Every recipe I create for my books reflects a facet of how I like to eat in real life. I cannot write a cookbook without an eggplant recipe (or two!) because I love this vegetable so much. I will happily gobble up all four servings of this eggplantroasted until its flesh is creamy, sprinkled with citrusy sumac and fresh mint, and drizzled with maple syrupspiked tahiniwith zero complaints. Sumac-Roasted Eggplant with Maple Tahini Drizzle Serves 4 Ingredients Main 4 Chinese eggplants 2 tablespoons (30 mL) avocado oil 1 teaspoons (6 mL) ground sumac, plus more for serving teaspoon (2 mL) salt Fr ..read more

Level Up This pop-up tent is quick to assemble and comes with a built-in mattress. But best of all, its 17 inches above the ground to guard against dewy dampness.Costway 1-Person Portable Pop-Up Tent, $442, thebay.comTip: Camping spots can be tough to secure, so make sure youre on the right page: Go to parks.canada.ca for national park reservations, and to sites like ontarioparks.ca or bcparks.ca for provincial parks. Eat wildly well A picnic set that belongs by the Seine.Deluxe Picnic Backpack, $90, leevalley.comCaffeine conduits so you never have to settle for instant.World Famous Aluminum ..read more

Milan Frydrysek never worried much about his health. His wife worried enough for both of them. Her brother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at age 62 and died a little more than a year later. After that, she wanted to do everything possible to stop cancer from grabbing hold of anybody else she loved.The Frydryseks heard about Prenuvo, a company that offered diagnostic body scans using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). For $2,500 per person, they could get a head-to-ankle scan that would pick up solid tumours and 400 other medical conditions, according to the company. Their family physician ..read more

On the trails, I slow down and de-stress, says Shyrai Sutherland, a personal support and hospice worker living in Waterloo, Ont. She gets mental clarity by going outdoors for a hike, and its an important part of her overall wellness routine. As someone who juggles school (recreation and leisure studies at the University of Waterloo) and work, Sutherland says that hiking helps keep her physically fit and emotionally balanced. Sutherland isnt the only one finding an eco-antidote to the stresses of modern life. Many therapists are recommending their clients get some green exercisethat is, a worko ..read more

In Japanese, its called ukemi, which means break fall, says Friba Rezayee, a judo athlete and former Olympian. Shes referring to the practice of learning how to use your arms and upper body strength to protect the rest of your body from impact with the ground. Judo is a sport where you have to learn how to fall safelyso you fall but dont get hurt.Ukemi might also be the perfect metaphor for Rezayees life and work with Afghan refugee women and girls. The 38-year-old gender equity leader and advocate is no stranger to setbacks. She was born and raised in Afghanistan, but when the Taliban came to ..read more

Liveryes, even when it’s choppeddeserves far more respect than our culture doles out. The human liver performs upward of 500 functions: It filters our blood and regulates clotting, its the first line of defence against infection, it controls the balance of hormones and fats and it transforms our food into energy, and thats just for starters. But its chief marvel lies in its power to regeneratelop off a giant chunk of a healthy liver and the damn thing will grow back. Not part of the way. Not eventually. You can lose a whopping 70 percent of your liver and, only 12 weeks later, possess a full-s ..read more

Before there was tiramisu, carrot cake occupied the top spot in my dessert hall of fame. And of course, I have opinions about it. The cake should be moist, with a very tender crumb, and packed with carrots. I dont love nuts and raisins, but I can respect them, so youve got the option to add them here. And always cream cheese icing. Since the flavour of store-bought vegan cream cheese varies widely, I have created a cream cheeseinspired cashew frosting. Carrot Cake with Cashew Frosting Makes one 2-layer round cake Ingredients Cashew Frosting 1 cup (250 mL) cashews, soaked in boiling water for ..read more

Weve turned just about every facet of our health into dataour steps, our resting heart rate, the instant we ovulateso its no surprise were starting to gamify our orgasms. A growing number of smart sex toys can chart the intensity of those orgasms and provide titillating data on how often and how well we come.Take, for example, the Lioness. This vibrator has built-in sensors that measure tension (which reflects arousal and how close you are to finishing), temperature (to track when its inside you) and motion (to follow how youre moving the toy). The data captured is sent to an app that maps eac ..read more

Soba noodles have been enjoyed in Japan for thousands of years. Made from buckwheat flour, soba noodles have such a wonderful flavour that they are commonly eaten on their own as zaru soba with just a bit of dipping sauce as an accompaniment. Since my time in Japan, I have used soba as a base for so many meals, some more traditional and others not so much, like this soba dressed with my savoury Miso Pecan Butter. Enjoy this dish as a light and simple meal or serve with some steamed edamame sprinkled with shichimi togarashi as a Japan-inspired meal with friends. Soba with Miso Pecan Butter Serv ..read more

Ive watched many of my friends make the journey into motherhood, and so Ive heard a lot about the pelvic floor. For our millennial generation, its common knowledge that urinary incontinence can be a side effect of pregnancy and labouralmost one-third of women will have bladder leaks after the birth of their first childand all my friends have prioritized pre- and/or postpartum pelvic-floor physiotherapy as prevention or treatment. Since Ive never been pregnant, I thought I was off the hook.Imagine my surprise when, the year I turned 35, I started waking up to pee multiple times in the night whi ..read more