Here's something about me I bet you never knew: I am an expert in making lasagna. When I was in graduate school, we had to take a food science class. Our final project was picking a recipe and altering the ingredients every week. My group's recipe, or "control" recipe, was a basic vegetarian lasagna. Our "experiment" was changing something about the lasagna every class. One week, we experimented with fillings. Instead of ricotta cheese, we tried tofu or butternut squash. Another week, we switched out the tomato sauce with pesto or a basic store-bought sauce. Another time, we played around with the noodles and tried no-boil, butternut squash (lower-carb), and whole wheat noodles. There were other options for each week, but I can't remember them all.

Anyway, we had classmates in other groups taste our food and rank their favorite combos each week. (Many of us agreed to be tasters for multiple groups and we basically had to be rolled out of class because we ate so much.) For the last week, we compiled everyone's rankings and made a dish with the most popular filling, sauce, and noodle. Our final lasagna had a pesto sauce, butternut squash filling, and the no-boil noodle. I also had frozen lasagna filling up my freezer for weeks after taking home leftovers. In conclusion, nutrition school is fun.

To my knowledge, there was also a type of "noodle" that we never used for our experiment: spaghetti squash. Being the lasagna expert, I decided to create this in my own home. I hope that you try this, because it's incredibly easy and makes a lot of food!

P.S. The shot above is a pre-oven photo. My post-oven pic didn't turn out well!

Easy Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

Ingredients

• 1 large spaghetti squash
• 1 24-oz jar pasta sauce (preferably no added sugar- Classico Roasted Garlic is one of my favorite store-bought jarred pasta sauces) OR homemade pasta sauce*
• 2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2 cups baby spinach, rinsed
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 Tablespoon (plus extra for greasing baking dish) of olive oil or coconut oil, melted

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Carefully cut spaghetti squash in half and remove seeds. Line baking sheet with foil. Brush insides of squash with oil. Place halves face-down onto baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes. When done, remove from oven and let cool.
3. Decrease oven temperature to 375 degrees F.
4. Grease 9x13-inch baking dish. Take first half of spaghetti squash and, using a fork, scrape lengthwise across squash to make "spaghetti" strands. Let the strands fall into the baking dish and evenly line the bottom of the dish with the squash. Use the whole half. This is your bottom layer, just like the pasta of the lasagna.
5. In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup ricotta cheese and 1 cup baby spinach. Add salt and pepper. Mix well and carefully spread evenly over spaghetti squash with spoon.
6. Evenly spread half of the pasta sauce on top of the spinach-cheese mixture.
7. Add second half of squash on top of the sauce. Spread evenly and then repeat steps 4 and 5.
8. Sprinkle cheese on top of the sauce.
9. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes covered. Remove foil and bake an additional 15-20 minutes or until top is slightly browned.

*If you can't find a good store-bought sauce (which means no added sugar, soybean oil, canola oil, excessive sodium, or a long ingredients list that you can't pronounce), you can easily whisk one together at home. All you need is 1 28-oz can of diced tomatoes, 1 6-oz can of tomato paste, 1/2 red onion (chopped), 2 garlic cloves (chopped) or 2 tablespoons of minced garlic, 1 handful of fresh spinach, and any spices or herbs that you like (salt, pepper, basil, oregano, chili powder, etc). Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil or coconut oil and saute onion and garlic until the onion is soft. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes. You can simmer for longer to get the flavors to meld together better. That's it!

Happy Monday! I hope everybody had a wonderful, warm Easter Sunday. Right now, I'm missing living abroad in Australia and having Friday and Monday off for Good Friday and Easter Monday (although I feel like it doesn't make a difference when you're working in a hospital since the doors never close there). It has been perfect spring weather for the past few days in Chicago: sunny, breezy, and not cold. I'll take it. 

I completed my longer run of the week on Saturday. Like last week, I did six miles. When I turned around at Castaways on North Avenue Beach,  though, there was no wall of wind fighting me. 

Except for some big sand patches on the running path on North Avenue Beach (when the lake washes up on dry land during storms), the run went almost perfectly. 

