If your children drink lots of Sugary Drinks there is a good possibility that they may have a disease called Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease or NAFLD. Many parents I talk to today seem to know very little about this illness. For instance, in one the following videos it states that once a person, or...
M E N U for a Special Occasion ~Lamb Roast
A sample menu for a special occasion of any kind. The happy "bonus" for this meal was that it was prepared entirely by my husband, who I only found out recently is a great cook. Another bonus (for me) was Roast Lamb, with all the trimmings, was on the menu. If you are looking for...
Lamb Bone & Scotch Broth
I grew up in Australia where Lamb and Scotch Broth were often on the menu, sometimes daily. Today that is definitely not the case and it has been a long time since making both recipes. We are now able to purchase local, grass fed lamb once a year so as I write I am making...
Healthy Swiss Chard - a Year Round Vegetable
Healthy Swiss Chard is a very nutritious, but perhaps forgotten, vegetable which oftentimes will grow year round in our climate area. It is a member of the spinach family and, it really is a very easy to grow green vegetable. This year I have planted an old favourite called Fordhook Giant which is an heirloom...
How to Can Non-GMO Corn
Home canning of corn is one of the most simple ways to preserve fresh picked corn. Non-GMO Corn has been on our "buy local" menu for a decade especially Jubilee triple sweet Non-GMO corn on the cob. Last summer several types of Non-GMO corn were canned for the first time in years. A very easy...
High Fiber Veggies to Grow This Year
High fiber veggies are very good for your health and your "gut microbiome" so here we go with a few ideas on what to grow in 2021. Much will depend on the space you have but not the gardening experience. Home gardening is a super fun and easy hobby for those with absolutely no training....
Top Tweets in 2020
The annual Caramel and Parsley Top Tweets for the previous year continues: 2020 has been once in a Century occurrence as was reflected from the beginning of 2020 through the following months. There is no way anyone can avoid knowledge and experience of the coronavirus that assaulted the earth and all its occupants. There have...
Breathing Difficulty & Home Humidity in Winter
If you have a breathing difficulty and it becomes worse in our very cold winter, check out your home humidity. It did not take long for us to realize that the decreased humidity in our home was the cause of increased breathing difficulty this winter. With outside temperatures all this week with highs in minus...
Dr Aseem Malhotra on Heart Disease & Metabolic Syndrome
For many years Dr Aseem Malhotra has featured in numerous journals, newspapers, social media, etc and now with the continuing global Covid 19 epidemic in 2020 - 2021, his articles are very timely. If this is your first introduction to Dr Malhotra; he is a cardiologist and leading doctor in the UK and very well...
Sugar Equivalent Infographics
Sugar Equivalent Infograpics are very helpful when baking, losing weight, family health and when writing an article on sugar and food. Simply it is good to know how much sugar is in your food especially if you have diabetes. The graphics were originally endorsed by NICE in the United Kingdom and then disappeared. For those...
What Exactly is Ultra Processed Food?
There are many definitions of what exactly constitutes "ultra processed foods" depending on who you speak to. This short article provides an excellent description from NOVA in Brazil with links to additional information about the country's Food Guidelines. Here by way of introduction, is information, with quotes and links. Group 1. Unprocessed or minimally processed...
Real Men Eat Frittata ...
"Real men don't eat Quiche but ... Real Men Eat Frittata". A long standing joke in our family is this quirky saying as eggs have always been a family favourite. Eggs are often a first choice for a meal or snack and we look forward to our weekly fried egg brekkie as well as frequent...
Boosting Gippsland's (Climate) Tourism - Flying Foxes
This is an interesting Guest Article by Peter D Gardner (see Links at end of article). Flying Foxes are unique to Australia. They are fascinating creatures and have been of great interest (to me) ever since I became aware of them almost a decade ago. This species, due to climate and habitat change, are at...
Heart Disease, Cholesterol, Statins & More
Over the years, many hours have been spent looking into health issues and sharing articles and videos on both my website and social media on one of the world's #1 killers - "heart disease". This is simply a collection of articles and videos which have been highly beneficial to my family. If you are searching...
