This time of year can be uber stressful with midterms coming up, job pressures, relationship issues, you name it.  The realization that school is in full swing has finally hit. Many of us are as busy as ever, including moi. And you know what that means: stress eating.

I’m going to be completely honest and admit that when I am stressed, I just want to EAT. Everything. As a nutritional sciences major, I can’t get away from thinking about food and studying it just makes me want to eat it more. Thankfully, as said nutrition major, I am also equipped with some pretty awesome information to prevent myself from becoming overweight. As a person who believes in walking the walk, not being overweight is a career decision for me as well as a health decision.

So what’s some of my stay-skinny secrets you ask?

Well my friends, one of my best secrets is eating nuts and seeds at least once per day. It might seem counterproductive to eat nuts and seeds, which are high in fat, to lose weight, yet studies show that nuts and seeds promote weight loss. Big time.  Research on the issue shows when an equal number of carbohydrate calories are replaced with nuts and seeds, weight loss increases. Scientists from Purdue University did a thorough review of all the research studies that looked at nut intake and weight loss. Guess what? They found a surprising inverse association between nut intake and Body Mass Index. As a lover of almond butter and walnuts, this news could not thrill me more.

Not only did they find nuts were conducive to weight loss, they also found that nuts and seeds are a rich source of nutrients and protect the heart and blood vessels.  So basically, in addition to keeping me skinny, my heart loves the stuff.  For example, almonds have a potent antioxidant effect, which leads to decreases in levels of bad cholesterol, and help to keep our arteries clear of nasty buildup. Read More »

I like to have some kind of baked good in the morning along with my cup of coffee, and honestly, there is nothing better than a scone to serve that purpose. Muffins are nice, but they’re too sweet (and often they are also the size of a man’s head). Biscotti go fabulously with coffee, but inevitably disintegrate into crumbs whenever I attempt to eat them.

But scones… aahhh. They’re just so close to perfect. Also, you can freeze them and just pop one out whenever you want to eat it—beautiful!

So I was rooting around for a great scone recipe this weekend, and I unearthed this monster on the mother of all recipe sites, the (aptly named) All Recipes. I will announce this publicly: I will never search for another scone recipe again. These are SO AMAZING!

To make a flawless recipe even better, they are also customizable. Yeah, that’s right. The recipe lists raisins as an optional ingredient, so if you don’t want raisin scones, you can basically throw whatever you do want right in the batter and mix it up.

I made cranberry-walnut scones, but the possibilities are endless. Chocolate-chip scones? Okay! Orange-lemon scones? Yes! Irish coffee scones? Well… I’m not quite that ambitious, but go for it and let me know how it turns out. Read More »