who, me cook? (part 2)

I have to say...after all that complaining about cooking, hem and hawing, bippity boppity boo, my pasta creation came out DELICIOUS the other night. However, I did swap the gorgonzola cheese for garlic and herb goat cheese from Trader Joe's, and oh my goodness, was it a party in our stomachs or what. I ended up putting a dollop of the goat cheese on top of the cooked pasta and mixing it in to create a sort of creamy brothy sauce. Also, whole wheat angel hair was not to be found in my house, so regular pasta had to do this time!  Here is the low-down so you can make this, too:

Olive Garlicky Pasta

Get it? I-love-garlicky-pasta? Hehehe...

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons garlic, minced

2 (mine were 5.75 oz. dry wt per can) cans black olives, drained and roughly chopped

2 (15.5 oz.) cans butter beans, drained and rinsed

1 (10 oz.) bag spinach, rinsed

32 oz. low-sodium broth (I used chicken broth)

1 (1 lb.) box angel hair pasta

Goat cheese (I used Silver Goat Garlic & Herb)

Salt, pepper, and spices to taste

Set a large pot of salted water to boil on the stove.

In a large skillet (it is best to use one that is a tad deep, too, about 1-2 inches), heat olive oil and add garlic. Let simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add olives and beans, and saute with a wooden spoon, until oil and garlic is uniformly incorporated among them. Add pepper and any other spices you chose. Basil would be delicious in this!

Add spinach to oil and garlic mixture. Depending on how large and deep your pan is, it may be helpful to add spinach in two separate additions. A lid placed on top of the pan will help the spinach to cook down more quickly. Once spinach is cooked, mix into the oil and garlic mixture until evenly incorporated.

At this point, hopefully the large pot of salted water is boiling. Add pasta to pot and cook according to directions on back of the container.

While pasta is cooking, add broth to the oil and garlic mixture. Let simmer.

When pasta is done, drain and place in serving bowl. Stir broth mixture into pasta. Devour. But not before you top with a dollop of goat cheese. Then devour.

Mix and match your favorite beans, add-ins, and cheeses to make it your own delicious dish! Since I have dreams of pasta with luscious chunks of gorgonzola mixed in, that is what I will be trying in this next.

Okay. And I haven't dreamt of gorgonzola pasta....yet.

who, me cook? (part 1)

Confession: I am not the world's greatest cook. Not that I'm horrible at it or anything, cooking is just not my forte. It's just so...meh, I don't know, wouldn't you just rather eat a brownie and be done with it??

Okay, that wasn't a very nutritionist-like thing to say. But everything in moderation, right? That means brownies, too.

Anyway, we're talking about cooking-woes because that is what's on my mind. I have to come up with a creative dinner to serve my friends tonight. The phrase "my friends" is very important because as some of you might know, cooking for yourself and cooking for other people are two very, very different things.

When I used to cook for myself when I lived away at school, I'd basically throw anything into cooked noodles that sounded relatively appetizing. And nine times out of ten, it would come out delicious! Like this creation I concocted long ago that I lovingly called Garlic Pasta Dump:

 

Looks delicious, huh? And it was! The catch?

There's no sauce on this pasta.

Not because I don't like sauce, oh no. It was because I was too lazy to make sauce, or didn't even have it on hand. But I didn't mind because I thought it was delicious just the same, and I was also extremely hungry. See what I mean? Cooking for only yourself equals diminished cooking expectations, at least for some people, and this is definitely the case for me. Cook for others, and the tables turn a tad. In the case of this pasta, I just wouldn't have felt right serving sauce-less pasta to friends or fam.

The moral of the story: College has made me a lazy cook. However, we are still at square one and I still don't have a dinner planned for tonight!  Let's procrastinate a bit more, however, and talk about the rest of this dinner. These potluck dinners occur between myself and two of my good friends from undergrad, and we rotate which part of the meal we make - main dish, side, or dessert. Me, I try to get the dessert portion of the meal as many times as possible since as a nutritionist, that is what I happen to "cook" best. My two friends are actually fabulous cooks - Raluca dominates all things pasta, spices, and garlic; Andy is King of the Meats, especially pork chops and fresh caught perch. And me? I should have tempeh, worldly spices, and only the freshest vegetables growing out of my ears, right? Being a Master of Public Health Nutrition, right?

Hah!

So what do I do when in this predicament? Maybe there are some of you out there who also find cooking real-food a minor inconvenience to daily living. My tips for you: Try to fit 3-4 food groups into a meal, never underestimate the power of canned and frozen vegetables (they are as nutrient dense as fresh, if not more!), and garlic, salt, and pepper alone can do wonders for flavoring up a meal. And be creative!  For tonight, I'm thinking:

Whole wheat angel hair (good source o' fiber)

Chicken broth (low sodium!)

Butter beans (heck yes, plant-source protein)

Spinach (vitamin A! iron!)

Olives (monounsaturated fats)

Garlic (to fend off vampires)
 Gorgonzola cheese (minor calcium contribution, major deliciousness contribution)

Salt n' peppa

Basil

I'll let you know how it goes. Pictures à la my new camera to come in the near future!



P.S. Meet my new camera, Cornelius (yes, I name my electronics)...

 ...who takes pictures like THIS!

