I found out about Meghan Telpner and her inspiring and extremely practical website three years ago from one of my classmates at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition.

Meghan Telpner is a Holistic Nutritionist who resides in Toronto, Ontario with her husband Josh Gitalis, a Clinical Nutritionist.

Meghan Telpner - amazing interview and giveaway

                          Meghan Telpner (from The UnDiet Cookbook)

Meghan founded The Academy of Culinary Nutrition which is an online culinary school where students from across the world learn about, obviously, culinary nutrition, wellbeing, and leading a vibrant life. Health professionals learn how to grow their businesses to reach and help more people.

Everything Meghan does is inspiring and surrounded by positivity, be it delicious recipes, blog posts and books, videos, or online workshops. She truly is one of the people who talk their talk and walk their talk.

A few years ago Meghan wrote a lovely book called “UnDiet: Eat Your Way to Vibrant Health” that encourages people to eat healthy, lead a healthy life, and not worry about weighing their food or counting calories.

Last year, Meghan published “The UnDiet Cookbook” to accompany her first book. Like her first book, her second book is also a journey in a magic land. It welcomes you from the front cover with vibrant colors and Meghan’s beautiful smile. While you flip through its pages, you are taken on a journey of flavors, smells, and eye-inciting and mouth-watering photos.

I made many of her recipes, including Chickpea Focaccia, Cinnamon-Spiced Brownies, and Sweet Potato Zucchini Hash Brizzles just to name a few. My kids (who are soon turning 4 and 7 years old), my husband, my parents, and myself loved them all. All recipes are gluten-free and dairy-free. Variations to make them egg-free, nut-free, or grain-free are also included.

Zucchini hummus by Meghan Telpner

           Creamy Zucchini Hummus (from The UnDiet Cookbook)

Although the cookbook is not geared towards children, I consider most of Meghan’s recipes to be very kid-friendly. And I am not talking only about the amazing pancakes, truffles, pies, muffins, cookies, crackers, and porridge recipes that Meghan shares in “The Undiet Cookbook”. I am also talking about Taco Salad, Pumpkin Soup, Kale Chips, UnShepherd’s’ Pie (yes, this is what it’s called!), and many others. All yummy and nutritious!

The cookbook does not only have delicious recipes, but it also has a chapter dedicated to Beauty Care, with recipes to keep hair, skin, and teeth healthy. I tried the toothpaste recipe and the teeth whitener (which, by the way, has only 2 ingredients) and I loved them both.

If you would like to hear Meghan talk about her journey, I am certain you will love her interview on Sean Croxton’s podcast. I really hope you will get a chance to listen to it as you will get to know Meghan as she really is: smart, vibrant, positive, enthusiastic, and inspiring.

I reached out to Meghan to ask if she would like to be featured here and she graciously agreed to an interview with her and a giveaway of her second book, “The UnDiet Cookbook”.

Here is Meghan Telpner:

1.Meghan, tell us a bit about yourself. Who were you at the beginning when you started your journey towards health and who are now in your health and nutrition journey, as a nutritionist, author, speaker, and founder of the Academy of Culinary Nutrition?

Don’t all kids dream of growing up to make their own almond milk and growing alfalfa sprouts in their window?

My first love was actually fashion. I have an undergraduate degree in fashion and following graduation from university, I packed up and went to travel Africa. This experience contributed to a health crisis. Three years later, by the summer of 2006 while I was working in advertising, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, an incurable autoimmune inflammatory bowel disease. The conventional treatment is usually a combination of medications and surgery. Having done my own research, I was inspired to try something different. I started to explore my kitchen and taught myself how to cook with real food, I read tons of books on nutrition, took up a regular yoga and meditation practice and went for acupuncture. And I healed. Within a month all of my symptoms were gone and to this day, have not returned.

It was this experience that inspired me to go back to school to study nutrition- and pursue the work I now get to do- inspiring my readers, and students to live the most healthy and awesome life possible.

At the beginning, I was as confused about health and nutrition (as most people are) and through a commitment to empower myself with knowledge, I have landed here doing a job that I didn’t even know was my dream job!

Key Lime Pie Meghan Telpner

                Rawmazing Key Lime Pie (from The UnDiet Cookbook)

2. What were your goals when you decided to write “The UnDiet Cookbook” and why did you choose this name for the cookbook?

Knowing how to feed ourselves, you’d think, would be one of the first things we‘re taught. For many of us, it’s the last, and we only learn when we need to. After graduating from nutrition school, I realized that there was a huge gap in the nutrition training- understanding how to use food, on a daily basis, in a practical way, to really fuel our lives. I wanted to offer cooking classes that weren’t focused on one ‘label’ of diet but really encourage my students to tune in to what their body needs and design a lifestyle that is sustainable, healthful and delicious for themselves. This is, in essence, what the UnDiet philosophy is. In short- UnDiet is breaking free of all the diets and rules we think we’re supposed to follow to be healthy, but that never really work.

When it came to writing my cookbook- I wanted to incorporate the ease, deliciousness and simplicity that I used to teach in my classes and now share with my students in the Academy of Culinary Nutrition to equip everyone with the knowledge they need to live a healthy and awesome life.

My first book was called UnDiet and it is the lifestyle guide, the toolbox for lifestyle transformations. It was only natural that my follow up would be the cookbook to support it.

3. Please share three of your favorite recipes from “The UnDiet Cookbook” with us.

  • Rawmazing Keylime Pie: It’s simple to make, delicious, and can be modified to work with any fruit.
  • Dressed To The Nines Sweet Potatoes: A filling and satisfying simple dinner.
  • UnCoffee: A warm elixir drink that I have virtually every morning. It’s made with raw cacao and some other yummy herbs to power me up for fun and busy days.

