I knew things would change when I got married, but I didn't really think about how it would change my diet. 3 years in, I can see that what and how I eat is now much different from the way it was when I was single. Here's how getting married changed the way I eat.
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This week I was dealing with a lot of stress because one of my cats became dangerously sick. Things are starting to look up, but it has been tough! A lot of times you can't change a stressful situation like this, but here are a few things that helped me make it through this week.
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Ever wonder what it's really like to be married to a dietitian? Today, my husband Jasen is telling all of my secrets! Hear what we really eat, what foods aren't allowed in our house, and what the worst thing is about being married to a dietitian, plus a lot more![x_video_embed type="16:9"][/x_video_embed]
Lots of people set New Year's Resolutions and, in 2016, I'm one of them! The beginning of a new year is a great time to make changes because there's a natural push. The fresh feeling you get with the new year plus the fact that lots of other people are making changes too can give you an advantage when working on your new goal. Here's a little bit about what I'm working on this year and how it's been going so far.
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I had a great Christmas spending time with family and I also received some neat gifts! If you got a gift card or money over the holidays and are trying to decide what to spend it on I thought seeing some of the things I got could give you some ideas!
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PRODUCTS MENTIONED (contains affiliate links)
Cast iron skillet (13.25 inch) Marble pastry board Global 8 inch chef's knife Yoga toes Shoulder and neck heating pad "X" ring in rose gold Gwen Stefani Urban Decay Pallete Laptop case Grow Cook Eat cookbook and gardening book Cat "Welcome" mat
Sarah Moran is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
People always say that you should face your fears, but sometimes that's a bad idea. I accidentally faced one of my fears and it was not a good situation. Here's what I think you must do before you face one of your fears.
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Today I wanted to open up a bit about my struggle with negative body image. It's something that has been a big part of my life growing up and has had a hand in forming me not only as a person, but also as a dietitian.
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TRIGGER WARNING: In this video I discuss information related to disordered eating behavior that may be triggering for some. Please watch at your own discretion.
So I might have dyed my hair. I was a little nervous about it, but I'm super happy with how it turned out! I've also got a new filming set up and.... I'm going to VidCon!
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Hope you like the new look! If you'd like to submit a food or nutrition question for me to answer, simply leave it in the comments below. :) [x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We had breakfast at our house with Jasen's parents and sister and then spent the afternoon with my fam. My cousin Allison made cute place cards this year. We were the Native Americans...
... and my cousins were the Pilgrims.
Here's my plate. I loaded up on roasted veggies (no surprise there), and got a sampling of other stuff, including mashed potatoes, a roll, organic beef, and cranberry sauce. I'm a lover of all things sour and the cranberry sauce is always made with me in mind. :)
For dessert, we had the option of cheesecake,
apple pie,
and pumpkin pie.
Jasen and I shared bites of all three.
What did you guys eat on Thanksgiving? I love to hear what's the same and what's different. Share in the comments below!
If you love pictures of cute animals, this is for you! Now that we've had Moxie for a couple weeks and our second cat for a week, I thought I would share some pics. They are just too precious!
I'm also proud to say that little Moxie hasn't had any potty accidents in a week and is now allowed full reign of the house at night! No more being stuck in the bathroom for her!
And here's the second cat! No name yet, we just call him Big Orange. We got him from the pound and he definitely gave us some new challenges. The pound thinks he's around 4 months old, so still young, but not like Moxie who was so little she loved everyone and had no fear. They also think he might have been abused. :( The first morning, Big Orange was running around the house from window to window and door to door meowing like a crazy cat. Plus him and Moxie weren't exactly BFFs.
A week later he's doing much better and, though he's still skiddish, he seems much more comfortable and actually plays now. Him and Moxie love to chase each other around the house. Sometimes one of them will start growling or get a little hissy, but it doesn't take long before they're running around again.
What do you think about the kitties? Do you have pets of your own? Share in the comments below!
So today's post was supposed to be a cookie recipe. However, as I was working on it this weekend, this happened:
Needless to say they are not blog-ready yet.
So, instead, I thought I would share a yummy eggplant recipe with y'all that I recently found. Now, eggplant is not a favorite in our house, mostly because it's hard to find eggplant recipes out there that are any good. There are a few, but most of them fall into the "edible" category. If you watched my farmers market haul, you know that we had quite a few eggplants to use up. I just had to figure out what to do with them.
This week, while I was planning our meals, I had no idea how I was going to incorporate the rest of that eggplant. I turned to my trusty friend, the Google, and, with a quick search, came across my most favorite eggplant recipe ever. It's Eggplant Parmesan Rollatini and it is incredible! Eggplant slices stand in for pasta, are filled with cheesy goodness, and covered in tomato sauce and more cheese. I've seen lasagna made with zucchini slices, so I'm not sure why I didn't think to use eggplant in this way before.
