The Food Diary of a Ravenous Dietitian: Whole Foods
- Jan, 12 2012
- By jennifer
So with a whole new year ahead, I look forward to continuing to create ideas to help people stay healthy and avoid nutrition-realted disease, experimenting with more food photography, and adding more video recipes (I posted my first video recipe for Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup on facebook recently).
Today I offer some more examples of eating healthy with whole foods.
I had this for breakfast:
an omelet topped with salsa, a little shredded cheddar, and arugula
For lunch this vegetarian, high protein, high fiber Tuscan White Bean and Kale Soup filled me up and kept my head clear for afternoon activities. I’m very particular about what I choose to eat at noon-ish. It seems that my system is very sensitive to a lunch containing too many carbohydrates. If I slip and eat the wrong combination of carb-protein-fat I suffer horribly from fuzzy-head-wanna-just-curl-up-and-nap syndrome. This is probably closely related to the afternoon slump, but is more devastating. So, soup containg plant or meat/ seafood protein + lots of veggies + a small portion of whole grain (optional) is the key to maintaining my energy level and a clear head.
Then to satisfy cravings for a fruity snack:
and
For dinner, butternut and mushroom soup + quinoa/rice + feta crumbles:
Tuscan White Bean and Kale Soup
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 4 ounces mushrooms, chopped
- ½ cup onions, chopped
- ¼ cup red bell pepper, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 bay leaf
- 8 cups low sodium vegetable or chicken broth
- 2 15-ounce can cannellini beans, reserve ½ cup and mash the rest with a fork
- 1 28-ounce can fire roasted whole tomatoes
- 2 cups kale, thinly sliced
❷ Stir in salt, pepper, oregano, rosemary, and red pepper flakes. Add broth, mashed beans, bay leaf, and tomatoes. Crush tomatoes slightly with a wooden spoon. Bring to a boil.
❸ Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15minutes. Remove lid and add kale. Stir and cook, covered for 10 minutes.
Oh, and by the way, I am a Baltimore girl so this week I’m the RAVENous Dietitian !!
The Food Diary of a Ravenous Dietitian: “I will exercise for food!”
- Oct, 07 2011
- By jennifer
today was a scheduled “rest” day. I am loving a yoga class that I do via my cable video-on-demand, so no rest day. So far this week I’ve sweated through a run, 2 weight workout sessions, 2 50-minute rides on the stationary bike, and my yoga class. I’m quietly working on shedding about 5 pounds which is proving to be challenging for several reasons.
- My height is in the “petite” range which means those few pounds muck up the physique more than it sounds like they should.
- My age is in that range at which one must think twice about what food choices are approved to pass the lips.
- I LOVE well-prepared, good quality food. That’s what I spend each day working on whether I’m cooking it, photographing it, shopping in some unusual store for it, or guiding someone else on how to eat it. I do not like to miss a meal!
Breakfast was old-fashioned rolled oats with soy milk, walnuts, and some maple syurup.
The Food Diary of a Ravenous Dietitian: Fruits and Vegetables of the Season
- Jul, 29 2011
- By jennifer
My summer has been full of trips to my CSA and various farmers markets at home and on the Delaware Coast. I love meeting the farmers and their families who are so proud to offer information about their farm and the goodies set out on the table in front of them.
Ideas for incorporating these local fruits and vegetables in Eat Well Meal Plan recipes and quick dishes for my family have come easily. Here is one I use frequently: Toss bite-sized pieces of local fruit on top of breakfast.
Today some sweet cherries sat atop a blend of Heritage O’s + Spec K + almond milk.
This lunch of leftover eggplant and summer squash with noodles in an Asian sauce was just delectable. I’ll definately make this again. (Note: This is a notable comment due to the fact that I do not make many things twice. In order to produce all of the recipes for Eat Well Meal Plans I must move on to new territory constantly. Therefore, a recipe that is produced a second time is a pretty big deal!)
And dinner. This is simply hard-cooked eggs under spinach sautéed with olive oil, garlic, s & p, under light sour cream. Looks like a lot of sour cream in this shot, but it’s actually a lot of spinach creating that illusion . . . really . . . I used the entire bag of spinach. The result is sort of a deconstructed creamed spinach with some protein added. Good stuff.
The Food Diary of a Ravenous Dietitian: Yoga Day
- May, 12 2011
- By jennifer
I need some yoga. To stretch. Slow my thoughts. So my workout this morning was yoga-pilates. The lengthening felt great!
My appetite is minimal this morning for some reason? I try to take advantage of these rare times and eat purposefully. The goal is to eat lots of veggies, some low fat protein, vegetarian if possible, a little fruit, no dessert-type foods at all if possible. I’ll save the sugary foods I love for the days when my craving for them is more of a challenge!
Breakfast was approximately 2 eggs:
Then early morning, a small bowl of mussel and chorizo leftovers. A dish inspired by this recipe in a cooking magazine. Wow! What a success!:
Something to drink. This is Crystal Light’s Hunger Satisfaction powdered drink mix. This drink will provide a small amount of protein which may help to control hunger. I wanted to test this on myself, however this is not the best day as my hunger has been under control, hmmm. I usually dilute the mix more than they suggest. I’m not a big fan of the artificial sweetener. It may take 2 glasses for me to get the nutritional impact of one of the original proportion. S’ok. I get more water.
On to lunch. Some leftover crabmeat provided the low fat protein for an arugula salad:
Dinner for a busy night. Grilled salmon – 12 minutes, chop up veggies for salad – 15 minutes (while salmon is cooking), pour a bit of wine. Quick – quick!
The Food Diary of a Ravenous Dietitian: Refueling
- Apr, 28 2011
- By jennifer
Today was for stretching.
I am working toward some goals in my workouts and diet. We are told that we can expect to gain weight as we age. We should expect to move more, eat less, and seek support for any stressful issues we may have. Most of us will have to make these lifestyle changes in order to maintain our calorie-burning muscle mass and pair down our intake to match our slowing metabolism.
How much of a lifestyle change you make will determine if you will be wearing a bikini, maillot, or kaftan. I’d like to hover somewhere around the bikini – maillot range. It is a project, but is becoming the new norm for me. I am my own guinea pig in this experiment. I have found 2 food/exercise apps that work very well to track progess: Sparkpeople and Lose It! The most important part of using these apps or simply logging on via computer is the food diary. Take a good look at how you are eating over a couple of weeks and I bet you can zero in on a few culprits in your healthy eating efforts. Becoming familiar with the calorie content of some frequently eaten foods is a great advantage also. You can work more accurately to meet your calorie goals if you analyze your food and portions eaten.
My breakfast today satisfied an oatmeal craving:
A recipe test for Blue Cheese Shortbread, yum, only 2 of these rich goodies:
Lunch was the result of a recipe test for a meal that could be cooked up in a college dorm room. Quinoa with Olives, Sundried Tomatoes, and Feta.
Turned out quite well!
Snack – 1/2 sesame bagel:
Dinner made up of some leftovers:
Oh, and a glass of wine!