In fact, I learned something about myself on Saturday. I learned that I can run faster than I thought I ever could. ​ I downloaded the Run Keeper App before I left the house so that I could get a better idea of my average running pace. My goal was to try to maintain a 10-minute mile since this is how fast I guessed I could run, and it's my consistent treadmill pace. The app announces your time and average pace every five minutes, and I was shocked to hear my pace decreasing every time. When I found out that I was into the 9-minute-mile range, I almost cheered out loud. 

​

Miles 2-6 (my first mile was slower since I walked for a few blocks to warm up) were under a 9.5-minute mile. I wrote last week that I would never be able to run under that pace, and I find myself eating my words now. Big time. And who knows if I can regularly maintain this pace? The weather was cooler, the wind wasn't fighting me, I ate pasta the night before, and the Run Keeper app was motivating me to go faster and harder. Everything seemed to be in my favor on Saturday. Time will tell how I can perform on other days. 

A few years ago, I could barely run three miles.  That was the crazy summer when I moved back to Chicago and started taking my prerequisites to get into a dietetics program. My sartorius muscle was giving me grief, and I was stressed out beyond belief. I had a Garmin running watch that estimated my running pace, and I was usually running a 12 to 12.5-minute mile and feeling like I was hyperventilating. I think that my short treadmill runs and very gradually increasing my mileage over time have helped to get my pace down. 

To finish the expression in my title, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Thank you for those brilliant words, William Edward Hickson. This proverb can be applied to so many things in life, and this really hit home this week. For those are you who are discouraged with your running, keep in mind that you will get better if you try. Just keep going, one foot in front of the other. 

I was going to add another section to this post about my favorite running gear, but I think I'll end it here. Stay tuned for more posts on running and delicious recipes!



Total miles logged this week (and last week since I forgot to post that): 9 (3 on treadmill; 6 outside).
Aches and pains: lower back and right knee.
Goal for next week: do yoga exercises for lower back and sign up to run for a charity!

It's still soup weather here in Chicago, and I decided that I MUST make tomato soup. I want my soups to have a lot of texture and color, and I also need them to be dairy-free. For those of you who are still experiencing cold weather and are lactose-challenged, this soup is for you!

This soup is mostly easy to  make. Chop veggies, open cans, dump things into a pot, stir things, and that's pretty much it. However, you have to blend to get the desired creamy-ish consistency. Let me give you a word of warning: your kitchen will get messy if you have a regular blender. 

I've heard of this mythical thing called an immersion blender before, but I've never owned or used one. After making the soup this week, it's on my list of things to get. 

To blend the soup, I had to physically remove the soup from the pot, blend it (in two batches) and transfer it to another pot. As much as I tried to prevent my stove and counter tops from becoming covered in red-green liquid, I couldn't prevent it. Rest assured, though, it was an easy cleanup and was worth the effort. If you hate messes but like blending things in its own container (i.e. tomato soup in the pot without removing it first and then moving it to a new pot), I recommend getting an immersion blender!

I thought the cheese quesadilla was a fun touch, too. It's like a variation on tomato soup and grilled cheese. Tex-Mex and tomato soup go well together!

I was so pleased with the end product. Briefly blending the soup gave it a bit of creaminess, but it still maintained its heartiness. I enjoyed ripping the quesadilla apart and mixing it into the soup. 

This recipe also makes at least four servings. For me, this gave me two dinners and two lunches. I didn't get sick of it. I felt sad and empty when I finished my very last bite. I ate it with a quesadilla three times and mixed in leftover whole wheat mini shells the other time. If you're not planning to eat all of it within a few days, freeze the leftovers and eat in the coming weeks. 

I hope that you make this and enjoy it as much I did!

Dairy-Free Tomato Soup (adapted from Wellness Mama's Simple Tomato Soup recipe)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced, or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 large carrots, chopped
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 28 oz canned tomatoes (no added sugar)  or 6 fresh tomatoes, diced
• 2 cups bone broth* (can sub chicken broth or vegetable broth)
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 6 oz tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup fresh basil or 3 Tablespoons dried

Instructions

1. Heat coconut oil over medium heat in large pan.
2. Add onions, garlic, and carrots to pan. Stir together and saute until onions are softened. 
3. Add tomatoes, stir, and cook for another 2 minutes.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir, and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. 
6. Using immersion blender or regular large blender, blend soup for 5-10 seconds. You may need to do this in batches. 
7. Let cool, ladle into bowl, and enjoy! Garnish with fresh basil, if desired. 

