Making Room by Gather
Hospitality. What do you think of when you hear that word?
For some it's old school 'stuffy' entertaining for others it's something to do with the hotel industry. One thing is for sure, as a culture we're not talking about it much.
Food * Design * Relationships have seemed to have taken a back seat to what our culture focuses on and values yet...we find ourselves in the midst of a loneliness epidemic. Something has to change, it's time to get back to our tables, and we're making room for it!
Making Room by Gather invites you into a new conversation on everyday hospitality. One that rewrites the way we approach opening your doors and filling your tables. Shifting the narrative from 'how does this make me look' to 'how does this make you feel' these buildable conversations aspire to inspire connection through everyday gathering.
Kayty's chic and a little quirky interview style will make you feel like you're sitting with a friend talking about how to grow in confidence as an everyday host. You can expect conversations from navigating challenging relationship dynamics to foundational cooking techniques and everything in between.
Whether you are a seasoned host or looking to develop new friendships and grow in your skills for the first time, there is a seat at the table. Join us weekly for new conversations with expert guests and with Kayty in her beloved Date with Kayt episodes. Continue the conversation @gatheritentionalliving
Making Room by Gather
Rice, Noodles, and Reality Checks: Debunking Food Myths w/ Nutrition by Kylie
I don't like to admit it, but one of my first thoughts when we experienced Thai culture was "How do they eat so much white rice and stay so thin?" Whether or not we realize it we believe certain narratives about how we approach food, its role in overall health without ever really questioning the truth behind them. I know I did.
Kylie Sakaida, a nationally recognized well loved registered dietitian with over 6 million social media followers, comes on the show to bring a refreshing perspective to healthy eating that honors both nutritional science and her strong cultural background. Have you ever noticed that 'healthy cookbooks' don't include a lot of asian recipes? That changes HERE!
Kylie courageously shares her personal struggle with ARFID (Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder), a less common eating disorder characterized by extreme food avoidance. Her journey and recovery ultimately inspired her career path and compassionate approach to nutrition counseling.
The conversation challenges common Western diet misconceptions, particularly around cultural foods like rice and noodles. Drawing from her Japanese-Hawaiian background her take on nutrition is refreshing and welcome. I know you'll feel the same!
Kylie and I connect over similar parts of our eating disorder recovery, laugh over words that make me cringe and drool over recipes like her mason jar noodles that I can't get enough of.
Follow her @NutritionByKylie across social platforms for more practical tips and recipes & get a copy of her book here!
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guest today is Kylie Sakaita. I say it right, yes, okay, good, good Name pronunciation is important to me. We're going to be talking all about kind of like healthy eating, intentional eating, but with a twist and it's a spin that is kind of like near and dear to my heart, really special to me. I know it's going to be refreshing to you too. I think whenever you're approaching intentional eating, healthy eating, it's so important to be connected to your why and your story and to also set yourself up for success, and I think all everything that Kylie brings to the table supports all of those things. So if you are not familiar with her, here's a little bit more more about her story.
Speaker 1:Kylie is a nationally recognized registered dietitian and content creator based in LA. Her expertise has been featured in media outlets like Healthline, good Morning America Today, self Magazine, men's Health Magazine and a background working at renowned hospitals such as Cedars-Sinai Medical. Like TikTok, instagram and YouTube. With over 6 million followers, which is so worth celebrating, she shares practical nutrition tips, evidence-based information and easy-to-follow healthy recipes. The reason I think it's so important to read all this, guys, is because I think a lot of influencers try to give health information and it's so important to know that someone with a lot of years of experience is sharing with us today. She is dedicated to empowering individuals to make informed dietary choices and adopt healthier lifestyles in a realistic and approachable way.
Speaker 1:Well, on the topic of intentional choices, you guys know Wesley is little. I nursed him for a big part of this last season. Hydration was important to me. Intentional health choices were really important, and we're hearing so much about electrolytes right now. Right, I feel like it's everywhere. It's like a booming conversation. It's like I'm being told not to drink artificial dyes or too much sugar. So where do I go? And that's where our friends at N2 Water come in. They are revolutionizing daily health by delivering nature's essential minerals in a convenient and delicious option. If you've listened to past episodes, colby loves the flavors and how they pour. I love them too. My favorite is the margarita Nothing artificial at all. You feel revived, rejuvenated after you drink it. I don't say any of this lightly. I pick our partners very intentionally and yeah, they're great tasting, they're on the go and they want to get in your hands. They want to be your go-to hydration source and you can head on over to n-2watercom or follow them on Instagram n-2water. I said that, right, right, the letter N, underscore two water and use the code EARLYSIPS one word E-A-R-L-Y-S-I-P-S for 20% off your purchase, and I know that you're going to be just as hooked as we are.
Speaker 1:Hi, I'm Katie, a hospitality educator and the host of Making Room by Gather podcast. I am set to see our communities get back to the table through hospitality, but it wasn't always this way. My husband and I moved to Thailand and through it I experienced some loneliness and with it I was given a choice to sit back and accept it or to do something about it. And for me, that meant two things that I needed the healing to learn how to accept an invitation and the confidence to know how to extend one. Through this process, I developed some of the richest and deepest relationships of my life. Through Making Room by Gather, you will hear conversations from myself and experts in the areas of food, design and relationships. You see there are countless things trying to keep us from the table, but can I tell you something? Take a seat, because you are ready, you are capable, you are a good host. You are a good host. Oh, where are you? No, there we are. Okay. We're circles again. What is happening? Welcome to real life.
Speaker 2:So fun. I loved being different shapes with you.
Speaker 1:That was great, oh, real life today. Goodness Well, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2:Thank you, what a wonderful intro. I loved to have witnessed all of it. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Of course, of course. I hear little Wesley in the background. Do you hear him coming through?
Speaker 2:No, I actually can't at all.
