Update!

Ai yai yai! What a terrible blogger am I!

I apologize to everyone for not being consistent with my blog entries! I'm constantly disappearing and reappearing. But I promise this blog is not dead!

So I wanted to give everyone an update!

First, I'm so happy to announce that I have been accepted into the Nutrition Blog Network! Blogs powered by the nutrition experts of the world - registered dietitians! Now you'll see the badge on my blog. Make sure to check it out! I love reading what's on the minds of other dietitians and it's an incredible resource to healthy recipes as well!

Now, on to why I've disappeared...

After years of being told I needed to get my wisdom teeth removed, I finally put my big girl pants on, walked into an oral surgeon's office, and scheduled my appointment. But we'll get back to that later...

Knowing I'd have to suffer a slow advancement from a mechanical soft (still there!) diet to a regular diet, I took the weekend before my surgery to visit my cousin in the city where I was born: New York City!

Because I've visited NYC several times, we decided to concentrate on the good stuff: shopping and FOOD! So, as a fare-thee-well to my wisdom teeth and my regular consistency diet, my cousin agreed to go on a food tour with me! Where do you sign up for a food tour you ask? I have no idea. We created our own food tour by asking long-time locals where we can find the best foods in the city. We split dumplings, bagels, cheesecake, sushi, kimchi, arepas, gelato, cannolis, belgian waffles (my speculoos got confiscated by TSA!), mimosas, veggie platter, eggs benedict, the most tender chicken I've ever had, and flavored coffee. It was a palette dream! Oh, but we walked like crazy and my knees pretty much gave up by the end of the day.

Roaming around Union Square for brunch

Belgian waffle with speculoos!

Junior's Cheesecake- even dad remembers!

Fresh seafood at Grand Central

Cured meats at Grand Central

Prepared treats at Grand Central

Look how fresh the food is! 

Arepas in East Village

Not exactly the pictures you were expecting from a nutrition blog, huh? Haha, I love food too! And I believe food should be celebrated and explored, not abused. This is just the beginning! I hope to tour the U.S. and try food all over! My dream is to travel the world with a fork in one hand and a surfboard in the other! (Hmmm... maybe I'll share my past food travels in a later post).

The following weekend was the weekend of ... dun, dun, dun, duuuuunnnn ... my wisdom teeth extraction! My dear friend treated me to calamari on the beach and steak for my "last meal". I made sure to add some veggies in there too and used my wok for the first time to help me stir fry the vegetables I had left in my refrigerator:

Perfect steak sides!

The day of my surgery, my friend cared for me and fed me yogurt with probiotics (I was taking so much Penicillin), cottage cheese and fruit, and italian ice. The next day Gretchen came over and gave me macaroni and cheese and banana pudding!

I'm slowly healing but I can't wait to get back to eating crunchy foods! At least now I somewhat understand my patients who have to be placed on a different diet consistency. It is very difficult to find the same foods appetizing when they've been beaten to a pulp. I've been trying to use this experience to help me empathize with my patients a little more. I've been experimenting with different ways to continue to meet my goal of increasing my fruit and veggie intake. Thanks to the help of my mom, I've created homemade berry shakes and softer vegetables, and have even been more attuned to finding products for softer consistencies on the shelves that are high in their nutrient content.

Finally, this past weekend I went home to the parents' to celebrate Easter. I grew up in a town that neighbors the strawberry fields of Plant City, and driving into town with the smell of strawberries filling your nose is delightful! My mom made me all sorts of wonderful soft meals that I could slurp up. We even went to Whole Foods where she bought the most delicious mango gelato!

I also made my mom buy turmeric, a spice known for its high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, to add to her spice rack while we were there. Have any of you heard of turmeric? In my studies on nutritional oncology, many spices boast a high content of antioxidants. I encourage everyone to explore the spice section the next time you're grocery shopping. You can change the flavor of your foods with just a sprinkle or a dash of this or that and never touch salt!

Another spice to add to my crowded spice rack!

In a few weeks, I travel off to San Francisco and Yosemite National Park! Hopefully I can eat regular consistencies by then, but I'll make sure to update everyone!