Kara Lydon | The Foodie Dietitian Blog

35 Middle Eastern Inspired Recipes to Try

April 2nd, 2018 | Posted in Entree, Recipes, Side | 2 comments

Middle Eastern cuisine is HOT right now and on track to be one of the biggest food trends of 2018. Think beyond the plain and simple hummus and falafel, and try out the trend in your kitchen with one of these healthy and delicious 35 Middle Eastern inspired recipes!

Shakshuka with Harissa via The Foodie DietitianHealthy Crispy Chickpea Greek Salad with Pomegranates & Tzatziki Drizzle via Abbey’s Kitchen

Harissa Roasted Sweet Potatoes via Eat Real Food

Lentil Dip with Tahini & Lemon via Olive Tomato

Middle Eastern Spiced Quinoa Salad with Eggplant and Pomegranate via The Foodie DietitianSmoky Harissa Rapini with Black Bean Pasta via Food Confidence

Harissa Spiced Salmon Burgers via One Hungry Bunny

Turkish Hummus via Foods with Judes

Za’atar Roasted Radishes with Pea Puree, Raisins, and Pine Nuts via Abbey’s KitchenHarissa Roasted Carrots & Chickpeas with Pomegranate, Tahini, & Dukkah via The Grateful Grazer

Spiced Roasted Chickpeas…

Why I Decided to Stop Taking the Stairs

March 30th, 2018 | Posted in health & wellness, Intuitive Eating, mindfulness | 12 comments

A post about why I decided to stop taking the stairs and more importantly how to shift from over-exercising to moving intuitively and choosing exercise that feels good.“Take the stairs.”

“Park your car in the furthest spot from the entrance.”

“Walk in place during TV commercials.”

Yep, I’m ashamed to admit that used to utter these phrases to my clients back in the day.

When I first became a dietitian, I worked in an outpatient clinic at a hospital, and I remember I always took the stairs. I always took the stairs because I told my clients to take the stairs. I always took the stairs because the dietitians were “supposed to” take the stairs. I took the stairs because I didn’t want my colleagues or clients to see me taking the elevator. This was also the time when I encouraged my clients to park their car in the spot furthest…

Are You on the Hunger Fullness Diet?

March 22nd, 2018 | Posted in Intuitive Eating | 9 comments

Are you applying diet mentality to intuitive eating? Are you on the hunger fullness diet? In this post, we dive into what listening to hunger/fullness means, how you know when it turns into a diet, and how to ditch the diet mentality.I’ve seen a common trend with some of my intuitive eating clients. They break up with their diet of choice in an effort to give intuitive eating a try to help heal their relationship with food. They learn all about the 10 principles of intuitive eating and are super excited to put them into practice and then get hyper focused on two of them: honor your hunger and respect your fullness. All of the sudden, intuitive eating has become the hunger fullness diet.

What is this hunger/fullness thing anyway?

Intuitive eating is about getting back to the way we were naturally born to eat. We weren’t born counting calories….

Instant Pot Guinness Beef Stew

March 15th, 2018 | Posted in Entree, Holiday, Recipes | 29 comments

Super hearty and inherently Irish, this Instant Pot Guinness Beef Stew is the perfect recipe for a St. Patrick’s Day feast.Ya’ll know how much I love St. Patrick’s Day.

I have such fond memories growing up of spending St. Paddy’s Day at my grandparent’s house, eating corned beef and cabbage and listening to all the Irish jigs and ballads. It was a fun and lively celebration and I try to recreate that every year at home. It seems like the last couple years we’ve had travel over St. Paddy’s weekend though, leaving me to make our Irish feast either a little early or belated.This year, we celebrated early, just Steve and I. I made corned beef and cabbage in the slow cooker (my first time eating corned beef in 18 years!), my Irish soda bread (and if you want the recipe for whole wheat Irish soda bread, I’ve got you),…

Cozy Lavender Almondmilk Latte

March 8th, 2018 | Posted in Beverage, Recipes | 12 comments

Warm, grounding and totally cozy, this lavender latte made with Almondmilk is perfect for a slow morning or when you just need a peaceful moment to yourself.This post is sponsored by Blue Diamond Almond Breeze. Thanks for supporting the brands that make TFD possible and, as always, opinions are my own!

Currently curled up in my comfy chair with a bulky sweater on and sipping on my lavender almondmilk latte as I write this post. Doesn’t get much cozier than this.I know I’ve written a few odes to tea on this blog because I’m an avid tea drinker but what you may not know about me is that I’m a sucker for a mid-afternoon latte. I really do love the taste of coffee. Even more so, I love the haunting aroma of coffee. But coffee hasn’t always loved me back. As someone with a sensitive stomach, coffee doesn’t always agree…

40 Best Vegetarian Comfort Food Recipes

February 26th, 2018 | Posted in Entree, Recipes | 11 comments

Spring may be around the corner (hopefully!) but until then let’s spend the last of winter’s chilly and snowy days hunkered down with one of these 40 vegetarian comfort food favorites.Easy Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili Mac via The Foodie DietitianRoasted Vegetable Lasagna via Triad to Wellness

Slow Cooker Lentil Sloppy Joes via Michelle Dudash

Coconut Curry Stuffed Peppers via The Grateful Grazer

Slow Cooker Vegan Italian Wedding Soup via The Foodie DietitianGrandma’s Cheesy Potato Soup via Your Choice Nutrition

5-Minute Vegetarian Chili via Sinful Nutrition

Vegetarian Eggplant Meatballs via Byte Sized Nutrition

“Cheesy” Vegan Mushroom Quinoa via Fannetastic FoodAfrican Almond Butter & Root Vegetable Stew via Katie Cavuto

Artichoke and Spinach Risotto with Lemon Cashew Cream via Neat & Nutritious

Butternut Squash Noodles Carbonara with Mushroom Bacon via The Foodie Dietitian

Creamy Avocado Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Zucchini via C it NutritionallyVegan Baked Mediterranean Lasagna via Sharon Palmer

Simple…

Instant Pot Raisin Bread (No Knead!)

February 22nd, 2018 | Posted in Appetizer, Breakfast, Recipes, Snack | 38 comments

Use the instant pot to help your bread rise in just a few hours, no kneading required! This Instant Pot Raisin Bread is an old family recipe that I tweaked to be able to make in a fraction of the time.When the Recipe Redux announced its monthly recipe challenge was bread recipes, I immediately knew what I had to make. You see, my grandpa passed away in December, just a couple months ago, and this bread recipe was something he made religiously for our family after my grandma passed away. I originally tweaked this recipe to make it a little more nourishing with whole-wheat flour and applesauce and wrote a tribute to my grandma and you can find that post for Gram’s Irish Raisin Bread here. Since I have a post dedicated to my Gram, I wanted to carve out some space for my Grandpa here too.This recipe goes back…