This is great for those who aren't huge pasta fans (me and Jasen), anyone who needs to count carbs, or any vegetarians out there. Even if you don't fall into one of those categories, it's tasty, satisfying, and is another way to enjoy those veggies. This is something that is going to become a permanent member of our dinner rotations fo sho. Try it! I know you're gonna love it!
Are you an eggplant fan? Have any great eggplant recipes? Share in the comments below!
Hi all! I thought I would do an extra post this week since last week was a little lacking. Today I wanted to share a fun local restaurant with you. Jasen and I don't go out to eat often because 1) It's expensive and 2) I can/like to cook. So, when we do go out, we try to go to some place that's exceptional. It is usually a restaurant with something I can't make (authentic Indian food) or something local and delicious. This past Saturday, to celebrate my new RD status, we had lunch at a restaurant in downtown Fredericksburg called Foode.
This gem prides itself on local and organic offerings with a no-fuss atmosphere. Sounds like my kind of place, huh? I've been here once before, about a year ago, for dinner with my mom. Let me just say that this is way too long between visits and, now that I'm living back in the area, I will definitely be visiting them more frequently.
We arrived around 12:30 to see a crowd outside the door. We grabbed a menu, got our name on the list, and claimed our spot for the 20-30 minute wait. The one bad thing about this place is their food is so good, there are lots of people trying to get their hands on it. Needless to say, the masses are willing to wait it out on the street in the summer heat. Yes, it really is worth it.
We were happy to wait. Me rocking a top knot and my stunna shades...
and Jasen repping our local CrossFit affiliate.
The restaurant doesn't use a traditional service style. Here's how it works. You grab a menu and make your selection(s). Then you order and pay at the register before being seated. They start you off with your drinks and then you take it upon yourself to get your refills. They bring your food out when it's ready and check back periodically to make sure everything is to your liking. It's kind of like one step above "fast-casual" (think Chipotle or Panera) in service with gourmet food. This also means there is no need to tip.
Our wait didn't seem that long at all since we spent the whole time scouring the menu again and again and AGAIN. Everything looked so yummy, it was hard for us to make a decision. We both ended up choosing the Fredericksburger.
I got mine without the cheese, Jasen got his with. I'm just not a cheese person. Sorry. :( The thought of it actually made me gag as a child.
Once we heard them call "Jasen!" we turned in our menus and headed in to order. I always give the last name when reserving a table, Jasen always gives the first. I'm not sure which is more common.
We placed our order, payed, and got started on our tea while we waited.
We actually ended up sitting in the same place my mom and I did when we ate there together. Here's Jasen, looking cute as usual.
And me enjoying my tea. Why do my fingers look all jacked up?
When the food came we were super hungry. I couldn't even get a picture of Jasen's burger before he started diving in!
Here's mine. The bun skewered vertically on top was a nice touch.
And here's a close-up. Check out those fries and all their crispy goodness!
We both cleaned our plates and weren't hungry for another 8 hours. Anyone who knows me will understand that this is an incredible feat. I'm always hungry and, if I don't eat, I get grumpy. Mom says I'm worse now than I was as a baby.
If you live in the area, definitely plan to check out Foode. The food is great and you can feel good about eating it.
Do you have a favorite local restaurant where you live? Let me know in the comments below!
So if you aren't following me on social media, I have some exciting news to share.... I passed the RD exam! On top of that, this is my 100th post! Coincidence?
It's surreal to think that this one goal that I've been working towards for the past 5 years has been accomplished. It doesn't seem like that long ago that I was sitting in Jasen's dorm room elbow deep in chemistry and hating every second of it. I'm so happy that mess is behind me.
The past few weeks I've been committed to studying. Not the most fun, but definitely necessary. There was a minor mental breakdown approximately every 3 days during this period, with the last one on Tuesday. Yeah, that "thing" that came up preventing me from posting on Wednesday, that was the exam. I just felt like I still had a ton to study and I couldn't bring myself to share with the world that I was taking my exam on Thursday. What if I didn't pass?! "I Failed the RD Exam" was not a post I wanted to write.
Anyways, I woke up on Thursday and ate a nice, filling breakfast. Had to get some veggies in there on RD exam day!
Then my mom and I headed to the testing center. I definitely needed her to chauffeur. With my nerves, there was no way I could drive myself safely. Plus, it's always nice to have a buddy for support. It was about 1 hour and 20 minutes away, so we left 3 and half hours before exam time just in case. We didn't have any problems finding the testing center or any traffic, so I spent the waiting time doing some last minute studying. Once it was time to head in, we said a prayer and then I was on my way to face the exam.