Speaker 1:Okay Well, that's wonderful. Wow, Okay Well, if anyone hears him today, welcome to the family. This is what this is real life real life over here today.
Speaker 1:Oh, so many things we're going to be diving into. So I I really really try, when I get any of my guest books, to experience it myself and to read the stories, and I'm so glad that I did with yours, because your story is pretty powerful, I think it's. Their topics aren't talked about a lot and they're important when we're talking about health and healthy eating. But let's start with some of the fun stuff. So you called Hawaii home, so to start, what's the correct pronunciation? I've heard it said a few different ways.
Speaker 2:This is such a great question. So the correct pronunciation. I think a lot of people say Hawaii, but a lot of locals say Hawaii or Hawaii. There's like something called like an okina between the two. I's in Hawaii, so that is like a glottal stop or that indicates glottal stop. So that's why you'll hear it pronounced differently when you're there and that's why I pronounce it differently too Sometimes.
Speaker 2:I think there came a time when I lived on the East coast and like the mainland for such a long time that I stopped saying it Hawaii, because people would keep asking me about it in mid conversation. I'd be like, oh, and it became this whole conversation and I was like you know what? It'd be just so much easier for me to just say Hawaii and for people to not always question the way I say it. And then I think a few years later I was like what am I doing that for? Like I really want to obviously pronounce it correctly, I want to do it justice and even if that warrants like a few minutes of this conversation that I have to have with this random person that I just met, that I think it's worth it just because it's such a, such a beautiful state to be part of or to be from wow, wow, yeah, I love that perspective.
Speaker 1:I think that's important and I'm glad that. Glad you went back to that. Yeah, yeah, no, it's important. What do you wish people knew about life there? Because I feel like there's a perception from the movies, but that's you know, that's all a lot of us know about it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that Hawaii is just the most special place on earth. I definitely feel lucky to have been raised there and I wish I'm, first of all, I'm so glad that people love it as much as they do and I'm so glad that people are able to appreciate how beautiful and how special it is. But Hawaii is just so much. It is such a. It has such a beautiful culture with deep roots, such a, I think, like a painful history too, and people are still, I think, navigating what it means to preserve that in the face of constant change. And I think that being raised there was such a something that I'm so grateful for. It instilled a strong sense of community in me as well as a strong responsibility to care for the land, and I think, although it's obviously so beautiful, it's still a place that should be respected and not just consumed.
Speaker 2:I actually have, like my one of my favorite rings that I have is this ring that I've had for 12 years now and it says Live Aloha. And I got it, obviously like locally made in Hawaii, at this craft fair that I went to. I think that it's just like this really beautiful reminder to show up with heart, to treat people with respect, to give without expecting something back, and, I think, to move through the world with care for others, and that's all I feel like I'm ever trying to do, even if I live in a different state. So, even though I was born and raised there and I live in California now, I still feel like it stays with me wherever I go.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's so. It's such a beautiful invitation, invitation to all of us. I love that it had that much of an impact on you. You know home, because home doesn't always have that effect on people, Right, and so that's, that's really sweet. And also I'm like you've had a ring for 12 years. It's really impressive. I lose all my jewelry.
Speaker 2:No, it's truly the most impressive feat. Like I always lose stuff too my mom knows I don't spend a lot of money on like sunglasses or jewelry sometimes, because I always end up losing everything but this ring is truly the only thing that I have. It is so important. I'm like, okay, I can't lose this. I got this at this local little like spot and I just I don't think they have like a physical store, so I was like I have to like.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, wow, I, you know what's so funny talking about this. So I just did a national TV segment and they were giving a gift as a thank you and you know I was expecting like a mug or a t-shirt and she came out with this like very practical kind of like bag and she was like let me explain this. She's like all the guests say that they lose their jewelry. This is to help you not lose it. And so they were these little um, she called them like pill bags. Yeah, little, she called them like pill bags. And she was like when you leave today and you're just like changing into your comfy clothes, like put your jewelry in these bags and set. And I was like this so like you know, you know the.
Speaker 2:That was definitely like only girls would know.
Speaker 1:It was so like unconventional, but I'm like I really appreciate this. Yes, Because I would lose these earrings today. Molly, her name was Molly.
Speaker 2:She was the genius behind it, wherever you are, for influencing us.
Speaker 1:Um, okay, so there is. We are totally shifting gears here to a different side of your story, different part of your story, but you well, let me just say it's not talked about enough. I have maybe seen one person share about this on social media their story with it, and an eating disorder is a part of my personal story. It's an uncomfortable one to have, but, I think, something that a lot of people deal with. But you developed and if I'm mispronouncing any of this, please correct me, I want to talk about it properly but you had ARFID as a kid and that impacted your relationship with food, the development of your platform, all of that Can you explain to those listening? What does this look like? I think we commonly hear anorexia, bulimia, things like that. This is kind of a different, it shows up differently, and so talk to us about it.
Speaker 2:No, thank you so much for even asking about it and I, first of all, I appreciate you reading through the book, even like the parts that I feel like. And I, first of all, I appreciate you reading through the book. Um, even like the parts that I feel like wouldn't even be as popular, right, like the philosophy or like the about me and um, arfid definitely is ARFID, which is avoidant, restrictive food intake disorder. Um, again, it's like not widely recognized and if I didn't, you know, have to study in school because that's my occupation, and if I didn't have it myself, I wouldn't know what it is, just because it is not as common. And also, when people do have it, it's not something that they usually want to talk about because it's seen as something that's, again, not well understood. So, barf it.
Speaker 2:Um, is this eating disorder where someone avoids certain foods and it can significantly limit how much you eat, and the reasons behind avoiding these foods aren't, I would say, like typical, of like a what an eating disorder usually looks like for, or at least what people think an eating disorder looks like? So it's not because of like body image concerns, but it's due to like sensory issues, like you're choking or vomiting, or just like a lack of interest in food. It's characterized as like really extreme picky eating, but it's not like it's not just picky eating, it's just to the point where it's actually depriving someone of that food. And for me it led to malnutrition, being significantly underweight, and being underweight this led to you know, this was obviously an extreme case where I wasn't able to regulate my body temperature. I was always super cold, I was always tired and weak and social situations involving food really stressed me out.
