State of My Goals Address: June

As promised, I am sharing updates on my goals and 2016 resolutions in the state of my goals address. You can take a look at my 2016 goals and my thoughts on goals and resolutions. Sharing these goals is a way to keep me accountable and help me to improve, grow, and learn. People who share their goals tend to be more successful. So, I'm sharing the goals here to encourage you and to keep me accountable. You're welcome to comment with your goals and share your progress as well. Feel free to tag your goals with #RDTODgoals or #healthyRD on social media.

2016 Goals

Try 30 new recipes. 

In June, I tried a few new recipes including:

• Shrimp boil
• I'm a Louisiana girl. I grew up with crawfish boils. If you don't have access to crawfish, I think a shrimp boil is a great way to enjoy a low country boil. Recipe post to come.

• Hummus!
• I'll be sharing a post about my favorite hummus recipe and how to change it to different varieties of hummus. 

For those keeping track, this makes my new recipe count 23 out of 30.

Build endurance and strength.
I continue to attend my favorite weight lifting class. I've also started some cardio dance to increase my cardio variety.


Travel.
There was no big travel this month. But, we have some travel plans later this year. So, stay tuned!

image from amazon.com

Read more.

I also read Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist. I enjoy the author's writing style; she paints pictures with her words. She is able to describing food, smells, experiences, and difficulties and makes the reader feel like she is right there with her. 

For those keeping track, my book count is 4 in 2016.

Learn something new.
I took a cake decorating class; I'll be posting more details about this class soon. Taking classes are a great way to learn a new skill. I foresee more classes in my future!

These are my broad goals for 2016. What goals are you working on in 2016?
Comment below.

For more recipes, encouragement, and tips for healthy eating, follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. 

If you liked this post, you might enjoy:

Goals: May

Goals: April

Goals: March

Goals: February

 

Goals: January

State of My Goals Address: February

As promised in previous posts, I am sharing updates on my goals in the state of my goals address. You can take a look at my 2016 goals and my thoughts on goals and resolutions. Sharing these goals is a way to keep me accountable and help me to improve, grow, and learn. People who share their goals tend to be more successful. So, I'm sharing the goals here to encourage you and to keep me accountable. You're welcome to comment with your goals and share your progress as well. Feel free to tag your goals with #RDTODgoals or #healthyRD on social media.

2016 Goals
Try 30 new recipes.
In February, I tried a few new recipes including:

• Goat cheese salad
• Ina Garten's Pork Tenderloin - mine came out a little dry, so I'll try it again in the slow cooker

For those keeping track, this makes my new recipe count 8 out of 30.

Build endurance and strength.
I'm still going to my favorite strength-training class. I continue to update my workout playlist to encourage me to do continue adding cardio. Good music super helpful motivation for working out.

I also recently found a podcast I love. I've been listening to it on my commute, when cooking, cleaning, and I listened to it on x1.5 speed while working out. It is fun! Check it out! It's the Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey podcast. It is a show hosted by a woman who interviews her friends. It is a fun, encouraging show. I've really enjoyed it.

Travel.
My husband and I had the opportunity to travel. I had a work-related trip that took me to Chicago, IL. We went up a day early and stayed a day late, so we could have a little vacation together. It was fun! We went to Chicago last August for another work-related trip. I'll share my thoughts on the windy city in the future.

My friend and I took a road trip to Waco, TX to explore the city. It was so much fun! Look for a fun travel post about Waco soon.

Read more.
Since I went on vacation, I had some time to read. I read in the airport and on the plane until I got motion sickness. I started and finished For the Love by Jen Hatmaker. It was a funny book that kind of resembled a printed blog. Each chapter covered a different topic, but all the book was about giving grace and mercy to combat the impossible standards we place on ourselves and on others. She is a hilarious writer. I've heard her speak twice, and her writing style is very much her voice. 


These are my broad goals for 2016. What goals are you working on in 2016?
Comment below.

For more recipes, encouragement, and tips for healthy eating, follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.

If you liked this post, you might enjoy:

The Beginning of a New Year 2015



Super Bowl 2015 and Autocorrect Fails

Healthy Vacation Tips Roundup

Cooking with Spice

One of my first baking memories was with my grandmother. She always made brownies and pancakes when I visited. I've always had a sweet tooth and an interest in science. So, baking was always something that intrigued me. How can you take something like flour, eggs, sugar, and oil that no one would eat together like that and turn it into something delicious like pancake?

