Meal Planning Tips During COVID-19 + Showing My Meal Plan | Registered Dietitian

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The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot of things and a big one is our food. With all of us doing limited grocery trips, eating out less, and cooking more, mealtime and meal planning look different too. I'm a big proponent of meal planning to make cooking easier, but how do you meal plan when you're shopping for 2 weeks of groceries at a time and don't have any social events on your calendar to work around. Every day can start to feel the same and you might even think a meal plan isn't helpful right now. In reality, a meal plan is extremely helpful in this moment, it just looks a little different. I'm sharing how I'm meal planning right now, some tips for how to think about your meals in the current situation, and showing you my meal planning notebook so you can see exactly how I've changed my meal planning strategy and how my new meal planning system works.

 
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NEW HOUSE Garden Tour! Current Situation and Future Plans

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My garden situation is totally different this year! Since we've moved, I have a whole new space to work with and lots of new ideas! Starting from scratch means the garden won't be as big as it has been in past years, but it also means I have lots of gardening possibilities ahead of me. Plus, the fact that this is a place where we plan to live for a while means that I have new things to consider. I'm thinking about this year's garden, but I'm also thinking a lot of about the future and my big picture plans for our outdoor space. What perennials should I plant? How should I develop the garden over time? How can I incorporate permaculture principles and techniques? How can I do more edible landscaping and incorporate food plants all around the house? There are also a lot of existing plants (some of which we have yet to identify), so I'm also trying to figure out which to keep, which to move, and which to get rid of entirely. It's a lot, but it's exciting!

Edible Landscaping book

For a point of reference, I'm in Virginia in Zone 7.

Sarah Moran is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

WHAT I EAT IN A DAY Quarantine Edition | Healthy Meal Ideas from a Dietitian

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It's time for another What I Eat in a Day video! I'm giving you a peak at what this dietitian eats in a day in April 2020 in self quarantine. Some things have changed about our eating with the quarantine and others have stayed the same. I know we all need healthy meal ideas and inspiration from time to time and things are especially weird right now, so I hope that seeing what I eat in a day as a nutritionist will give you some things you can try in your own meals and meal planning!

 
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Sarah Moran is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

VEGGIE SEED HAUL! New Perennials for the Garden + Heirloom and Rare Varieties!

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It's time for a new garden season and, for me, a new garden space! Since we recently moved, I'm thinking about things in a whole new way, including how we can incorporate more perennial plants into our garden and landscape. I finally got all of my seeds in the mail and I thought it would be fun to do a seed haul and show you everything I bought. I ordered my seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds because they have a lot of fun heirloom, historic, and rare varieties. I love growing fruits and veggies that you can’t get at the grocery store and you might not even be able to find at your farmers market. All of the seeds in this haul are new to me and I'm excited to see how they do in my garden this year. For a point of reference, I'm in Virginia in Zone 7.

SEED COMPANIES MENTIONED

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

Seed Savers Exchange

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

Johnny's Selected Seeds

VARIETIES MENTIONED

  • Purpurea Echinacea (Coneflower)

  • Paradiso Mix Echinacea (Coneflower)

  • Carouby De Maussane Snow Pea

  • Common Chives

  • Garlic Chives/Asian Chives/Chinese Chives

  • Lemongrass

  • Green De Belleville Sorrel/French Sorrel

  • Red Veined Sorrel/Bloody Dock

  • Hilton Nappa Cabbage/Chinese Cabbage

  • Buttercrunch Lettuce

  • Bouquet Dill

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Making Tasty Meals While Self-Isolating | Quarantine Cooking Tips from a Registered Dietitian

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With the social distancing we're all doing because of the COVID-19 situation, many of us are cooking more than we were before or needing to pull meals together with only the items we have on hand. Here are some tips to help you create meals that are satisfying and take some the stress out of planning and preparing meals in this uncertain time. I'm also sharing some food safety and grocery shopping tips so we can all do our best to take care of ourselves.

TOPICS COVERED IN THIS VIDEO

  • Basic parts of a meal

  • Making variations on what you know

  • Picking a flavor theme

  • Avoiding food waste

  • Using available resources

  • Don't forget flavor!

  • Food safety tips

  • Grocery shopping tips

Find Meal-o-Matic and recipes at DoctorYum.org

AUGUST GARDEN HARVEST! | Rare and Heirloom Varieties!

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Today I'm sharing a garden harvest from a couple weeks ago in August. The peppers and tomatoes are starting to kick into gear, especially the jalapenos and purple Buena Mulata peppers! There are also a lot of peppers that will be ready to harvest soon, so stay tuned for those!

