February Coffee Break + What’s Coming Soon!

In this February coffee break, I’m sharing what’s coming soon to Unsweetened Caroline, books I’m loving and more!

February has been a busy and stressful month around here. I’m in the final stages of completing a big rebrand I’ve been working on for Unsweetened Caroline (more on this later). It was also a personally stressful month, full of big decisions and personal work. I learned a lot about myself this month. We also had our first meeting with a realtor, which is both exciting and terrifying. Buying a home is a big step that I’m SO ready for, but at the same time, we have to make the difficult decision of “where”. If you live away from family, you’ll know the struggle.

As much as this month was filled with big steps, change and decisions, it’s been an amazing month and I’m so excited for what’s to come.

My Final Europe Guide is Here!

I’m finally done sharing all the details on our 3 month honeymoon in Europe! I shared many posts along the way and you can find my complete recap here. It includes all of my city guides, favorite restaurants, tips for planning, budgeting and more! I hope you’ll find it useful if you’re planning a trip.

Currently Reading

I love sharing the books I’m enjoying every month. I hope it gives you some inspiration if you’re looking for something new to read.

This month, I read The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware and it was the best suspense/thriller I’ve read in a long time. I’m a sucker for a good suspense novel. I also read The Hate U Give. I know I’m late to this one, but it was good!

Cookbooks

Since we’ve been back home, my creativity and motivation have been low in the kitchen. I don’t feel motivated to create my own recipes as much, so when that happens, I love to try new recipes from my cookbooks. It’s something I don’t do nearly enough as I’m always creating my own recipes.

My favorite cookbooks at the moment: The First Mess Cookbook, Half Baked Harvest Super Simple and Cookie and Kate’s Love Real Food. I also just got The Greek Slow Cooker and I can’t wait to start using my slow cooker more often!

What are your favorite cookbooks at the moment?

Recipes to Try

I’ve never made my own sourdough, but this guide from Ful-Filled has convinced me to try.

I need to try making tofu cream cheese.

This month, I made this vegan mac and cheese from Cookie and Kate and it was a big hit.

Also, I’ve made these breakfast cookies from The First Mess multiple times this month and they are incredible. And we’ve been loving these jumbo chocolate chunk cookies from Oh She Glows too. Clearly it’s been a cookie month.

New Videos

I wasn’t posting consistently to YouTube while we were gone in Europe and I’m now starting to get back in the routine of filming new recipe videos with you guys. That being said, you can watch my latest videos below (and make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more).

And finally…

What’s Coming to Unsweetened Caroline?

I finally shared what’s coming to Unsweetened Caroline on Instagram this week. In case you missed it, here’s most of what I shared there (you can find my entire posts here):

When I started my private practice (Nourished by Caroline) last year, I decided to keep this blog separate because I didn’t want to promote cutting out sugar to my clients. Now that I look back at my decision, I realize why that was a problem. If I felt the need to separate both, it meant that my blog did not entirely reflect my values as a person and as a dietitian.

2019 was also the year that I fully embraced intuitive eating. I started giving myself permission to eat all foods (still being vegetarian for ethical and environmental reasons).

A lot has changed since my first blog post. I learned that restrictions don’t work. That our weight doesn’t define us. That to be truly happy and healthy, I need to enjoy all the foods, without guilt. My relationship with food has improved, the only thing standing in my way of making complete peace with food was my own restriction of sugar. I didn’t feel like it affected me, but reintroducing sugar made me realize what I was missing.

Now I’m fully embracing intuitive eating and it’s changed my life and my approach as a dietitian. With that, I’ve been feeling very uncomfortable with Unsweetened Caroline. I don’t want my content to encourage any kind of restrictive behaviors. I don’t want to be a part of diet culture, even if that wasn’t my goal. That’s why I decided to combine Nourished by Caroline (my private practice) and my blog.

In less than two weeks, Unsweetened Caroline will become Nourished by Caroline. My current recipes will still be around, but I’ll start sharing a bigger variety of recipes (still vegan/vegetarian). You’ll find some fruit-sweetened recipes, along with regular sweetened recipes and everything in between. I’ll also share more nutrition content, related to plant-based diets and improving your relationship with food.

My hope is that I can build a community that inspires others to stop dieting, eat intuitively and find joy in the kitchen.

I’ll share more soon, but I’m so ready for a change and I hope you are too!