Stereotyping

When you hear the word "dietitian" or "nutrition," what do you think of? What type of food would a "dietitian" recommend?

I bet 90% of you will think of, salad, after reading the above questions.

And no, dietitians do not always suggest a salad as an appropriate dinner meal, however vegetables are encouraged. BUT today, I might fall into the stereotyping trap, and give you a lovely salad and salad dressing for you to try at your next meal!

Enter: Salmon... a lovely protein choice to top your mountain of leafy greens.

Gather your portion of fish. Roughly 8 oz. Next, you will need to slather than salmon in some dijon mustard seasoned with dried herbs and red pepper flakes, and a dash of soy sauce.

Park this beauty in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes, or until cooked to your liking.

Next the dressing....
imagine yourself on a tropical island, with a warm breeze blowing through the trees....

that is how this salad dressing will make you feel with on bite...like you are on vacation


To construct the gloriousness, mince yourself up a clove of garlic.

 Next comes the tropical part... an orange... I used the "cara cara" variety.

Whatever kind of orange you choose, make sure it is a baseball sized specimen and squeeze all of the juice out of that orange.

Every.Last.Drop.

Now put the mined garlic and orange juice in your jar with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon dried basil, and some pepper to taste.

(Side Note: If you can make this dressing ahead of time...please do... it get infinitely better when you allow the flavor to marry overnight.)

By now, your fish should be throughly cooked and taken out of the oven. Gather your salad greens up (the darker the better) and top the green mountain with diced tomatoes, sliced avocado, and whatever else your little heart desires.

Just don't forget the baked salmon and the tropical dressing. Be sure to shake the dressing throughly before drizzling onto your salad feast.

It truly tastes better than it looks... and that's saying a lot!

Indulge and relax knowing you gave your body exactly what it needs!

Unexpected Celebrations

I love Leap Year!

[source]

Why do I love Leap Year so much? Because it is an extra day in February in the same year as the Summer Olympics and the Presidential Election. Did you remember it was February 29th and NOT March 1st today?!? I bet you that a multitude of people forget about leap year because they are so consumed by their hectic life and busy schedule.

But this day only comes once every four years, so really it should be a date of celebration, relaxation, and trying new things!

So I challenge YOU to try some tempeh today!! It is so versatile because it will absorb any flavor you want!

This recipe is asian inspired, with a touch of sweetness and spice! Go take a leap and try it today!

You first need to break open your block of tempeh... it will look like this:

Next you need to cut your block into triangles like so...

The results triangles are really thick, so you need to cut the slices in half, so they turn out like so...

See? The slices are THICK

Cut so the slices are not super thick anymore

We will now turn out attention to the marinade. In a shallow dish combine the following...

• 2 Tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 Tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, more or less depending on taste preference
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Your shallow dish should now resemble this...

Now put everyone in the pool!

Marinate for 10 - 15 minutes on one side

Then flip over and marinate for another 10 - 15 minutes

Time for the cooking it! In a skillet on medium heat, put 1.5 teaspoons of olive oil and wait until everything is hot. Then add the marinated tempeh and cook on each side for about 3 - 4 minutes or until its nice and golden like so...

 Once its done, serve with a side of brown rice and vegetables for a well rounded dinner!

The best thing about cooking with tempeh? Unlike meat, chicken, or fish, you can save the extra marinade as a dipping sauce!

yum

Sneaky Switches

I again apologize for my lack of postings. My poor computer is still not fixed, but hopefully it will be back soon!

Anyways, onto the food!

Today I wanted to talk about a little something different.... substitutions. My whole future profession of nutrition/ dietetics essentially centers around substituting one food for another in an effort to have a well balanced diet.

In my experience, some people just really don't want to substitute one food item for another based on a pre-conceived notion that the "healthier" item doesn't taste as good (even if there is no noticeable difference). My mother and I have had many arguments regarding this exact subject which can lead to interesting "discussions" (slash arguments) that take place in the middle of the grocery store.

"Improved" Banana Bread Muffins

My favorite types of ingredient substitutions to make are in baked goods! They are super simple and it doesn't affect the overall taste! This past weekend, I used ALL of the sneaky switches in some banana bread muffins and they were some of the best breakfast muffins I've ever had! I really hope you try these tips out in your next baking adventure!

Sneaky Switch #1: Replace oil with applesauce
Oil is a very common ingredient in breakfast breads and cakes, however one of the only purposes it serves is to keep the baked product moist and tender. Oil is nothing but 100 calories per tablespoon of "tenderness" in a cake, and you could achieve the same result with applesauce (just be sure the applesauce doesn't have any added sugar). Replace the oil with applesauce in a 1:1 ratio!
(ex: 1 cup oil = 1 cup applesauce)

Look for "All Natural" Applesauce

Sneaky Switch #2: Replace eggs with ground flax seed
The eggs in baked good recipes are typically used as an emulsifier. However, ground flax seeds are a  plant based way to do the same thing! This is a really easy switch and is particularly useful if you are watching your cholesterol. For each egg called for in the recipe, substitute with 1 Tablespoon ground flax seed + 3 Tablespoons water.

Easily found at many grocery stores

Sneaky Switch #3: Use almond instead of cow's milk
Let's do some math: 1 cup of skim milk = 80 calories. 1 cup of whole milk = 180 calories. 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk = 40 calories. Almond milk has WAY less calories and once it has been baked into something, you'll never know the difference. An easy way to save your precious kcals!

My favorite brand!

Sneaky Switch #4: Use whole wheat pastry flour
99% of all baked good recipes call for the use of all-purpose flour. All purpose flour has been processed and stripped of all of its nutrients and then bleached to make it white and pretty. Nothing good can come from using white flour. Whole wheat pastry flour can easily be used in its place, and because pastry flour is finer than regular flour, your finished product will be just as light and fluffy, but with a lot more nutrients. Replace in a 1:1 ratio (You know the drill: 1 cup AP flour = 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour)

Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

Sneaky Switch #4.5:
If you can't find whole wheat pastry flour, you can use regular whole wheat flour. However, to make sure your baked goods don't turn into rocks, only replace half of the flour called for in the recipe with whole wheat flour.