I have heard about nutritional yeast off and on for the last few years, and I’ve even been served this ingredient as a part of a larger recipe I once tried. Still, I’ve never known exactly what it is. Now that it seems to be going through another wave of popularity, apparently under the nickname “nooch”, I’ve decided that it’s about time to inform myself. And if I’m going to go to all the effort to get this right, then I’m going to take a minute to share what I learn with you too.
I absolutely love helpful nutrition advice. The thing I need to remind myself to do more often is to watch my sources. I’m careful, to a certain extent. For example, if I look something up, I’ll definitely pay close attention to the quality of the links I click. If I see advice on a personal blog or on Harvard Health’s site, I’ll definitely consider the latter to be more reliable than the former. It’s not any old person on the internet is wrong, it’s just that some organizations have more street cred.
Summertime absolutely begs for great healthy zucchini recipes. Its all well and good to just toss them on the grill or grate them up and make a bread/loaf out of them, but there’s so much more to do with these summer squash than just zoodles. All those dishes are wonderful. I love them, but when the harvests start coming in – my own or those of generous neighbors who don’t know what to do with them all – I like to let my creative juices flow.
I’ve been watching the TikTok olive oil trend probably too closely to be healthy. I had a minor obsession with it this week, so I decided to dive into it, fall down that rabbit hole, and then share what I discover when I climb back out again.
Over the years, sugar substitutes have absolutely fascinated me. I’ve started to basically think of everything sweetened as not-so-great for me. I don’t ban those foods – obviously – but I aim to consume those ones in moderation. Still, the reason sweeteners of all forms are so interesting to me is that science is saying something new about them all the time. The latest seems to be that alternatives have some kind of odd effect on the liver, stopping it from properly detoxifying the body.
This week, I’m investigating plant-based protein and how to make it a focus of the meal. The reason? I discovered that when I eat meat, that tends to be my meal’s focus. When I have beans or tofu or something like that, it’s usually buried into the other ingredients as though I need to hide its shame.
Usually, Holly is the one who shares all the great dishes on this blog, but I have a new affordable healthy dinner recipe that I’m absolutely obsessed with, so now it’s my turn. I have to give Holly a pat on the back for her chocolate depression cake a couple of weeks ago. It was so good, and so many people have said that they’ve tried it out since she shared the recipe that I decided it was time for me to show my stuff in the kitchen too.
For my post this week, it felt like a good time to whip out my recipe for Chocolate Depression Cake. Though I know the name of this traditional dessert goes back to the Great Depression, it always makes me think of the end of January and the beginning of February when the winter blues really start to get going for a lot of us. And while I also know that sugary foods are not the solution to feeling unhappy, a nice slice of this one on occasion can still make me smile.
It seems to be the time of year when lots of news reports and blogs talk about how much people like to eat wild mushrooms. This always gives me visions of either taking one bite out of my harvest and dying a painful, gurgling poisoned death, or shrinking into a tiny little Alice in Wonderland and looking for a tiny door to make my escape. As fun as that second option could potentially be, with the way the world has been for the last year and a half, I’d really rather a more normal mealtime experience.
How fun is it that there are health benefits of spaghetti squash, not just the great taste and playful way of preparing and eating it? Really fun! That’s the answer! This time of year is so great for getting lots of different kinds of bright colored foods I don’t really see at any other time.
Did you know there are actual meaningful health benefits of oatmeal? Maybe you did, and I have been living in a freaky world where I was under the impression that this was essentially filler with a bit of fiber in it. I know that I hated it growing up because I had the unsweetened kind far too much and no kid really likes the unsweetened kind. Plus, does the expression “sticks to your ribs” really make anyone want to dig in? Because that’s how that breakfast was described to me in terms of the advantages it had to offer. Gag. As it turns out, there’s a lot more to it than kid me knew! Thank goodness.
A couple of weeks ago, I talked about research suggesting organic foods might help prevent weight gain, so this week seemed like a natural jump into the 2021 Dirty Dozen list. The reason is that while I’m taking organic foods far more seriously as a part of my shopping list, I wanted to know if I should just get some organics or try to eat only organics.
I’ve now being trying a CSA box for a month and thought I’ve had enough experience that I’m ready to share my initial thoughts with you. A month ago, I blogged about my reasons for doing this and whether a CSA box is worth it. If you didn’t spot that post, I encourage you to read that one before this one because it’ll let you know my motivation and expectations, since I don’t plan to repeat it all in this post.
Are organic foods better for weight loss strategies than conventionally grown ones? Should I be paying more for these fruits, veggies and even meats to get better results on my bathroom scale? These are some of the questions I’ve been asking myself since I’ve been going to more farmer’s markets and Marley has signed up for one of those CSA box programs.
When I was growing up, I was told that there were very few mushroom health benefits. Everything I was taught said that there was a bit of zinc in them and very little else. Still, my family ate them because they were cheap, and they tasted good. Now, I’m always reading about how they’re practically superfoods.
I’ve decided to find out the answer to the question: Is a CSA box worth it? I’ve had my eye on a few of these community-supported agriculture programs for a while now.
Summer lunch ideas have been the most troublesome for me this year, for some reason. No idea why. I seem to have breakfast and dinner in order, but midday comes around, and it’s like I’ve never had to prepare my own lunches before.
Are lentils healthy? That’s what I found myself asking a few weeks ago and ended up diving deep into the rabbit hole until I’d discovered all sorts of great facts, most of which I don’t remember anymore.
I am sooooo ready for summer this year and have my first three low-cal dessert recipes all lined up and ready to go. If you’re ready for backyard BBQs and relaxing in the heat with something sweet and cool after dinner, I’m glad you’ve found this post!
Finding out how to eat dandelions was never a thing I thought I would be investigating. They’re weeds, right? You pick them out of the lawn and hope they never come back (even though they always do). Springtime and later in the summer used to be a constant war between my mom and these little yellow flowers.
I’ve been bouncing back and forth about if stevia is healthy or not. Based on what I see on my Facebook account, it is absolutely the best sugar substitute and absolutely not to be used…how’s that for solid information?
Marley may be trying ketogenic dieting and has already ordered keto diet pills to support her, but on my side of this blog, I’m going to see what turmeric for weight loss will do. I’ve been interested in this for a while. In fact, I know I’m pretty late to the party....
