Recipe Redux: Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

February=valentine's day=chocolate-right? I'll take love over candy any day, but chocolate is pretty sweet. I have a mild chocolate chip obsession, love chocolate chia pudding, chocolate coconut bliss, and a whole number of truffles. While I failed miserably at making chocolate chip pancakes Valentine's Day morning I redeemed myself with this lil treats. Reese's can eat it's heart out because it has NOTHING on this lil dudes. (Conveniently Reese's ingredients are not listed on the Hershey's website-trying to hide something much?) These lil cups are easy to make, and the dark chocolate and all-natural peanut butter have to give some wonderful health benefits right?

Chocolate PB Hearts

Ingredients:
Dark Chocolate
All Natural PB (Read: One ingredient: Peanuts)
Honey
Sea Salt (Obsessed with this smoked sea salt from Trader Joes)
Mini cupcake tins OR a candy mold OR an ice cube tray (my apt conveniently always has vday themed ice. so much love lives here)

Directions

1. Melt 5-6 oz Dark Chocolate. In microwave or on the stove.
2. While melting, mix 4 TBS of natural PB with 1 TBS honey ( or maple syrup) and 1/4 tsp sea salt
3. Pour half the melted chocolate into cups/tins/molds
4. Let cool (put in freezer to speed this up)
5. Add dollops of pb on top of bottom layer of chocolate
6. Cover PB with the remaining Chocolate
7. Set in Fridge to cool/harden
8. Enjoy!
   

Be My Valentine?

Want to try some other RD-approved Chocolate Recipes? Check them out!

Svelte Giveaway!

I'm just so happy to be back in Boston. These balmy 40 degree days don't leave much to complain about!

I was also happy to see that Svelte is making a big splash in New England this winter with #BeSvelteBoston in-store samplings as well as coupon distribution at local grocers, ice skating rinks, sporting events and radio promotions!

I first discovered Svelte last year and have loved this product. Svelte’s four delicious shakes are made with 16g of protein from fresh organic soy milk, and are high in fiber and low in sugar-rock on!

Even Stella is staying Svelte.

I want to share the Svelte love with you! Leave a comment below by February 24th letting me know what flavor you would like to try and I'll send 10 (yes you read that right-10) of you free coupons so you can give it a try! You can also enter by tweeting: " Stay Svelte with @ElizabethEats @CalNaturale giveaway http://tinyurl.com/25b6swk"

You can find Svelte on Facebook or Twitter and by searching #BeSvelteBoston

Self Love

After spending the weekend totally unplugged from technology/work it's back to it this Monday. Should be a pretty great week. In case you were unaware; Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. A day to exchange sweet nothings with your loved ones, shower them with roses and chocolates and hope for another year of love. A day to make and remember important, wonderful traditions and memories. But did you ever stop and tell yourself that you loved you? Have you shown your body the respect it deserves today?

Head over to Me You Health to read my top 7 ways to show yourself a little love this VDay!

How are you celebrating Valentine's Day?

Foodie Penpals

In case you didn't know, I'm a huge twitter lovah/geek/weirdo whatevah. It connects me with so many wonderful people I have yet to meet, and the health/wellness community there is especially rich. So when I saw Lindsey-another dietetic intern, posting about her newest project-Foodie Penpals I had to investigate further.

seriously do. but only on twitter. don't be a creep

When I was younger I actually had quite a few penpals. Unfortunately we lost touch past the age of 11 or so, but I quite enjoyed writing back and forth, and sending fun things like Liz Frank stickers. (Yes I had a stamp, barbie AND sticker collection. be jealous). I've also always loved giving people presents-i adore birthdays, and would most of the time rather buy something for a friend than myself. Oh and in case you didn't know, I love food. So basically I HAD to join Foodie Penpals.

The basics- 100+ blog readers and writers get together and are matched to send each other packages. The spending limit is $15, which won't break the bank-and remember you get a hand-picked package too. Beyond worth it.

This was my first "match" and Lindsey herself sent me a fantastic foodie present from Ohio.

First- DELICIOUS 100% whole grain crackers and TOFU noodles from a local bakery. very impressed.

second: delicious whole grains that I adore: homemade muesli, wheat berries and millet

Third; The much adored barney butter and pure organic bar-mmmmmm. As well as an assortment of health magazines and an adorable note!

Thank you Lindsey! I loved it all and can't wait to be on board in February too!