Speaker 2:Like I had to go to a cardiologist at some point because they had sensed cardiac abnormalities, likely due to malnourishment. I eventually got hospitalized and the doctors had no idea. They had characterized it as anorexia because they didn't understand what ARFID was yet, because it's true that new it's such a recent diagnosis in the medical world and at that point, since there were no resources and I, even the doctors didn't understand, I think I remember this one point in elementary school um going to like the health room or like the nurse's office so often that I just never thought that I would lead a normal life and that I was just so sick all the time and that that was so confining, and obviously the doctors didn't know what was going on and they had sent me to a dietician who specialized in treating eating disorders. She helped me gain more weight, she helped me eat more and that ultimately improved my relationship with food.
Speaker 2:I was able to recover fully, which is, I feel, like such a obviously such an extensive process for a lot of people. But the difference was really night and day, like I think that it's, I'm sure you know and a lot of people know eating disorders can completely drain you physically and day, like I think that it's, I'm sure you know and a lot of people know eating disorders can completely drain you physically and mentally and it just doesn't affect like your plate, it affects like your whole life. But I think that with the right support, things can absolutely change. That's the hope that I want to pass on, and I also hope that people know that their relationship with food or their negative relationship with food doesn't always have to be that way. So thank you so much for asking.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there was a quote you had about your healing process, I think, and if you want to give more context, you're welcome to, of course.
Speaker 1:But you said, for the first time in years, food no longer held power over me, controlled every aspect of my life or dictated every move and thought. For the first time ever, I came to appreciate the importance of food, not just as substance but as a source of joy. And my word for the year is remember, and that looks like a few different things to me, but I think it is just kind of hit me as we're talking, like I think that struggling with food might be a lifelong thing for me, like in seasons of stress, you know, like, I think, anyone with an eating disorder, there's kind of always a lure in stress or insecurity. But I think you and I are both really walking in a lot of health and freedom right now and I think it is so important to stop and like just celebrate that. Yeah, you know, because, like you, in that season I was like man, am I ever going to live a life free of this?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, yeah, there is freedom, and you've created so much beauty in that freedom.
Speaker 2:No, I appreciate that, and so much beauty in that freedom. No, I appreciate that and I appreciate you sharing that too. I feel like eating disorders can be such a vulnerable topic to discuss, just given it's obviously such a vulnerable part of life that stays with us in so many different ways, and recovery can look so different depending on the person and depending on what that journey looks like. But I hear you in that. It can be also so freeing to recognize the differences in how we feel at different parts of our recovery process and being able to, as you had said like remember is your word, which I think is really awesome being able to hold that and remember what that looks like moving forward.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wow, well, I I always connect so deeply with people with with a story you know what I mean Like they've really gone through the trenches and then created beauty and you've done that, and so I want to talk about your book and your platform more. So, listen, I am a foodie through and through. I love food. I love big portions, I love big flavor, all of it, I love it. I love food. But I'm also that friend that, like, really loves health. I love a good, healthy food, you know. So I want it to be both, and so I have a ton of cookbooks. I have a lot of healthy eating cookbooks. A lot of them are either Mediterranean or I'll call them like healthified American.
Speaker 1:What I loved about your book and I actually didn't know this upon receiving it I got it and I was like, wow, there's a lot of Asian influence, and I was like this is amazing, I know, because part of our story is we, asia was home for us for a long time, and so a lot of people think in American we'll call it like diet mentality, clean eating mentality is I can't have Asian food, there's too much rice. I can't have Asian food, there's too many noodles. That's like such a common or this too high sodium, all these things. I love how you shared about this in the book and how it felt for you going to be you and your program there. I don't know how much you're going to get into it. So if anyone buys the book, read that because it's very eyeopening. But what do you want people to know about the truth, the other side of this misconception.
Speaker 2:I thank you so much for first of all being so excited about the fact that, like I would say, half the I think I tried to do the math and half the recipes in the book are Asian inspired, and it's not something that you probably guess when you see the cover of it. It's. The cover of the book is is the blackened fish taco bowl, and it's funny because I I think that if you look at my social media it's like a pretty good representation of my diet. Sometimes it's like so much Asian food and then randomly there's like a chicken orzo soup, kind of like that healthified typical American diet, like that Western influence and that Mediterranean influence, and I I feel like we have very similar palates in that way where we like love a good Asian dish, but we also love good like fresh Mediterranean ingredients too, which I think definitely has a place in the diet, of course. But I think, growing up in like a Japanese Hawaii household, rice and noodles are truly part of every meal. I still can't imagine me like certain meals without them, just because for so long they've obviously come with every food that I've eaten growing up, and I think for a long time, as I had mentioned in the book, I had internalized that idea that rice noodles were like a bad food per se or needed to be avoided. But I think that the truth is that rice noodles were like a bad food per se or needed to be avoided. But I think that the truth is that rice noodles, especially paired with rice, or like fiber rich veggies, protein, healthy fats, can absolutely be part of a balanced, nourishing meal. And that section that you mentioned in the book, which is the about me section, I think I really I didn't completely understand this when I was an undergrad, like when I was at Boston University, I had recognized that my diet was different than my classmates diets, and this set in it definitely made me feel a little uncomfortable, where I was like, oh, maybe I'm not as good of a dietitian as them because my diet is nowhere near what it should be.
