July 2016 Favorites | Healthy Food, Natural Beauty, NEW Planner!

July has been a great month for healthy food favorites with all of the deliciousness coming in at the farmers' market! I'm also sharing some of my favorite organic iced teas and my new planner!

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Products Mentioned

Mint tea Chocolate mint tea Hibiscus tea Lip balm

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.

Is Popcorn Healthy?

Popcorn is an in between food. For a lot of people, it isn't really clear whether or not popcorn is a healthy choice. There's infographics showing the calories, salt, and fat in a movie theater popcorn bucket, but there's also talk about how popcorn is a healthy whole grain. So which is it?

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6 Reasons Pokemon Go is GOOD for You!

Pokemon Go is taking the world by storm and I have gotten in on the action! Now, while there are lots of horror stories out there about robberies and people playing while driving, the game actually has some real health benefits. That's right, Pokemon Go can be GOOD for you!

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Meal Planning Tips with Butterfly Planner!

Meal planning can be a big help when it comes to eating healthy, but if you're just getting started you might not know where to begin. My friend, Melissa, from Butterfly Planner has some great tips, so I asked her to come on and share some of them with us!

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Watch our healthy eating video on Melissa's channel: http://bit.ly/29ll24U

Melissa's sticker shop: http://etsy.me/29kTDAe

Healthy Travel Flying Tips!

Whethe you're traveling for vacation or business, you want to feel good and get the most out of your trip. That can be a challenge when there aren't a lot of healthy food options around. Plus, there are some restriction on what you can bring if you're flying. While here at VidCon 2016, I thought it would be fun to show you everything I packed to make sure I ate well on the flight over and while at the event. I'm also sharing a couple mistakes I made that you can learn from!

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What I Eat In A Day | Healthy Meal Ideas from a Dietitian

Eating healthy doesn't have to be complicated, so today I'm showing you what I ate on a day in late Spring. I hope that this will give you some ideas and inspiration for your own healthy meals. If you've ever wondered what a dietitian actually eats, this one is for you!

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Are Potatoes Healthy?

Potatoes have a bad reputation in some health circles, but are potatoes really bad for you? And can potatoes actually be a part of a healthy diet? Here's the low down on potatoes, plus how I incorporate them into my diet as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist.

USDA Nutrient Database

What I Eat In a Day | Healthy Meal Ideas from a Dietitian

Ever wonder what a dietitian eats? Wonder no more! Here's everything I ate on a day in January. I hope this gives you inspiration for real food meals and a better idea of what meal time looks like in my house.

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KITCHEN GADGETS USED

Global 8" Chef's knife Global paring knife OXO salad spinner Cast iron skillet (13.25 inch)

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.

Healthy Kitchen Tools | Holiday Gift Guide

Finding the perfect holiday gift can be tricky, so I'm here to help! If you're shopping for a healthy cook or you yourself would like some healthy kitchen gadgets, here are my favorite picks.

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Don't forget to watch the other videos in the playlist for more gift ideas!

PRODUCTS MENTIONED (contains affiliate links)

Veggetti spiralizer Popsicle mold Ice cream maker Ice cream containers OXO salad spinner Aluminum tortilla press Cast iron tortilla press

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.

A Dietitian Who Eats Lard?

Fat is an important part of a healthy diet, but which fats are healthy and which ones aren't? In the past it's been said that unsaturated fats were the healthy ones, but it turns out that isn't exactly right. Here's the breakdown when it comes to healthy and unhealthy fats.

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Do You Believe This Fat Myth?

There's a big myth about fat that just won't go away. Unfortunately, years of incorrect information has brought us to a place where a lot of people simply don't know the facts about fat. So what's the truth about fat and should it be incorporated into our diet?

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Healthy Dinner Ideas for Late Summer | What I Ate #4

School might be in session, but summer food is still here! We all need some healthy dinner inspiration, so I'm sharing a few of the meals that I've cooked up recently. Also, all of these meals have tomatoes in them. Just trying to upgrade my #TomatoQueen status. :D

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July 2014 Favorites! Healthy Food, Recipes, Gardening, and More!

July is over and that means it's favorites time! I'm telling you all about the healthy food and recipes I've been loving this month, some exciting gardening news, and more! [x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]

Healthy Grocery Haul!