To make the quesadilla, melt butter in pan over medium heat, heat 1 small corn or whole wheat tortilla for 1-2 minutes, add a handful of shredded cheese of your choice, top with another small tortilla (to make a sandwich), flip quesadilla over, and heat for 1-2 minutes. 

* Bone broth is literally broth that is made from bones. This is most commonly done with beef and chicken. I make mine by cooking a whole chicken in a crock pot, removing whatever meat I want to eat, and then returning the rest of the chicken (carcass, pieces of chicken I won't eat) to the crock pot. I add water, vegetable scraps, and 1-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and then cook on low for about 12-24 hours (my apartment smells amazing). When it's ready, I strain the broth and keep it for soups or other recipes. Believe me when I say that this is the best broth you will ever try. It is wholesome and full-flavored and contains the good fats and minerals that leach from the contents of the meat and bones. If you just want to have bone broth without going through the labor (although I promise it's easy), you can probably buy it at the grocery store. We have the Pacific brand, plus others at our Jewel. Here's more info on bone broth and how you can make it without a crock pot.  

Hi friends! Happy spring! I kicked off the first day of spring with a six-mile run. While it was a perfectly comfortable running temperature and the sun was shining over the city, I was hesitant about doing this run. 

I did an hour-long yoga class (for the first time in years!) at my gym on Friday, and I woke up Saturday morning with a sore lower back and legs. It makes sense that my legs would be sore from holding poses, but I was surprised about my back giving me grief. I decided to make Saturday a Rest Day and to do the run on Sunday. My back became more sore throughout the day, but I did my rolling, stretching, and heating therapy in hopes to make it better faster. Sunday morning came, and I decided to go through with the run. I'd try three or four miles. 

I felt so good after two miles that I decided to keep going. I was flying. I decided to go six miles.  I get to three miles once I hit the famous Castaways on North Avenue Beach. Once I turn around and run home, that's six miles. I've done it many times with no problems at all. 

I snapped some pictures and then turned around towards the north. 

Then, I was hit by a solid wall of wind. I instantly understood why the previous two miles along the lake were so easy. I then dreadfully  knew that the next two miles would be torturous. The wind was assisting me southward, and now I had to fight it going north. While I've experienced the wrath of Chicago's wind force before,  this was the worst of it. Tears were flying out of my eyes and into the air. I couldn't breathe. I was almost choking on phlegm. I had to stop and walk.

While I walked, I watched other people run past me (struggling, but still going). I wondered how I could ever become a better runner if I couldn't even handle this stupid wind. How could I ever run 13.1 miles? Every time I've tried to increase my mileage in the past, something bad happened (I pulled my sartorius muscle, I hurt my lower back so badly that I couldn't walk [not from running, but it affected it nonetheless], or I became too busy or stressed.). I was stewing in negativity while walking. I quickened my pace to a run again, only to be pushed back by the wind. I was panting. I forced myself to go up a bridge, one foot in front of the other, only to give up and start walking again before I hit the top. Worse thoughts entered my head. Maybe I'm still too tired from yoga.  But yoga was two days ago. I'm pathetic. More people ran past me. I became more discouraged. I'm a failure. I'm never going to run a half marathon. I'm slow. I suck. 

Finally, after another person passed me, I started to run again. I passed the person who just passed me, and I veered off of the Lakeshore path, under the Belmont bridge, and out of the wind. I ran the last 1.1  miles home without stopping (except for at a traffic light). I put one foot in front of the other quickly, even though my lungs burned and I wanted to stop. I made it home. I looked at my phone and saw that, even with my walking, I made it from start to finish in under 60 minutes. I was getting faster. Suddenly, I was hopeful again. 

I stretched, rolled, showered, iced, and simultaneously made myself a smoothie with fresh coffee, a frozen banana, vanilla whey protein powder, natural peanut butter, and cinnamon. Then, I volunteered at PAWS for a few hours while digesting what had happened to me that morning (and my smoothie). 

