The Junk Food Nutritionist

I haven’t shared an entrée recipe in a while. Sometimes I think about sharing one but worry that it detracts from the “junk food” aspect of the blog. Well, today’s dinner was deli cious junk food. Carbs or starches often get labelled as "junk." The star of tonight's meal was two carb-heavy ingredients: mashed potatoes and white flour.   Seriously. These two carbs come together to make a dish called gnocchi. Often, chefs will add egg, but I don't cook with eggs and my gnocchi turned out just fine. Here's what I did... I combined 1 cup of leftover mashed potatoes with ½ cup of white flour. I kneaded them together on a cutting board. (Any flat surface will do.) Then, I rolled the dough into a rope and cut it into segments. I was raised eating gnocchi without any fancy lines. If you want to make lines on it, like many stores sell it, you can roll the dough against the tines of a fork.   I brough...

                I was invited to a potluck party to watch the big football game…at the last minute.                 What!? I love preparing food to share with others. But, I’d rather have advance notice.                 My usual potluck favorites: fruit salad, quinoa salad, hummus with crackers or vegetable chips, or dessert with a dietitian twist.                 Well, I didn’t have enough fruit for fruit salad and I was missing the sauce I usually add to my quinoa salad. I’d already gone grocery shopping and didn’t want to go back out to find any special ingredients.                 So, I thought about ...

I already knew I wanted to make some sort of strawberry-swirled brownie. I chose hers for a base because I liked the portion sizes. She makes desserts for two! As in, I wouldn’t have a bunch of extra dessert sitting around for days on end and possibly getting moldy (which has, unfortunately, happened). Strawberry Swirl Brownies Adapted from https://www.dessertfortwo.com/strawberry-swirl-brownies/ I already knew I wanted to make some sort of strawberry-swirled brownie. I chose to use Christina's brownies for a base because I liked the portion sizes. She makes desserts for two! That means, I wouldn’t have a bunch of extra dessert sitting around for days on end and possibly getting moldy (which has, unfortunately, happened). That said, I had to vegan-ize it. 6 strawberries, fresh or frozen, pureed 1 Tbsp. chia seeds 4 Tbsp. margarine 1/3 c. cocoa powder 1/4 c. stevia-sugar blend 3 Tbsp. aquafaba (chickpea brine), or another vegan egg-replac...

If you missed last week's post, I reviewed Sam Turnball's new cookbook, Fuss-Free Vegan: 101 Everyday Comfort Food Favorites, Veganized. Sam and her publisher gave me permission to share one recipe from the book with you and I chose her Fudgy Double Chocolate Brownies. If you know me, you know I love dessert...

I’ve been having cravings lately. No, I’m not pregnant. But I am a woman and cravings are pretty typical in womanhood…not to mention, they're pretty common in stress. Anyway, what this means for you…One morning, I was planning to eat my no-sugar-added wheat squares (like frosted shredded wheat squares only without the sugar). Suddenly, I craved Puppy Chow (not the actual dog food but the human snack). It goes by other names, one of which is apparently a registered trademark, so I can’t mention it here…. Being the dietitian I am, I decided not to just pull up a recipe online and follow it. Nope. I made my own lower sugar version, which I actually think is way tastier than the powdered sugar-coated version…

At work, we served Red, White, and Blue Cookies at our Memorial Day picnic. I was hoping they would be served again for Fourth of July. And, initially, that was the plan. I pointed out that some of our residents were unable to eat them due to dietary restrictions and we'd have to make an alternate dessert. Rather than making an alternate dessert, the idea was nixed entirely. So, I decided to make my own... Since my company didn't make them from scratch, I couldn't borrow the recipe to follow. (Not to mention, it wouldn't have been vegan or otherwise met my nutrition preferences...) I started with Minimalist Baker's 1 Bowl Vegan Sugar Cookies as a guide. You could also use your favorite sugar cookie recipe or even store bought sugar cookie dough and add dried blueberries and dried cranberries. Red, White, and Blue Vegan Cookies Makes 9 small cookies 4 Tbsp. margarine 2 Tbsp. brown sugar 2 Tbsp. powdered stevia (or another sugar substitute e...