I'm an RD!!!!!!!!!

OOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I passed my boards today and am officially a Registered Dietitian!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the best day of my LIIIIIIFFFFFEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LIFE- something I will now have back! Thankyouverymuch

Starting a New Life

I've decided to make the biggest change I have ever made in my entire life, (besides marriage..possibly...but maybe not!) I don't want to say what it is yet, but I am so excited I can hardly contain myself. Also, really nervous. I can't wait to share with everyone once I know where it's going to take me! Nutrition is my passion and my life and I'm going to get everything out of it that I can!

Have you ever made a life-altering change that turned your world upside down, for the better?

I'm a (dedicated) slacker

So I've been extremely MIA recently. I just realized I haven't even posted on my blog since August first. AND I missed WIAW last week which I never do. :( But I do have good reason. I've been studying like a crazy woman for the RD exam. I basically get up at 6, work from 8-5, get home 5:30ish, have dinner with the hubby around 6, then study until 11. This has been my life everyday for the past month. Hopefully it will all be over soon and I can have a life again (blog and otherwise) :) I'll try my very hardest to post something semi-interesting tomorrow ;)

New Approach To Weight Loss?

I don't know what it is about parents these days, but they ALL seem to think their baby has reflux. And not just reflux, GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). Babies spit up, that's what they do..well that and eat and poop.

This mom tried to tell me her 2 1/2 month old 17 POUND BABY, wholy crap, has reflux. Uhhh.. if your 2 1/2 month old baby has tripled it's birth weight, pretty sure he's keeping something down. Then she actually says to me, "I think he weighs too much, maybe I should start giving him food since he is so hungry."

 I can't fathom how this woman went from my baby is fat to I should feed him more... Maybe I've had this weight loss thing wrong all along and what I really need to do is just eat some extra ding dongs...

*Just to clarify, I do not advocate weight loss for babies, nor have I ever eaten a ding dong

WIAW Casino Edition

This past weekend Matt and I made our way over to Biloxi, Mississippi. One of the many perks of being married to a musician is all the people you get to meet. Matt played in an 18 piece orchestra for Regis Philbin at the Hard Rock Saturday night. I got to hang out backstage during rehearsal, eat lots of yummy food, watch the show (obviously) and meet Regis! Most of us honestly had no idea what Regis was going to be doing for this show. I mean, he is a funny guy, and I love him on Regis and Kelly...but what was this show?? Turns out he is also a fabulous vocalist! So basically he sang a lot of songs and told some jokes in between, and best of all, incorporated his "host chat" he is so famous for. It was such an awesome show and I'm super happy I got to go. 

We were given free tickets to eat at the huge buffet in the casino. I don't know about you...but Laura + Buffet = food piled 5 feet high! well...maybe not quit that high, but you get the idea. ;) I forgot to take a picture of my first plate of food...haha..but I did manage to get the second. (missed dessert too-figures).


Ribs, salad, cranberry sauce, limas, some other kinda bean?? yams, biscuit

 Those yams were soooooo goooooood! I had a lot more on my first plate. I've only had yams a couple times in my life and have never cooked them. I have no idea why, but it's def something that needs to change!!!

Since I forgot to take pictures of the rest of my food (I'm always so hungry), here is what I'm going to be filling up on today. Ok...so I'm probably not going to eat the lunch box ;)


Matt made more Ooey Gooey Banana Bread.

He also made that lamb stew (I'll probably post a blog tomorrow with the recipe)

I had been eating edamame for snacks, but I ran out..so it's trail mix for me!

We havn't quit run out of peaches, but Matt informed me the rest are for "cooking"...looks like we need to make another trip to Chilton County :)

Check out all the other WIAW posts over @Peas & Crayons

Here are some other non-food pics from the day :)

L-hallway to dressing room,                R- dressing room

Matt tried to have Regis be in the middle...Regis offered me some advice, "Make sure you are always in the middle." Yes sir! (He was holding my hand too, so sweet)

Changes For The Golden Arches

I just read an article called, Happy Meal Change a Step Toward More Nutritious Fast Food Options. (Click the title to link to the article). I'm not sure how I feel about this yet. On the one hand, yes encouraging more fruits/veggies is always a good thing. But are we forgetting what else is still coming along with this healthy side?? Either a burger, nuggets which we know have 30 some odd ingredients (check them out here), and french fries. Last time I checked, eating a few carrot sticks doesn't cancel out a plate full of fried food. Second, with the way people latch on to the media and advertising, it wouldn't surprise me if we just end up with more kids going to McDonalds more often, because hey! you get...some raisins? Apparently McD's thinks they "may have a small impact on the childhood obesity epidemic." What a joke! Yeah you have an impact all right. Here's an idea: don't go to McDonalds?

It's no secret that the catalyst to this change is stemming from the pressure of consumers and government.

What do you guys think about this new change? A step in the right direction? or just more advertising tricks disguised as "healthy" to increase customers/profits??

Another great article on this topic from NY Times

Birthday Heaven!

Yesterday was my 26th birthday and as usual Matt's culinary talents exceeded my expectations. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who loves me so much. He put so much effort into making my special day more than I could have asked for. He had a glass of wine waiting on me when I walked in the door after work. Then...he served this "appetizer". I can't even explain to you how amazing this was. And all completely made from scratch.


Baked Brie, Peach & Cherry Compote, Candied Pecans

I could have eaten that all night! But I had to save room for the main course. Rack of lamb!!! My absolute fav!!!!!!!! It was cooked to perfection. And the okra...wow, I was speachless. The potatoes were mighty delicious too. I pretty much just dove face first into this...

Lamp Lollipops, Tempura Fried Okra, Okra & Tomatoes, Baked Fingerling Potatoes

We had this delicious red wine with dinner, Coppola Rosso. Matt's pretty great at picking out our wine selections too...of course ;)

After dinner, I wanted to open my present!!! But made had made me a dessert and wanted to sing me happy birthday first :) So sweet. All I've been wanting for a week is chocolate chip cookies and I haven't had any! So what did he make me? Chocolate chip cookie cake! With some champagne on the side.

Now it was present time!!!! Yay! I had no idea what Matt was getting me!! When I saw how big the box was, I was even more confused. You can tell by my face that I was quit pleasantly surprised :)



Acoustic/Electric Fender Guitar

 Now I just have to learn how to play this thing!! And now I'm ready for some birthday dinner leftovers :)