2012 Food Trends
Every year experts try to predict what the new popular trends among foodies will be. Below are 12 Food Trends for 2012 that are on currently the rise! 1. Salt – Forget Morton. If it’s not Himalayan or Northwest Indian Salish-inspired, alder-smoked, it’s so 20th century. Salt is in chocolate, on caramels, and sailing off store shelves. It’s the finishing touch to multiple dishes. At The Spice House in Chicago, popular salts include Hawaiian Black Lava Sea Salt, Chardonnay Oak Smoked Sea Salt, Truffle Salt, Vulcan’s...
read moreWhat Recycle Numbers Really Mean
First I wanted to share a video I recently saw called “Story of Stuff” by Annie Leonard. This video makes you re-think all of the “stuff” you own and where it came from. Secondly, plastic. Ever wonder what those numbers on the bottom of recyclable plastic containers really mean? Me too. Upon learning that my recycle drop off site accepts #1, #2, #3, #5, and #7 plastics I began researching what these number really mean. There is a lot of great information about the type of plastic that these numbers are referring to, but I was less...
read moreNew Year’s 2012
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful time ringing in the New Year last night! My favorite part about New Year’s (other than making new resolutions), is reflecting on the previous year’s accomplishments. What I accomplished in 2011: Traveled to New Orleans to run the Mardi Gras Half Marathon Got engaged to my high school sweetheart Moved to a new apartment in Old Town Ran the Chicago Rock and Roll Half Marathon Ran the September 11th Chicago Half Marathon Completed the Warrior Dash in Wisconsin Ran the Monster Dash on...
read moreMeal Planning 101 – Recap
So here we are again, a whole week gone by. Sometimes half of the frustration of meal planning is that things throughout the week may not always go as planned. No matter how well you plan for yourself, there is always a wrench or two thrown into the equation, that’s life. Check out my weekly meal planning goals here. That being said, here is how my week panned out: Monday – We had Vegetable Quinoa Soup with Garlic Crostini. Will wanted a grilled sandwich to go with his soup so I used some leftover bread, mozzarella cheese, bacon, and...
read moreCan you Identify These Foods?
Many of the foods sold on supermarket shelves today have unrecognizable ingredients. These items no longer resemble real food, but rather science experiments. Based on the ingredient list, can you identify these foods? Corn syrup, enriched flour, water, sugar, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil and/or animal shortening (contains one or more of: canola oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, soybean oil, beef fat), eggs. Contains 2% or less of: modified food starch, whey, salt, leavening (baking soda, monocalcium phosphates, sodium acid...
read moreVegetable Quinoa Winter Soup
After a long night at crossfit I enjoyed some well deserved Vegetable Quinoa Winter Soup with Garlic Crostini for dinner! All I had to do was heat up the soup and bake the crostini for 5 minutes and dinner was served. My day of meal preparation is already paying off! First things first though. Today’s crossfit WOD (for time): 30 air squats 15 front squats (55 – Rx was 65) 30 kettle bell swings (30 – Rx) 15 sumo deadlift high-pulls (55 – Rx was 65) 30 box jumps 15 push press (55 – Rx was 65) 400 meter row I finished in...
read moreMeal Planning 101 – Preparation Day
To continue my Meal Planning 101 series, today was preparation day! Today was my day off work meaning it was the perfect opportunity to prep my food for the week. Yesterday I shared my 12 easy steps to meal planning. One of the most important steps to successful healthy meal planning is to determine steps in your recipes that you can do ahead of time and plan a day to prep food on your day off. Some of the benefits of completing cooking prep work in advance include: Minimize the number of dirty dishes. As long as you are doing all the work at...
read moreMeal Planning 101
I get a lot of questions about how to plan meals for the week successfully. How could I possibly know what I will want to eat come Friday? What if I don’t have time to cook the meals I had originally anticipated making? How can I ensure the food I buy doesn’t go bad before I get a chance to eat it? It can seem like a daunting task to take one single trip to the grocery store and expect to eat for an entire week. Like many things, there’s an art to meal planning. If you know the rules and stay organized, meal planning can make healthy...
read moreHomemade Mulling Spice
Nothing is better to elicit the smells of the holidays than mulling spice! Add your favorite spices to warm cider, wine, or other fruit drinks and enjoy the taste of the seasons! In the spirit of the holidays, I did a “make your own mulling spice” event at work today and wanted to share with you guys how to make it! Choose from ingredients: Cinnamon sticks Whole cloves Anise stars Whole nutmeg Allspice berries Cardamom pods Peppercorns Crystallized ginger Dried orange or lemon peel Brown sugar Directions: Cut cheesecloth into...
read moreSpicy Spaghetti Squash with Black Beans
I typically make spaghetti squash to mimic traditional spaghetti dishes – spaghetti squash with marinara, spaghetti squash with meatballs, you get the idea. Then I came across this recipe which really made me think outside of the box. Why not put a southwestern spin on spaghetti squash? Genius and delicious! Ingredients: 1 medium spaghetti squash 2 tsp olive oil 1 small red pepper, chopped 1 jalepeno chili, seeded and minced 1 red bell pepper, chopped 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed 1/2 cup sweet corn, frozen or fresh 1...
read moreAbout Me
My name is Amari Cheffer and I am a Registered Dietitian, blogger, and food enthusiast! I started blogging back in 2009 to document my lifelong love affair with food and nutrition. I am a licensed Registered Dietitian with a Master's in Nutrition Science from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Things I hate most include tasteless diet foods, excuses, hopeless weight-loss advice, and quitters. If you have time to breathe, you have time to eat healthy. It's all about problem solving and planning ahead for your one-of-a-kind lifestyle.
Read More