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6 Friday, January 6, 2017brooklintowncrier.com Plant-Based Eating by Sheree Nicholson Resolution: Keep it Simple this New Year I don't make New Year's resolutions anymore simply because I've failed at every resolution I ever made, and usually in the first week. Resolutions are hard. They're often about major change and that means reprogramming your brain's neural pathways. If you've sworn to eat more plant-based foods, cut back on meat, or maybe even become 100% plant-based, then I'm happy for you. I made this choice about six years ago - not on New Year's Eve - and have never looked back. One of my favourite sayings is "Keep it Simple." Make small simple changes. Avoid recipes that contain weird, unusual, or hard to find ingredients. Stay away from processed vegan foods such as tofu hot dogs and such. They carry little nutritional value and many don't taste good. Here are some simple ways to incorporate more plant based food into your life. Try a meatless Monday, or Tuesday, or whatever day suits your family's busy schedule. Cook your grains on Sunday; brown rice, quinoa, and even oatmeal, can be made ahead of time. Breakfast is a super way to give up animal products. There are lots of great nut milks on the market now. Nut milks are super easy to make yourself, too. I buy pre-chopped kale and spinach. Leafy greens are the gods of food and when I buy them pre-chopped I can throw handfuls in soups, smoothies, chilis, and salads. Hummus is a staple in my kitchen; use it instead of mayo or butter, as a dip, or in a veggie wrap. There are many amazing flavoured hummuses available to buy. A pot of vegan chili goes a long way. Serve it with salad one night and then use it as a burrito base the second night. Try cooking ethnic! So many other cultures have great foods that don't use meat or dairy. Try Mexican, Thai, Chinese, and Indian, to name a few. Treat yourself to a great plant-based cook book. My newest one is "Oh She Glows Everyday Recipes." It contains many simple recipes for families. Here's an easy nut milk recipe for replacing dairy on cereals and in smoothies: 1 cup raw, unsalted nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, pecans, macadamia, walnuts) 2-3 cups water for soaking the nuts 4 cups water for blending Instructions: Soak the nuts in 2-3 cups water overnight. Drain and discard water. Blend nuts with 4 cups water until almost smooth. Strain the blended nut mixture using double folded cheesecloth or a nut milk bag. A tightly woven cloth is preferable, as twisting the top enables you to continue squeezing out more milk. Nut milks need to be refrigerated and will keep for 3 to 4 days. Cashews can be soaked and blended in a high-speed blender with no need for straining as they are a softer nut. Sheree's Hack: Swap out butter or mayo with mashed avocado which has good heart healthy monounsaturated fatty acids For What Disease Does Pub Trivia Night Raise Funds? By Travis Fortnum Special to the Brooklin Town Crier Did you know that the proper name for a squirrel's nest is a drey? Which of the seven dwarfs appears without a beard in the classic Disney film? These bits of trivia and countless others have been the focus of a monthly quiz night hosted at the Brooklin Pub & Grill. It takes place on the last Sunday of the month and it's all in the name of raising awareness for the Pulmonary Hypertension Association of Canada. While the idea of pub quiz nights isn't entirely new, it's something that wasn't brought to the area until local resident Carolyn Mathur had an epiphany of sorts while abroad in 2014. "I was in England with (my daughter's) boyfriend's family," Mathur says. "Quiz nights are very, very popular over there; you can find one every single night. I went to one and it was great fun. "At the end, the gentlemen who was doing the questions said they raised however many pounds for charity. I thought 'oh my gosh, I'm going to do this. I'm going to bring this back home!'" As for finding a charitable cause, that was easy. Mathur herself was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension (PH) in April of 1997. When first diagnosed, she was given less than 24 hours to live. Twenty years later, she's considered a medical miracle as one of the longest survivors. "They don't understand why I'm here still," she says, "There's only a handful of us in the world, that we know of, who have survived as long." According to PHA Canada, there is more study and research into the field of PH than ever before, but Mathur believes that awareness of the rare lung disorder is lacking. When she returned with the idea for the quiz night, the Brooklin Pub & Grill was still a new town hotspot. When she pitched her proposal, they were "100 per cent on board." And so the first of the quiz nights took place in October, 2014. The format is simple: trivia fans and fun lovers show up with teams of 4-8, with each person chipping in $15. For team, the table gets a mug of beer, a platter of wings and fries as well as a chance to work together to show off their knowledge. Since that first night, Mathur says attendance has been great with many regulars turning up to test themselves on a variety of topics. "Mostly it's just general," Mathur says, "but there is lots of film, tv and music." Mathur's personal favourite is geography. She says she loves to look up new places. She's travelled to 55 countries and plans to add two to the list in February. She spends an estimated 10 hours researching and making up questions for each quiz night. Winning teams leave with a $10 per person Brooklin Pub & Grill gift certificate. The first quiz night of 2017 will take place on January 29. For more information and a hint at some of the topics, visit the Brooklin Quiz Night page on Facebook. (And that beardless Seven Dwarf? It was Dopey.)