For a point of reference, I'm in Virginia in Zone 7. All of the plants in the garden we either seeded directly or started from seed inside, excluding a few basil plants. I like to grow a lot heirloom varieties, which means lots of interesting shapes and colors!

VARIETIES MENTIONED

- Sungold tomato

- Craig's Grande Jalapeno pepper

- Travel Strain Jalapeno pepper

- Beuna Mulata pepper

- Jimmy Nardello pepper

- Chinese Five Color pepper

- Purple Bumblebee tomato

Weight Watchers has a Diet App for Kids and It's a Huge Problem | Registered Dietitian

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Kurbo is a new diet app for kids from WW - formerly Weight Watchers. When I first heard about Kurbo, I had concerns, but after spending time exploring the app and its various features, it's worse than I ever imagined. The main concept of the app - targeting children ages 8-17 for weight loss and having them track their food with a traffic light system - is a cause for concern all on its own, but things only get worse from there. Here's what I think about the app as a registered dietitian and someone who works with kids and families to build healthy eating habits, as well as some things we can do instead of giving kids Kurbo.

Healthy Grocery HAUL! What a Dietitian Buys at the Store!

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Ever wonder what a dietitian or nutritionist buys at the grocery store? Today, I'm showing you! In this video I'm showing you my healthy grocery haul from a recent shopping trip! This haul is a great example of a typical shopping trip for me in the summer. This time of year I'm getting a lot of my food (mostly produce) from my local farmers market and my garden, so that means my grocery shopping is a little bit different. I'm shopping for two people, me and my husband, but I think you'll find this helpful (or at least interesting) no matter how many people you're grocery shopping for in your house.

Reusable produce bags

Sarah Moran is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

JULY GARDEN UPDATE + FIRST HARVEST!

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It's time for the first garden update of the year! I usually don't wait until July to do my first real garden video of the year, but this year is a little different. I haven't been able to devote as much time to the garden and I took a little break from making videos, so here we are! Despite the fact that the garden is a little smaller than usual, there are still a lot of exciting things happening! Tomatoes and peppers are growing (probably my two favorite garden items) and there are even some things to harvest! I've also had a little trouble with a groundhog who wants to eat all of the plants and leave nothing for me...

For a point of reference, I'm in Virginia in Zone 7. All of the plants in the garden we either seeded directly or started from seed inside. I like to grow a lot heirloom varieties, which means lots of interesting shapes and colors!

VARIETIES MENTIONED

- Sungold tomato

- Traveler's Strain Jalapeno pepper

- Buena Mulata pepper

- Fish pepper

JUNGKOOK FLEW OVER US! BTS Speak Yourself Tour Metlife + NYC Pop-Up Shop

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Jasen and I went to see BTS at Metlife in New Jersey (Day 1) and wanted to bring you along! We also went to New York City to check out the BTS pop-up shop and visit the Line Friends store in Times Square for BT21 merch. We had so much fun seeing the BTS Speak Yourself tour and enjoying it with so many other ARMYs! I hope you enjoy this vlog of the concert and our trip!

Healthy Road Trip Travel Snacks! On Our Way to BTS!

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We're going to see BTS! We also have to drive to get there. That means it's time to talk about road trip travel snacks! When you're on a road trip, it's a good idea to have some snacks packed. You can always buy food on the road, but there are a few reasons why you might want to pack some food too. Maybe you have a tight schedule and won't have time to stop for food. Maybe your route doesn't have a lot of convenient food options. Maybe you don't want to spend money on food that is more expensive than what you can pack yourself. Maybe you just want to be prepared in case you find yourself stuck in traffic or you have to take an unexpected detour. Whatever your reason, packing some snacks with you is a good idea. The good thing about packing road trip snacks is that you have lots of room to pack whatever you want and you don't have the restrictions on liquids that you do when flying. In this video, I'm sharing some healthy road trip travel snacks. These are all easy to pack and you probably have several of them in your kitchen already! I hope these road trip snack ideas help you when you're packing for your next trip!

WHAT I EAT IN A DAY | Healthy Meal Ideas from a Dietitian

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It's time for another What I Eat in a Day video! I'm giving you a peak at what this dietitian eats in a day in May. This What I Eat in a Day is from a Saturday, so you'll get to see what a weekend day looks like for me! It includes a fun weekend breakfast, a quick snacky lunch, and a yummy dinner out! I know we all need healthy meal ideas and inspiration from time to time, so I hope that seeing what I eat in a day as a nutritionist will give you some things you can try in your own meals and meal planning!

