Ginger Root Nutrition and Lactation

I’m a firm believer in progress and accountability with regular follow up with patients and clients. This is why my team and I made sure to also focus on packages to allow for the creation of a plan that works for you whether it’s for lactation/breastfeeding, children’s nutrition, sports nutrition, wellness nutrition, or weight management- I’m happy to be a part of your team to help you reach your goals. Check out my website to check out packages or send me a message!

Meal prepping has never been my strong suit, but with these freezer cubes and the colder weather preparing soup for myself and friends has gotten easier. These are great for soups/bisques, chili and casseroles to create daily portions that you can freeze until you need to pack your lunch. I’m a firm believer that nutrition and meals don’t have to be complicated to be nutritionally dense and filling. If you want to sit down and talk macros and meals visit my website www.gingerrootnutrition.com to get scheduled with either a package plan or individual consult today.

My schedule opens November 1st!

I’m very passionate about nutrition, specifically holistic nutrition for you as a whole person. It’s important to build a relationship and routine with food that support you in the best ways possible for your health and well being.

I’m looking forward to starting to build with anyone in the local area seeking a holistic approach to nutrition counseling. I’m very passionate about food as medicine and treating you as a whole person and with 12 years of experience I’m happy to be part of your team to reach your goals.

Wellness is a holistic approach focusing on what you eat, how you take care of your body, and what’s going on in your life. Getting excited to announce the new things happening with Ginger Root Nutrition and Lactation!

Making butter, butter milk, and a spin on chicken and green bean casserole with added mushrooms and spinach. These are just a few things I enjoyed making this evening. Someone asked me if I followed a certain diet, and I really just focus on variety through the week (as I can) and finding foods that feel good in my body. This is what I encourage when working with kids and adults on their health goals - let’s find what works for you and what helps you feel good in your body without judgement or harsh restrictions.

It’s been a long while since I’ve posted, but I’ve spent the last year really uncovering where my passions fall with inspiring others and educating others with nutrition. I’ve connected in with making sourdough bread (and butter!) and learned to appreciate the process of a fermentation. I look forward to reconnecting and helping you find ways to make eating well easy for you, because it really doesn’t have to be big pie in the sky or overly complicated. Take time for yourself to slow down and ferment as we get ready for the holidays 😊

I'm trialing lacto fermentation with salsa and radishes. And really finding a good system with keifer water. Once I get a good routine and taste down with these new things I plan to share.

All this to say that probiotics and gut health are really important to add into your week. You want to make sure that you keep the good bacteria in your gut healthy and happy, which then in turn works to help your mental health. And probiotics do not have to be supplements, instead they can be food or a drink.

What do you know about probiotics?

Trying to be more aware of what I'm eating along with enjoying the process of growing little things to bring in nutrients and color.

Keep an eye out for a reel on using these for little egg muffins. Pre-made to give a balanced breakfast option.

Join me tonight at 7pm at ElemenTree Yoga Studio in Navarre for Yin Yoga. Come in for a mid week deep stretch to open the body and release tension. Everyone welcome, new to yoga or with experience. Come join me and I'll help you get opened and relaxed before you turn in for the night!

Balance. What does balance with meals mean to you? Everyday I talk with parents and children about balancing meals to make them more filling, more nourishing, and balanced for needs.

While the MyPlate ideal is nice for aiming for all the food groups in proportion of your plate, it isn't always feasible or easy. Instead try for 3 to 5 food groups and find your balance with meals.

Find what works for you and move away from food judgement.

My breakfast this morning is oatmeal made with pea milk ( is my go to milk alternative) and a heaping tablespoon of peanut butter paired with blackberries and ginger tea.

Nutrition should be easy and stress free. But do you feel like it isn't?

I had the opportunity to talk to someone about eating well after doing a gut reset. We talked about how to focus on slowly transitioning back into routines and eating habits. And really nutrition and eating well looks different for everyone. Balance looks different for each person.

You really can take what you do now and see what's working for you and what's not to build new habits. It doesn't have to be complicated or feel like you are overhauling your current habits.

Baby steps...they work for everyone.

It's been a little while so I wanted to reintroduced myself. My name is Nikki and I am a pediatric dietitian with experience in the community setting and within a renal (kidney) setting. I am very passionate about nutrition and dietary patterns that fit each person to help them find their wellness as is the right fit for them.

Nutrition does not have to be complex, complicated or a complete change/overhaul. Nutrition can be gentle and gradual with a balance of what you love with what we all need with foods. I feel the same about physical activity.

I bring all of this to my practice with children and especially children with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, selective eaters, and those who have other health concerns. And with parents and families.

If you have concerns for your nutrition and wellness or your little ones, I'd be happy to talk!