Ever wondered what I buy at the grocery store? I'm always sharing my CSA and farmers' market hauls on Instagram, but it's not often that I show you how I fill in the gaps. In today's video I'm showing you everything I got at the grocery store on a recent trip. [x_video type="16:9, 5:3, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2" m4v="" ogv="" poster="" hide_controls="" autoplay="" embed='' no_container="true"]

Recipe: Healthy Strawberry Milkshake for Valentines Day

I have been on a huge smoothie kick here lately. Some of my experiments have turned out better than others, but this is a new favorite. A few simple ingredients and a wiz of the blender are all it takes. Dates provide  a subtle sweetness without any nasty backlash, like an upset tummy or a sugar crash. It also has a beautiful pink color (perfect for Valentines day) without any artificial colors or dyes. Plus, if it's this good with snow falling on the ground, imagine how great it will be once summer rolls around!

Healthy Strawberry Milkshake

makes 1 serving

Ingredients

1 cup (140 grams) frozen starberries

3/4 cup milk

2 pitted dates

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.

Recipe: Massaged Kale Salad with Apples and Carrots

Kale can be a scary vegetable for a lot of people. It's quite tough and bitter, which aren't exactly crowd-pleasing traits. However, as massaged kale salads have become trendy in the past couple years, many have realized that this little step of rubbing the kale down can make a big difference in both the texture and flavor departments. Now, kale is never going to be like a spring green, because it isn't! Rather, it's hearty and much more substantial, which is exactly what we need this time of year. As a bonus, this salad holds up well in the fridge, unlike more delicate greens. At our house, we've been doing a lot of kale salads, so I thought I would share a recent creation with you. Strangely enough, Lisa Leake over at 100 Days of Real Food recently put up a similar recipe , so, if you want a slight variation on the same idea, be sure to check out her recipe for Kale and Apple Salad as well.

Massaged Kale Salad with Apples and Carrots

makes approximately 4 servings

Ingredients

1 large bunch kale, ribs removes and torn

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 sweet apple, chopped

1 large carrot, cut into matchsticks

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

Directions

1. Add chopped or torn kale to a large bowl, along with the red wine vinegar and salt. Massage the kale until it is tender, about 5 minutes. You should see some liquid being released from the kale and it should also reduce in size.
2. Add the oil, apple, carrot, pecans, and blue cheese to the kale and toss to combine.

Eating Organic On A Budget

It's a common complaint that eating healthy and organic foods is more expensive than eating junk. While this can be true if you buy a lot of specialty or processed products, it can also be affordable to eat well if you know how to do it. With that said, I don't know why it is virtuous in our culture to spend as little on food as possible (see Extreme Couponers). Obviously if you aren't bringing in enough money to feed yourself this should be a concern, but even those who are well off get sucked into this mentality. Spending as little as possible on food and dropping thousands on a designer handbag are both admirable. What? I recently had a request from a reader to write a post with tips for those who want to eat organic, but aren't independently wealthy. I'm here to tell you that you can eat delicious, healthy food on a budget, if you put in the effort. It's all about doing what you can, prioritizing your food dollars, and giving yourself a break some times. Jasen and I definitely don't spend unlimited amounts of money on our food, but we're still able to eat well.

1. Grow your own. No matter if you live on several acres or in an NYC apartment, you can still grow something. Potted herbs are a great place to start!
2. Shop at your local farmers market. You can get great prices and, as you start to build relationships with the farmers, you can often get deals or freebies.
3. Use the "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean Fifteen" lists to prioritize your organic dollars. These list which foods have the most pesticide residue (most important to buy organic) and which have the least (less important to buy organic). If you have to choose, you're better off getting organic versions of the thin skinned fruits and veggies like apples and tomatoes, and buying non-organic when it comes to thick skinned foods like oranges and watermelon.
4. Eat less meat. Organic and pastured meats can be expensive, so, rather than eating cheap meat every night, opt for organic meats 2-3 times per week.
5. Stop buying chicken in pieces. Buy the whole chicken and cut it up yourself. Not only is this cheaper, but it gives some variety in your diet and you can use the left-over back bone to make stock.
6. Buy foods in bulk. Often, this can be cheaper (but check to make sure it is)! When it comes to meat, buy a whole cow or hog and freeze it for the year. If you are single and/or don't have a huge freezer to store the meat, go in with some friends and split it.
7. Don't get sucked into organic specialty products like bars, crackers, and cereal. They're quite expensive. Choose whole, real foods instead.
8. Make as much yourself as possible. You can save lots of money by taking the time to soak and cook dried beans rather than buying canned. I've recently started making my own yogurt. Start with one change at a time and add them on gradually. As you go, what was once a big deal will become your new normal.
9. Eat in. Eating out is super expensive and often the quality of the food isn't that great. When you do eat out, make it a special occasion and choose restaurants that specialize in something you can't make yourself and/or ones that use local and organic ingredients.
10. Find the money. Most people spend some of their income on extra items they don't need. Now, while there isn't anything wrong with this, if you are on a limited budget, you might need to eliminate or reduce these items in order to put that money towards your food. It all comes down to what is more important to you.