Healthy Grocery HAUL! What a Dietitian Buys at the Store!

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Ever wonder what a dietitian or nutritionist buys at the grocery store? Today, I'm showing you! In this video I'm showing you my healthy grocery haul from a recent shopping trip! This haul has many of my staple fridge and pantry items along with a few special items for this week's meals. I'm shopping for two people, me and my husband, but I think you'll find this helpful (or at least interesting) no matter how many people you're grocery shopping for in your house.

Reusable produce bags

Sarah Moran is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

VEGGIE SEED HAUL! Heirloom and Rare Varieties!

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I’m so excited that gardening season is here! I finally got all of my seeds in the mail and I thought it would be fun to do a seed haul and show you everything I bought. I ordered my seeds from Seed Savers Exchange and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds because they have a lot of fun heirloom, historic, and rare varieties. I love growing fruits and veggies that you can’t get at the grocery store and you might not even be able to find at your farmers market. All of the seeds in this haul are new to me and I'm excited to see how they do in my garden this year.

SEED COMPANIES MENTIONED

- Seed Savers Exchange

- Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

VARIETIES MENTIONED

-Speckled Roman tomato

- Barry's Crazy Cherry tomato

- Mushroom Basket tomato

- Green Giant tomato

- Fish pepper

- Listada de Gandia eggplant

- Bowling Red okra

- Purple Lady bok choy

- Beurre de Rocquencourt bean

- Amarillo carrot (free seeds)

- Purple Russian tomato (free seeds)

WHAT I EAT IN A DAY | Healthy Meal Ideas from a Dietitian

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t's time for another What I Eat in a Day video! I'm giving you a peak at what this dietitian eats in a day in April. This What I Eat in a Day has some of my favorite basic meals that I make all the time! I know we all need healthy meal ideas and inspiration from time to time, so I hope that seeing what I eat in a day as a nutritionist will give you some things you can try in your own meals and meal planning!

Making a Spicy Korean Stir-Fry and Testing New Kitchen Tools!

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Korean chicken stir-fry is called dakgalbi (닭갈비) and it was a recipe I really wanted to try. So much so, that I bought some new kitchen equipment to make it happen. I needed a new pan that was the right size and shape and I needed a gas table top burner so we could cook our dakgalbi right on the table in front us. So, in addition to seeing our new food adventure, you'll also get to see us try out these new kitchen tools for the first time and try to not burn the house down in the process.

Dakgalbi recipe

Table top gas burner

Paella pan (I have the 15-inch)

Korean red pepper flakes (gochu garu)

Sarah Moran is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

WHAT I EAT IN A DAY | Healthy Meal Ideas from a Dietitian

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It's time for another What I Eat in a Day video! I'm giving you a peak at what this dietitian eats in a day in February. This What I Eat in a Day has some of my favorite basic meals that I make all the time! I know we all need healthy meal ideas and inspiration from time to time, so I hope that seeing what I eat in a day as a nutritionist will give you some things you can try in your own meals and meal planning!

Healthy Grocery HAUL! What a Dietitian Buys at the Store!

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Ever wonder what a dietitian or nutritionist buys at the grocery store? Today, I'm showing you! In this video I'm showing you my healthy grocery haul from this week's shopping trip! This haul has many of my staple fridge and pantry items along with a few special items for this week's meals. I'm shopping for two people, me and my husband, but I think you'll find this helpful (or at least interesting) no matter how many people you're grocery shopping for in your house.

Reusable produce bags (affiliate)

Sarah Moran is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

I've Used a Menstrual Cup for 7 Years + Tips for Newbies

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When I first bought my Diva Cup I didn't know anyone who even knew what a menstrual cup was, much less used one. Now, menstrual cups are becoming more and more popular and you may be thinking of trying one yourself. In this video, I'm sharing my experience using a menstrual cup for 7 years. I want to share my experience as a long-time menstrual cup user because a lot of the videos about menstrual cups are first impressions videos. While these types of videos are great for letting you know what the initial experience is like, I think it's also helpful to hear about menstrual cups from someone who has been using a Diva Cup for a long time and has worked through some of the beginner struggles and concerns. So if you're wondering if you should try a menstrual cup or want some tips from a long-time user, this one's for you! I'm covering the main reasons why I love my Diva Cup so much after all this time and going over some tips for new menstrual cup users including how to insert a menstrual cup, menstrual cups folds and how to remove a menstrual cup. I also discuss menstrual cup leaking and emptying a menstrual cup in public.

Diva Cup (affiliate)

Sarah Moran is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com