Today marks the first day of fall quarter in my second year of obtaining both my masters degree in nutrition and clinical health psychology. After 8 hours in class, my mind is racing with excitement, anxiety, and eagerness. I feel that I am overstimulated with the amount of information given in the first day. It is as if each professor gives you a snapshot of what the next 10 weeks will be like, as I sit and ponder how I am going to be a master of the material they are presenting in such a short time. There are some classes that I could study the material for years and years, and at times I feel that I get cheated by only studying it for such a short time in my academic career. However, I suppose that is the purpose of obtaining a PhD, which I won't begin to discuss the intense pull that I have felt in that direction, especially since 2 of my profs today had both their RDs and PhDs.
However, despite the overwhelming amount of information that was given to me, I once walked away from the day, satisfied that I am indeed in the right field and pursuing my dream. Last year, I would sit and ponder if I was making the right decision about my future, and I am grateful that my overall feeling today consisted of trst more than anything else. Especially sitting through the first lecture in my Global and Ecological issues in Food class, I was captivated by what my professor was talking about how the missing link in nutrition today is the failure to look outward and to see how our food supply provides us with essential information that communicates messages to our bodies. This shift in focus from internal to external is one that I am eager to explore and so grateful that my education at Bastyr allows to learn.
It was especially helpful to receive a message from my mother this morning, talking about how proud she was of me and my decision to pursue nutrition and psychology. I think she is beginning to see what an intense passion i have for both fields and I am hoping to continue to share this passion with others. A goal that I have for this quarter is to spend time with my studies so that I can explain it to others, so that they not only get my passion for the subject, but a practical view of food and their relationship with it.
Well hopefully there will be more coming soon. I would like to say that I will contribute regularly to this blog, but with school beginning, I am hoping to post at least 2 times a week. Lets start with that, and I will be surprised if I am able to muster up more than that.
Here's to learning, and pondering and being okay with never having all my questions answered all the time!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Welcoming Fall Soup
So this evening I made a Thai Pumpkin Soup that filled the entire house with scents of fall and warmed me up as if I was sitting by a warm fire. It was the perfect ending to my first day back to school, especially since it was a bit hard to leave home last night. Cooking the soup tonight made the entire house warm and cozy which is exactly what i needed. I also especially liked using coconut milk in this recipe, because I have been on a coconut milk kick lately. Today at school, me and a classmate experimented with a new smoothie using coconut milk, mango, banana, and ginger. It was so smooth and creamy. The coconut milk stuck with me all day and I contributed it to my sucessful run around greenlake this afternoon. We are using coconut milk in our smoothies at the Juicebar and I am excited to allow students the chance to try this non-dairy milk in their drinks.
Tomorrow is the start of classes, which is one of the main reasons I cooked tonight, because I had the TIME to! It felt like the calm before the storm, but honestly, I am hoping to continue to make time to cook. It is always so hard to go to my clinic shift each week and talk to clients about making time to cook dinner and experiment with new recipes when I can't find the time to. So I hoped that tonight I set an intention to cook during fall quarter, and to view my meals as a time to relax and nurture myself. If I can just remember the feeling of cooking tonight in a calm environment, just like I had all the time in the world to experiment in the kitchen, because whos to tell me that I don't!
Here is the recipe I used tonight: I experimented a bit with Goat milk instead of the non-fat milk and I also added more coconut milk for a creamier taste. Dried thyme can be replaced with rosemary.
Thai Pumpkin Soup
1 Tbsp butter
1 small onion chopped
1 Tbsp peeled, fresh ginger
1 clove garlic
2 cups canned pumpkin
1.5 cups coconut milk
1.5 cups nonfat milk
1 tsp thai green curry paste
pinch of dried thyme
1 tsp lime juice
salt, pepper to taste
1/3 cup chopped peanuts
Melt butter, saute onions, ginger, and garlic.
Place 1 cup pumpkin, coconut milk, nonfat milk, curry paste, and thyme into a blender. Add onions and puree until smooth.
Pour the puree into a pot, add the other cup of pumpkin, and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes
Season with lime, salt, and pepper. Top with peanuts and enjoy!
Tomorrow is the start of classes, which is one of the main reasons I cooked tonight, because I had the TIME to! It felt like the calm before the storm, but honestly, I am hoping to continue to make time to cook. It is always so hard to go to my clinic shift each week and talk to clients about making time to cook dinner and experiment with new recipes when I can't find the time to. So I hoped that tonight I set an intention to cook during fall quarter, and to view my meals as a time to relax and nurture myself. If I can just remember the feeling of cooking tonight in a calm environment, just like I had all the time in the world to experiment in the kitchen, because whos to tell me that I don't!
Here is the recipe I used tonight: I experimented a bit with Goat milk instead of the non-fat milk and I also added more coconut milk for a creamier taste. Dried thyme can be replaced with rosemary.
