This afternoon I spent some time with one of my classmates from the graduate nutrition program to help her set up a blog. As part of practicum project this summer, she’ll be blogging about local, far-fresh food, specifically in relation to the Raleigh-Durham area. (I promise to post a link once the site is up and running!)

I hardly consider myself an expert in blogging, but apparently I’ve accrued at least a limited amount of knowledge in my 3+ years of blogging, as we spent over an hour discussing the various techniques involved with this artform.

All this blog talk got me thinking about how I could improve my own blog, particularly now that I have some extra time to devote to it. In the past few hours alone, I’ve set up an e-mail subscription service (see right) and established a polling system. I’m interested in what you all would like to see here at The Broccoli Hut, so please take a minute to answer the poll I posted this afternoon.

How tech savvy are you? If you’re a blogger, do you consider yourself an expert? I would classify myself at an intermediate level when it comes to technology know-how—I can teach myself how to use certain features on the blog, but don’t ask me to write HTML!

To celebrate my first day of freedom, I put together some pretty awesome meals.

This morning’s breakfast was a re-creation of my magical Valentine’s Day breakfast. This time, however, I added some vegan chocolate protein powder for some extra staying power.

For lunch, I put together a mayo-less potato salad, inspired by a recipe I saw on Rachael Ray. It was pretty darn tasty…and a great way to use up my never-ending jar of capers.

Tonight’s meal featured an Ellie recipe, Green Beans with Mushrooms & Shallots.

This side dish made for a nice accompaniment to my meal, but the flavor combination is nothing innovative. The real discovery of this meal, was the Steamfresh rice.

I’ve criticized the Steamfresh products in the past because it seems that they charge you double for frozen vegetables simply because they add some convenient packaging. However, Steamfresh products were on sale at Target last week, and I had a killer coupon to boot. What really lured me in though was the fact that they make steamed rice products in addition to plain old veggies.

If there’s one thing I hate, it’s waiting for whole grains to cook. Ever noticed how often couscous appears on this blog? It’s because it cooks practically instantly, meaning I get to eat dinner faster. Anyway, these steamed rice products are a godsend for a girl like me! They take just minutes to prepare, contain almost no sodium (a rare characteristic in the frozen foods aisle), and boast all the benefits of whole grain. I am definitely stocking up on a few more bags of these the next time they go on sale!

Alright, Margot needs a potty break. Ciao!

Filed under: Meals