I know you want in on the fun too. Email Lindsey (theleangreenbean@gmail.com) and join the party in February!

Adios Houston

Diploma. Check

such a great group of interns!

I can't say I am sad to leave Houston. I am beyond excited to be heading back to beantown, to start the next adventure in my life. A lot of unknowns lie ahead of me but I'm ready to face them head-on. Luckily I'm not alone. So I'm back to my collegetown, and second home, to create a real life, with a real job, with a real boyfriend (not that he was fake before..)

There are however some things I will miss about Houston. And I would be remiss to leave them out.

I will miss:

• Shiner Beer. This stuff is pure gold, and only their Bock is distributed outside of Texas, which is just a travesty. Their seasonal ales are unparalleled. Actually Texas has a lot of great breweries. I'll also miss St. Arnold's, especially their Pumpkinator.

• Define Body. Best Barre classes I've ever taken. better than Core Fusion and that's saying a lot. Toned. Can't wait to check out more new barre classes in Boston!
  
• Specs. The best liquor store ever.
  
• Mr Bear and Coco. Two of the sweetest most lovable mutts you could ever know and best running companions i could ever ask for. (and yes, Coco can be the alpha dog)
  

• Friends I'll leave behind and made my time here much much more bearable. Thank god for airtravel!
  
  

• El Gran Malo, The best infused tequila, ever. I shall also be missing Happy Hours. Why Boston Blue laws, why??
  

who doesn't want a pb & j shot?

• Memorial Park, and trail runs within city limits
• HEB, Kroger, Central Market- farewell Texas Supermarkets
• Running in a t-shirt and shorts in January. That was nice. But I earned it after this summer!
  

Yes, they are mostly all food and drink related.

Farewell Houston. Land of pickup trucks and cowboy boots.

Boston is calling. I made this collage 4 years ago, and I find it rings truer as time goes on:

Over time, slowly it will burrow beneath your skin, lodge yourself in your heart, and head... As you cross the Mass Ave bridge on foot or bike, your heart swells to see Boston, rise above the river, in all its grace and majesty. You've got a lot to learn; Boston's got a lot to teach you.

Let's get this Adventure started!

Life of a Dietetic Intern: Sports Nutrition at the Ironman Sports Institute

My final two weeks of internship were spent with Penny Wilson RD at the Ironman Sports Institute of Memorial Hermann. Pretty awesome. I always like ending things on a good note and this was definitely a fantastic final hooray!

First day: got to observe hydrostatic weighing (underwater-the gold standard of body composition), a BodyGem-resting metabolic rate, and lactate threshold-to test the limits of your current aerobic and anaerobic capacity.

I got to work on race day nutrition plans, nutrition tips and presentations for endurance athletes-mostly triathletes. People whose athletic performances were always inspirational, and just need some help with getting the right fuel, and enough of it, into their bodies.

I mean who doesn't want to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and then complete
a full marathon?

Penny was a fantastic dietitian to get to work with. She is a true nutrition entrepreneur who has really made a name for herself in sports nutrition. It was great to be able to take the knowledge I have gained from running my own races, personal research and courses and apply it to the real world.

And with that, my dietetic internship is complete. In case you missed the other pages in this chapter of my life, read the rest of them here. Tomorrow is graduation, and then I'm heading home. Stay tuned!

Healthy Teff Breakfast with Recipe Redux

I'm a fan of smoothies, oatmeal and tofu scrambles. Sometimes I shake it up with some other grains-like quinoa for a protein kick or amaranth to get a lil nutty. So when I found out that this month's Recipe Redux was to do a healthy breakfast makeover, I was ready to try something new.

Enter cleaning out my cabinets in my final Houston countdown. Hiding in the corner I found some Teff, Tahini, and Molasses. Perfect.

