Unjunk Your Junk Food

What do you get when you mix Savvy girls, Andrea Donsky and  Randy Boyer from Naturally Savvy, and the Nutritional expertise of Lisa Tsakos with the last two years of  research, writing, editing and a lot of taste testing?  You get the much needed, and eagerly anticipated guide to your junk food cravings.  

Who would of thought that your favourite junk food was linked to issues like asthma, ADD, ADHD, irritable bowel symptoms, headaches, memory loss, diarrhea and cancer, to name a few, a quick flip through this book and you'll be looking at junk food in a whole different way.  On the brighter side, Unjunk Your Junk Food will give you a healthy (and tasty) alternative to all of your favourite junk food!

You might think I'm biased when it comes to this book for two reasons. 1/ I was one of the photographers working on this project and had shot a few hundred products for the book. And 2/  Lisa Tsakos who put her blood, sweat and many tears into the research and writing of this book, and happens to be my brilliant and accomplished sister (sorry Lisa, I know you wanted me tone that part down).  The truth, I really wouldn't be telling you about Unjunk Your Junk Food if I didn't believe in it and think it was so important for people to read.  

The book explains what all of those unpronounceable words in the ingredient list actually mean.  They breakdown the Nutrition Facts on the back of a package and let you know how to read between the lines.  They explain it all in an easy and fun way that anyone can understand.  Even me!  You'll learn something new on every page!  And after reading the ingredients, my husband and I have already tossed the last few bags of junk food we had left over from a party. 

I used to love Dorito's as a teen.  I didn't realize their super long ingredient list included MSG and Trans Fats to name a few no-no's!

What else??

-Easy answers to Artificial Colours, Flavours and Sweeteners. 

-What manufacturers really mean on their food labels when they say "Low Fat, Light, No Sugar added, Made with Organic Ingredients" etc..

-GMO's (genetically modified foods)

-List of 43 various names of sugar, used on food labels

-Handy "Worst Ingredient" pull out chart

Out of these two ice creams, which do you think is the smarter choice? 

If you thought an ice cream called "Skinny Cow" would be the healthier choice over something labelled "richer and creamier", you were wrong!  I couldn't believe my eyes when I read it!

To get the "scoop" on why, check out pages 54 and 55 in Unjunk Your Junk Food

Unjunk Your Junk Food is a book that everyone needs to read. It comes out on December 27, 2011 but you can Pre-Order your copy today to find out what all the hype is about!

Retailers will sell it for between $18 to $20, but online prices are ridiculously low!
 

U.S. readers can order their copy for only $11.97USD at Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com

If you're in Canada, order your book online for only $14.43CAN at Chapters or Amazon.ca

By the way, if you spend $25 or more at these Canadian sites, you're eligible to receive free shipping!! One copy for you and one for someone you love :)

I admit, I've always had a weakness for a few items of junk food myself, but when I took a peek at the book that the girls were working on, I couldn't stop reading!  I was amazed, it's really jaw-dropping, I just can't say enough good things about this book!  

These days I'm so much more aware of how my body reacts to different foods, so I try to read the package of everything I buy, but end up really frustrated when there are too many words that I just cannot pronounce.  Worse, words or ingredients that I don't recognize.  People, we are eating this stuff! I can't believe I had been ingesting all of that crap for years, and although my intake has gone down tremendously, after seeing this book, I'm thinking twice about those few guilty pleasures that are left.  One (of many) great thing about Unjunk Your Junk Food is that it teaches you how to make smarter choices when choosing your junk food so you can still satisfy your snack food cravings, but in a healthy way!  

Buy this book today! Grocery shopping will never be the same!  

Books Out!

Although I've been at this photography thing for a while now, I still get a kick out of seeing pictures that I've taken on the racks of your local grocer, magazine shop etc.  I've been shooting for a few of the local editorials for quite some time, and very happy to being doing so,  but I wouldn't be me if I wasn't always striving for more.   Being a 'freelance' anything these days is fickle, and at this point in my life and career, I want to go with my gut, my instincts, and not what is 'safe' (as some of my friends like to put it) as there's nothing really "safe" anymore in this industry anyway.  I got into this business because I love it, not the business part of it (although I'm starting to get the hang of that part), but I love the evolution of it.  I love what I do, and lately I've been working towards a few other career goals, one being Cookbooks!  Who doesn't love a good cookbook?  I myself, own many of them!  I use them as inspiration when I'm not feeling inspired, but I had always set my heart on photographing one, one day... 

I came one step closer to my dream last month when I hit my local bookstore and found not one but two cookbooks on the top shelf and in them, some of my photo's.  I had to pull out my handy iPhone and take a couple of discreet shots.  

First was the Best of Clean Eating book.  That was pretty cool, I didn't even know it was out already!  I had been shooting for this magazine for years now and this book was a collaboration of some of the best recipes over the years (hence "Best Of") so it wasn't anything new for me, but I still couldn't help but bear a grin :)


Then I spotted the one I was waiting for.  The Three Chefs. Although I had only shot the candid shots of the chefs in this book, I was still proud to see it.

The three chefs, Michael Bonacini, Massimo Capra, and Jason Parsons were a delight to work with both in the St.Lawrence Market kitchen and while on set during a taping of the Cityline TV show.  First was the St.Lawrence Market where this zany troupe cooked up several of their favorite meals for me as my finger turned raw from taking photo after photo to capture their impressive skills.  Trina (my Uber Assistant) and I tried to taste test as many of the plates that came flying our way but these guys were so quick at their skill and although I was quick at mine, there were three of them.  Enough said.

Then over to Cityline Television show the next day while they entertained the rest of Canada and I had the pleasure of capturing more of the fun. As I flipped through the book a little closer, I found one (maybe more) of the food shots I had taken that day at St.Lawrence Mkt had made it into the book as well!  Even closer...

So here we are several months later and I finally get to see the finished product! Seeing the two books merely side by side put that extra hop in my step that day.   

Last weekend, a day off took me to Niagara on the Lake with some friends to celebrate a birthday.  One  winery that we visited was the Peller Estates where Chef Jason Parsons cooks.  It was really cool to see the giant poster and display of the Three Chefs book in the winery! I saw Jason bustling around in the restaurant and I popped my head in to say a quick 'hi' as he graciously took a few minutes to chat.  During our visit at Peller, we toured the outdoors where they had a some ice wine tastings along with giant marshmallow's and fire pits!  We were like a bunch of kids roasting our marshmallows  over the open fire and eating these tasty treats.  This recipe for icewine marshmallow's is actually in the book (pg. 238)! Yumm!

While the work that I have in both the Best of Clean Eating and The Three Chefs might not be entirely the type of work that I had hoped to have in a cookbook, it's definitely one step closer!   I'm working closely with the great crew at Madison Press Books and we have a few projects brewing. 

What can I say, I'm a hopeful optimist!  Sure the last few years were rough, they were for most of us around the world!  But I'm not ready to give up nor am I ready to give in!  I'm working hard, I've got some big plans, not really following any rules (rules have never really motivated me).  Fingers crossed that one day soon I can share with you the next achievement in my career.