Speaker 2:And I had this idea for a little while until I started my dietetic internship, which is this part of the dietitian process where you go to a hospital and you have different rotations, kind of like a residency, and at the hospital that I was at, a majority of the patients that I worked with were non-English speaking immigrants whose cultural foods were just so important to their diet and lifestyle, and when I saw how important it was to take into account their needs, their preferences and their cultural background in order to encourage sustainable eating habits, I think I realized how I could do the same thing for myself. If that was something that was so important to my patients, then it's something that I also needed to find important with my own eating as well. And I think that said I mean, rice is such a staple across so many cultures for a reason right. It's so comforting, it's easy to digest, it can be a great source of energy Connected to culture.
Speaker 1:So connected to digest, it can be a great source of energy. Connected to culture, so connected to culture.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, and I feel like rice has like a different story for each culture and I think that that is so cool to learn about and I think that, especially, of course, everyone has different preferences. I love white rice. I grew up on white rice. People can do brown rice too, if they prefer rice. I grew up on white rice. People can do brown rice too, if they prefer, and they can mix in fiber rich ingredients like edamame or something like a fermented vegetable, like kimchi or seaweed.
Speaker 2:That's what I just had last night. I had rice with. I actually had one of the dishes from my cookbook, which was the barbecue beef bowl, and that has this like smoky ground beef with onions on top of bed of rice, but then I added kimchi and I also added cucumbers on it. So I think that it could be also a vehicle for other fiber rich ingredients and I think that when your meals are made up of food that you actually enjoy eating, then nourishing yourself doesn't feel as much of a chore, like it feels natural and satisfying and sustainable, like you're not forcing yourself to follow rigid rules or give up flavors that you grew up with. You're just building habits that honor both your health and your heritage and I feel like that approach is what really supports like long term well-being.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is so important for us to take the time to learn and evaluate some of these things that we've believed Totally. Yeah, and I remember when we moved to Thailand I hate admitting this, it's not something like a thought I'm necessarily like proud of, but it's a thought I had nonetheless Like I went to Asia, they had rice three meals a day, rice or a noodle three meals a day. And I remember my first thought and again, believe me, I'm not proud of this, but I'm like how are they all so slender? You know, I was like cause, in my mind I was like white, white rice. How could they, you know?
Speaker 1:And I, you know, after I really worked through it, I was like what am I missing, you know? And I was like, wow, there, you know, I I had to challenge my belief system, which we all should be Right and um, and then I remember I would, yeah, I would just opt for like all the, you know, like the curries without rice, and not be totally satiated or like satisfied, right, and but you have it with rice, and I'm like, oh, that feels complete to my body, you know.
Speaker 1:And yeah, there's a whole belief system.
Speaker 2:I totally hear that. I feel like so many people have felt similarly when they travel to Asian countries and it's kind of like that stark contrast between, like Asian diets and American diets and even thinking like, how does this fit into people's lifestyle and how is this something that I guess? How does their diet even affect their body and their health and what role does that play in their own I think, day to day schedule? I think day-to-day schedule but I think you said it perfectly where it's like rice can be that satiating part of the meal that people love to have and it can just make the meal feel so complete.
Speaker 1:I, um, I'm laughing. I uh, I told my husband the other day I'm like. You want to know, my least favorite word in the word word in the world is, and he goes well, I said satiated. I've said it like a hundred times since then.
Speaker 2:I know the thing is. I know exactly what you mean. Um, it's such an interesting word that it's funny, because in the nutrition dietitian community it is just such a word that we use all the time. But I think outside of the nutrition dietitics community it's kind of weird, like it's. Yeah, it's weird. It's kind of a weird word that is used in different ways.
Speaker 1:And the first time someone said it to me I was like it felt so like high class, you know. But I'm like I it's it serves a purpose, like okay, so how would you define it?
Speaker 2:It means like fully satisfied in every way, or like I mean it truly in like a physical and emotional sense where it's like okay, like satiety is something that is both physical and mental for a lot of people, and I say that a lot and I forgot I think satisfying was one of the words that was floated out there as part of the title. And then, who was it? Maybe it was my cookbook photographer. Someone was like no, they're like this doesn't sound the way you think it sounds. And I'm like you're so right, I needed someone to say that to me because we use it so often and I think to your average person it kind of sounds a little strange. And I pivoted so quickly. I was like yeah, that's not going to be part of the title, like yeah, yeah, I use that as fine a lot too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but satiated is like one step beyond satiated is a step behind it or a step beyond it. Um, satiated is its own thing, which means something so similar, but yet it's also so different. So I get you.
Speaker 1:Do you have words? Are you like someone that is bothered by like words? You know there's like the people that are in, the people that aren't like moist and words like that.
Speaker 2:Thankfully, I am not bothered by the word moist. I definitely have things that I'm randomly bothered by, but it's not like a typical it's. I can't think of it off the top of my head. It's not a typical word like moist, though, yeah.
Speaker 1:Satiated is my moist. Okay, you know what? I'll just say it. For the rest of it, I mean, listen, I'm the one that just brought, brought up this whole thing. So, and I'm, I hear you, I will keep that in mind moving forward, I'll say satisfied instead this because that's the best way to make these conversations like the most helpful to people.
Speaker 1:So you talk a lot about how to stock your fridge and to shop for like the freezer and the pantry, just for like everyday cooking and success. This might look a little bit different with like the Asian cuisine influence, but you could take this whatever direction you want, and so I. What I've loved is, the further along I get in like my health journey and like learning how to cook, is that my pantry is ready for like a breakfast cookie really quick.
Speaker 2:Like it's there.