I'm so excited to be offering the teen yoga class again!! If you are a teen, know a teen, or have a teen I invite you to come join me on Sundays at 1pm for teens class in the ElemenTree little studio. All level of skill, new or with experience, welcome!

Teen Yoga is back on the schedule. This class will take place 3 times a month - Sundays at 1pm.

Along with everything else I've also been trying different ways to enjoy culinary lavender. I've made a nice lavender syrup for teas and this little loaf of lavender bread.

Lavender which is the herbal chill pill, helps to reduce anxiety and emotional stress. It also helps to improve brain function and alleviate headaches. Along with what many know of its ability to improve sleep and reduce insomnia.

Would you ever think about a lavender tea or dessert in the afternoon? What's a flowering herb that you'd like to learn about or try in a recipe?

I've been playing with oregano and rosemary this weekend. Along with a kitchen that smells amazing, there has been very flavorful dishes enjoyed with lunches and dinners.

Oregano is part of the mint family that goes wonderfully in soups, stews, and dishes like the orzo dish you see pictured last. Oregano is a rich source of vitamin K which is great for heart and bone health. It is also a nice source of fiber with just a tablespoon giving you 10% of your daily needs.

Rosemary, which is just as aromatic as oregano, has been used historically to help patients in hospitals feel better just with its smell. It is also an anti inflammatory and great for supporting digestive health. Rosemary can be used in meat rubs, lamb dishes like Shepard's pie, and more simply with garlic on roasted potatoes.

What are some of your favorite ways to use these two herbs? Or what recipes with these two would you like to try?

I've always believed there is a benefit and a power to the use of herbs and spices in the kitchen. I'm currently working on uncovering more benefits and uses for herbs especially to share with you all. I'm trying not to be so sage focused this time of year.

Herbs are a great flavoring option for meats, fruits, vegetables and pasta. They are also a great option to try instead of salt or high sodium seasonings.

I will be honest, I had a setback with the cold front we just had and it killing my outdoor basil plants. But, look forward to little recipes in the coming days!

As we move in to colder months and darker days it is important to find your morning routine/patterns. My aim each day is to start with room temperature water to get my digestion going along with a multivitamin, prebiotic, and Vitamin D (to support my immune system). Then to have a warm breakfast as I sip on a warm ginger tea to offset the chill in the air - keeping with the idea of opposites when cold focusing on warm foods. I've also added a bit of honey to help soothe the throat and making any scratchy throat a little less. I'm finding power in the benefits of routines thanks to Radhi Devlukia-Shetty and Rachel Brathen (YogaGirl on social media). I recommend checking them both out.

°What are some habits you try to aid in when the weather changes? How do you find ways to support the body each season? Who and what inspires you?

°If you are looking to have someone support you in wellness and finding ways to support you with optimal nutrition or nutrition goals for yourself, message me and let's talk. I'm passionate about holistic and whole person wellness and especially nutrition.

•What is it that means the most to me? I've been doing a lot of sitting on what I am passionate about. I'm deeply passionate about nutrition and food as medicine, but I am also just as passionate about whole being wellness. So you'll see moving forward that I will cover topics related to nutrition and wellness that I am passionate about. Passionate to understand and explore so that I can grow in them and share just as I continue to do with nutrition.

•So on this crisp Florida morning, I would like to share with you all something that has been helping my mental wellness. Reading and journaling. Making time to read has always been a self care point that I always have to bring myself back to, but now I've added journaling. Writing as a means to get out feelings and thoughts, goals and introspection has really helped me with stress and anxiety. I've been reading Think Like a Monk by along with listening to his podcasts on stitcher and find myself being reintroduced to myself and the person I want to be.

•What tools do you have in place that allow you to stay connected to yourself? What are little things you like to do for yourself? What are you exploring? Do you enjoying reading? Have you given audiobooks or podcasts a try? I highly recommend Think Like a Monk because of the points Jay talks about and the prompts he has to get you to focus on you, your values, and more.

Teens or anyone who knows a teen or two, come join me on Sunday from 1-2pm to explore yoga and energy at ElemenTree Yoga Studio! Last week was a great time and I cannot wait for this Sunday!

I'm so excited to be offering a teen series with ElemenTree Yoga Studio starting this Sunday at 1 pm. If you know any teens (13-18) that want to give yoga a try, please share this series with them!

We have a series of 4 classes for Teens starting this Sunday.
This series is designed to discuss life themes that impact teens, nutrition, posture, stress, breath, self-discipline, moods and how yoga can benefit them in their daily lives. Classes will have easy and fun yoga flows with light discussions focused on a different topic each week throughout the series. Teens will be shown yoga poses and finding out how to find that posture in their body with poses and movement designed to meet them where they are in their practice. This class is $10
Please share.

