Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Healthy?

I had some down time yesterday so I used it to analyze my food intake from the last few weeks. I am VERY disappointed because my vitamin intake is horrible! I thought that while I have not been meeting my goal of 5 veggies/fruits per week (but have come close), I was getting close to meeting all my needs, WRONG! Trying to eat more fruits and veggies, especially veggies, has been a lot harder than I anticipated. Analyzing my nutrient intakes has opened my eyes as to how badly I eat. Also, it really helped me get motivated to eat more fruits and for sure more veggies, which is what usually keeps me from meeting my 5/daygoal. This experience has definitely helped me understand what it means for people to make dietary changes, and in most cases they are more drastic than what I am doing. I have also realized that having a degree in nutrition does not magically make me a healthy eater and I should put more effort into eating better. I hope that as a nurse I will be more sensitive to my patients' struggles with lifestyle changes and will help them set goals that are achievable.

On a side note, I had promised you healthy recipes and thought it was time for the first one. Hope you like spinach! Spinach & walnut pesto…I got this recipe a couple of years ago from the food network:

1 bag of fresh spinach (or 1 box of frozen spinach)
1 cup of chicken broth (or veggie broth)
¼ cup of olive oil
3 garlic cloves
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
½ cup of toasted walnuts
Grated parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS: Put it all in the blender and you are done! Use with pasta, sandwiches, or any other way you like.