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I’ve been working on what can only be described as a massive Spring Cleaning session with my bookmarks. I must have over 1,000 recipes saved, from appetizers to desserts and everything in between. When you have that many recipes, I’ve found several things: 1) there are bound to be duplicates – different bloggers all posting the same chocolate chip cookie recipe, a slew of chicken marsala recipes t
I tried to write this post last night so that it could be scheduled to automatically post today while I was at the internship, earlier than this crazy-late time. But it was a long day, to say the least, and I found myself wholly unexcited about peanut butter and pineapple (as a side note, it takes a pretty long day to get me apathetic about peanut butter). I just wasn’t feeling the post, and I fi
I don’t really know how to write this post; I only know that I need to write it. I’ve scrapped about 3 versions of it in the past 10 minutes. So please, bear with me, because I need to get real with you guys today, and it isn’t easy. In fact, it’s pretty humiliating. So here goes... Do you see all of that food in the picture above? That all came from my freezer. The most recent product in
I didn’t get an overwhelming response to my last post about Banana-Date “Butter,” which was one of the simplest yet most phenomenal recipes I’ve tried in a while. Are you guys date skeptics? If so, I don’t know how much you’re going to like me today, because the earlier post about bananas and dates is the tamer of the two date combos I have for you this week. I figured I’d start off with the wond
Bananas are one of the coolest fruits out there. Scratch that, they’re one of the coolest foodsout there. They can be combined with the two other greatest foods out there – chocolate and peanut butter – to create something synergistically more incredible than any of that trio alone. They make baked goods soft and cohesive. They’re the best thing that’s ever happened to pancakes. I’ve learned that
I’m not a juice person. I used to be – I think I single-handedly kept Mott’s apple juice in business as a kid, and as a teenager managed to, if nothing else, get a glass of classic OJ down before running out the door for class. Then, I became a nutrition major, and decided that juice was “bad” because it was full of sugar, and therefore I wouldn’t be drinking it, pretty much ever. I’ve since more
What a crazy time it’s been since my last post! I had to keep it quiet because every once in a while my sister sees my posts, but this past weekend, as Maid of Honor, I threw her a bridal shower - her wedding's in June. If it had been up to me I probably would have catered the entire thing, but we had it at a nice little restaurant and I just provided a small groom’s cake to complement the larger
A tortilla, a full carrot, and raisins, all in one snack? Am I crazy? And I dare to call myself a dietetic intern, a soon-to-be Registered dietitian? Do I even know how many carbohydrates are in this thing? I do: 39 grams. 10 of which come from fiber. There was a time in my life when I would have been appalled by this Carrot-Raisin Snack Wrap. I know many people who still would be. Carrots and
For someone who never grew up eating meatloaf, I sure have made up for lost time. I can’t help it – a well-cooked recipe using ground meat is just so satisfying to me (as much as I love lean & vegetarian proteins, there’s something about a fat, medium-rare burger that can’t be beat). So when I found yet another meatloaf recipe in Rachael Ray’s cookbook, this time in the form of muffins, I kne
Happy Earth Day! Unfortunately, the connections between this post and Earth Day end here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a day dedicated to caring for the world (though really, I’m even more for 365 days a year dedicated to caring for the world, not just one) – I just don’t really have any archived recipes to tell you about that absolutely scream good for the environment – like an organic kale
I must not want this blog to kick off. I must not want to amass more wonderful, inspiring readers, or prove to some publishing company that they should absolutely gamble on a cookbook based on the blog, or in the back of my mind daydream about what it would be like if I could turn this into an actual career. If I wanted these things, any of them, I would not tell you about this recipe for Chocola
My How to Build Your Own Smoothie post back from September 2011 is actually the most popular post/recipe on Floptimism, and I’ve posted a whole slew of other smoothie recipes since then. If you make a smoothie right, I’ve found that it can keep you full for a long time. That means making sure you include ample fiber and protein along with the simple sugars from the fruit and dairy/alternative. I
I’ve recently discovered that I love cornbread. I don’t think that there was ever a point in my life were I specifically had anything against it; it was just one of those foods that, as a finicky kid, I decided was not going to work for me. It’s very likely that I came to this conclusion without ever even tasting the stuff. So naturally, when the newfound foodie in me was presented with a square