I know my story will sound dramatic to some people. It's just a run. It's not a big deal. I know that I will never be a professional runner. I'll never win a race. I'll probably never be able to run faster than a 9.5-minute mile during a long race, because I'm just not equipped for it. Running makes my knees hurt. I'm injury-prone. I'm allergic to it. Seriously. I become bright  red and itchy after about five minutes if I go too many months without doing it (outdoors or indoors, any time of the year). Regardless, there is no other exercise that makes me feel more accomplished, gives me more internal struggles, allows more personal time with myself, and pushes me to succeed more than running. Running is the only exercise that gives me a runner's high. Nothing can beat that feeling.

I am going to run a half marathon this year whether I have to walk or crawl. I'll be back out on the path next weekend, wind or no wind. That's the only way to get better. 

I hope that there are others who can relate to this story and put on their shoes and run despite the challenges!

This recipe requires very few ingredients. The honey will give it a hint of sweetness. You can omit it, and it will still taste good without it. Like most salmon recipes, you can make this in under 20 minutes. 

Instead of pasta last night, I recreated the dish with a side of cucumber salad (prepared while my salmon was in the oven). I'll post that simple recipe below, too. 

Walnut Basil-Crusted Salmon  
(serves 2 or serves 1 and  makes great leftovers for the next day)

Ingredients

• 2x 3-5 oz salmon fillets (with or without skin)
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup graded Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp honey (optional, for additional sweetness)
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray  or spread olive or coconut oil on foil to avoid fish from sticking.
2. Put basil, walnuts, cheese, and honey into food processor. Blend until ingredients are ground and well-mixed together (about 5-10 seconds). 
3. Lightly sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper on each side. Place salmon with skin side-down onto foil (if your salmon has skin). 
4. Using a spoon, equally spread the walnut mixture onto the tops of the salmon fillets (see picture). Form an even layer. 
5. Place salmon in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes or until done. 

Cucumber and Tomato Salad

Ingredients

• 1 large cucumber, chopped
• 10 oz. (or about 1.5 cups) grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup chopped white onion
• 3 large fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 3 T olive oil (I used herb-infused olive oil with this recipe)
• salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients and enjoy!

Happy Monday! I hope everybody had a great weekend. If you live in Chicago, maybe you took part in the St. Patrick's Day craziness that sweeps over the city once a year. I wore my green and took part in the festivities on Saturday, but I went for a five-mile run first. 

 The Lakeshore path was eerily foggy on Saturday morning. It was one of those Chicago days where it was so foggy that I couldn't see the skyline heading south. It felt like I wasn't in a city at all. I went one mile to the lake, one and a half miles on the trail, and then I turned around to go home. Here's my running summary from last week:

Total miles logged: 8 (3 on the treadmill on Tuesday; 5 outside on Saturday).
Aches and pains: the underbelly of my right foot at the start and both knees towards the end of the 5-mile run. The lower back is stiff but just needs to be stretched and strengthened. 
Goal for next week: 7-8 miles total.

Once I was showered, stretched, iced, and presentable-looking, Al and I squeezed ourselves onto an overly-crowded train car on the Loop-bound Red Line. It was disgusting for the first stop or two, and then it thinned off as people in green got off the train to go to their respective parties. We got off in the River North neighborhood and went to a friend's apartment in the Trump Tower. 

As a side note, Chicago has a crazy St. Patrick's Day celebration. There are two parades, the Chicago River is dyed green, and the city goes nuts with parties. Everybody can pretend to be Irish for the day. I haven't been able to celebrate for the past three years due to exams or other commitments, so I was looking forward to this  year.

​The group we hung out with does something called a St. Patrick's Day Progressive. This year, we started at the Trump Tower, took pictures by the river, and then went to two additional apartments. Each host had everybody for about three hours and provided food and drinks. Each person paid each host $10. It was much cheaper than going to the bars, and we didn't have to deal with horrific crowds (other than the Red Line). We had a great time, and we took some good pictures. It's a nice view from the 48th floor!

The food was good, too. The second apartment served Lucky Charms treats (like Rice Krispie Treats), and they deserved a photo op! There was also crock pot mac'n'cheese, which was absolutely delicious. Many carbs were consumed on Saturday.

                                                                                 Making a Grocery Shopping List

I'm going to switch gears now and talk about grocery shopping. As much as I love recapping part of my weekend, this is still a healthy-living blog. At the end of the weekend, it's time to think forward to the coming week and plan meals. That's what I started doing when I was living in Australia, and it changed the way that I eat. The more that you buy food from the grocery store and prepare it at home, the more you'll save money and control what you're putting in your mouth (which could help you lose or maintain your weight). It's a win-win situation. While you have to put extra work in by planning and prepping, it gets easier with practice. 

