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Friday Food Favorites December 2018

Yum

December 7, 2018 By Laura Ligos, MBA, RD, CSSD 1 Comment

As I’ve already mentioned before, this month is a crazy hectic one for most. I think I have something planned almost every weekend and weekday for the rest of the year and don’t see much down time until maybe Christmas. While I’d love to make every single meal from scratch, there are sometimes when I need to rely on certain foods & products to get me by. Convenience doesn’t mean lazy or unhealthy, and that’s something I want to try and convey to you all and to the health community.

Convenient Real Food

This thought of healthy convenience goes along with the Balanced Real Food approach I talk about.  I love focusing on real food and eating intuitively, but here’s the thing, your diet & lifestyle are not so black and white. We have to find a balance that works for us, keeps us the healthiest we can be and also allows us the freedom to live our lives.

We often equate convenience with unhealthy and while that is the case a lot of the time, we live in 2018 and the tides are changing. I have had the opportunity to try a lot of new products this year at Expo East & FNCE and let me tell you convenience can be healthy and if it makes your life easier and doesn’t detract from your health, I’m all in.

No More Food Shame

I know it’s hard to wrap your head around being healthy AND eating conveniently packaged goods. However, we make our health so on or off, so black or white, and we miss the mark on health in general. We don’t need to be on a diet to be successful, instead, we need to create a diet that is sustainable, enjoyable, AND supports OUR goals, no one else’s.

If we create such rigid guidelines that we can’t simply enjoy our lives, we need to take a step back. Food allergies & intolerances are real BUT so are food anxieties and orthorexic tendencies. We must find a way to strike a balance. We also must not shame others for eating a certain way or a certain product. Some foods work for others and some foods don’t.

Friday Food Favorites

OKAY, sorry for that tangent, it’s just been on my mind a lot and I had to say it. IF you’re going to shame people for eating a certain way, look in the mirror and realize that sometimes we need to make our own decisions based on our needs, budget, circumstances, and (*gasp*) feelings. There are no perfect foods or perfect companies, so everyone just calm down!

That being said, I wanted to bring you a few of my favorite foods this month that have made eating healthy easier and more enjoyable.

88 Acres Holiday Seed Butter Flavors

You already know my love for these guys. Their seed butters are delicious whether you have a nut allergy or not. I just finished my jar of pumpkin seed butter, my newest obsession, and was so sad it was gone. Thank GOODNESS I received a package in the mail with their newest holiday flavors. 88 Acres to the rescue! It had been a rough day and I almost could’ve cried tears of joy when it arrived. Yes, food brings me such joy, #sorrynotsorry.

They have 3 new flavors, Gingerbread Sunflower, Dark Chocolate Peppermint Sunflower & Orange Cardamom Pumpkin Seed. Stay tuned for how I use them in my kitchen!

If you’re a new buyer, use the code Sassy to get a discount!

Find them online here OR on Amazon here.

Swapples Frozen Waffles

I have been raving about these lately because they are so tasty. Pop them in the microwave or toaster and enjoy with your toppings of choice. This week I had an Everything Swapple with cottage cheese, an egg, arugula, roasted red peppers, & hot sauce. IT was so delicious and satisfying.

They are a small company starting to expand BUT you can find them online anywhere in the US. And because I love them so much, I begged them for a discount for you guys, use code ‘SASSY15‘ for 15% off off your first order!. Just make sure to tag me & @swapples when you get them and show us what you’re making.

Find them online here. 

Vital Proteins Mocha Creamer

I have to admit, I was skeptical of this one. I love my coffee black with maybe a splash of cream every now and again. Sometimes once a week I’ll go for a latte. So my friend suggested I try the Mocha Collagen Creamer form Vital Proteins. I found some on hand I had from Expo and blended it in my coffee.

The verdict? I loved it. It’s chocolately and not sweet so it’s a delicious take on mocha AND has collagen in it (more on that topic another day).

Find it online here or here

Banza Mac & Cheese

Visit them here.

If you live under a bubble, let me tell you I’m obsessed with Banza. Their chickpea pasta is so tasty, holds up well, is gluten-free, AND is rich in protein. Wins all around.

They have a line of Mac & Cheeses that are super easy to make and delicious. I love having them on hand for last-minute dinners & they pair nicely with the dinner sausages (below) & any veggies you have on hand.

Local to Albany? Find them at Whole Foods & Shoprite. Walmart carries them as well but not sure about Mac & Cheese line. 

ps. if you’re local and want some coupons for a free box or buy one get one, reach out I have plenty!! 

Teton Waters Ranch Dinner & Breakfast Sausages

Visit them here.

I met this company at Expo East and have slowly been making my way through their breakfast & dinner sausages that they so kindly gave me. I have loved EVERY. SINGLE.PRODUCT. They are also ones you can feel good about because they are grass fed and all natural real food ingredients.

I love having sausage on hand as a quick addition to any recipe or meal and a way to up my protein intake.

Local to Albany? Find them at Hannaford or check out Where to Buy here. 

Okay, I need to go get ready for 15+ ladies to come to my house for our annual Craft Party. Wish me luck 😀

xoxo,

Sassy

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  1. PB&J Waffles - The Sassy Dietitian says:
    January 2, 2019 at 5:16 pm

    […] to my new friend Dana (from Real Food with Dana) called Swapples. I mentioned them before in my Friday Favorites, but I wanted to give you guys more of an opportunity to try them out, and give you a quick and […]

    Reply

@thesassydietitian

We’ve made it over a week together and it feels We’ve made it over a week together and it feels like it’s always been this way.