Today would have been a fun WIAW to do – as part of my internship, I planned a Baseball Season Opener Barbecue, and it’s going to be held this afternoon. Now, I’m one of the least sports-oriented people you’ll ever meet, and the menu was not really up to me to plan either, but I did get to tweak it here or there: frozen yogurt in those fun baseball helmet “bowls” that you get at the parks, an aut
It looks like Spring has finally decided to come out of hibernation, so I guess I better tell you about this borderline revolutionary vegetarian chocolate chili before you start scorning such meals for lighter, daintier fair. I know Spring is supposed to be about delicate asparagus spears fanned elegantly across a bed of arugula and garnished with well-placed strawberries. I should be wooing you
Before we get to today’s recipe, I want to extend an enormous, big-bear-hug thank you to all of the bloggers who took a second to stop by my What I Ate Wednesday: National Nutrition Month (WIAW NNM) Link Party, which officially ended yesterday morning. I’m so happy with the turn out, especially for my first ever link up, and I encourage you to check out the post to see all of the fantastic recipe
In the spirit of Passover, which continues until tonight (or Tuesday, depending on who you ask), I thought I’d share a recipe today that also happens to be Kosher for Passover. But, like virtually every Kosher-for-Passover recipe I enjoy and will therefore post on this blog, you don’t need to be Jewish or even observing Passover specifically to make this. The original recipe came from Heather’s C
Welcome to my first ever link-up! One of the things I love about blogging is that it’s not one-sided – hearing from you and reading/seeing what other people are cooking up in their kitchens is the best part about it. So today, with March’s National Nutrition Month coming to an end, I’m inviting anyone who wants to link up all of the delicious, healthy food they’ve been enjoying this month. Link t
Announcement: Before I start today’s post, here’s a reminder of the What I Ate Wednesday special link-up I’m hosting this coming Wednesday, March 27th! It’s to celebrate the end of National Nutrition Month. So be sure to stop by on Wednesday with your blog posts or picture links to share all the fantastic, healthy meals and snacks you’ve been enjoying this month! Check out my last WIAW post for s
Do you have any foods that you really like, and maybe are even really good for you, but you just never think to eat them? For me, it’s popcorn. I love the stuff – give me a bowl with just a light coating of butter (real butter, none of that butter flavor nonsense) and a hint of salt, and it’s downright addictive. I even have my very own popcorn maker and container of popcorn kernels. You’d
Baking is my thing. Sure, I really like to cook, but it’s not until I’m measuring flour, kneading dough, or frosting a cake that I feel truly in my element. Most cooks don’t like to bake for its precision, but I love it. I love pushing that precision to see how far I can bend it, too. I feel like for someone like me, a cooking recipe should be treasured. I should crave step-by-step instructions a
Almost a month ago, I wrote about one of L’s 2013 Superbowl cocktail concoctions, the Golden Gate Sunrise. As delicious as it was (and he did prefer that one), I loved this Ravens-inspired drink, one that I’m naming PomaBerry Splash, but am really, really tempted to call “That’s So Raven” instead. It’s sweeter, more refreshing than the other, and perhaps even a little Summer-y. There’s a distinct
You may have noticed on Sunday’s post that for the past few years on March 10th, I’ve written entries about Puppy Floptimism’s birthday. For his 1st birthday I went all out and made him a puppy cake – one that was 100% human edible and delicious, but with a few cupcakes for a more puppy-sized treat. The next year, I made him Honey & Peanut Butter dog treats, which he loved. And though I didn’
Tomorrow is blueberry popover day, and although I don’t conveniently have a recipe for blueberry popovers sitting in my back pocket, waiting to make its Floptimism debut, I do have a recipe for a blueberry pie.Well, blueberry pie smoothie, anyway.I’ve found that as much as I love frozen fruit in my smoothies, the flavor in a frozen blueberry is too subtle to conjure up images of warm, freshly ba
Happy NNM WIAW! Woah, that was a lot of letters, I know. NNM WIAW = National Nutrition Month What I Ate Wednesday. Every March, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics celebrates National Nutrition Month, encouraging people across the country to give healthy eating practices a shot. This month’s theme is “Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day,” which is all about embracing individuality, culture, persona
March is a rough month. In fact, it’s just the worst. December is exciting, with joyful holidays, chilly but not unbearable temperatures, and the giddy promise of new snow. January is bearable – the awe of a good snowstorm likely hasn’t yet plummeted into cynical feelings of being inconvenienced, and although the temperatures are getting more hostile, you think, I can do this. This isn’t too bad.