Here are the simple steps I do each week for meal planning and grocery shopping:

1. Review your schedule for the week. Figure out which nights you will be home. This way, you will know exactly how many meals you need to plan. (Yes, schedules can change last-minute. If you make dinner plans after you did your shopping, you can move meals around or freeze foods that you're not going to use.)
2. Create your menu. As you see on my old shopping list above, I wrote out my daily meals on the bottom. You can see that I was going to be out on Friday, so I didn't plan anything for then. For Monday, I picked a Cajun salmon recipe from a cookbook. I also generally search through recipes that I've saved on Pinterest or Facebook to figure out what to make. If you need inspiration, blogs are a great way to start. Just look through the recipe sections of your favorite blogs and pick out recipes that you like. The possibilities are endless!
3. As you create your menu for the week, you can make your shopping list. You can organize it however you want. I usually do mine based on the grocery store sections. In addition,  I'd recommend making your list while you're in the kitchen. This way, you can review your current food inventory.  You want to look at what you already have so that you don't make accidental unnecessary purchases. For example, you don't want to buy eggs if you already have a full carton at home.You can also use your kitchen for inspiration. If you have celery and peppers that need to be used before they go bad, you can plan your recipes around those. 
4. Once your ingredient list is finished, add other foods that you want for snacks. I usually write down apples, bananas, and almonds. 

Now, you're ready to shop! It takes extra time to plan (as you see, there are two steps before you actually start making your list), but it's worth it! Make the list and stick to it. That's all there is to it.  

If you want to go the extra mile to save yourself time during the week, you can prep on Sunday night. Chop your veggies, grill your chicken or meat, and do whatever else is necessary to make the cooking process faster during the week when you have less time. 

Happy grocery shopping, friends!

P.S. I was reading my shopping list above and see that I abbreviate a lot. Bals ving=balsamic vinegar; mac nuts=macadamia nuts; chicken br=chicken broth; 3 ch br= 3 chicken breasts; diced tom w/ gr chilli= diced tomatoes with green chillies; TUPPERW= tupperware. 

Hi friends! Yesterday was National Registered Dietitian Day. Did you know that we can also call ourselves Registered Dietitian Nutritionists? After I passed my RD exam, I was able to choose whether I wanted to be an RD or RDN. Some people choose the latter, but it sounds like too much of a mouthful to me.  The RDN certification is relatively new, and it is completely interchangeable with the RD.  

I hope that all of my fellow RDs (and RDNs!) enjoyed and celebrated in style, whether that be a kale salad or a giant brownie topped with vanilla ice cream. Whatever floats your boat! I made my own "ice cream" yesterday, but I'll cover that later in this post. 

I didn't work as an RD on RD Day. I'm a registry/PRN/per diem employee at two hospitals, which means that I'm scheduled to work as needed.  I get 24 hours, or three days, guaranteed per week at one of my jobs, and I get one to two days per week at the other. This means that I occasionally have days off of work. It's good and bad. On one side, I get a day off to do what I want. On the other side, I don't get paid when I'm not working. The advantage to not working yesterday is that I was able to assemble a fun day-in-the-life post of an RD on National RD Day. Because who cares what I'm doing when I at work?

In all seriousness, though, I will do something similar to a day-in-the-life work post since people ask me all the time what I do in hospitals. Trust me, we do more than pick out diets for patients. 

Without further ado, here is my Day-in-the-Life (or photo vomit) from Wednesday, March 9th of 2016. 

7:45 am: I sleep in much later than I would on a typical weekday. Al gets up to get ready for work. I check my e-mail, Facebook, and the weather in bed. 

8:00 am: I roll out of bed, brush my teeth, and keep Al company while he gets ready for work. I open the door to let in fresh air. It's a beautiful March day. ​

8:45 am: I walk over to the Medical Office Center next to Illinois Masonic Medical Center. I had my annual check up last week, and I need to get my fasted blood test. Interestingly, I am looking forward to this. I look at patients' lab results every day at work, and I want to know how  mine compare since I know what all of these tests mean. The lab gets me in and out quickly. 