Speaker 1:It's just like already there, and so that's the goal I want people to know as they're listening. That's the goal. It's not to have you spend a crazy high bit like people get so frustrated right Like in this learning process. This is to make your life easier, and so tell us what you want us to know about this part of the process.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I'm glad you brought that up because I think it's a part of the process that everyone has to go through. It's the beginning stages of deciding that you want to start cooking at home, but it's also the belief, or like the realization, that you're like, wow, I have to buy everything now and it's so daunting and it's also really annoying, where you're like, oh, where do I start? Like, how do I even start to build up my pantry in any way? And I think that, as you had mentioned, it truly is the best feeling when you have everything available except the fresh ingredients for something. Like maybe now I can make whatever dish that I want to make, but I already have all the seasonings, I already have all the spices, because I use them so often, but it's just about getting the chicken and like the bell peppers or the broccoli. They just don't have that, unless I'm using frozen, which is totally fine too, um, but I think that for someone just starting out, I always recommend building like a foundation of like versatile nutrient rich staples that you actually like and can use regularly, nutrient rich staples that you actually like and can use regularly. And I guess there's like the fridge, the freezer, the pantry there's all these different parts of, I think, the kitchen to arm For the fridge. I tell people to do like a pre washed grain of some kind that is ready to eat whatever they want. It could be like spinach or lettuce or arugula, just something that they actually like. Um, because it's so easy to add that to so many dishes.
Speaker 2:Um, eggs I know I say this at a time in which eggs are a little pricey, but I think they're coming down. The last I saw um, it's finally dropped. Um, and I think the average egg price across the country was in the four to $5 range, which is still pricier than it was, and I know that's not reflected everywhere, but I'm hoping to see that continue to come down, because eggs are typically a really affordable source of a complete protein Um, so usually, of course, eggs um of a complete protein. Um, so usually, of course, eggs. Um tofu, because I'm Asian.
Speaker 2:So I really like tofu. I love tofu. I love it. Yeah, it was so good, um, and I understand why people don't love tofu sometimes because perhaps they've never had it in a really good way. Um, but tofu is always in my fridge at least. Um.
Speaker 2:If they're more like a meat eater, I tell people to have something like a pre-cooked chicken, like rotisserie chicken or something just to have. Of course, that doesn't last longer than a few days, but just to have like for meal prep, for some kind, even if you want to throw it into a soup or throw it into a taco. There's just so many different ways to have or to use pre-cooked chicken. Greek yogurt, obviously for like a good protein source, but something that can also be used in sauces, even just like a yogurt bowl, a smoothie. All these ingredients have multiple uses for them, which I think is key to building out the pantry for the freezer. I love the freezer. My freezer is always the one that's full me too just a place where all of my fun like desserts live, but also where, like, all of my most important parts of my pantry are like. It's like frozen vegetables, frozen fruit, so you can use that in frozen vegetables and like different dinners. I have like a whole freezer friendly section that I like to use frozen vegetables, frozen fruit for smoothies.
Speaker 2:Um, I like to cook rice or grains ahead of time and then freeze them um, so that's where they live as well. Um, I think frozen proteins, like frozen fish, frozen shrimp, frozen edamame just truly a game changer for throwing meals together, because I feel like so many people center their meal around their protein. So when you have your protein already cooked or already ready in some way that you don't have to go out and purchase it, it makes it so much easier. Shelf stable items. I tell people to do like a, like an instant rice slash quinoa, just so that they have something ready to go. If not, that some sort of like whole grain bread or pita, just to have some sort of vehicle to have, I guess, different foods with, because I feel like that starch is something again that is so satisfying, not thank you, I appreciate it um, just something like you know, um whole grain bread or pita, um or oats, something like canned beans I'm a big canned bean girl.
Speaker 2:Um, this is a little crazy. I just had a whole can of chickpeas yesterday.
Speaker 1:Well, you know what really bothers me? People with portions. People are like man, you're going to eat that whole salad. I'm like, yes, it is fresh vegetables and protein. I'm like you would never say that to someone with a burger and fries You're going to eat all that. Sometimes I mean, I'll be honest, would never say that to someone like with a burger and fries, like you're going to eat all that. You know. And then like, sometimes I mean I'll be honest, I don't know if you do this, like if I'm on, like on a road trip or on the run, um, I'll have a whole thing of hummus, like a whole container, you know or not. Like the deep, not like the Costco ones, but like and people are like, man, you're having that whole thing. I'm like, yes, it is a great source of everything I need right now for a complete meal. You know, like we have these weird thoughts about quantities of food.
Speaker 2:Like no, I hear you. I think that, um, and for a lot of people this can come up for so many different reasons. I think that in response to me saying that I have a whole can of chickpeas, to be fair, usually the response is how do you eat that much fiber in a sitting? And I also get that response. I actually just posted this video about slowly increasing fiber intake, because some people get really excited about vegetables and fiber once they hear it's good for you. Um, they eat large quantities of it and then they have like the worst gas in the world and the worst bowel movements after that and that I totally get as well. Um, but you just have to slowly work your way up and then you get to a point where it is much more, I think, easy on the body for you to get a whole can.
Speaker 2:And it's not as though I just meant to do. It is just it was part of a salad and then the rest. I was like I guess I'll just roast them. I just was just roast them and eat them as a snack. And then I didn't mean to eat them as a snack that day. I was like I'll just save them for later. But then they were just so good I just ate the rest of it. I was like, oh wow, Like I, I really finished that off, which is great because I didn't waste anything, but at the same time I was like that was a lot of fiber, Um, and a little more than the average person.
Speaker 1:I get that, Um, there are worse things, but it was really good, so I could not eat it, Um but I really loved to like there's so many amazing brands I don't know if you agree of like a ready to go Asian sauces or like ready to go uh like Mexican sauces. That are amazing ingredients. If I just keep this in the pantry whatever I have like.
Speaker 2:I love a good ready to go sauce. I think sauces are so key to making a food or a meal taste good, and when you eliminate that part of the meal process which is making the sauce, then everything comes together so much easier because you basically just have to cook everything and then you just throw your sauce in. So I totally get that.