T-T-What?? Oh you haven't met my friend teff? This lil guy is the world’s smallest grain and he migrated from Ethiopia (and plays a starring role in their delicious bread-Injera). Nutrient rich, the whole seeds make a delicious porridge. I decided to boost up the calcium and iron content even more by adding tahini, molasses (one of the few sweetener that provides minimal nutrient value), and raisins. And tastes spectacular.

don't be afraid of this lil dude

Teff Breakfast Porridge

• 1 cup teff
• Tahini
• Raisins
• Molasses
• Milk of choice (I chose the new Almond Coconut Milk by Blue Diamond)

so wonderfully creamy

1. In a 2 quart pan, over med heat, add 1 cup teff and stirring frequently toast for 1-2 minutes. When you start to smell a sweet nutty aroma pour in 3 cups of water. Stir well and cook at a gentle boil for 20 min. Stir occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the bottom.

no one likes naked teff though...
2. Add 1/2 cup cooked cereal, 1/4 c milk 1 T tahini 1 tsp molasses and 1 T raisins to each bowl Swirl together and enjoy!

told ya it looked better dressed as the milky way

And there is one heck of a calicium and iron loaded vegan breakfast, that tastes amazing.

Check out these other fantastic breakfast recipes by RDs:

Lentil Soup

I think I should start a blog "Delicious Recipes My Mother Sends Me." Because I have a lot of them. In the meantime I'll just continue to share them there, since she provides much of my culinary inspiration. Like this "absolutely delicious" lentil soup that came in an email with a reminder to take a moment to go look at the beautiful full moon. I have a pretty great mother. I of course tweaked a few things (have to add kale to everything!!) and it still turned out "absolutely delicious"

Lentil Soup (inspired by Mary Jarrard, who was inspired by Joy of Cooking)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 carrots
• 1 bunch curly kale
  
• 4 cloves of garlic chopped
  
• 8 cups of water
• 2 cups green lentils (picked over and rinsed)
• 1 tsp of dried thyme
• 4 tsp of balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of ground black pepper

Saute garlic until brown in olive oil. Strain garlic out, and saute carrots, and kale in now garlic-infused olive oil. Add garlic, carrots and kale to large pot with lentils and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until the lentils are tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Stir in spices. Simmer for 5-10 more minutes. Enjoy!

The olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt make this entire soup taste so rich and buttery! Best served with a hunk of rustic whole wheat bread. Or a kale salad. You can never have enough kale.

Hello 2012

2012 is shaping up rather nicely.
I got to ring it in with a long weekend with this guy

San Antonio is pretty adorable for Texas. The Alamo was smaller than expected, but the riverwalk is fantastic. Definitely worth the 3 hour drive (that included a stop to Buc-ee's of course). And there's nothing like soaking up some sunny rays on a 75 degree December 31

and then I got a visit from another J-perhaps you recognize her from this lovely blog?

We walked all over Austin, got Torchy Tacos, drank some Moonshine and hula hooped at Lustre Pearl, got her cowboy boots, ate kimchi fries, and slept in a pretty sweet airstream, while discussing our future coffeeshop plans.

Excuse my lack of posting. Right now, and for the next week my life is studying for the exit exam, final 2 weeks of rotation, moving and then the RD exam. Phew.
Gotta get some sleep
But this lil lovebug keeps waking me up at 5am to run. Can't say no in a Houston January!

How's 2012 going for you?

Life of a Dietetic Intern: Clinical at Memorial Hermann

Can't say I didn't love getting back into scrubs (those things are addictive!) And while I much prefer the preventative side of nutrition than the acute care setting, my time at Memorial Hermann Southwest were very beneficial to my growth as a dietetic intern.

Of course it wasn't all rainbows. On the worst days the hospital reminded me of all the flaws in our healthcare system. The time that gets wasted during "productivity tasks" that assists no patients. The doctors' chicken scratch that gets mistyped during dictation leading to poor communication at best. When the MD consults you for nutrition recommendations and then writes an order for the exact opposite. Or just the fact that the dietitians can't write nutrition orders (especially when most MDs get only 23 hours of nutrition education in their entire career). And then there was my last day, when a patient in the ICU decided to light his room on fire. Seriously. Tylenol overdoses do crazy things apparently. (no one was killed, thankfully).

yes i know you can wear nail polish at a hospital. I was creating powerpoints in the office all day, i went a little adventurous. no patient contact don't worry.

On the best days the hospital reminded me of all the different kinds of love that exist in the world. I know, that sounds super cheesy, but there's no way I couldn't smile or get goosebumps when I heard some patients' stories. Like the 90 year old man I went for a consult on poor intake. He was fast asleep so I turned to the next available person that could answer my questions-the woman sitting by the window.
"Are you his wife?"
pause.
"Yes. I'm here to take care of him. You see he was a widower in '90 and I a widow in '05. We got married in '08 to take care of each other. He is such a good friend."
The only way to be happy after sadness of patients with no support or visitations is to see a patient surrounded by love.

