call me a curator

I’ve been thinking about this post for a few weeks now, maybe months. My bestie, Emily, gave me the idea when I was talking to her about the purpose of my blog. I confided to her that because I don’t constantly develop recipes or write about nutrition topics, I didn’t know if my site really had a purpose, or at least a well-defined one.

Emily countered and told me that she thought of me as a bit of a ‘curator’ of sorts, finding winning recipes or beauty products to share with others. As soon as she said it, the light bulb in my head went on. A curator! That sounded about right.

The truth is, I’ve always called myself a ‘life blogger.’

Yes, much of the blog is dedicated to food and nutrition. Check out my recent recipes developed for contests here and here. I also write ‘fad’ diet book reviews, like this one for the Whole30, and they can all be found under the Nutrition tab at the top and select ‘Book Reviews.’ I also documented much of my time spent in school to become a dietitian, and you can read those posts by clicking ‘Becoming an RD’ under the Nutrition tab.

But I also like to write about other things, too.

One of my favorite categories is ‘Things I LOVE’ because I love sharing awesome stuff with others. From beauty products to athletic gear, I have an opinion and I’m happy to share it.

And to round it all out, there are loads of posts about traveling, our never-ending house projects and running. The truth is, I just really like to write (or maybe this is my way of talking?) and this is my forum. Kath couldn’t have put it better when she wrote that she blogs about what’s most natural to write about just this morning–how’s that for timing?!

So, as I continue sharing my nutrition knowledge, new discoveries, recipes worth making (and anything else I throw up here), I hope you’ll continue enjoying it!

siggi’s recipe contest: blueberry lemon cheesecakes

I’ve been eating siggi’s yogurt for awhile now, since it’s one of the few with very little added sugar and high in protein. Most of the time I use plain and add my own fruit or granola, but their flavored yogurts are delicious! I LOVE the orange & ginger flavor the best, and their pumpkin during the fall. So good!

Siggi’s is Icelandic-style yogurt, called ‘skyr.’ They use a whopping FOUR times the amount of milk for each cup of yogurt, which their gives it a very thick texture and more protein.

When I found out siggi’s was holding a recipe contest for dietitians, you can bet I was super excited and couldn’t wait to enter. I even had to fudge a little on my ‘no-added-sugar’ challenge since the recipe is due April 30.

I really wanted to make something unique (i.e. not a smoothie) with the yogurt, and was waffling between a baked item (like a muffin) and an Indian-inspired yogurt dressing for chicken when Andrew gave me the idea for cheesecake. (Not sure why–he doesn’t even like cheesecake!) Because siggi’s values real, simple ingredients and limiting added sugar, I attempted to make a simple (i.e. no bake), healthier (enter the yogurt) cheesecake without a lot of added sugar. It’s just sweet enough to feel like dessert, yet tangy and light enough to be kind to your waistline.

Anyway, after a huge fail for the first version, I hit a home run with my second go-around. A big THANK YOU to the Nyes, who served as my taste-testers!

Please note this recipe uses a variation of the cherry-chia jam I posted recently, so be sure to make the jam before you want to make and assemble the cheesecakes!

Individual Blueberry Lemon Cheesecakes

Servings: 4
Time: 30 minutes plus 3 hours
Difficulty: easy
Print

Blueberry Jam:

1 C frozen blueberries, thawed

½ C pineapple juice

1 T chia seeds

Heat blueberries and pineapple juice over low heat and use a potato masher to crush fruit. Simmer 5-10 minutes. Mix in chia seeds and pour into a glass jar. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Crust:

¾ C pretzel ‘crumbs’

3 T butter, melted

1 T sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Mix crumbs, butter, sugar and cinnamon together. Immediately add 3 T of crust to each ramekin and tamp down.

*For a crisper crust, bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. (Note: If using glass jelly jars, bake in a water bath to prevent glass from cracking.)

Filling:

4 oz siggi’s plain yogurt

4 oz cream cheese, softened

2 T honey

1 package unflavored gelatin

1 C boiling water

3 T lemon juice

zest of ¼ lemon

Empty gelatin packet into a glass measuring cup, pour in 1 cup boiling water and stir until gelatin has dissolved completely. Let stand 5 minutes. Mix yogurt, cream cheese, honey, lemon juice and zest in a large bowl with a hand mixer or in a food processer until well combined. Pour in ½ cup of the gelatin and mix until smooth.

To assemble:

Cool crusts in ramekins/jars if pre-baking.
Spoon 2 T of blueberry jam onto each crust and spread to cover completely.
Ladle approximately ½ cup cream cheese mixture into each ramekin/jar and refrigerate 3 hours to set. Top with additional jam or blueberries as desired.

Disclaimer: siggi’s does not know who I am, nor am I being sponsored or reimbursed for this post.

#cookingwithsiggis #contest

recipe contest fail

I’m about to submit the recipe I came up with for siggi’s yogurt as part of a contest, but thought I’d keep it real and show you the first round: plain, mango coconut and vanilla cherry cheesecakes.

I clearly got ahead of myself, taking glamour shots before taste-testing them with some friends.

The verdict: not enough flavor. The unanimous ‘winner’ of the first round was the plain yogurt-cheesecake (pictured above, with a strawberry), which included a little bit of honey for sweetness. Sadly, the vanilla cherry wasn’t flavorful enough, and the mango coconut wasn’t all that great, either.

Because siggi’s values simple ingredients and very little added sugar, I only added honey to the one with the plain yogurt; the other two were sweetened only by the sugar in their respective yogurts and fruit.

At our taste-test, we all brainstormed for the second round and came up with an entirely different flavor combo. I whipped it up the next day and declared victory when all my tasters approved! Recipe coming NEXT to the blog!