Do M.O.R.E. with Dinner and Beyond with My Meal Planning Tips!

How to create a more balanced diet and healthier lifestyle by enjoying your food with health in mind I have partnered with Dannon Light & Fit to help promote how to include Dannon Light & Fit yogurt as part of your weekly menu. I have been compensated for my time commitment. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments. As part of my ongoing Do M.O.R.E. with Dinner initiative,  I’m branching out beyond dinner and delving into breakfast, lunch and snack time! I’ve spent a great deal of time and energy figuring out how to do “more” with dinner for my family so we can be healthier and happier by incorporating more fun and better nutrition while spending less time in the kitchen. I mean, when your kids have baseball, soccer, piano and other activities, not to mention my own dance classes and my husband’s paddle tennis league – you need to find ways to fit healthy eating into a busy…

Earth Day, Food Waste and Your FOODprint

As Earth Day approaches, I’m sharing my learnings from the 30 Day Food Waste Challenge and tips from my food and nutrition expert friends! This post is part of my role as a member of the Beef Expert Bureau. I have been compensated for my time commitment. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments. The Food Waste Movement Food waste has become a major concern. But how big is the problem, really? Let’s put it in perspective: every American wastes over 20 pounds of food per month. That’s enough to fill a 90,000 seat Rose Bowl stadium every day! But if you make the commitment to waste less, you could save yourself $2500 per year and help our environment!

National Soup Month – Do M.O.R.E. with Dinner!

Do More With Dinner initiative of Sarah-Jane Bedwell

January is National Soup Month and a great time to snuggle in with a warm bowl of hearty, healthy goodness. I could honestly live on soup all year-round, but during the frigid cold winter months here in Chicago, I find myself reaching for it more often. Soup is not only a comforting, nourishing meal, it’s a great fit for my Do M.O.R.E. with Dinner initiative! You can find quick and easy recipes, modify your favorites to be a bit healthier, “shop your kitchen” to use up ingredients on hand and save a trip to the grocery store, or use up those leftovers and decrease food waste! I recently went on TV to share some soup tips and recipes, and to promote my Do M.O.R.E. with Dinner ideas and inspiration, including my FREE Resource Kit.

A Guilt-Free RD Recipe for Dinnertime Success: One-Pot Fiesta Chicken

This post was written as part of my sponsored partnership with Perdue. All opinions expressed are my own. It may come as no surprise that people want to know more about how their food is grown and raised. According to a 2015 Goldman Sachs study titled “Millennial Munching” 83% want to know more about where their food came from. But it might surprise you to find that they’re placing a great importance on family dinners. According to the FutureCast study, more than 40% of 24-35 year olds place a great importance on family dinners every night, the kitchen is the most important room in the house, and they strive to provide healthy meals for their families.

9 Healthy Kitchen Hacks to Help You Do M.O.R.E. with Dinner

Guest post by Deanna Segrave-Daly, RD I love Melissa’s Do M.O.R.E. With Dinner initiative and was thrilled when she asked me to contribute via a post and future podcast. Now true confession: Despite the fact that I’m a registered dietitian, a food blogger and that I love to cook, my family of 3 isn’t always stellar about eating meals together. Most of the time I’m cooking for just my 9-year old and me as the hubs is a fairly limited eater and food doesn’t interest him all that much (I so CAN’T relate.) And my daughter has been going through some food jags of late despite her cooking with me often.

Answers on Antibiotics – An Interview with Dr. Leah Dorman

This post was written as part of my ongoing sponsored partnership with the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance. All opinions expressed are my own. As a member of the U. S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance’s Digital Voices Council, I had the opportunity to attend an educational event recently that included a tour of Deppe Farms (a hog operation in Washington, Missouri). I also had the pleasure of meeting other members of the Digital Voices Council including Dr. Leah Dorman who is a veterinarian, a mom and a farmer. During the farm tour many questions arose about antibiotics. Leah was able to answer every question and provide in-depth explanations from a veterinarian’s perspective. I was impressed with her ability to address such a complex topic so I wanted to do a follow up interview with her and share it with others.

Challenge Yo’ Self! Life Lessons and Some of My Recent Challenges

I don’t consider myself as someone who “challenges” herself….life seems to have plenty of its own challenges coming my way on a regular basis to keep me on my toes. However, I am definitely always seeking ways to grow, progress and improve. Some challenges are big, some are small. Some are scary, accidental, life changing. But they are always a learning experience. And certainly NOT about perfection.

6 Food Myths Dietitians Love to Hate

Okay, maybe “hate” is a strong word. But I have to be honest – it’s really frustrating to hear all the negative hype and misinformation about food and nutrition. So I talked to a few of my dietitian colleagues and asked them to share their #1 food and nutrition myths they love to hate. I’ll kick off the mythbusting with mine.

9 Reasons I’m Doing The 30 Day Protein Challenge And Why You Should Join Me

One small change in your diet can make a big difference in the way you feel. I’m doing the 30 Day Protein Challenge in June and I’d like you to join me! June is a good time for me because work and travel slow down a bit so I can spend a little more time planning and preparing my food choices – but you can start any time that works for you!

Who Needs the Media? Videos & Podcasts Increase Your Visibility & Build Your Brand

I just conducted a workshop at Today’s Dietitian Spring Symposium in Orlando and wanted to share some of the information and inspiration with those of you who could not be there in person! Traditional media opportunities are shrinking while digital alternatives are expanding. Videos and podcasting are two strategic options to help you increase your visibility, build your brand and promote the RD expert!

Here’s how we’re doing M.O.R.E. with Dinner

  If you’ve been following my #domorewithdinner initiative you know what it’s all about. If not – read (and listen) all about it here! Here’s how we DID more with dinner the past couple of weeks:

Do M.O.R.E. with Dinner!

Do M.O.R.E. with Dinner…Discover Opportunities to Make Ordinary Rituals Extraordinary Are you looking for ways to be healthier and happier? Do you want to provide nutritious and delicious meals for your family? Do you want to enjoy your family time more? Then maybe you’ll be interested in my “do more with dinner” idea.

A Brief History of Food – Rethinking “Processed”

Farm to fork, field to plate, seed to shelf. … More and more we want to know where our food comes from. We want to know where it was grown (or produced), who grew it, and how. The same could be said for food ingredients. Where did they come from? How did they come to be? Why are they in our food?

Weight, Weight…Don’t Tell Me! 3 Reasons Your New Year’s Resolution is Doomed to Fail

‘Tis the season for making New Year’s Resolutions….and “weight loss” resolutions are the most popular ones year in and year out. If you’re one of the 3 in 10 Americans making resolutions in the new year, please don’t tell me that you’re going to do anything drastic. Let’s skip the strict diet and unrealistic exercise regimen, which means we can also skip the let down and frustration that follows. It’s not that you failed – the faulty resolutions failed YOU.

What is THAT Doing in My Food?

Have you ever heard the mantra “If you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it?” This saying may be popular among some fear-mongering food bloggers, but food scientists will tell you that they are missing the point. Some shoppers may say they want ingredient lists kept to a bare minimum because they don’t want “unnecessary chemicals” in their food. But often, these ingredients are there for a very important reason: to keep food safe.  Sometimes the desire to get rid of so-called “unnecessary chemicals” stems from not understanding why they are necessary in the first place.

Welcome to my Blog

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I’m the Guilt-Free RD – “Because food shouldn’t make you feel bad!™”. So, on my Food for Thought blog I’m sharing the secret ingredients to enjoy your food with health in mind.

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