Everything went smoothly from there, until it was time to get my score. The computer malfunctioned. Can you say scary? After some worrying that I may have to take this whole thing over, they were able to fix the problem and I FINALLY got my results.
Woohoo!
https://twitter.com/Hungry4Nutr/status/373138803797803008
https://twitter.com/RandaMeade/status/373153028154851329
https://twitter.com/TodaysDietitian/status/373142416124960768
https://twitter.com/BHNDPG/status/373176255870681088
I'm so happy to be able to call myself an RD! Now it's on to the next chapter, which I'm super excited for. Stay tuned for updates on that. :)
P.S I've also changed my Twitter handle to reflect my new married and RD status. You can now tweet me using @SarahMoranRD. <---- Cray!
Any requests for posts from this RD blogger? As always, just leave them in the comments below!
I must admit, I was blanking a bit on what to write about for today's post. What I had planned just didn't seem that good anymore and nothing else came to mind. I really wanted to try to to get this written before dinner came out of the oven to avoid the late night or early morning writing that sometimes happens. Jasen and I bounced ideas back and forth for a while and then it hit me. I could write about dinner! Also, I think posting about our meals could be a fun thing to do every so often, just to show y'all what real life eating looks like for us. Now, let's get on to the food!
Last night's dinner was the kind I love: it looks way more impressive than it actually is. We had a roasted chicken in the same genre as this one, but with added lemon zest, lemon juice, and garlic. I roasted a bunch of farmers market veggies in the bottom of the pan including red and blue potatoes, onion, garlic, zucchini, bell peppers, and green beans.
I still haven't bought us a meat thermometer, so I just cooked and hoped for the best. Not my favorite method. I've definitely carved a cooked bird only to find that I need to microwave some pieces until they're done.
Note to self: Buy a meat thermometer already!
But, luckily, I didn't need to resort to the microwave method this time! Everything was perfectly cooked and delicious. I tried to cut the chicken breast nice and pretty, but it just shredded. Guess it was pretty tender! The best part was how the veggies in the bottom soaked up all of the lemony-garlicy-herby flavor.
Do you like these kinds of posts? What did you have for din din last night? Let me know in the comments below!
This weekend, I decided to spend some of my spare time trying my hand at canning. It's a great way to preserve summer's bounty and there is something so cool about seeing a row of colorful jars. If anything, it's at least a fun food project. I'm not a total novice when it comes to this topic. My grandmother had a cellar with shelves lined with home-canned goods and I've even played assistant to my parents as a kid. The one time that sticks out in my mind is when we spent all day canning tomatoes and, once we were done, our dog came home covered in skunk spray. Result: lots of freshly canned tomatoes in the bath tub. Despite this history, this was my first time as canner-in-charge and I pretty much had no idea what I was doing.
I decided to do a small batch of pickled banana peppers for my first try. We got them free from Jasen's parents and even if they didn't seal right, they would still last in the fridge for a while due to the pickling. They were a low risk endeavor.
I sliced the peppers and put them in clean, hot jars along with some spices, according to this recipe.
Then I filled the jars with hot pickling liquid, got rid of extra air, and put the lids on. These babies were ready for a hot bath!
To transfer the jars in and out of the pot, I got a little creative. Yes, those are rubber bands wrapped around my tongs. I know there are people out there cringing at this picture right now and I'm one of them. I'm not recommending this method, as it is obviously all kinds of dangerous, but it happened.
Here the jars are boiling away. My pot was just big enough to cover them so there was a little bit of boiling over.
And here are the finished jars! They look so beautiful and I'm pretty proud of myself for success on the first try. Maybe now I'll invest in the appropriate equipment. : )
What is your experience with canning? Expert or novice, let me know in the comments!
Nothing better than when something good comes out of a bad situation. A couple months ago I hurt my back (working out I think) and was out of commission for a few weeks. I pretty much just lied around all day and answered cooking questions from the couch as Jasen made the dinners I had planned. Once I was finally pain-free enough to be useful, I decided to make walking my workout of choice until I was sure things had healed up (still not there by the way). I decided these walks would be a good time to get into some audio books I purchased a while back. My first pick was Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbra Kingsolver. Simply put, it has become one of my favorite books ever.