Happy Wellness Wednesday!

Have you ever heard of tongue scraping or given it a try? This is a component of my morning routine that I feel everyone can easily benefit from adding in to their routine as well. Read below to see the benefits, history, and how to of tongue scraping.

Benefits: Through the night as the body processes all of the foods and fluids we have taken in that day and toxins begin to form and are visible as a coating on the tongue. This coating can be white, yellow, brown, thick or thin. By scraping this coating from the tongue first thing in the morning we prevent reabsorbing the toxins the body has worked to get rid of through the night.

History: Tongue scraping is a traditional part of Ayurvedic self care and I think a great way to see how your body is doing each morning. The color and thickness of the coating can let you know how your body is processing what you eat. Maybe the coating is thicker with heavier foods like creamy dairy based foods or heavy foods like pizza. Tongue scraping can also work to reduce bad breath and allow for easier breathing. Scraping can also allow for your taste buds to be cleared to allow you to taste foods better. In Ayurveda the tongue is the road map of the entire body with each section representing and organ and scraping allows us to massage the organs.

How: In the morning, you want to scrape your tongue first thing and then drink a small glass of room temperature water. You stick your tongue out and let it be heavy and run the scraper from back to front 5 to 7 times, rinsing the scraper after each run.

I've found this to be an easy thing to add into my morning routine and it does make my mouth feel cleaner and I feel better as I move through the rest of my routine. What do you think, could you add this into your morning routine?

Focusing on adding in leaner meat options and wanting something different? Have you ever heard of poke bowls? Are you a fan of fish and sushi?

Poke bowls are a native Hawaiian cuisine of cold raw fish served as an appetizer or a main dish. You can serve it as is with tomato, avocado, and cucumber served over rice with a spicy mayo on top. You can also prepare it like I have pictured here with green onions, purple onion and tomato marinated in a ponzu sauce. Ponzu sauce is a citrus based sauce used in Japanese cuisine.

What are some ways you like to mix it up with your fish recipes? Do you think you'd give a poke bowl a try?

***Important***You want to ensure that your fish is sushi grade when purchasing for the best quality of your dish. So make sure you get your fish from a good quality place like a fish market. Which for me living in Florida is a pretty easy task, but if you live away from water you can always check in with a sushi restaurant to see if they would sell you fresh fish or if they carry poke bowls.

Flavors are important when we think about the foods we choose to eat. We crave the sweet and salty that both contribute to that feeling of being satiated (full). Working in using fresh herbs over prepackaged seasoning mixing is a healthy way to get that flavor without all of the extra sodium/salt.

Photographed is some fresh basil and thai basil from my little herb garden that I added in my recipe for a thai beef salad.

You can add basil to pork, fish, pastas, vegetables, and soups. You can add rosemary to beef, pork, chicken, and vegetables. I love to add sage and a little olive oil and pepper to my root vegetables that I roast in the fall.

Have you ever thought about using fresh herbs and spices, but just weren't sure how? I'll be sharing some recipes throughout the next few weeks using fresh herbs and spices to give you some ideas. Any herbs or spices you want ideas for?

Using some fresh herbs and vegetables to make an orzo pasta. I find that using pastas like this as a snack really helps to limit my want for light snack things that don't fill me up for long (like potato chips). I like a good snack and I also like feeling good after a snack, so this will be one of my go to options for the next couple of days.

How do you feel about snacks? What kinds of snacks do you prefer?

ElemenTree Yoga has moved location, and I’m still bringing the zen with Yin on Wednesday at 7pm! Come join me!

Good morning and happy Friday! We open for classes tomorrow. Willow will teach at 9 am and Nancy will teach at 11 am.
We are so excited to see you all. Please register for class by visiting our website, www.elementreeyogastudio.com or downloading the Mindbody app on your phone. Our class sizes are going to remain at 10-15 students for a while longer. Thank you ALL for your support during this transition.

I've been focusing on daily habits that could use a boost and more focus. I spend a lot of the day talking with patients and students, being up and moving, and perspiring. So for me, my body needs for organs, joints, and skin, I know how important water is to take in each day. But it is something that I let slip my mind.

Accountability is something I like to focus on with counseling and coaching. So to hold myself accountable I am setting up ways to get in water and make it more interesting each day (you should see my pukka tea collection). Finding ways to add flavor, warmth, and what your body is asking for (frequency, amount, etc.) with water can help increase your intake. An added bonus of drinking more water is getting up more for bathroom breaks 🚽 if you sit more through the day. Keep those kidneys healthy by flushing out the excess salt and toxins with the amount of water that's right for you each day.

What keeps you from drinking more water each day? What is your usual daily drink of choice? How do you make water more appealing for you?