Thai Pumpkin Soup
1 Tbsp butter
1 small onion chopped
1 Tbsp peeled, fresh ginger
1 clove garlic
2 cups canned pumpkin
1.5 cups coconut milk
1.5 cups nonfat milk
1 tsp thai green curry paste
pinch of dried thyme
1 tsp lime juice
salt, pepper to taste
1/3 cup chopped peanuts
Melt butter, saute onions, ginger, and garlic.
Place 1 cup pumpkin, coconut milk, nonfat milk, curry paste, and thyme into a blender. Add onions and puree until smooth.
Pour the puree into a pot, add the other cup of pumpkin, and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes
Season with lime, salt, and pepper. Top with peanuts and enjoy!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Frosting Fun
This week I have had the privlidge of being a "taste tester" in my mother's kitchen as she prepares wedding cakes for a family friend's wedding this Saturday. I have already blogged about my love of raw cookie dough, but my love of frosting is almost tied with it. Tonight I was able to compare the sour cream maple frosting to the buttercream with mini chocolate chips to the orange peel vanilla. So many to choose from, what is a girl to do? Each one had the creamiest and richest flavors you could ask for in a frosting. I enjoyed it even without the cake, which by the way, is just as decadent.
Frosting is so much fun to eat. My favorite way is a quick lick with the finger, but in order to be more sanitary, I have been using a spoon . .well maybe a few spoons. I think eating frosting this way brings me back to my days as a child, when people thought it was cute to let the kids lick the spoon. I don't know how cute I look anymore, as a 25 year old asking my mother to lick the spoon, but something tells me she enjoys my help testing the batches. It keeps us both young and helps me to remember that its okay to endulge in some sweet delights, and has helped me realize to do this more often. Besides, cooks love to spoil their family and friends, and I have felt truly spoiled this week.
Frosting is so much fun to eat. My favorite way is a quick lick with the finger, but in order to be more sanitary, I have been using a spoon . .well maybe a few spoons. I think eating frosting this way brings me back to my days as a child, when people thought it was cute to let the kids lick the spoon. I don't know how cute I look anymore, as a 25 year old asking my mother to lick the spoon, but something tells me she enjoys my help testing the batches. It keeps us both young and helps me to remember that its okay to endulge in some sweet delights, and has helped me realize to do this more often. Besides, cooks love to spoil their family and friends, and I have felt truly spoiled this week.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
The importance of Blogging
What a long time it has been, since I last posted on here. I have had an extremely busy summer, and unfortunately blogging has not been a top priority. Honestly, I was a bit unsure of the future of my blog after my writing class ended. However, I was looking through some of my old postings last night, and realized how much insight I gained from keeping my blogs during spring quarter. Reading through the blogs was like opening up an old journal from my teen years. I was able to see my how my insight and opinions were changing about food with each week. I believe this blog can be a place to continue to log that change and discuss all the exciting things I am learning on my path to becoming a nutritionist. The field of nutrition is growing daily and a blog can hold all of my new thoughts and insights for others to see. Which I am unsure of how many readers I will have, now that the classmates aren't required to read my blog. But having the chance to practice communicating what I am reading and studying about, seems to be the most vital thing for my career at the moment. I love the field of nutrition because of how much education I am required to give to my clients, and a blog can be a great way to practice educating clients.
So basically, what I am trying to say, is that I am setting the intention to revive this blog and keep it running throughout the next two years of my graduate program! I am eager to see what will become of it when I a teacher is not forcing me to write for a grade. I am doing this as a gift to myself and my education.
It would be appropriate to give an update on my summer and all the things that I have learned in the field, especially since I started seeing patients at the clinic and giving real nutrition advice. I also experimented with an elimination diet and have been reading a hugely insane amount of material on emotional eating and eating disorders. I have been reading and studying vibrational food and the Chakra systems, thanks to an excellent book by Deanna Minich, Ph.D., C.N., which I will write an entire blog on due to the passion and I acquired from reading it.
Lastly, I have been very aware of my own opinons, habits, philosophies of my own diet. This has probably been the most important, because I have truely learned that we teach what we need to learn. So as I am teaching and studying nutrition, I find that I am the one who needs to adopt the principles the most. So look in the future for more personal insights about food and mood especially!
Well it is great to be back! Looking forward to the Fall and my continued passion to evolve through this blog!
So basically, what I am trying to say, is that I am setting the intention to revive this blog and keep it running throughout the next two years of my graduate program! I am eager to see what will become of it when I a teacher is not forcing me to write for a grade. I am doing this as a gift to myself and my education.