It seemed like my mom was always cooking. When I was growing up, I liked to watch her cook especially when she was making one of my favorite meals. She was also patient to let me "help" her cook, which I'm assuming slowed her down a bit. In my childhood, I did learn how to make hamburgers, mashed potatoes, meatloaf, and green bean bundles for the holidays.

I became really interested in cooking in high school. I new that I would go off to college, so I needed to learn to cook to survive on a college budget. In my 20's, I had a roommate and best friend that was not picky at all. She introduced me to new foods, restaurants, and recipes. I took a few cooking courses in my undergraduate Dietetic programs. My freshman year of college, I was living in a dorm without a kitchen. When I moved to a condo off campus my sophomore year, I was happy to have a kitchen where I could create. Cooking has always been a stress-reliever and a creative outlet for me.

This year, I received many cooking-related gifts. I invested in some cookbooks. These cookbooks have renewed my interest in cooking and challenged my to try new things. Some of these new things include spices. Since I grew up in Louisiana, I am familiar with garlic, cayenne, and Louisiana spices. These new cookbooks gave introduced me to a ton of new recipes and will provide many opportunities for learning, tasting, and trying new things. Some of the new things include trying new flavors and spices. I bought several new herbs and spices to cook with: ginger, crystallized ginger, sage, cardamom, thyme, and mace. Stay tuned as I try new recipes, new spices, and kitchen tools. I'll share some recipes and results. To follow my journey to cook 50 new recipes in 2015, search #50RDrecipes, #NYNR, or #NewYearNewRecipes.

I hope that you learn a little something from the blog. For more information, recipes, and tips and tricks for healthy eating, follow RDtipoftheday on on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and you can subscribe to this blog, RDtipoftheday.blogspot.com, through BlogLovin.

Chicken Marsala: An Easy Entree

Did you know that today is National Italian Food Day? Here's an easy entree, Chicken Marsala, to make to celebrate today or for Valentine's Day.

This Chicken Marsala is delicious. It will make your house smell wonderful. It has 10 ingredients (if you don't count the salt and pepper) and is simple to make. 

Chicken Marsala with Orzo
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup Marsala cooking wine
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken stock
2 Tablespoons flour
1 Tablespoon butter
2 cups cooked orzo
2 teaspoons fresh parsley for garnishing

Heat oil in Dutch Oven over medium high. (Thanks for my Le Creuset hubby!) Add mushrooms. Cook for 5 minutes. Move mushrooms to the sides of the pan. Add chicken to the middle of the pan. Add thyme, salt, and pepper. Cook chicken 2-3 minutes on each side. Add wine. Cook 1-2 minutes. RDTip: You want to cook the alcohol off in the pan. So, cook the alcohol until you can no longer smell it. Add chicken stock, and cook for 8 minutes. Mix butter and flour into a paste in a separate bowl with a fork. Add paste to the pot. Cook 2-3 minutes until thickened. 
Cook orzo according to directions on package to yield at least 2 cups cooked pasta.
Serve Chicken Marsala over orzo.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Makes 4 servings (1/2 cup cooked orzo with 1/4 of the Chicken Marsala recipe)

I hope you enjoy this recipe. It was a hit in my home! This is a great, easy entree to entertain with. It holds well in the dutch oven for 20-30 minutes. This would be a great entree to make for Valentine's day. Enjoy!

Follow me, RDtipoftheday, on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter for more recipes, encouragement, and tips for healthy eating. You can subscribe to this blog, RDtipoftheday.blogspot.com, through BlogLovin.

Being a Good Host or Hostess Part 1: No Pressure Entertaining

One of my New Year's goals is to try 50 new recipes in 2015. This means I am going to need some help eating all that food! So, I have decided to do more hostessing this year.

I grew up in the South where most gatherings involve food. In the South, food is love and more food is more to love! It's the same principle as "if some is good, more is better." As an RD, I can not fully support the last statment. But regardless of where you grew up, I think there is something special about sharing a meal. In the South, we call this 'fellowshipping" - getting together to visit and of course eat! The church I grew up in even had a room devoted to this; the Fellowship Hall was a room for gathering, eating, and freiends to  . . .  well, fellowship.