A lot of Rachael Ray’s recipes are simple ones, especially when it comes to the less savory dishes. And I get it. I don’t like fussy desserts either, but I also don’t really do ‘semi-homemade’ and try to avoid the microwave as much as possible. It’s just a personal preference. So I’m finding that a lot of her sweeter recipes, though they sound delicious, aren’t really ones that I’m dying to try r
I have this habit of trying to push my luck in the kitchen. I start off with something good, but then all I can think about is, what can I do to make it even better? Generally, “better” is loosely defined as healthier but just as, if not more, delicious. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll eat a full-fat, full-sugar dessert any day of the week that I get a hankering for one, but I mean, if you canmake somet
Do you know what time it is?It’s peanut butter jelly time.Yeah, that’s right, I watch Family Guy sometimes. And goodness knows why, but that 15 second clip stuck in my brain, so I would say a good 80% of the time that I refer to peanut butter and jelly anything, I start that little remix and dance in my head. Really, it makes peanut butter and jelly that much more enjoyable, which is saying somet
L made his photographic premiere on this blog last year with my birthday post, but today, he’s about to make an even more exciting blog premiere: today is his recipe premiere. Now, he isn’t the most confident in the kitchen. He’s got eggs, pasta, and hot dogs down pat, but that’s roughly the extent of his repertoire. His true specialty, his passion, lies in an area of recipe development into whic
Exactly one month ago yesterday I told you about the haphazard White Chocolate Peppermint Eggnog Cake that I made on a whim when I wasn’t happy with a batch of Eggnog Muffins for the holidays. I also promised that I would follow that post up at some point with the recipe for those muffins. And then I did what I’m best at – I sat on the recipe for another few weeks. I just love keeping you in susp
Participating in WIAW makes me feel like I need to switch up what I eat a bit more. I do always start my morning with some kind of yogurt or almond milk recipe, and it seems like more often than not I follow it up with a banana a few hours later. Am I complacently in a food rut without even realizing it? Maybe. I think my snacks in particular tend to be pretty mundane – I’ll have to work on that.
There are so many things that I love about coffee. I love the way its rich aroma makes the whole house smell like morning. I love the way a nice, fresh mug will warm your hands when nothing else will. I love the flavor it gives when you churn it into sweet ice cream, and even more-so when you stir in actual bitter coffee grounds into the base and blanket the whole thing in a dark chocolate fudge.
I will update my blog tonight. I will update my blog tonight. I will update my blog tonight.Guys, I had a little bit of a breakdown yesterday. I was three days into my Community internship rotation and exactly three days behind on my work, which is not all that encouraging. I was mentally and physically exhausted. I had spent the day cooking stir fried vegetables and rice for 120 5th graders, and
I’m taking a break from Simple Saturday to tell you about a butternut squash pasta dish that I’ve been sitting on for over two years now. What’s more, I even originally wrote this blog post well over a month ago – yes, as in way back in 2012 – and then never posted it because, well, I guess I got distracted. Before you think I’m mean or selfish (or just really flighty), let me say that I only mad
Last year right before the Superbowl, I wrote about how excited I was that this year I would be living close enough to L to cater his annual Superbowl party with delicious food. I was not, however, expecting the two wrenches that were waiting to be thrown into our plan: first, all of his college friends are now spread across the country and most of his high school friends are still in college (ak
This week, for me, has been chock-full of prepared foods. Sure, they were things like spicy lentil soup, quinoa salad with fresh vegetables, and wheatberry salad with almonds and raisins – but even with the “menu” being laudable at first glance, pulling me away from food prepared in my own home for too long is enough to make me feel, well, sluggish. I miss cooking every night – no matter how grat
This week I started my Clinical Staff Relief – the final 2 weeks of my clinical dietetic internship rotation where I essentially function as a dietitian. I’m given much more independence, and many more patients to see, and I have to say – it’s pretty nice! Busy, sure. A little daunting, yup. But nice. I can’t believe my clinical rotation is almost over. Pretty soon, I’ll be moving on to Community
