RD to Eat
I'm a Foods and Nutrition student aspiring to be an RD. This blog is to chronicle my journey into the nutrition field, to share what I'm learning, and drool over yummy food.

Fall is my favorite time of the year.  I love the crisp air, the warm colors, and the comfy clothes.  It is also a great, yummy time for food.  This past week I have been in love with Sweet Potatoes.  I bought them in a pack of about 6 or 7 at Trader Joe’s on Monday and I have been eating them everyday.  They are delicious and so good for you.

1 Medium Sweet Potato= 5” long and 2” in diameter

160 Calories
3 g of fiber
120% Vitamin A- antioxidant; great for eye health, skin health, bone health, and immunity
30% Vitamin C-Ascorbic acid: antioxidant; helps in producing collagen (firm skin), eye health, and immunity strength
4% Calcium-mineral; builds stronger, denser bones
4% Iron-needed in the blood

As you can see for very little calories, you get a great amount of antioxidants and fiber needed to feel healthy and satisfied.

Preparing and Eating

I have been eating sweet potatoes as a snack, instead of eating chips and crackers, or when I want something sweet.  I just puncture it a few times with a fork and stick it in the microwave for 4-5 minutes.  It is smooth and creamy, small enough for a snack, and sweet enough to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Other ways that are great for preparing it is to stick it in the oven and bake it like a regular potato (although I like the microwave when I want something fast).
Cut it into strips pour a small amount of olive oil on them and bake them like french fries
Mash them up with some spices like cinnamon and nutmeg
For a dessert sprinkle with a tiny bit of brown sugar (don’t go overboard!)

Yams vs. Sweet Potatoes

Though in the grocery store Yams and Sweet Potatoes seem to be interchangable, they are not the same thing.  Yams in addition to not being from the same plant family as Sweet Potatoes, are also sweeter, because they contain more sugar, and they are not as high in Vitamin A or C.  Both are great choices, just personally I like Sweet Potatoes better.

This past weekend all I have been doing is writing a lab report that is due next Wednesday.  It has been a lot of work and not very fun, but it is kind of interesting.

Did you know that everything product we eat in the US has a definition, made up of strict guidelines, that in order to be named must follow those guidelines?  The lab report I am writing now involves “What is a fruit cocktail?”

The USDA’s definition of a fruit cocktail is a can of fruit containing 30-50% Peaches, 25-45% Pears, 6-20% grapes, 6-16% Pineapples, and 2-6% cherries; no more, no less.  If it does not contain these percentages then it can not be called a fruit cocktail.

In our lab we tested a name brand fruit cocktail and a generic brand to see if they met the guidelines even though the name brand is a lot more expensive than the generic brand.  It was a tedious lab comprised of counting each indidvidual fruit and weighing the fruits, and doing a lot of statistical math. And if three hours of that wasn’t enough, due next week is a 30 page lab report.

Though this lab seemed pointless and a waste of time, it did teach me one important lesson, I do not want to become a food inspector!

I have decided to make this blog to chronicle my journey to becoming a Registered Dietitian.  This journey, at this point in my life and education, seems so close and so far at the same time.  I’m in my third year of university and although I have a whole year and a half until I graduate I have so much left to learn and to accomplish before I’m ready to move on.

So where am I in this journey now?  Well I have finished almost all of my general education credits, some of the hardest classes only because they are not interesting to me.  The classes even harder than those, are the ones that are required for the major, but you can’t figure out why, such as accounting or organic chemistry.  So this semester is my last semester before I start my upper division nutrition classes.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  In the present I am taking Intro to Food Science lecture and lab, American and California Government, Psychology of Personality, and Biochemistry.

I guess the whole idea of this blog is for me and for the community, maybe those interested in Nutrition or becoming a Registered Dietitian and to read about someones journey in this field.  This blog is for me, to see my progress.  I see what I want in my future, and I’m working on getting there, but for the past month or two I have been getting stressed about how to get from Point A to point B (or point C or D; in another blog post I will explain what the steps are to becoming a Registered Dietitian and where my stress is coming from).  This blog is for the community to relate to me, to understand what it takes to become an RD, to give me advice, and for me to give advice to you.  So read, enjoy, and learn.