And with that, my Clinical section of my dietetic internship is over with. I learned a lot about different disease states, work with some fantastic dietitians, and got to educate and treat a variety of fascinating patients. I got to create treatment plans for patients, and then follow-up to see their progress, and then wish them the best once discharged. I got more experience charting and billing (and deciphering MD notes. Why say "drinks occasionally" when you can say "rare social ethanol imbiber"??) While I will be doing my best to stay out of the hospital from now on (from both a personal and professional standpoint) I did learn quite a bit.

what we're made of

And.... It's the final countdown! 4 more weeks of outpatient nutrition counseling and then I'm hopping on a jetplane and saying adios one last time to Texas. I'm heading back where I need to be right now-Boston.

The Last List of 2011

2011 you've been really really good to me. I graduated college, had a wonderful "summer" internship, got into a dietetic internship and am now a little over a month away from having my RD. I've met some amazing new people, tried new things, hopped from Boston to Portland, to Wyoming, to San Francisco, to New York, to Las Vegas, to Austin, to Houston (not all in one weekend-don't worry!)

There are a few more things I wanted to share with you before this year comes to a close:

• Miso Mule: 1 oz boiling water. 1 oz honey. 2 oz Maker's Mark. 1 tsp miso. crushed ginger. ice. shaken. topped with sparkling water. Inspired by one of the best cocktails of 2011

• What you should have been listening to: 50 best songs of 2011
  
• How photoshopping alters our perception of beauty. A fantastic article by Beauty Redefined
• And my entire photoshop rant on Guiltless
• I don't know about you, but I savor my morning cup of joe. And this Farm-To-Table Coffee CSA may be one of the brightest new ideas I've seen!

• Yes prices got a little steep at the gas tank this year, but it wasn't all bad. Be sure to read the good food news of 2011!
  
• Before we start 2012 read this list of things to Stop Doing To Yourself. I think we all need to stop being afraid to make mistakes, stop comparing ourselves and our bodies to others, and stop dwelling on the past without moving forward. But Marc and Angel put this very eloquently.
• And last but not least, let's master the art of living
  

I have a good feeling about 2012. I get to ring it in with one of my favorite people, then I get a visit from Jessica and the last 4 weeks of my dietetic internship which will be spent with two women I respect in the nutrition world- Penny Wilson sports-dietitian-extrodinaire and Ali Miller- RD at LifeLongWeigh. Then I'm moving back to Boston to find a job and (hopefully) become a "real person" . I've got my big girl boots on.

Hope you're wishing 2011 farewell and 2012 brings much joy!

A Vega Sport Winner

You guys all really wanted to try Vega Sport! I wish I could share the love with all 58 of you!

I used random.org to pick a winner:

Entrant #8: @bonniesilva

Congrats Bonnie! I will contact you for shipping details and hopefully get that to you before the new year!

Thank you to all that entered and even if you didn't win this lil' giveaway I highly recommend you check out the line at a store near you!

Happy Holidays!

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas.....

Recipe Redux: Lentil Almond Dip

I love the creative themes that Recipe Redux has been coming up with. This month Nicole @Whole Health RD decided to Put the P(ea) in Potluck. Being a huge fan of all legumes I decided to try a twist on hummus, with the lentils and almonds I had on hand, winding up with....

Lentil Almond Dip

16 oz green lentils
1 cup raw almonds
5 garlic cloves
fresh thyme
2 T Mirin (sweet sake vinegar. can be omitted if you don't have on hand)
2 T Miso
2 T Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 tsp Tamari soy sauce
Salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste.

• Add lentils in 4 cups water, bring to a boil and then simmer for 20-30 minutes-until all liquid is absorbed.

• While the lentils are simmering roast the raw almonds on a baking sheet for 5-10 minutes

• Saute sliced garlic and fresh thyme until garlic begins to brown and your kitchen smells like heaven.

• Once lentils and almonds cool down, add both to the food processer with Mirin, Miso, Vinegar, Soy Sauce and blend until the dip is the smooth texture of hummus.
  
• Add sea salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste
• Serve with raw carrots and celery, crackers, chips or spread until bread.

Best brought to a holiday party or if you're like me a study party. Which is what my holidays are resembling

Want to see some more legume love? Check out what these other RDs whipped up!