I heart blueberry smoothie Meghan Telpner

                        I Heart Blueberry Blend (from The UnDiet Cookbook)

4. What are the three ingredients you always have in your fridge and/or pantry?

  • Lemons: I put lemon juice in salad dressings and squeeze it over so much. I use it a lot in my dips and sauces too. Plus it’s part of my morning routine of warm water with lemon juice and cayenne.
  • Garlic: Garlic is nature’s antibiotic. I use this in a lot of my recipes including stir fries, dressings, soups and roasted vegetables. Roasted garlic all on its own is one of my favourite things. It’s also nature’s antibiotic. Feel a cold coming on? Chop up a clove of garlic and take with some honey on an empty stomach. Nothing can survive that!
  • Ghee and Coconut Oil: I often use these interchangeably but I love my good fats. They stabilize blood sugar and support a healthy nervous system. Fats make our skin look better and our mood stable.

Balsamic Roasted Veggies Meghan Telpner

                    Balsamic Roasted Veggetables (from The UnDiet Cookbook)

5. Sometimes life gets in the way and we eat less healthy than we would like to for a while. What do you do to get back on track?

This is a common challenge. I definitely get busy but I always aim to put things in place to support my health when life gets very busy. When we’re at our busiest is really the time to be fuelling our lives with the best. I do prep days so that I have good food easy and ready to go out of my freezer if need be. I use a local CSA to deliver produce if I don’t have time to get to a store.

There are certain things in my life that are just non-negotiable and eating well is one of them. When we understand the impact our food choices have on our lives, and feel the difference, it becomes pretty effortless to stay on track because the convenience fast foods are no longer options.

Vegalicious Quiche Meghan Telpner

                        Vegalicious Quiche (from The UnDiet Cookbook)

6. What makes you happy that not many people know about?

I’m pretty vocal about the things I love. Farmer’s markets, yoga, my bicycle, time in the forest, stand-up paddle boarding, travelling with my husband, cooking, quiet time at home, getting a massage, a really awesome book, nutrition documentaries, essential oils, and great food all make me happy.

I guess something few people know about me is that I love to create things. I love painting and sewing and doing crafts. A lot of what I do now is online so there is very little that I create that can be held (aside from cookbooks and food), but I like creating things simply for the process of creating them without needing an outcome.

Meghan is sharing a recipe with us today from The UnDiet Cookbook. I think you will love it!

Chocolate pancakes Meghan Telpner

     Chocolate, Chocolate, Say It Twice Pancakes (from The UnDiet Cookbook)

Chocolate, Chocolate, Say It Twice Pancakes

Nut-Free

Soy-Free

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 25 minutes (or 5–8 minutes per set of pancakes)

Makes 8–10 pancakes

Dry Ingredients

3/4 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup arrowroot starch

1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1/4 cup chickpea flour

1/4 cup raw cacao powder

2 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients

1 egg or 1 serving Chia Paste (page 205 in The UnDiet Cookbook)

1 1/2 cups water

1/3 cup organic unsweetened organic applesauce or Simple Applesauce (page 204 in The UnDiet Cookbook)

1/4 cup honey or maple syrup

3 Tbsp coconut oil or organic ghee, softened

1 Tbsp tahini

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup dairy-free semisweet chocolate chips

Make It Like So

  1. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients. The sifting is a bit tedious, but it does help with the pancake fluff factor. (You can skip it if you want, though.)
  2. In a separate bowl, mix all the wet ingredients together. If your coconut oil is solid, you may wish to warm it over the stove to liquefy it. (Sometimes I’ll totally cheat and throw all the wet ingredients into the blender.)
  3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mix, and then stir in the chocolate chips. If you like your pancakes on the thinner side, add a little more water to the batter. It doesn’t take much to thin the mix, so be careful. You don’t want your pancakes to become a runny mess.
  4. Heat your skillet to medium heat and dollop on some coconut oil or ghee. Scoop 1/4 cup of batter at a time into the hot skillet. Once you see bubbles start to form, it’s time to flip these babies over. The trick with pancakes is to keep the heat high enough to cook them through, but not so high that it burns the outside while the inside is left raw. Once you find the right spot on your stove, take note! Let the pancakes sit for 5 minutes before serving. This helps them firm up in the middle.
  5. Serve with your favorite toppings. I love shredded unsweetened, dried, shredded coconut, ground flax, ground goji berries, and a drizzle of Special Syrup (page 205 in The UnDiet Cookbook).

Excerpted from The UnDiet Cookbook: 130 Gluten-Free Recipes for a Healthy and Awesome Life by Meghan Telpner. Copyright © 2015 Meghan Telpner. Photography Copyright © 2015 Maya Visnyei and Catherine Farquharson. Published by Appetite by Random House, a division of Random House of Canada Ltd., a Penguin Random House Company. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us, Meghan Telpner, and thank you for inspiring the world!

This giveaway is open to readers residing in Canada and the USA. Skill testing question required. No purchase necessary.

There are the 3 ways to enter this giveaway for Meghan Telpner’s “The UnDiet Cookbook”. Each gives you 1 entry to the giveaway.

  1. Subscribe to the Orgali blog by email. You can see the link to subscribe (green rectangle) on the right side on this page.
  2. Let me know in the comments section below what are some of the ways you are using to lead a healthy, happy life.
  3. Mention this giveaway on your Facebook page and let me know you did this in the comments section.

The giveaway begins on Saturday March 19th and closes on Monday, April 4th, at 8 pm Mountain Time. The giveaway ended. The winner is Gloria.

A winner will be chosen using a random number generator and announced on the blog on Tuesday, April 5. The odds of winning depend on the number of entries received.

I will contact the winner by email and post the result on the blog. The winner will have forty-eight hours to respond. If no response is received within forty-eight hours, another winner will be chosen.