It would be appropriate to give an update on my summer and all the things that I have learned in the field, especially since I started seeing patients at the clinic and giving real nutrition advice. I also experimented with an elimination diet and have been reading a hugely insane amount of material on emotional eating and eating disorders. I have been reading and studying vibrational food and the Chakra systems, thanks to an excellent book by Deanna Minich, Ph.D., C.N., which I will write an entire blog on due to the passion and I acquired from reading it.
Lastly, I have been very aware of my own opinons, habits, philosophies of my own diet. This has probably been the most important, because I have truely learned that we teach what we need to learn. So as I am teaching and studying nutrition, I find that I am the one who needs to adopt the principles the most. So look in the future for more personal insights about food and mood especially!
Well it is great to be back! Looking forward to the Fall and my continued passion to evolve through this blog!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Culinary passion
Last night i was lucky enough to reunite with an old high school friend, who is a culinary chef. I discovered much about the way in which a passion for food can span across many professions. I often think that nutritionists must be the only career that loves to analyze food and think about food, but i fail to give credit to the chefs who make masterpieces with food and help people fall in love with food.
Our conversation helped me realize that culinary cooking is much different than the cooking classes I take in my education at Bastyr University. But especially in Seattle, culinary cooking is becoming more advanced with incorporating nutrition aspects. Many restaurants are having to prepare gluten free items and be knowledgeable about food allergens and additives. As my friend stated, the two hot topics in the culinary world are locality and simplicity. This sounds very similar to themes across my nutrition education. I think in the future, it will be important for nutritionists and chefs to "share notes." At least that is what came up in our conversation, because we need them to make the food taste delicious and they need us to educate them on how to make food health promoting. Even with the economy, people are still choosing to eat out and I always think people will make room in their budgets for good restaurants.
Overall, when people have a passion for food, amazing things come of it. For my chef friend, he loves his job, because the food he makes will always be apart of the memory that his customers make in his restaurant. I love my career, because food holds so much emotion for people, and i want to help my clients heal from negative emotions around food and gain control over their nutrition.
I encourage anyone with a passion for food to study what aspect intrigues them, and cultivate it into a career. Food is love, sorrow, happiness, grief, and memories are made with it many times a day. There is so much work to be done in the growing field of nutrition and cooking, and i feel so privileged to be apart of it.
Just for fun, check out to search for local cooking school in your area!
Our conversation helped me realize that culinary cooking is much different than the cooking classes I take in my education at Bastyr University. But especially in Seattle, culinary cooking is becoming more advanced with incorporating nutrition aspects. Many restaurants are having to prepare gluten free items and be knowledgeable about food allergens and additives. As my friend stated, the two hot topics in the culinary world are locality and simplicity. This sounds very similar to themes across my nutrition education. I think in the future, it will be important for nutritionists and chefs to "share notes." At least that is what came up in our conversation, because we need them to make the food taste delicious and they need us to educate them on how to make food health promoting. Even with the economy, people are still choosing to eat out and I always think people will make room in their budgets for good restaurants.
Overall, when people have a passion for food, amazing things come of it. For my chef friend, he loves his job, because the food he makes will always be apart of the memory that his customers make in his restaurant. I love my career, because food holds so much emotion for people, and i want to help my clients heal from negative emotions around food and gain control over their nutrition.
I encourage anyone with a passion for food to study what aspect intrigues them, and cultivate it into a career. Food is love, sorrow, happiness, grief, and memories are made with it many times a day. There is so much work to be done in the growing field of nutrition and cooking, and i feel so privileged to be apart of it.
Just for fun, check out to search for local cooking school in your area!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Simple Mango Salsa
So lately my creative juices haven't been very apparent in the kitchen. Stress about finals could be a reason for that, and that i just don't have the time to cook an ellaborate meal. However, last night i made mango salsa for a potluck at school today, and was very satisfied with my beautiful creation of colors and flavors. The best part was how easy, simple, and yet relaxing it was to prepare it in the kitchen last night.
Today at the potluck, i was asked about the recipe. I kinda chuckled to myself because I thought, "why would someone want a recipe for something as simple as mango salsa?" I realized that anything that is created in the kitchen, deserves to have pride behind it, whether it be simple or ellaborate. Also many times people underestimate how simple salsa can be, or perhaps a recipe gives them security that they are making it right. For me, it is a lesson and a reminder to myself that things can be simple. Just because i am studying nutrition, doesn't mean i have to always cook meals that reflect my knowledge. Sometimes i just want to pop open a can of beans, mix some salsa into it and still have it taste good. Well I accomplished my goal of making something that tasted good and allowed me to be humble in the kitchen.
For now here is my Simple Mahgo Salsa recipe:
1 large mango, cut into chunks
4 medium roma tomatoes, cut into chunks
Juice from a lemon and lime
1 bunch cilantro
1 cup of prepared organic valley salsa (any prepared fresh salsa will do)
I can of organic black beans
pinch of salt
See . . i told you it was simple!
Enjoy your food in any form!