Pest Alert : Marmorated Stink Bug in BC
What is a Brown Marmorated Stink Bug? They arrived in the province of BC in approximately 2015 so are a newer invasive species and Fall is the time of year they are looking for somewhere to winter over. As I have no knowledge or experience with these bugs it is a huge learning curve. This...
Hamburger & Bacon Soup ... Hmmm So Tasty
Hamburger soup with a little added bacon makes it special and tasty. Here is a recipe which uses reasonably priced, quick and easy to cook mince whether it be chicken, turkey, elk or beef. There are many other recipes online and the trick is to find one that you and your family enjoy. It is easy...
How to Ripen Green Tomatoes
Don't give up on your still growing green tomatoes, as warm temperatures are forecast to continue in the Fraser Valley for at least three more weeks. Plus the forecast for the coming week is for record breaking high temperatures from Southern California to British Columbia : Background & Summer Weather Tomatoes have always been a...
Why I Love British Columbia #4
British Columbia Canada is a most unique world destination even in this unusual time of a global epidemic. We are so thankful to have this glorious province to live in and travel through at this time. Here are a few favourite photos of our home from over the years . . . British Columbia -...
Quick & Easy Turkey Chilli
Turkey chilli can be quick and easy as well as healthy. We all have our favourite recipes for chilli and this is one of ours. We make this often as its a great last minute meal, good for large gatherings and super as a leftover: Ingredients - Chilli for 4 1 - 2 Tablespoons Olive...
Desiderata
Desiderata ~ An excellent poem to read in this unique time with many fears and concerns for today. It is much easier to say than to do, but "Simple is better". Hoping this poem will encourage you and give you hope for now and the future. Desiderata ... Go placidly amid the noise and haste,and...
An Amazing First Year Veggie Garden
Are you dreaming of a new veggie garden ? If you are determined you too can have an amazing first year veggie garden. Here are a few ideas to help you plan a garden of your own. Its a lot of fun and the best idea of all is just to start right now. Here...
Nanaimo - A Ferry Ride Away
Nanaimo - a town we drove through two decades ago to catch a ferry home. This time we stayed and re-familiarized ourselves with this bustling little city. Situated on the ocean there are lovely water vistas, incredible forests and beaches around every corner. There must be more deer on Vancouver Island than anywhere else in...
Simple Lifestyle Changes to become Healthier
Lifestyle change ? It can be as simple as wanting to be healthier and happier. This topic has been a hot one for the past several years. This is especially true in recent months with all the Life changing happenings globally with the coronavirus. There is so much information available online it can be overwhelming. ...
Raccoons, Deer & Other Critters in Your Veggie Garden
It's been a few years since writing about raccoons, deer, bear, moles, rabbits and squirrels in our veggie garden but nonetheless they are still with us! Here is a little more information on how we co-exist with these critters without pulling out our hair. Deer - ever present : When we first moved into our...
Quick Tips for Planting Strawberries
Here are a few quick tips for planting strawberries to help you get them into the ground as soon as possible. If you are new to gardening much depends on the variety. Hopefully there was a card or information from the giver or seller as to the name and type of the variety. "Everbearing" the...
7 Simple Lessons to Learn About Life ...
Life Lessons: This seems such a simplistic topic to write about especially if you thought you were taking good care of your health and yourself. Here is a short summary (not in any order) of activities I didn't necessarily think about when I was much younger, but perhaps should have. How about you? 😊** The...
Sugar Quotes from John Yudkin - Pure White & Deadly
... This article is simply quotes (of my choice) from "Pure White & Deadly" by John Yudkin - How Sugar is Killing Us and What we Can Do to Stop It" (1972). John Yudkin (1910 - 1995) was a British physiologist and nutritionist and was one of the first scientists to claim that "sugar was...
