushrooms still represents the land, water, energy, and human effort that brought it into existence.
Reducing food waste doesn’t require perfection. It simply asks us to be more mindful and more creative with what we already have.
And perhaps that’s one of the most hopeful lessons of all: sometimes the solution to two big problems—food waste and food insecurity—can begin with seeing abundance where others see scraps.
This post was inspired by a recent CBC article by Bridget Stringer-Holden about Vancouver chefs TJ Conwi and Sean McDonald and their work with ReRoot Kitchen.
Create vibrant plant-based appetizers in this hands-on class featuring a variety of gluten-free, whole-food bites and dips. You’ll make Salad Rolls, Tamari Almonds, Walnut Meatless Balls, Cashew Queso, Oil-Free Hummus, and Quinoa & Lentil Fritters, perfect for entertaining, sharing, or building a beautiful, nourishing spread at home.
Thursday, December 3, 2026: 6:00 – 9:30 PM $120
Royal Oak Middle School – Home Ec Room
Registration through Saanich Rec will open in early August.
November is the perfect time to warm up with homemade soup. In this hands-on class, we’ll make four nourishing, gluten-free plant-based recipes: hearty White Bean, Sweet Potato & Kale, soothing Chickpea & Ginger, earthy Shiitake Mushroom & Leek, and bold Spicy Coconut Lentil. Wholesome and comforting flavours to brighten dark days.
Thursday, November 26, 2026: 6:00 – 9:30 PM $120
Royal Oak Middle School – Home Ec Room
Registration through Saanich Rec will open in early August.
Experience the vibrant flavours of India in this hands-on whole-food plant-based and gluten-free cooking class! Learn to make Tofu Curry, Tarka Dal, Chickpea Saag, and Carrot Halwa, rich in warming spices, and perfect for creating cozy, flavourful meals at home.
Thursday, November 12, 2026: 6:00 – 9:30 PM $120
Royal Oak Middle School – Home Ec Room
Registration through Saanich Rec will open in early August.