So, you could say it is inate to want to share and eat food together. However, trying a new recipe on someone is a bit intimadating. I want to make good food that my guests willl like. I get nervous that the recipe won't turn out right, be good, or will it even be edible? Have you every felt like that? I would encouraged you to not try a whole new batch of recipes; you should make at least one tried and true recipe when entertaining.

Speaking of tried and true, one thing I've learned in the first two decades of my life is the value of true friendships. I have lived in 3 different states in the past 10 years. I appreciate when people open their home to me, when they let me in their lives. I appreciate when someone else hosts me. I appreciate when people let you into their world with dirty socks, toys on the floor, and dishes in the sink. I appreciate when people don't put on an heir of perfections. I appreicate authenticity. So what I've learned about hosting is to just be authentic.

To be a good hostess is to open up your home, your life, and to be authentic.

I hope you enjoyed this post! Please let me know if there are any ingredients or dishes you want me to try in the new feature #NewYearNewRecipes #NYNR #50RDrecipes

For more recipes, encouragement, and tips for healthy eating, follow RDtipoftheday on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. Or, you can subscribe to this blog, RDtipoftheday.blogspot.com, through BlogLovin, which is a free app that automatically updates every time a I publish a new blog post.

Easy Tomato Basil Soup

There is something about a warm cup of soup in the winter. Soup is also a great way to eat tons of vegetables. I recently discovered that I like tomato basil soup. I generally do not care for tomatoes, but I do like tomatoes in soup. Did you know that your taste buds change over time? Children generally have a preference for sweet things while adults usually have a broader palate and tolerate bitter things, like coffee, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, better. This just goes to show you that if you don't like something now just try, try it again. While you're at it, try this recipe and eat your veggies!

Tomato Basil Soup

2/3 cups chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 pinch crushed red pepper (or to taste)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1, 28-ounce can of crushed tomato
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/2 cups chicken stock or water
2 teaspoons butter
1 teaspoon sugar

Sautee onions and garlic with butter, olive oil, and red pepper for 5 minutes. Add tomato, bail, thyme, chicken stock, salt, pepper, and sugar. Bring to a boil, and reduce to simmer. Simmer soup uncovered for 40 minutes.

I hope you enjoy this soup in this cold Winter weather. I like the dried herbs in this soup since it is cooked for a little while. If you are have fresh basil and thyme, you are welcome to substitute. Let me know how it turns out. Comment on the blog below, or ask a question via Instagram and tag me @RDtipoftheday.

For more information, recipes, and tips and tricks for healthy eating, follow RDtipoftheday on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. You can also search #NYNR, #NewYearNewRecipes or #50RDrecipes to follow my New Year's Resolution to make 50 new recipes in 2015.

4 Tips for Making Pefect Cookies and Ginger Cookie Recipe

So, one of my New Year's goals is to try 50 new recipes in 2015. I started the New Year with lots of veggies in a vegetable soup. My second recipe is a little sweeter. I love sweets, and I believe they can be incorporated into one's diets in moderation.

I have never made ginger bread or ginger cookies. Can you believe that?!? I have used ginger in savory, Asian cooking but never in baking. I realized this travesty over the holidays when everyone was posting pictures of ginger bread houses and decorated gingerbread men cookies. I decided to try this recipe that uses powdered ginger and crystallized ginger. It was delicious! The cookies were moist, chewy, and packed a punch of spicy, sweet ginger.

This was my first time to cook with molasses as well. It was less sweet then I thought it would be but it was fantastic in the cookies. And, I got a chance to use my SilPlat non-stick cooking mat! It worked like a dream with this sticky dough.

Here's the recipe if you would like to give it a try.

Ginger Cookies (Adapted from Giada's Double Ginger Cookies)
Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons finely chopped candied ginger (or ~1 ounce)
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup molasses
1 egg at room temperature
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350* F.

Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl: flour, sugar, ginger, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and candied ginger.

Combine wet ingredients in a mixer: melted butter, molasses, and egg. Beat together until combine. Slowly add dry ingredients into wet mixture. Use a medium-sized cookie Schoo to scoop 1 1/2 Tablespoon of dough onto a buttered baking sheet or a baking sheet lined with a non-stick mat (Example: SilPlat). Bake at 350* F for 7-9 minutes.