The basic premise of the book is this: Barbara and her family move from Arizona to a farm property in south western Virginia. Here, they challenge themselves to live for an entire year eating only foods that they grow themselves or obtain from local sources. Barbara's writing ability (she's an author in real life) makes a huge difference as she takes you through a year of this way of living. Not only does she provide great information, but she weaves it all into a great story. Being able to learn from their experience and go through each season with the family shows the reader how a life like this can still work in today's world. There are also small sections written by her husband on food system issues and her daughter provides recipe and menu planning ideas along the way. This is an excellent starting place for anyone interested in producing their own food, whether you're just starting out or are looking to expand your gardening efforts. For me, it also brought back memories of helping my grandma plant her garden, being sure to place the seeds however deep and far apart she instructed, and sitting at her dining room table shelling peas.
Do you plan to read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle? What book should I read next? Let me know in the comments below!
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As I promised back in April, now that I've settled into some big life changes, I'm back to posting on the blog regularly, and in the process of a bit of a revamp. To keep you up to date, I graduated from my Dietetic Internship in May! Please excuse the blurry cell phone picture.
This means that I'm finally eligible to take (and hopefully pass) my RD exam! After graduating, because I don't like to waste time, I officially moved out of my apartment the next day, and headed back home. Why you ask? Because I got married the very next weekend!
Talk about stressful, but I wouldn't have had it any other way. :) After a week of honeymooning and some time spent unpacking and getting settled in our new place, we're finally in some sort of routine. There are still some boxes we haven't brought ourselves to deal with yet, but we at least have utensils now (seriously, we couldn't eat here the first day because we had no utensils). Now I'm in the process of studying for my exam, among other things, and I'm ready to get back to work. One change I'm making is incorporating some videos in with my posts. I've been doing some YouTube videos over the past year in secret because I thought it was kind of embarassing. Mostly beauty type stuff. But I realized, while I love makeup (A LOT) I don't really have any great info or breaking news to share. What I know I've just learned from other people. So, instead, I'm going to be moving my YouTube channel to be complimentary to the blog. I'm making a new channel, and deleting the old one, but I'm not sure if I'll move the old videos over or not, Part of me thinks this should be a clean slate, but another part says "Hey! You spent a lot of time working on those videos!" You can find and watch them if you want, just don't tell me about it. : ) I'm also putting myself on a posting schedule. New blog posts every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and videos on Wednesdays. The videos will usually correspond to the blog post. Also, there may be additional blog and video posts if something comes up, but there will always at least be the scheduled posts. I'm also planning to change the layout and such, so if you come one day and everything looks totally different, don't worry, you're still in the right place. I think that's it for now. If you have any questions or requests, please leave me a comment. The best part of this thing is interacting with y'all and I love to hear your thoughts and ideas for the type of content you'd like see.
So tell me...
What kind of posts would you like to see? Leave your ideas in the comments below.
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Hi everyone! As you can see, it's been a while since I've posted on here and I have been playing around with the look a bit too. With my internship and all of the wedding planning the blog has definitely suffered, along with my cooking. I just haven't been inspired to cook right now while I feel like I'm in this stage of transition. I do cook, just not anything new or interesting. In other words, if I was posting, you'd be seeing a lot of eggs. However, I will be back in full force very soon! My plan is to get things back on a roll once the internship and wedding are over and also to expand the blog quite a bit. I LOVE food and nutrition, but that's not the only thing I love. And just like my life isn't one dimensional, I don't think your lives are either. With that said, I will be including more of my daily life and other interests to make this a lifestyle site with information on not only what I'm eating, but my favorite DIY projects, makeup, activities, and, of course, nail polish. I also hope to do some videos too so I can reach out to you guys through different mediums. Thanks for all of your support with this baby of mine and I can't wait to be talking with you on a regular basis once again. It's my fav! : ) Love, Sarah
This weekend, my maid of honor came to visit. We did of course do lots of wedding talk, but we also got some good food in while she was here. I don't often do "this is what I ate today" kind of blogs, but this weekend we ate a couple of things that are definitely worthy of such a post. We were lucky enough that the Greek Festival was going on, so, on Saturday, we headed that way for lunch. This event is put on by the local Greek Orthodox Church and let me tell you, it was impressive. It's a 3 day sha-bang and while we were there they told us that they had fed 9,000 people the day before. That's insane! Especially for a 3-day event organized by a relatively small group of people. Leave it to me to be interested in the logistics of a food service operation. Anyways, after 20-30 minutes of waiting in line, we finally got our food and it was delicious!
On the way home, we stopped by the Cast Iron Outlet. Yes, really.
Our breakfast Sunday morning was incredible. I made stuffed french toast as a special treat. Let me tell you, this is one of the most drool-worthy things I've ever made. It's obviously not something you can eat every day, but, if I'm in a splurging mood, I'm not going to waste it on some pre-packaged, mediocre, junk. Plus it has fruit. That makes it healthy, right? :)