Today at the potluck, i was asked about the recipe. I kinda chuckled to myself because I thought, "why would someone want a recipe for something as simple as mango salsa?" I realized that anything that is created in the kitchen, deserves to have pride behind it, whether it be simple or ellaborate. Also many times people underestimate how simple salsa can be, or perhaps a recipe gives them security that they are making it right. For me, it is a lesson and a reminder to myself that things can be simple. Just because i am studying nutrition, doesn't mean i have to always cook meals that reflect my knowledge. Sometimes i just want to pop open a can of beans, mix some salsa into it and still have it taste good. Well I accomplished my goal of making something that tasted good and allowed me to be humble in the kitchen.
For now here is my Simple Mahgo Salsa recipe:
1 large mango, cut into chunks
4 medium roma tomatoes, cut into chunks
Juice from a lemon and lime
1 bunch cilantro
1 cup of prepared organic valley salsa (any prepared fresh salsa will do)
I can of organic black beans
pinch of salt
See . . i told you it was simple!
Enjoy your food in any form!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Teaching turns into learning moments
This Spring Quarter, I was able to be a Teacher's Assistant for a cooking class at Bastyr University called Therapeutic Whole Foods cooking. I was thrilled for the chance to be a TA, mostly because i loved the class so much when i took it and now i was getting the chance to experience it again, but this time by shopping for the weekly menu and tasting the student's food each week.
The quarter is coming to a close, and I can honestly say that i got so much more out of being a TA for this class than i thought i would. Moslty because i opened my mind to listen to the messages that my body was giving me about the food i was tasting. In the end i think the students in the class taught me something about the way i was experiencing food.
A few things i learned about myself through this experience was how i learned about the importance of shopping for a cooking class. First of all, so much more fun to venture around PCC and collect items for the weekly menu than grocery shopping on my limited and small budget. I think that i have realized that i don't shop for myself the way i should, with my senses and listening to my hunger cues.
The most important thing i discovered this quarter was how food tastes differently based upon who is cooking it and the kind of intention and thought that goes into it. The class is set up so that each station prepares the same meal with the same ingredients. Myself and the cooking instructor sample the menu items from each station. There were so many times when the soup of one group tasted completely differnet from another, or the consistency of the bread was different based upon if they used egg yolk or egg whites. I loved getting the chance to share in the hard work and effort of each group and sit down to share their meal as a community of eaters and food lovers. I felt honored that they had prepared the meal and that i was to share it with them. This quarter i started eating some meat, after not having it for about a year. One day i just felt that my body was craving it and the students had preparred some organic grass fed lamb. We were doing a class on elevated needs and i couldnt help but think how my meat-deprived body was needing some elevated nutrient. There could be no better time than that day to allow my body to benefit from the nourishment of the love and nutrients the students had made that day. Since then, i have been trying all the food the class has prepared as a way to honor the messages in my body as well as the efforts of the chefs.
I think it is important to always pay attention to the way food tastes and feel in our body because of the love and intention behind it. I encourage you to begin seeing each meal this way and eat therapeutically even if you were the one who cooked the meal!
Happy cooking!
The quarter is coming to a close, and I can honestly say that i got so much more out of being a TA for this class than i thought i would. Moslty because i opened my mind to listen to the messages that my body was giving me about the food i was tasting. In the end i think the students in the class taught me something about the way i was experiencing food.
A few things i learned about myself through this experience was how i learned about the importance of shopping for a cooking class. First of all, so much more fun to venture around PCC and collect items for the weekly menu than grocery shopping on my limited and small budget. I think that i have realized that i don't shop for myself the way i should, with my senses and listening to my hunger cues.
The most important thing i discovered this quarter was how food tastes differently based upon who is cooking it and the kind of intention and thought that goes into it. The class is set up so that each station prepares the same meal with the same ingredients. Myself and the cooking instructor sample the menu items from each station. There were so many times when the soup of one group tasted completely differnet from another, or the consistency of the bread was different based upon if they used egg yolk or egg whites. I loved getting the chance to share in the hard work and effort of each group and sit down to share their meal as a community of eaters and food lovers. I felt honored that they had prepared the meal and that i was to share it with them. This quarter i started eating some meat, after not having it for about a year. One day i just felt that my body was craving it and the students had preparred some organic grass fed lamb. We were doing a class on elevated needs and i couldnt help but think how my meat-deprived body was needing some elevated nutrient. There could be no better time than that day to allow my body to benefit from the nourishment of the love and nutrients the students had made that day. Since then, i have been trying all the food the class has prepared as a way to honor the messages in my body as well as the efforts of the chefs.
I think it is important to always pay attention to the way food tastes and feel in our body because of the love and intention behind it. I encourage you to begin seeing each meal this way and eat therapeutically even if you were the one who cooked the meal!
Happy cooking!
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