Sweet & Easy Tomato Onion Casserole
A favourite of my Mum's was this truly enjoyable Tomato & Onion casserole. It is amazing how easy it is to put together and every time when served up it is a big hit. Did I mention it was healthy especially when using home grown organic tomatoes. Mum never owned a cook book as most...
Canning Fresh Organic Carrots
Too many fresh carrots? What to do? During self isolation when ordering groceries online for the first time, I accidentally ordered too many organic carrots & decided as it is one of our most often eaten veggies to preserve a few pounds. The obvious choice for me was to can them in the high pressure...
New Raised Bed Gardens for Spring
Its Spring time and we have 4 new small raised bed gardens for vegetables replacing a third of our urban back lawn. Over the past couple of years the shade from very tall 100 year old cedar trees keeps about one quarter of the vegetable garden in full shade and another quarter is partial shade....
Low Carb Lifestyle - Videos for Doctors from Dr David Unwin
The title to the following series from Dr David Unwin is "Low Carb Lifestyle Information for Doctors". These very informative short videos are great for those who are interested in learning more about the low carbohydrate diet and lifestyle. They were tweeted daily on Caramel & Parsley during November (Diabetes Awareness Month) and December 2019....
A Cure for Type 2 Diabetes Blindness
The current global diabetes epidemic is causing multiple health concerns including blindness, which in its early stages, according to ophthalmologist Dr James Muecke, is reversible. It was very interesting and exciting to watch Dr James Muecke receive the 'Australian of the Year' award on Australia Day in January, 2020 and listen to his acceptance speech outlining...
Top Tweets in 2019
2019 was barely underway and Caramel & Parsley's Twitter feed was overflowing with articles and information on the Low Carbohydrate Lifestyle, health and dieting, weather disasters, massive fish deaths in Australia and the USA was into its third week of government shutdown. What a "blockbuster" start to the year in the first few days ......
Caramel & Parsley Takes a Sabbatical
Caramel and Parsley is taking a sabbatical. Its been over a decade since starting the website and it has given me much joy and taught me more than I ever imagined! I have not set a time limit, simply a time to reorganize and review my options. Here is a very small part of Caramel...
Thankful for First Responders ...
First Responders: unless you are related to one, do not feature largely in most of our lives, most of the time. But their value and importance is magnified when a need arises. Recently our family had contact with Acute Care Ambulance and the local hospital Emergency Room staff. At the end of a long day...
Low Carbohydrate Diet for Type 2 Diabetes Reversal
The Low Carbohydrate diet Lifestyle is increasing in importance and is now accepted by U.S. forces and American Diabetic Association as a nutrition choice for reversing Type 2 Diabetes and pre-diabetes. Please take the time to watch this short recent video (2019) by Dr. Sarah Hallberg if you have T2 diabetes or pre-diabetes. I hope...
Visit to a Family Maple Syrup Farm in Quebec
Recently a friend went to work on a family Maple Syrup farm in southern Quebec, a Canadian eastern province with much history and tradition. It was interesting to learn more about where our delicious world famous Canadian Maple Syrup is grown and the traditions around the harvesting in the Springtime. Here is some information about...
Books Recommended to Read #2
Over the past four years I have read a mountain of books on a variety of topics. Following is a very short list of a few you may enjoy reading for learning and reference. They cover a range of topics but stay close to Caramel and Parsley's interests these days, namely: our health (food) and...
Many Reasons to Start a Vegetable Garden
There are lots of reasons to start a vegetable garden. On a very cold winter's Day as I was watching the strong winds blowing the debris around the yard, my thoughts turned to gardening. This is called "Gardner's" Logic. I thought of the coming Spring and started to ponder and plan the Vegetable Garden. There...
Low Carbohydrate Lifestyle - Sugar & Health
What is the Low Carbohydrate Lifestyle and Diet ? Recently when chatting with a friend with regard to her success and happiness with the Low Carbohydrate diet, we discussed how many people are not aware of the different choices to change their life. By changing what they eat and other lifestyle options they can improve...