He's pretty swell.

peanut butter & berry sandwich (and what it means to be an RD)

Goodness gracious, if my stats are correct, this blog is getting a decent number of views! Just wanted to say a big ol' THANK YOU for those who are reading, commenting, and are (hopefully) being entertained by this blog! And as always, feel free to pass on the nutrition-love to your friends, family, co-workers, colleagues, dog, dog's girlfriend, and what have you.

I do, however, want to explain the differences between a Registered Dietitian and a nutritionist, since there is often much discussion about this. A Registered Dietitian (RD) is someone who:

1) Earns at least a bachelor's degree in a program like nutrition or dietetics

2) Completes a dietetic internship (AKA supervised dietetic practice in the real-world)

3) Passes the registration examination

4) Stays up to date on current nutrition information by maintaining continuing education requirements 

If you would like more details on what the RDs in your life have gone through or how to become an RD yourself, click here.

Nutritionists are basically....everyone else. And yes, anyone can call themselves a nutritionist. This is because the term is not regulated like the all-powerful RD title, allowing RDs greater access to certain job opportunities, such as in hospitals and clinics. It's also important to note that RD certification is not right for everyone. There are many qualified nutritionists out there in research, teaching, and management positions. It all depends on your career and personal goals of what you want to accomplish in the field. On the flip side, there are also many unqualified nutritionists out there who have taken one or two classes on the matter and have given themselves the nutritionist-title. Moral of the story? Do your research on who you're getting your information from, especially from the internet.

Personally, I have completed my degree in dietetics and dietetic internship, and I am currently preparing to take my registration examination. Hopefully, I will be able to join the RD ranks within the next month. This is why I am calling myself a nutritionist for now since the RD term is legally regulated and, really, we don't want to mess with the law. However, I do realize that the URL for this site contains the word "dietitian" (www.missdietitian.blogspot.com), and this is only because Blogger allows certain words to be used (many are already taken by other blogs) when blog URLs are created. I wanted to reserve "Miss Dietitian" for my using, and will change my blog's header when I pass my exam.

That's all my legal-jabber for today; let's talk about FOOD! Or more like, let's talk about one of the most favorite lunches for kids and those of us who are kids at heart.

Yes, my friends, IT'S PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!

However, today I gave my PB&J a make-over. I had some frozen strawberries in my freezer and thought, what if...I defrosted those berries and spread them in my sandwich instead of using jelly?!

It worked.

Not only does it help rack up your fruit tally for the day, but this new method also has less sugar and can make for a more natural peanut butter sandwich. And the best part is, it tastes delicious! Try it with other berries, like blackberries and raspberries for a twist.


A few more words on peanut butter. Per 2 tablespoon serving, it's a great source of unsaturated fat, the "good fat", which helps us stay fuller, longer. It also keeps the satiety centers in our brain happy, AKA where our appetite is controlled in our brain (at the hypothalamus). This means that we feel satisfied after we eat foods with higher amounts of fat, which can be good in moderation to maintain a healthy weight.


Key word: moderation. Let me reiterate that the serving size for peanut butter is 2 tablespoons. And let me tell you that it is so, so easy to pile on the peanut butter without even realizing it! You are talking to a first class peanut butter lover right here, so I have definitely done it before, too. As long as you keep your portion size in check, peanut butter can be a part of a healthy diet.


However, not all peanut butters are created equally. I love Trader Joe's natural peanut butter, especially because of the price - usually under $2! It's a natural peanut butter, which means that there will be that layer of oil that needs to be mixed in before schmearing it on. This layer of oil is the natural, unsaturated fat that is in peanuts and occurs because natural peanut butters are free of hydrogenated oils, or the fats that manufacturers put in products to increase their shelf life (Jif, anyone?) Natural peanut butters also need to be kept in your refrigerator!


I recommend this site - Peanut Butter Lovers - if you would like more peanut butter recipes, information, and love in your life.


Oh, and while we're on the recipe-train, here's another version of the Summertime Oatmeal recipe we talked about a few days ago:

Are you ready for your close-up?

This guy has blackberries and walnuts. Yum!

Have a fabulous Wednesday, everyone! Go out and enjoy some sunshine! It's 83 degrees in the Mitten today!

Wicker Park eats

I recently returned from a great trip to the one and only Chicago. Definitely one of my favorite cities to explore! Not only did I spend time with a few of my good friends from undergrad, but we ate some, what I like to call, KICK-ASS FOOD (KAF).


kick-ass food (n. Abbr. KAF) a food of extensive deliciousness that may or may not be healthful in nature, but can fit into a balanced lifestyle.


Yep. That's right, my people. This nutritionist (can't call myself a dietitian yet until I take my boards) thinks that any food can fit into your daily diet. But more on that later.


Anyway, back to this KAF. While staying in Wicker Park, we had brunch at prasino, an establishment that boasts sustainable, "clean food" dining. I ordered the Caprese Eggs Benedict. Wow oh weeeeee.

Swoon.

The English muffin was topped with tomatoes, basil, fresh mozzarella, and a perfectly poached egg. That, topped with some hollandaise sauce and balsamic glaze made for a perfect start to my day. It also came with a side of house-made potatoes - cubed and spiced to deliciousness. Sadly, I do not currently have a working camera so I could not take a picture of this beautiful creation. However, I do highly recommend eating at Prasino if you happen to be in the Wicker Park area. Crisp clean lighting and sunshine pouring through the windows will also be yours if you decide to visit for breakfast or lunch!