Speaker 1:Your breakfast cookies. I loved them, oh my gosh. Yay, I'm so glad, yeah, and I'll tell you, though. So I didn't have, I think, the things you suggested and you give a few like swap options. I had an unsweetened dry cherry and a really good like cacao option, and so I put those in and it was like a chocolate cherry cookie, and my friend is going through a really big dessert phase right now. I needed something a little healthified it hit the spot.
Speaker 2:It was great. Oh my gosh, I love a cherry. I love a berry and chocolate combo of some kind, and a cherry and cacao combo sounds so good right now. Like I'm thinking about that and I'm like you know what. I know that's not like the tip. I know there's so many different combinations of what that breakfast cookie can look like, but you've inspired me to have something with a cherry and chocolate type of dessert, right now.
Speaker 1:Oh man, I am so glad that's the way that I inspired you today.
Speaker 2:So many different ways right now.
Speaker 1:And I, you know, I'll be honest too. It wasn't my breakfast, it was my I'm not kidding with my three o'clock in the afternoon, I need something sweet.
Speaker 2:No, I. It's kind of like that slump period for me where I get a little tired, like this is a great time for a nap, also a great time for a snack. It's like my body can't decide what it wants to do. It either wants to eat everything or it wants to take a nap.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:And I feel like a snack is just so important. It also is the time in the workday where, like, you also just need something to keep you going to the last few hours of the workday, when you're like please, I need something to live for, I need something tasty and something satisfying. Now I'm like really thinking about how often I use the word satisfying. I'm.
Speaker 1:This conversation will change but I'm very, I'm very okay with that. That's an approved.
Speaker 2:Okay. That's an approved vocab word but no, I'm saying it so often, I'm actually thinking about, I'm like wow, do I actually say the word this often?
Speaker 1:Okay, If we like, change the the script, like around that or whatever. Um, I think that there is so much in the health world Like you want to lose weight, you have one egg white in the morning, you know. Or like you have a salad with tomato and cucumber and that's your lunch and people are like starving and angry, you know. And so I actually think that satisfied is very appropriate, because I think it's something people want.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, totally People. I mean that's like the perfect way to put it on deprivation and restriction, and satisfaction is rarely achieved when it comes to changing our diet in thought, you know, I guess in their eyes, positive ways, although it might not be so positive. So satisfying is definitely properly used in that context.
Speaker 1:It is in fact. Yeah, I was going to say it is indeed. I have a friend that says that phrase a lot, so every time I say I think of him. I'm really hung up on words today.
Speaker 2:No, it's okay. Do you ever have like a catchphrase where it's like you find yourself saying it a lot yeah, what's your? Do you have one? Yeah, I do. And I don't think ever. Ever since this is like separate.
Speaker 2:Maybe seven or eight years ago I had this thing where I I set this like phrase and I stopped saying it. It's not important now, but like, I said this phrase and oh, I remember the phrase. The phrase was it was a time or something like that Whoa, yeah, I'm, or something, and my friend, I think it's because me and my friend would say that to each other and it just slowly leaked out into every conversation I ever had with anyone like after that. And then my friends taught me they were like you say that a lot, what do you like? What do you mean by that? And ever since they said that, I was like oh, my God, like.
Speaker 2:I've become so self-conscious sometimes of the things that I repeat in my daily life and right now, that phrase for me that I've become more aware that I say all the time is um, it was a whole thing. I say that all the time Like, and the thing is, you can say it for everything. It's. People ask me how my day was. Usually something crazy happens. Some someone emails me. It's like this whole it's. It was a whole thing. And it's my way of getting out of telling this long drawn out story, but still emphasizing that it was a whole thing, like it really was.
Speaker 1:If you said that to me, I would love it, like I would totally know what you meant.
Speaker 2:Okay, good, I'm so glad because I can't stop saying it I have a lot.
Speaker 1:I have a lot of them, but in the Thai language. So we, we learn Thai, we speak Thai and they say Chai Mai at the end of every sentence and it means, like you know, they say that all the time. And so when I came back to America I I flipped it, like you know, to the English equivalent and I say, you know, like all the time, and I, well, I don't know, it's no, I'm sure that's fine. But I people say I say that a lot and they're like we don't say that here as much as you're saying it I.
Speaker 2:I know this is a whole no, I can. I can ask you later but I know that there's a lot of talk about Thailand right now with the whole white Lotus season and I feel like Thailand is definitely getting it's time in the sun right now, rightfully. So I think Thailand is a really wonderful I mean, I obviously have some Thai dishes, thai inspired dishes. I'm curious later.
Speaker 2:No, it's like the next stop. I only went to Asia for the first time in my life last year and I'm Japanese. It was like I have to go. I'm Japanese, I I grew up going to Japanese school Like I have to go to Japan and it was just such a life changing experience and now I'm like I really want to go to. Thailand is actually next on the list that I really want to go to Thailand and Taiwan and I just feel like there's just so much to explore and so much also delicious food to eat too.
Speaker 1:Well, let me know when you go. I mean that seriously. And then I mean this. I don't say things that I don't mean. I hope that listeners know that by now. But any, if anyone, is going, please let me know. Because Chiang Mai was home, which is the city in the North, and um, bangkok is a very specific experience and I think that maybe you should spend a day or two there, Um I, if you're making the trek to Thailand, and maybe people from Bangkok would say something different, but Chiang Mai is way more chill, way more serene, way, I'll say, safer, and I love suggesting the local experiences. That's so much beyond the tour. Sure, have your moment in the tourist scene, but there's so much more beyond that that makes it what it's known for.
Speaker 2:No, totally. It's funny because I know that even hearing you talk about Thailand, it reminds me of how I talked about Hawaii too, where it's like there's this side of this really popular destination that is so beautiful that everyone sees, but there's this side of this really popular destination that is so beautiful that everyone sees, but there's also that local experience or that, that life that penetrates the surface of what that looks like superficially. That is just so important to the culture and just so such a beautiful thing to experience. So I totally hear you. It's such a such an important thing for me, I think, moving forward, experiencing all these different countries, and I will definitely be going to Chiang Mai, thank you.