A great resource if you need meal ideas is 100 Days of Real Food. After this mom and her family completed a 100 day real food challenge, they went on a 100 day real food on a budget challenge where they spent less than what they would have received on SNAP (Food Stamp) benefits. You can read all about their struggles and tips here.

Even with these tips, the bottom line is that you have to make healthy eating a priority. It does sometimes require sacrifices, but the benefits are much greater.

Do you guys have any money-saving tips when it comes to eating well? Share them in the comments below!

What We Ate: 08.22.13

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!

Recipe: Layered Melon Popsicles

Since I purchased the popsicle mold I mentioned here, I've been enjoying my healthy frozen treats often, as a snack or after-dinner dessert. This recipe uses one of my favorite fruits, the watermelon. I can eat and eat and never get tired of it. In college, my roommate once said "You know you live with a dietetics major when you find watermelon seeds in the couch cushions." It's just soooo gooood! In addition to highlighting this beloved food, I'll teach you how to make layered popsicles. They look super fancy and really aren't all that difficult to make. It takes a little more time and patience, but you're already in for some waiting if you're making popsicles anyways. Mine ended up a little uneven on this batch, but I like to just call that "rustic." The amounts in this recipe are specific to my mold, but you can easily adapt it to whatever mold you have, even if that's just an ice cube tray.

My mold. It makes 10 pops and has a handy lid to keep the sticks in place. You can learn more about it here. The great thing about melon is they liquefy easily. No worries about having to get in a fight with your blender. The key to these is freezing the layers separately so they don't mix. Into the freezer we go! This is the other melon I used. I got it at the market, but I don't know what it's called. Let me know if you have any guesses! I love the contrast between pink and green melon. Cantaloupe would be nice too if you're a fan of the pink/orange combo. I added the final layer and this is the result! These look so pretty I almost don't want to eat them. Almost. Check out the recipe below.

Layered Melon Popsicles

makes 10 servings

Ingredients

3 cups cubed watermelon, seeded 1.5 cups cubed honeydew or other similar melon

Directions

1. Put your watermelon in a blender and process until liquefied. Transfer liquid to a measuring cup.
2. Pour watermelon liquid into molds until 1/3 full.
3. Place lid on mold and insert popsicle sticks. Freeze until solid, approximately 6 hours.
4. When ready to add next layer, repeat steps 1-3 with honeydew, minus the part about the popsicle sticks because they're already in place.
5. Once honeydew layer is frozen, finish off your pops with the rest of the watermelon liquid and freeze in the same fashion.
6. Once pops are frozen, remove from mold and enjoy!

Fruit, A Salad's Best Friend

I love a good salad. Nothing feels better than filling up on a bowl full of different vegetables. However, we all know that not all salads are created equal. Loading up with heavy dressings, croutons, fried items, and other caloric fare can take your salad from virtuous to villainous. For the non-veggie lovers out there, this can be a real problem, making a healthy salad practically unbearable. If you find yourself falling into the salad-hating category, or you just want to take your regular salad to the next level, adding fruit can really make a difference. Some of you may feel a little leery about mixing the sweet with the savory, but I'm here to tell you that it is a killer combination. The sweetness compliments and contrasts with the other flavors and the acid found in many fruits can help balance the fat from the olive oil in your dressing or the avocado you slice on top. Whatever fruit you have on hand is fair game. Strawberries, peaches, apples, nectarines, cherries, oranges, grapefruit, grapes, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries are all great options (but not all at once). Basically if you like it, toss it in there. Whole fruit is going to be your best option over dried because you'll be getting the water that comes with whole fruit and you also won't have to worry about the extra sugar that is often added to dried fruits, particularly cranberries. So next time you make a salad, get a little crazy and throw in some chopped apple or fresh berries. You'll be amazed at the difference it can make. What is your favorite fruit to put in your salad? Let me know in the comments below. : )