You know how they say “third time’s a charm?” That’s these brownies. If you want to get technical, these are probably more like, one-time’s-a-charm, then Jess had to start day dreaming about how she could change an already perfectly acceptable recipe, then second time was a flop, and thenthird time was a charm.But I never really cared much for semantics.The important thing is that, in
My mom doesn’t use recipes all that often when she’s cooking dinner – she’s more of a see-what’s-available-and-turn-it-into-a-meal kind of cook. Me, I’m all about a plan: even if I riff on a recipe using my own creative license, I still decide in advance what, where, when and how much I will be cooking. I’m just not that laid back, I guess. But every once in a while, I cross over into the world o
I do not, ever, know how to leave something well alone, especially when it comes to the kitchen. This year for the holidays, I decided that I would bake a Chocolate Peppermint Cake Roll for Christmas Eve with L’s family, and easy eggnog muffins (recipe still to come) – both to be made the morning of Christmas Eve. So what do I do, but wake up, bake the cake roll, get started on the muffins, and d
Note: This photo was taken by my old crummy phone at 6am under a dim lamp. Apologies.I have a conundrum. I love overnight oats with a passion. I think they’re delicious, easy, and I get excited when I wake up in the morning knowing there’s a container of them in the fridge waiting for me. But whenever I try to describe them to you, I feel like I’m writing an advertisement against them. Cold? Thic
Welcome to another WIAW! Lest my blog turn into an alternating bombardment of Simple Saturdays & What I Ate Wednesdays, I figured I’d do an every-other-week sort of thing. You can’t possibly care that much about what silly little me puts into my mouth that you want to see a WIAW every single week, right? You most certainly care more about things like how I turned elegant chocolate peppermint
Alright, I’ve been fair. I’ve waited out the New Year a full week without posting a single gluttonous recipe. It isn’t that I haven’t been making an effort to eat healthfully in 2013; it’s just that I have these crazy good desserts that I made for the holidays, and I’ve been sitting on them since I made them, and I might explode if I can’t share them with you soon. As in right now. Please forgive
Well, it’s 2013 and I’m still cooking my way through Rachael Ray’s Classic 30 Minute Meals cookbook. I’m slowing down, mostly because I’m just not in the kitchen as much as I used to be before the internship (hopefully that will change when my clinical rotation ends), but also because I think I just needed a break from the book. That didn’t stop me, though, from flipping through its pages when I
I’m going to take a step back from the gluttony for a moment. (Aren’t I nice, giving you a break from the sweets the day before nearly everyone embarks on a quest for health and fitness? Don’t worry – I’ll be back later in the week to bombard you with total calorie bombs – I’m sorry, but only a little.) For now, I want to share with you an easy, quick naked cupcake (muffin) recipe that I have up m
I love a good chicken salad. I’ve made a fewriffson the classic and even a fewattemptsat the classic itself in the past, but ultimately, it’s something I tend to order and enjoy at restaurants a few times a year. I definitely fall victim to the misconception that the dish, which is often laden with full-fat mayonnaise, is a light option – it just feels like it should be, right? Well, I’ve b
Good morning, everyone! I hope you had an enjoyable Christmas Day, however you spent it. I figured that Christmas would make for an interesting WIAW post, and it would keep things short and sweet as we get back into the swing of post-holiday life. Except, there’s totally still New Year’s Eve to plan for, and I totally have some amazing desserts to overwhelm you with over the next few weeks. Apolo
Lately I’ve been getting restless with copying other people’s recipes, itching to try my own hand at recipe development. When it comes to cooking, this is no big deal – but baking? One semester of food science two and a half years ago does not, apparently, make me inherently qualified to just start shuffling around ingredients like it’s my job. I haven’t missed the mark completely, but there have
Today’s Simple Sunday post actually has two recipes, both stemming from one delicious raspberry sauce (I guess that makes 3 recipes, really). Now, normally I’m all about the no-sugar-added fruit sauces. Throw some frozen fruit into a sauce pot and let them thaw, melt, and simmer their little selves into a tizzy – it’s easy, and sweet enough for me. But my grandmother, you see, she used to make th