Tip #1: Spray your 1/3 measuring cup with non-stick cooking spray before measuring molasses. The non-stick spray . . . helps the molasses not stick to the spoon. It makes measuring sticky ingredients less messy.

Tip #2: Use a small ice cream scoop to scoop cookie dough. This makes it easier to get similarly sized cookies that cook evenly.

Tip #3: I recommend making a batch of these cookies and freezing the dough in 2 batches. This helps with self-control and only having desserts in moderation. It also is handy to have dough already made for company or just quick cooking.

Tip #4: I defrost frozen cookie dough for 1 day in the fridge before baking.

This recipe was adapted from a Giada DeLaurentiis' recipe for double ginger cookies. I hope you enjoy! Please let me know if there are any ingredients or dishes you want me to try in the new feature #NewYearNewRecipes #NYNR #50RDrecipes.

For more recipes and tips and tricks for healthy eating, follow RDtipoftheday on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.

New Year New Recipes: Winter Vegetable Soup

So, one of my New Year's goals is to try 50 new recipes in 2015. I decided to start the New Year with lots of veggies. I tried a winter vegetable soup and used my new veggie peeler and mandolin to make the process faster. It also has homemade croutons, which were so good!

Here's the cast of characters (minus the cucumber, shallot, and jalepeno). I also tried a new food, parsnips. They look like white carrots, but they taste and smell more herbaceous than carrot-y. Does that make sense? Parsnips are a related to carrots and are great source of fiber, anti-oxidants, and vitamins. Because you are making soup, you do not lose any of the water-soluble vitamins.

Here's the recipe if you would like to try it.

Winter Vegetable Soup
32 ounces low sodium chicken stock
1/2 pound carrots
1/2 pound parsnips
1 large sweet potato
1 pound butternut squash
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Wash all produce. Peel and slice. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast at 425* F for 25-35 minutes or until fork tender. Puree vegetables with stock in batches until smooth. Add to a large pot. Then, cook for 20 minutes until heated through. Top with croutons and olive oil. Enjoy!

This recipe was based on Ina Garten's Roasted Winter Vegetable Soup. I thought this recipe was a good way to start the year, and it also got my husband's stamp of approval. Please let me know if there are any ingredients or dishes you want me to try in the new feature #NewYearNewRecipes #NYNR #50RDrecipes

For more recipes and tips and tricks for healthy eating, follow RDtipoftheday on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.

The Beginning of a New Year: 2015

As I get, older, it feels like time moves more quickly. It is the start of a New Year, and I feel as if Christmas was yesterday and Thanksgiving was merely the week before.

Christmas is a season of giving. This year, I feel blessed: good healthy, warm home, and time with family and friends. Some of our friends are now in different states and cities, so I am thankful for phones and good old fashioned snail mail. I love getting mail and around the holidays I feel remember if that makes since. I've also received some birthday and Christmas presents that make me excited for this new year.

I feel likes my world is full of people that are setting new year, new goals . . . both on blogs and my "real world." I know the seemingly pessimistic statistics of how long goals last. Call me an optimist, but I love a fresh start and am energized by those who are brave enough to challenge themselves, try new things, and work to be the best they can be.

So, here are the goals I have for 2015:

1) Try 50 new recipes
Notice, I said 'try" not "make successfully." Hahaha. I love the bake, but I am hoping to find some new savory meals to enjoy. Mostly of my Christmas and birthday presents support this goal - from new cookbooks to new tools. I am better prepared and ready to try new things. P.s. I may need some taste testers. Are there any volunteers??

2) Exercise consistently
With all that baking and cooking, I'll need some balance to be healthy. I'm hoping to find some new aerobic classes in our new town. Classes motivated me to move more, challenge myself, and are great for stress relief.

3) Find a creative outlet
I've noticed my favorite parts of my job are when I get to be more creative: making handouts, creating interactive education boards, food styling, and recipe development. I am hoping to find more creative outlets in my personal and professional life.

I hope this inspired you to reflect on 2014 and consider what you want to accomplish in 2015. So, try new things, challenge yourself, and be the best you can be. Here's to a Happy . . . and Healthy New Year!

For more tips and tricks for healthy eating, follow RDtipoftheday on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.