Motherhood is a wild ride & it’s only getting started. I have never been so tired & simultaneously so fulfilled in my life. That’s not to say it’s not filled with tears, worries and doubts but what fun would it be if it were all sunshine and roses anyway?

Going into this all I have felt so supported by friends going through this with me BUT I felt so unsupported by the general public. It seems like we want to fear and shame moms because misery loves company, right?!

The focus quickly shifts from mom to baby (still shocked that I only have an appointment at 6 weeks even though my body went through the biggest event of its life) and there also seems to be this shift from joy to shame & guilt.

Here’s some of what I heard from people:

😕Sleep when baby sleeps. You’ll never sleep again.
😕Don’t let baby sleep in a car seat, or a bouncer, or anywhere but their crib EVER. 
😕You’ll never have time to shower again, enjoy it now. 
😕Cry it out is cruel and harmful to the baby. 
😕Get baby on a schedule/never put baby on a schedule.

These are all things I heard and that truly led me to believe I was going to lose all sense of who I was and my life as I knew it.

What I wish people had said instead were:

🥰Your heart will grow bigger than you could imagine.
🥰You’ll cry the happiest tears you’ve ever cried.
🥰You’ll feel like a giant hole was filled that you didn’t even know was there.
🥰You won’t feel guilty about cleaning your house, it just won’t matter anymore.
🥰Babies pooping will make you laugh so hard you will feel like a kid again.
🥰You will have time to eat and shower and you don’t have to neglect yourself.

We need to do a better job of building each other up, supporting one another and our decisions while refraining from offering unsolicited advice and opinions. 

So for all you future mamas and new mamas out there, I see you, I’m proud of you and I cannot wait to share our stories with one another and the world.

Let’s stop fear mongering (just like the diet world) and start building one another up.

Xoxo,
Sassy & lil sassy man
🌈Some things truly are worth the wait. It’s b 🌈Some things truly are worth the wait. It’s been a long year of loss, unknowns and worry but it’s all been worth it to get to meet my lil man🥰
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Now time to introduce this sassy human who is already so well loved to the world...
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Introducing 

💙 Connor James Ligos 💙
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After an almost 24 hour labor, Connor joined us over a week past his due date on 2/12/21 at a whopping 9lb2oz & 22.5 inches long with a full head of hair and lungs to scream hello to us with.
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We are so in love already and cannot wait to share him with the world. Thank you for all the love and support from friends and family and to all those that helped us in the hospital. Holy cow labor & delivery teams are truly magical and I cannot imagine doing it without all of their support.
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Now back to snuggling this human of mine and trying not to cry at every last thing he does 🥰 
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Mom, Dad & Bode are all doing well!
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#babyboy #pregnancyafterloss #rainbowbaby #birthdayboy #birthannouncement
I get it, we all eat so we all then want to talk t I get it, we all eat so we all then want to talk to others about what worked for us. That's great!
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What's not great is when we push our nutrition and eating behaviors onto others ESPECIALLY when we are not qualified to do so.
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So often when people meet me for the first time they are worried to eat around me and/or buy groceries around me. My friends can attest I am not judgemental around food and will gladly eat that cake, queso dip or sip on that glass of wine right alongside of you. I am not the food police and do not offer unsolicited nutrition advice unless it's a client who is paying for my help OR on Instagram and other social media platforms where my goal is to educate.
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Why do I share this? 
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Because I see far too many people diving down diet rabbit holes, finding success & then claiming to be nutrition experts purely because something worked for them. 
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I've also seen this alot being pregnant, everyone wants to tell you what worked for them. IF you use that stipulation of "this worked for me" then fine, share away but if you start doleing out advice please pause, take a breath and think about NOT doing it.
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People are OVERWHELMED by diet culture and some so badly want to change but YOUR way is not the only way and it most likely is not what will work for your friend/coworker/cousin/neighbor so please, stop trying to be an expert in something you aren't.
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Got it!?! 
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Ok, carry on.
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xoxo,
Sassy
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#nutrition #nutritiontips #nutritionist #dietitianapproved #rdapproved #rdchat #dietitiansofinstagram #dietitian #dietitiansofig #albanyny #albanynutrition #albanynutrition
Your nutrition does NOT need to be all or nothing. Your nutrition does NOT need to be all or nothing. I'm not saying you have to find perfect balance (does that even exist?) but I am saying that we shouldn't feel like either we have to eat perfectly or that we might as well give up.
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Instead we should look to the grey area in between for our nutrition guidance. 
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What do I mean?
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I mean that we need to realize that we can still eat cookies but we probably should throw some veggies in there. 
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We can have a glass or 2 of wine but we should probably also drink some water. 
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We can take rest days but we should also find ways to move our bodies regularly.
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And the list goes on.
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It's not about all or nothing it's about doing something daily to help your health and nutrition without it feeling like a set of rules or a free for all.
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How do we find that grey area in between?
👉🏻 stop hopping on and off fad diets
👉🏻listen and trust your self, not your coworkers and cousins 
👉🏻focus on the simple things (ie drinking water instead of worrying about supplements)
👉🏻work to remove guilt and shame around food & body
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Where do you currently fall Right now?!
🤪 all
👍🏻in between 
🙅🏻‍♀️ nothing 
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Xoxo,
Sassy
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#dietitian #dietitiansofig #dietitiansofinstagram #nutrition #nutritionist #nutritiontips #thesassydietitian #rdchat #realtalk

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