Speaker 1:I'm like take me with you. You know what?
Speaker 2:Let's just blow off the next few weeks. Oh my God.
Speaker 1:Screw the podcast. That sounds like a dream. You know what? I know it's home. It is. It's home to us and I know, like you, living away from home, it's a. It's a gift when you call two places home, and also a heartache, right, Like well, we and each of our conversations. Well, actually, you know what? Let me, let me just get your final thoughts on this. What features in the book are you most excited for people to experience?
Speaker 2:Oh gosh, I could. I could talk about this for a long time. I I'm really excited about the book because I think that it's a cookbook but it's not like the typical cookbook that I've seen on the shelves. And, like you, I'm a big fan of even just collecting cookbooks and trying different recipes and I myself am like a consumer, like on the cookbook reader side. I totally understand that experience and I think I tried to just make it really truly just so simple, like a nutrition guide and recipes all in one. So, as you had seen, like, the first part of the book is kind of like that nutrition 101. That has all of the evidence-based information. It reviews what to include in the diet, why you should include certain nutrients, practical ways to do that, and then it goes into like guides, so like how to balance your plate, how to eat mindfully, how to stock your pantry, fridge and freezer, speaking of which, um. And then, after you get all that information, if you choose to read that, if you don't, that's also totally fine then it finally gets into like the cookbook.
Speaker 2:The cookbook is obviously the main part of this book and it through all those recipes. You see, I think the story from the about me and also the nutrition guides and the nutrition 101 come together in these recipes. You understand why I'm using certain ingredients, or why I'm using white rice in certain recipes, even though I'm a dietitian. I explain. I'm like no, I really just really like white rice. If you want brown rice, you should totally use brown rice. But I also want to be authentic in the way that I eat certain foods and I think that's like the beauty of food. It can be experienced in different ways and you can choose to swap out certain ingredients if you want. Hence why we, as you had mentioned, have, like the recipe remixes. We have kitchen notes so that if you do want to make substitutions and swaps based off of your own preferences, you can totally do that.
Speaker 2:I tried to really make the book feel that eating well doesn't have to be overwhelming. It doesn't have to have, it doesn't have to include complicated recipes or expensive ingredients, um, and it's okay to use shortcuts like frozen vegetables and nutrient dense convenience foods like canned beans and rotisserie chicken. Um, I basically just made it for people who are busy, tired, confused, also me, like I. If I was young and I saw this, I was like this would have been so helpful, like years and years ago. But, um, I just tried to make it, hopefully not as overwhelming, um, but yeah, you have me eating noodles at lunch.
Speaker 1:What like postpartum mom that's running a business at home is eating noodle soup at lunch? You know, like that's not. I'm so happy I could do that for you. I love noodles. So, yeah, no, seriously, it's like a gift. It's a gift. I went through a season postpartum where I was eating like bagels every afternoon. I'm like and there's nothing wrong with bagels, like you know but I'm like this is not who I am at the core. I need a different experience.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you have. You're obviously so busy and overwhelmed with bringing another life into this life and taking care of another human being, and just being a mom and everything that entails is such a big job in and of itself, so it's hard to even just do daily tasks. It's understandable why the diet can also be so different postpartum and why it's important to make it as easy on yourself as possible.
Speaker 1:Yeah, which your book also. I like to plug that too, because I think a lot of moms listen or maybe soon to be, or hope to be, and your book gives a lot of easy solutions for that.
Speaker 2:I appreciate that. I'm glad you felt that way. It's one thing to write the book and then to read it and be like yeah, and then another thing for someone else to read it other than like, of course, like the multiple rounds of like you know, the editor and everyone else who has seen the book already. Of course it's been seen by multiple people. But to actually for it to be seen by like real people if that makes sense, like yeah, well, not in the publishing world, of course my friends have seen it, my family has seen parts of it, but for other people to read through it and to try it means so much more to me, I think, than someone in the, someone in like the literary publishing space, absolutely Living real life, like, and it's truly meant for people like us to, I think, hopefully make life a little easier. So I appreciate that.
Speaker 1:It totally does. It checks all those boxes. Well, we and each of our conversations with the same three questions. I love these and I've changed. I've changed them a little bit, but they shouldn't be hard. So the first one is what is something you've eaten recently and loved?
Speaker 2:Um, I love any food related question. Thank you. Um, always always say that's something that I've eaten. I guess I have like two answers, cause I have like recently, like I just we were just talking about the chickpeas and why I ate so many chickpeas yesterday, it's because I had actually one of the recipes from the cookbook Um was the tahini sweet potato chip people with like the tahini turmeric lemon dressing.
Speaker 2:It's in the buildable section in the cookbook. It was just so good. I love tahini, I love turmeric, I love, I just really like the dressing and I the salad has so many of my favorite ingredients. So that was really good yesterday and I'm still thinking about it because I have leftover dressing and I'm like thinking about many of my favorite ingredients. So that was really good yesterday. Um, and I'm still thinking about it because I have leftover dressing and I'm like thinking about how I'm going to use the leftover ingredients with this dressing. So that's like truly recently, yesterday, something I had that I'm thinking about like um, um, but on a different note, I had like, completely separately, I just ordered really good Korean fried chicken that I'm still thinking about. I love a good classic wing or like a honey soy garlic Korean fried chicken wing. It's like one of my favorite comfort foods. I just had it like twice in the past week, so I'm also thinking about that, because it was really good.
Speaker 1:Yum, I love Korean. I don't get it enough.
Speaker 2:oh, absolutely, it's so good, I love it yum.
Speaker 1:Well, what about something you have found to be beautiful lately? It could be anything.
