Lunch Date #16: The news and recipes you need to read

Hi friends! Welcome back to another mid-week news roundup. I’m so thankful you for could find time in your busy day to catch up.

Here’s my collection of articles and recipes from the last week, from the end of the 3,500-calorie rule to healthy holiday cookies.

I hope you find this helpful!

What I’m Reading:

Food, Nutrition & Health:

• Low Vitamin D Tied to Higher Death Risk – Nicholas Bakalar for The New York Times (Get your level checked next time you get a blood test)
• Vitamin D Deficiency Predicts Cognitive Decline – Megan Brooks for Medscape
• Farewell to the 3,500-Calorie Rule – Denise Webb for Today’s Dietitian (It never made sense to me. New, more complex equations can help people get a more realistic view of weight loss until we learn more. And of course, everybody and every body is different)
• How to Eat Well During the Holidays – fANNEtastic food
• Chinese Sesame Street-Branded Pears Bound for U.S. Market – Fresh Fruit Portal (Big Bird likes Asian pears too!)
• FDA Requires Calorie Counts at Restaurants – Tennille Tracy for The Wall Street Journal
• Think Diabetes and Dessert Don’t Go Together? Think Again! – Joy Bauer
• Does the high-protein craze make sense from a nutritional perspective? – Elaine Watson for Food Navigator
• Coffee: The next big thing in tea? Wize Monkey prepares to unveil coffee leaf tea – Elaine Watson for Food Navigator
• Mintel Unveils Top Consumer Trends for 2015 – Progressive Grocer
• Most beverage ads targeting kids still promote sugar and caffeine, not health, says report – Elaine Watson for Food Navigator
• Study debunks manufacturer fears labeling added sugar would confuse customers – Elizabeth Crawford for Food Navigator

Kitchen Techniques:

• When Freezers Attack: How to Wrap, Store, Organize, and Thaw Your Frozen Goods – Rochelle Bilow for Bon Appetit
• Cooking With Your Kids – Cabot Creamery
• No Carving Board? Here’s a Hack to Make Any Cutting Board Better for a Turkey – The Kitchn

Behavior Change:

• The Secret to Resisting Temptation – Ann Luktis for The Wall Street Journal

Fashion/Style (trying out a new category with you guys – like?)

• TOMS for Target – Women’s Ruana / Poncho Gray – Target (sadly sold out already, but I’m keeping my eye on it)
• Hipanema Turqoise Bracelet – Joie
• AG Adriano Goldschmied The Stilt Cigarette Jeans – AG on Piperlime
• Inspired by Style Within Reach’s post, 5 Outfits Inspiring My Honeymoon Wardrobe
• Taylor Swift’s bag (seen in this photo) is $50 at Aldo – great mixing of high and lo pieces Tay
• Pure Vida makes bracelet packs so you can quickly add style to any outfit. I like the Golden Coast Pack best.
• How awesome is this Snuggle Monster t-shirt?!! Christmas present?

Something Uplifting:

• Groomer Shaves Homeless Dog. What She Found Underneath All That Hair Made My Eyes Tear Up. – Lifebuzz

What I’m Salivating Over:

Breads & Muffins:

• Whole Grain Sweet Potato Muffins – Food52
• Thanksgiving Leftovers – Sweet Potato Muffins with Crumb Topping – One Hundred Dollars a Month
• Gram’s Irish Raisin Bread – Kara Lydon, The Foodie Dietitian
• Skinny Dark Chocolate Strawberry Muffins – Apple of My Eye

Apps & Sides:

• Cheesy Kale-Artichoke Dip – Eat. Live. Travel. Write.
• Asian Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Crispy Fried Shiitake Mushrooms – Blogging Over Thyme

Desserts:

• Orange and Ginger Dark Chocolate Bark – Savvy Eats (would make a good holiday gift!)
• Maple Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies – Cookie + kate (I made them this week and they were wonderful)
• Overnight Pull-Apart Brioche Cinnamon Roll Bread – Half Baked Harvest
• Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti – Joyful Healthy Eats
• No Bake Peanut Butter Bars – My Baking Addiction

Thanksgiving/Holiday:

• Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes – Food Network
• Applesauce – Simply Recipes
• Slow Cooker Parsnip-Cauliflower Puree with Roasted Garlic – Following in my Shoes
• Dessert Crostini Bar – Holley Grainger, MS, RD
• 28 Healthy Holiday Cookie Recipes – Fit Foodie Finds
• Braided Bourbon Pumpkin Pie – A Cozy Kitchen (The braided crust is So. Cool.)
• 15 Perfect Pumpkin Recipes – My Baking Addiction

(See you next year Thanksgiving recipe section!)

All of these recipes & many MANY more on my Pinterest page. Follow me!

Photos From the Week:

What I’ve Been Eating: (L): Snack time while working. Drinking water out of my favorite Nalgene, which Hass Avocados gave me at the Annual Food & Nutrition Conference. I love avocados! And a Kit’s Organic Fruit + Nut Bar. (R): Make this side dish from Better Homes & Gardens. Trust me. And use goat cheese instead of feta.

What’s Good at Target: Or honestly, what isn’t good at Target? Loving these gold mercury glass-style votives, $1 drinking glasses, and initial mugs for holiday gifts, filled with homemade hot cocoa mix, a nip of peppermint schnapps and a chocolate stirring rod perhaps?

Where I’ve been shopping: The farmers market, with my mother and sister. (L) Our shadows as we walked toward the market. (R) My french baguette, seatbelted into the backseat so I wouldn’t get crumbs all over the car! Don’t laugh at me people with kids…I know it won’t always be so clean, but I’ll hold onto cleanliness for as long as I can!

Be well! I’ll see you for another mid-week lunch date next Wednesday!