9:30 am: I'm hungry for breakfast. I whip up two scrambled eggs with coconut oil, a chopped yellow pepper, and a shredded basil leaf. I'm loving the natural light in the back yard. 

9:45 am: I multitask by eating breakfast and reviewing my friend's reactions to specific foods on her FODMAPS chart that she sent to me the previous night. I have more research that I need to do. 

10:15 am: I walk to my gym and go to my Pilates class. I mostly go to Pilates on Saturday mornings, but it's a treat to go on a weekday. The classes are much less crowded, and we get more individual attention. Like any other type of exercise, proper form is important for the best results and decreasing injuries. With smaller classes, our instructors can be more helpful with checking our form. 

Our class is just small enough today that we all get foam rollers. My instructor usually charges extra money for foam rolling classes, so we're a lucky group to get to do it for free. We don't roll on them as others do to massage sore muscles. We use them as a balancing tool. If you're familiar with Pilates, imagine doing the Pilates abs series while you're lying on top of this thing (parallel to your spine). Your core that's already working is engaging harder to balance. All of the exercises are modified since many of them are nearly impossible if done normally, but I think that it's a nice change from a regular Pilates mat class. 

11:00 am: I walk to Jan Dee Jewelry to pick up my bracelet that I dropped off months ago to get shortened (I kept forgetting to get it). 

This bracelet was given to me by one of my oldest friends who asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. All of our bracelets have the same bow but are customized with our initials. 

12:15 pm: I arrive home and go through my physical and virtual mail.
​
12:45 pm: Lunch is served! I heat up a homemade mozzarella-stuffed broccoli turkey burger, spaghetti squash, and oven-baked french fries. I add tomato slices to my burger (doesn't it look like a heart?) and top my spaghetti squash with herb-infused olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and fresh basil. These are leftovers, so putting everything together only takes about five minutes. 

1:30 pm: I open my new shipment from Fabletics.  I get my workout clothes from many different places, but I've been ordering a lot from Fabletics lately. The Salar capri is one of my favorite workout pants. They're comfortable and are great for running, Pilates, and everything in between. I have the capris in pink and purple, and I wanted to try them in black. 

I decide to keep the Mosa tank. It's a fun and flowy top that is also great for running. I'm drawn to the detail in the back. I have to decide about the pants, though. They don't look as flattering on me as the colorful capris that I already own. 

2:00 pm: I make banana "ice cream". My cousin is a Beachbody coach and gave me this recipe from the Fixate 21 Day Fix book.  It's called Chunky Money Ice Cream in the book. To make a small, personalized version, blend 1 frozen banana (broken into chunks) and 1 Tbsp of natural peanut butter. You can top with chopped almonds or semi-sweet chocolate chips. That's all you have to do. It looks and tastes like ice cream. You must try it. 

2:30 pm-6:30 pm: I send e-mails back and forth for my friend's bachelorette party in Nashville in May, work on this blog post, and take a long shower. Al comes home. 

6:30 pm: I make dinner. I marinade wild cod in a bowl with lemon juice, 2 cloves of garlic, and olive oil. I bake it for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. While that's cooking, I use my spiralizer to turn one zucchini into "pasta". I chop up the last of a tomato in the fridge and add that, along with leftover spaghetti squash, fresh basil, Parmesan cheese, and olive oil to the zucchini and mix. Once the fish is done, I plate it on top of the zucchini. 

The end result is phenomenal. Together, it reminds me of clam linguine at an Italian restaurant. Forget about the fact that the pasta is actually a green vegetable and that the fish is not shellfish. It just tastes that good. 

​7:30 pm: My hair has naturally dried into an afro. I blow it dry and straighten it. 

8:00 pm: I work on my blog, play around on Instagram, do some more research on my Nashville trip and FODMAPS, and eat some frozen mango with Al. 

10:00 pm: Bed time! 

Happy Monday! I hope everybody had a great weekend. My Friday night was quiet, because the rest of my weekend was nonstop. Just like a weekday, I was up at 5:30 am on Saturday. Instead of going to work, though, I went to the northwest suburbs for a fun nutrition seminar. 

As registered dietitians, we're required to log a certain number of continuing education credits every five years. This requirement keeps us current with research in our field, and in a bustling city such as Chicago, there are never shortages of options for us to get our hours. 