Speaker 2:oh, there's so many. Oh, oh, this is such a good question. Um, there's so many ways that I think I could answer this. Um, I think beautiful can mean so many things. Yeah, I would say that personally, I think emotionally beautiful is something that I'm thinking of. Is I think something beautiful recently for me is you. I know we're doing this interview now.
Speaker 2:It's the two weeks leading up to my pub date for the cookbook. It's been a really long process. I don't handle an overwhelming schedule. I get really overwhelmed really quickly and I get so stressed also with always feeling like like I'm not good enough, and it's this whole cycle that I've been feeling this way. So they send reaffirming and encouraging text messages daily to check in on me to make sure that I'm doing OK mentally and physically. Yeah, my partner also obviously is very reaffirming, obviously is very reaffirming. I think it helps to hear these. It means one thing when your partner and friends say it, but it's also just for them to be able to verbalize why all of your thoughts might not be accurate, may not be reality. I mean it's like very helpful and I think that human relationships and trying times can be such a beautiful thing and the only reason why anyone does anything is because of their community, so I find that to be beautiful in and of itself.
Speaker 1:I think it's really important to add to that. I hear from people so much like oh, I don't want to text, I don't want to annoy them, they're busy. It's like send the text. I like to say if you care about someone enough to wonder how they're doing, you care enough to ask. It doesn't matter how close you are, what your relationship is. It could really change people's day, their experience. Like. I love that you shared that. I think it's a very important reminder.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's. It's like not just people showing up for you, but I think also like allowing people to show up for you too is good, like it's. It's hard to sometimes reach out, but it's sometimes also very hard to be on the receiving end of that Um and like, even with this cookbook, right Like I, that um, and like, even with this cookbook, right like I, I don't like to ask friends or people for anything. I don't want them to ever think that our friendship or relationship is based off of what we can do for each other or to have it be transnational in any way. Um, because that's not what a true friendship and relationship looks like.
Speaker 2:But I think so much of it is also friends reaching out, asking what they can do to get the cookbook out to more people and to be able to talk about it more, and I'm like, oh, you really don't have to do that. I feel really bad, Like I don't want you to have to spend so much of your time doing this. But then them showing up in that way and just being so, so supportive has also been so beautiful but also very hard to accept, because I'm like, don't worry about it, like it's okay, I don't want to burden you in any way, but it's a huge learning process.
Speaker 1:right, definitely is Absolutely Well. I'm grateful that you have that community. That is definitely a gift. Now, last one, something you've discovered lately that you think everyone should know about a netflix show, amazon purchase, anything random like that oh gosh, so many things oh, I like that that's good, I have.
Speaker 2:Okay, I would say that I have two things and they're completely separate from each other, but they can also be related, because you can do one while watching the other. Um, I hate to be this person. I hate to be that insufferable person who talks about sufferance. The TV show.
Speaker 1:You are like our 10th guest.
Speaker 2:It's because I am that person that is going to talk about. I will say it's such a good show and I only discovered it a few months ago.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I need to. Okay, so enough of my guests have talked about it that we gave it a shot. I only watched like half of the first episode and my husband and I are like, what are we missing?
Speaker 2:So do we just keep going or what? You either like it or you don't. Sometimes I think I've come to the conclusion there are just some people who don't love it. And are just some people who don't love it, and that's totally fine, um, I. But I also want to say like I hate to also be that person, but it does get really crazy at the end. Um, the last of the first season is so excellent, so well done, um, and then so many things start to connect. Um, it does pay off, in my opinion, for the finale, but there's so much good TV out there that it's like, if I'm bored, you know you also shouldn't force it if you don't want to. That is my. That is one of the things that I'm like. Yeah, that was really good. My friends and I had like a finale watch party for it last week. It was awesome. But that's the one thing. And I would say that if someone's lactose intolerant or vegan I'm lactose intolerant specifically well, you get this.
Speaker 2:Um, dairy-free ice cream is like such a hard thing to come by sometimes. There's so many options nowadays, but they're just not that good sometimes, and I really like jenny's dairy-free dark chocolate truffle ice cream. Um, this is not super recent. It's more of like a recent rediscovery. If anything, like I, it's a little pricey, um, but I'm really desperate for a really good dairy ice cream, so it's like worth it to me. It's a little pricey, but I always have a pint in my freezer. I used to have a pint in my freezer for like such a long time and then I think I fell off for whatever reason last year, and then I'm like back on where. I'm like okay, it's back in my freezer, I've rediscovered it again. I'm back on this. I'm eating that while watching Severance. Severance is now over, but like it's, I've rediscovered it. I highly recommend it. If you're a chocolate lactose intolerant girly, I've rediscovered it.
Speaker 1:I highly recommend it. If you're a chocolate lactose intolerant girly, listen, there's a lot of us here. I think that's my.
Speaker 2:It's my assumption, so I see that in a lot of our futures Right, and let me know what you think it is so good.
Speaker 1:I love the. I love ending on that note. Well, on that note, we all want to tag you when we are doing that, when we are tapping into that experience. So where do you want to send people?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, people can find me anywhere. My platform or my handle is the same on TikTok, instagram, youtube, facebook threads. Man, we've gone. Social media has gone crazy. There are so many platforms, it's the same the same at nutrition by Kylie Um.
Speaker 2:You can find me on all these platforms, um, and also sub stack as well. I should also put that for you. Yeah, is something that's a little more recent, but that's where I have a lot of my recipes. They're free, but that's just where the recipes live, so if you want to check them out, that's where they are too.
Speaker 1:Good for you, man. So many exciting things. Well, thank you for coming on. This was a really sweet conversation. I loved it.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. You ask such thoughtful questions. I really appreciated all of them. I really appreciate the fact that you took the time to read through the book and understand the message and also understand my story as an author, so I do greatly appreciate that. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. It was a joy to have you on and we are celebrating with you guys. You know the drill by the book follow, share the episode if you loved it and we will see you next week.
Speaker 2:Thank, you, of course.