Ok, can I clear the air for one moment? I guess this is my space to do what I want with, so I’m going to clear the air. When I’m overwhelmed, I procrastinate. Ok, I said it. Dang, that feels good.

Anyone else with me?!

Why? Well, I would like to think it’s because I’m striving for perfection but I think the real reason is (with a little bit of the perfection piece) that I’m at an impasse in my career. I am completely on my own, have 500 avenues that I could take, and unsure which ones I should spend the most time on, so I’ve been procrastinating on the things that I love and am (maybe-somewhat) good at?!

Maybe impasse is the wrong word, hey I focus on food and science, not grammar and vocabulary. It’s actually a really cool impasse, or should I say cross-roads/debacle? One in which I get to decide what I do with my career and business. Don’t get me wrong, it’s incredibly scary, anxiety-inducing, intimidating, and the list goes on. I’ve been spending a lot of my time de-stressing by working out, walking the dog, and meal prepping the crap out of my weeks.

Anyone else meal prep as stress-relief?!

Ha! I feel like it might be just me.

However, that being said I’ve been spending a lot less time on recipe development and food photography which are two of my biggest passions. The best part about recipe development is actually seeing others make the food and enjoying it. It gives me such joy creating delicious (and hopefully easy) recipes for you all and I’m kicking myself for putting these recipes on the bottom of my totem pole.

So, there you have it, I’m a procrastinating-perfectionistish-scared-as-all-heck-dietitian who needed to let you know she’s anything but perfect and also struggles to prioritize what means most to her. I’m pretty good at getting my vegetables in, eating healthy, and exercising but boy do I stink at putting my dreams and goals first. The first thing I’ve done for myself in a while was signing up for a Food Photography course to motivate myself to keep going as I love, love, LOVE photographing food, so here goes nothing.

Back to regularly scheduled programming including plenty of nutrition topics, recipes, favorites, and more!

If I Were a Vegetable

I’ll never forget the first day of orientation for my dietetic internship, we were told to do no harm and we were also asked what vegetable we’d be if we were a vegetable. Those 2 points pretty much sum up my career as a dietitian; do no harm and make everything about food, end of story.

I remember saying I’d be a roasted red pepper. I’m pretty sure I said it was because I am a little sweet, a touch of spice, and a whole lot of sassy. I’m sure maybe not in such a succinct manner, but if I were asked today, that would be my answer. I would also probably say that my skin may seem thick, but there’s a sensitive and caring (read: squishy) vegetable (errrr, human?) inside.

I love to ask others this question, one because it’s silly and two because it helps you gain some insight into the other person.

So, let me ask you!

What kind of vegetable would you be? (Share below in comments!)

Roasted Red Peppers

Speaking of roasted red peppers, I want to share with you a simple homemade recipe today. My mom would make roasted red peppers growing up. I loved them. I loved how they smelled, how they tasted, how they’d go with everything. As you can probably guess, I still love them & could eat them every day and sometimes do.

However, any time I buy something from the store in a box, bag, package, jar, etc. I like to think I could (or should) make it better. Roasted red peppers are 100% one of those items. When you are in control of your food, you have the power to not add any unwanted additives, sodium, sugar, or other unnecessary ingredients.

Are Peppers Good for Your Health?

Of course! Many of us struggle to get enough vegetables into our diets and red peppers (roasted or not) are a great addition to make our health a little better. While no food is “perfect” or has all the health benefits in the world, red peppers have a few key elements that make them good for your health!

Vitamin C: good for your immune system, because does anyone like being sick?!
Folate: good for everyone but critical during pregnancy, eat up ladies!
Beta-carotene: peppers have a ton of beta-carotene (esp. red peppers) which is converted into Vitamin A in the body, cha-ching!
Carotenoids: plenty of these bad-boys to go around, they are little tiny nutrients that are anything but tiny in what they do. Rich in antioxidants which help to keep you healthy, especially after that ice cream bender you just went on…
Calories: while I feel like I’ve grown to hate the word calories because it is overused and underappreciated for what they actually are (when do we get to start calling them kilocalories?!?!); Peppers are low in calories which means you can load up on them. And for the love of all things healthy, don’t bother weighing and measuring them…

Ok, enough of the nerd out, want your kitchen to smell like heavenly goodness?! Make these roasted red peppers, just try not to eat them all at once!

Pro tip: Make a bunch of these at once, buy yourself a pressure canner, and you’ll be stocked for a while!