One of my friends from school caught wind of a half-day seminar by the Northern Suburban and Western Suburban Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and many of us jumped on board after reading the event schedule. It sounded very interesting. Plus, it was even more attractive with this seminar giving us  six continuing education credits (we're supposed to get 15 per year). 

The biggest downside was having to get up very early and drive about 45 minutes. Luckily, I carpooled with two of my friends and we made a pit stop at Dunkin Donuts for coffee on the way there. 

Once we registered, we were given a delicious buffet breakfast that was sponsored by the Egg Nutrition Center. I should have taken a picture of my plate, but it included scrambled eggs (makes sense), shredded hash browns with bell peppers, bacon, sausage, croissants, fresh fruit, and coffee. We dove right into the lectures once we finished our breakfasts and had minimal breaks from 8am-2 pm. This was tolling at times, and we were very hungry since we didn't get lunch (just a few snacks from vendors). Regardless, the benefits outweighed the costs. 

I'll hopefully have access to the slides soon and will be able to write more about what we learned. The egg and cholesterol lecture, even though it was sponsored by the Egg Nutrition Center and had me worried that it would be overtly bias, was informative and confirmed what I already believe about eggs: whole eggs are very nutritious foods and eating eggs generally does not affect your blood cholesterol. A small percentage of the population are considered to be "hyper-responders" to dietary cholesterol, and these people are difficult to pinpoint unless they are in clinical studies. The jury is also out on whether diabetics need to watch their intake of egg yolks. 

We also heard good lectures on gut microbiota and alternate day fasting. There is still so much research that needs to be done on gut microbiota (or the bacteria that lives in our intestines that is good for our health), but recent studies on mice have shown that lean and obese bodies have different compositions of gut bacteria. Our diet can largely affect that. Also, taking prebiotics and probiotics are most likely good for us, but there is not one best type to take. Eating fermented foods (which contain probiotics), such as yogurt, kefir, kambucha, tempeh,  miso, and others are good, but there may also be benefits from taking tablets.

The lecturer for the alternate day fasting research was our Vitamins and Minerals professor at University of Illinois at Chicago, so my school friends and I were pretty pumped to hear her speak. I'll probably write another post about her research in the future, but I have been fascinated in the past (from her research) to hear about how eating approximately 1/4 of a person's calorie needs on fasting days (average of 500 calories per day) and eating unrestricted on the other days could lead to successful and manageable weight loss in obese, sedentary individuals. Now that I think about it, it may be easier to eat very light three days per week (and normally the rest of the week) than to constantly restrict my caloric intake every single day. There is still more research required for alternative day fasting, and if you're interested in trying this for yourself, I would highly recommend discussing this with your doctor and seeing a dietitian first! 

We also heard from six panel speakers (one of them was an author of Too Busy to Diet), and then, completely ravenous and slightly stir-crazy, we headed back to the city. My carpool party made a quick stop at L'Patron for tacos once we got back into the city, and then I was dropped off at home. I only had enough time to change, fix my hair and makeup, and put a few layers of polish on my nails before it was time for the next event. 

My parents were staying in the city for their birthdays (my dad is March 4th; my mom is March 6th), and my brother Jon decided to take us to The Aviary for drinks before dinner.  It was so generous of him, and I had some of the best drinks I've ever had. I'm used to going to hole-in-the-wall neighborhood bars and buying the beers on special, so this place was up about 100  notches from that. 

The Aviary is owned by Grant Achatz, who is a culinary genius. He also owns Alinea and Next, which are some of the best restaurants in Chicago. In order to guarantee yourself a reservation for drinks at The Aviary, you need to purchase tickets in advance. While I would usually roll my eyes at that requirement, I had heard excellent things about this place.

This place creates drinkable art in a glass. My first drink (pictured above) was called Up the Ice Ante, which contained oat, horchata, and peach. Our server told us that it was going to taste like the milk in the cereal bowl after finishing Cinnamon Life cereal (or Cinnamon Toast Crunch, as my brother said), and he was exactly right. I also nibbled on the ice cubes once I finished the liquid portion, and they were intensely flavored with components from the drink. Until Saturday night, I had never eaten an ice cube that tasted like a cinnamon peach pie.

