Food Philosophy

My food philosophy is all about balance: love what you eat and be what you eat to live a long, healthy life. What I serve up in my kitchen could be scaled back even further to include less calories, less fat, and a whole lot less of a lot…but I have learned that less is not always more when you’re talking about food. Loving what you eat at every meal should not only meet the needs of your body (without excess), but of the mind, and heart, and soul. If you don’t love what you eat today, why would you continue eating the same tomorrow?

Dieting and unrealistic food intakes, whether it be a lack of calories…or taste, will not lead to an eating lifestyle that one can maintain (happily, at least). My cooking style focuses on disease prevention in otherwise healthy people. So for me, “healthy” is a term I use to suggest balance, moderation of all nutrients, and plentiful in what we know to be good (i.e. vitamins, minerals, fiber, omega-3’s, and so on). I think it’s crucial to identify “healthy” in terms of what to expect from me and this blog, because “healthy” is a subjective term depending on the health and needs of an individual.

I dabble in gluten-free and vegetarian/vegan, but tend to keep things appealing to the every-day palate…and budget. I aim to use whole, unprocessed foods and always encourage the options of local and organic when possible. Especially local.

I cook for a man who finds many joys in frozen food, pizza, anything with buffalo wing sauce, and lots of candy. It can be a challenge, but I try to meet him a bit of the way. Together, we both have a fairly unhealthy obsession with doughnuts…so I make a lot of baked doughnuts.

I meal plan…every week. And other than fruits and vegetables for snacking and the occasional bottle of wine, tend to buy ONLY what’s on my grocery list. I try to eat in-season and fresh, and spend about $90-100 a week on food for 2.

I love to grill, and garden. When I do bake, I share with others. I hope the final products of my endeavors are prettier than the process by which I get there – I’m not a trained chef…just a self-taught hot mess most of the time. I love leftovers and eat them for lunch nearly every day. Literally.

I know exactly why I do what I do as a Registered Dietitian and why I continue to blog; I do what feeds me (pun intended). Even when life turns into a big ball of stress, I find relief from it all in three very specific ways: exercise, cooking, and writing. In that order.

That’s me, my food philosophy, and what I hope you come to love and enjoy about my little pocket of the web. May your intake feed and nourish you from the inside out, and always.

With much love,