Last minute gifts for your loved ones – or maybe for yourself

RGBstock photo-Fangol

Okay, so you’re not as organized as you would like to be.  You’re  not alone if looking for some last minute gifts for some loved ones.  If so, here are a few great ideas for both the healthy eater or for someone striving to become one. Or maybe just for someone who loves good food. Or why not buy yourself a gift?

Here are a few to consider:

l•    The Plant-Powered Diet: The Lifelong Eating Plan for Achieving Optimal Health, Beginning Today by Sharon Palmer, RD

If you’ve been reading the health news over the past few years, it’s pretty clear: we need be eating more fruits and vegetables and plant foods, in general.   Vegetarian, omnivore or flexitarian (a meat-optional eater) –  whatever your food style – plant foods and their incredible array of disease-fighting compounds should be at the foundation of your diet.

Enter Sharon Palmer. In the book, she not only provides powerful arguments for  a plant-centred diet but also tons of tips for shopping and preparation along with lots of recipes to help you actually achieve it. Want the scoop on the benefits of one particular vegetable or herb or how to incorporate into your menu, it’s in the book.

•    Hamilton Beach Searing Grill

Summertime and the livin’ is easy. Grilling is a tasty way to prepare a range of foods, like meat, fish and  vegetables, without a glut of fat. But living in the Great White North can mean that if you want grilled fare, you’ve got to do it indoors and that can be a mess.  With Hamilton Beach’s new Searing Grill, there’s no more scrubbing of the grills.  The hood, searing plates and drip tray are all easily removed and dishwasher safe.    Leftover grilled veggies are yours again  for salads and sandwiches. ($99)

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•    Hamilton Beach Salad Xpress™ Compact Food Processor 
It doesn’t get much easier – to both prepare and to clean up. While a regular food processor is, to me, a must have kitchen appliance, to be honest, there are many time when I prefer the clean up and results when I use a hand grater or shredder.  But this little number slices, shreds and chops right into your salad or prep bowl.  There are four different blades, all of which can be stored  in a caddy on the front of the machine.   And it’s all dishwasher safe. Like I said, it doesn’t get any easier. ($69)

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•    Nutrition Action Healthletter
This is a perfect choice for someone looking for the latest scoop on nutrition issues. Produced by the consumer advocacy group, Centre for Science in the Public Interest, Nutrition Action Healthletter is the largest circulation newsletter of its type in North America. Each issue, in both the Canadian and American versions, has an in-depth cover story, a section on emerging research, along with recipes and info on particular products and the best choices in each category. The last page always singles out products for their “Right Stuff” and “Food Porn” columns. A one-year gift subscription costs $20.

•    From the Heart of the  Kitchen: A Daily Journal: 365 Inspirations to Feed Your Soul by Mary Sue Waisman

Buy this for yourself and your loved ones. Mary Sue is herself an inspiration.  She is a fellow dietitian and cookbook author, mother and wife. But Mary Sue in the face of adversity chose to live life to the fullest. She has been battling brain cancer and instead of doing what so many of might choose to do – be sad or angry, she instead is living life to the fullest – which has not been an easy task for her.

The book is a diary where each day of the year contains an inspiration about food, whether it be to consider planting a vegetable garden for yourself or for your community or offering the idea of an indoor picnic on April Fool’s Day.  But it’s a journal so there’s space to write your own thoughts beside her heartwarming inspirations.