Other highlights include my bite-sized melt-in-the-mouth tempura sweet potato on a cinnamon stick that was beyond delectable (above, left), Jon's over-sized ice cube that kind of resembled the Epcot ball at Walt Disney World (above, right), and my brother using a sling shot to break the solid ice sphere that held his beverage inside of it (not pictured). Once the ice shattered, the liquid filled the glass and the ice that used to hold the drink was just the standard ice cubes in the drink. I heard about the sling shot before, but it was fun to see in the flesh. 

Aviary-goers tend to visit for drinks prior to going to Next next door, but we went to a different, more normally-priced restaurant for dinner. While I can't say that I'll go back to the Aviary soon (I would really love to, but my preferred drinks are $5), I would certainly go back there for a special occasion. I'm very happy that I got to experience it. It was a treat.  We also did a larger family celebration in the suburbs on Sunday night for my parents and my grandma (her birthday is today!). We have a lot of birthdays this month!

On Sunday morning, I laced up my running shoes and hit the pavement for an easy four-mile run. It was 39 degrees by the time I left the house, and I was perfectly comfortable in running capris and long-sleeved pullover. I wanted to do my first lakefront run of 2016, so I headed east to Lake Michigan. It's about 1.1 miles from my house to the lakefront trail. Since it was Sunday morning, I was weaving my way in and out of brunch enthusiasts and small children on scooters. I also had to jog in place at some stoplights. Once I got to the park lands, though, I didn't have to worry about traffic lights anymore. 

The lakefront trail, even when crowded and exposed to the whir of cars zooming past on Lake Shore Drive, is peaceful and is a beautiful place to run. I generally plan how many miles I'm going to run in advance, and then I map out exactly where I need to turn around and head back home. For my usual four-mile runs, I go one mile to the lake, another mile to the Fullerton Avenue exit, and then I turn around and retrace my steps. Easy peasy. 

Although my pictures have few, if any, people in them, there were plenty of runners, walkers, and bikers of all sizes and athletic abilities. It's motivating to see all of the people out there. 

Aside from foot cramps for the first half mile, my Sunday morning run was pain-free. I'm hoping to continue with minimal pain as I increase my mileage. 

Total miles logged this week: 7 (3 on treadmill on Tuesday; 4 outside yesterday).
Goal for next week: 7-8. 

Have a great start to the week, friends!

I drool for a meaty bolognese sauce with my pasta, but my goal for this recipe was to create something different: a filling and satisfying sauce that is 100% meat-free. I am not a vegan and do not shy away from gluten, but this sauce turned out to fit the title of this post. This sauce is simple, nutritious, and so much more creamy than I imagined. 

Vegetarian Pasta Sauce with Lentils, Pine Nuts, and Basil

Ingredients:

• 1 large spaghetti squash
• 1 cup brown lentils, dry, uncooked
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, no added sugar
• 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste, no added sugar
• 1 tsp paprika 
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

To make the sauce:

1. ​Boil 3 cups of water in a large pot. Add lentils and cover. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes or until tender. 
2. Drain lentils and pour into food processor or blender. Add pine nuts and basil leaves. Blend until mixture resembles a thick paste. 
3. Add contents back to pot. Mix in diced tomatoes and tomato paste. 
4. Turn heat on medium and add spices.  Mix well and serve when hot. 
5. If you want your sauce more tomato-ey, add additional tomato paste! 

To make the squash in the microwave:

1. Using a sharp knife, make multiple slits around the squash. (Warning: you will a squash explosion in your microwave if you don't do this first step well.)
2. Microwave 10-12 minutes on top of a paper towel or microwave-safe dish. Larger squashes may need more time.
3. Carefully remove from microwave (it will be VERY hot), cut lengthwise, and remove seeds.
4. Scrape lengthwise with a fork into a bowl to get your spaghetti strands. 

To make the squash in the oven (my preferred method):

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. ​Using a sharp knife, CAREFULLY cut off the ends of the spaghetti squash. Then, make one final lengthwise cut through the center of the squash, creating two long halves. 
3. Scoop out the seeds.
4. Spray baking sheet with non-stick spray (or use regular cooking oil) and place halves face-down/skin-up onto sheet .  Put in oven for 45 minutes. When done, allow for adequate time to cool before handling.