Hello, my name is Emma Stubbs and thank you so much for visiting Broccoli and Blueberries.

I am a country-turned-city-turned-country Accredited Practising Dietitian who would definitely talk your ears off about nutrition if you gave me half the chance. Ideally, over breakfast. I’d choose the porridge or smashed avo & feta, and I would encourage you to choose the best savoury/sweet dish on the menu. Just so I can have a taste. Anyway, after 5 years and 7 months of brunching, studying, and working in the world’s most liveable city,  I have returned to my rural roots & have been working as a clinical dietitian in Western Victoria since October 2015.

If you are new to Broccoli and Blueberries, I often talk a mixture of food, nutrition and reflect often a lot on life. There are far too many food puns (I managed 11 in this post), and I love using alliteration.

When I reflect on my own eating pattern, I can’t really put a name on it (and I’ve explained why here). In my fridge you will generally see a variety of vegetables. Pumpkin, zucchini, spinach and green beans are definite reoffenders. There will be plenty of greek yoghurt and marinated feta, plus some milk, a dip or two and maybe some mersey valley cheddar cheese. My freezer generally has chicken, frozen berries and icecream. In my pantry, you will find peanut butter and tahini and an array of nuts and seeds. There will be muesli, plenty of baking supplies, different whole grains and cans of legumes, baby corn and tomatoes. Eggs and sweet potatoes are available too. When it comes to flavour, I love garlic infused extra Virgin olive oil, sesame oil, lemon, mint, ginger, tumeric, fennel seeds and wholegrain mustard.

I love experimenting with new flavours and recipes, I love going out and experiencing different cuisines and oh hot shit damn I love dessert. When I started this blog, gelato or peanut-butter-anything was my favourite choice.

 

It still is.

I strongly believe spaghetti bolognese is always better the next day and tahini is fantastic on everything. After returning from Europe, I spent quite some time saving $2 coins to purchase a Kitchen Aid Stand mixer & FINALLY got my hands on my own in late 2016. I am so happy.

 I hate the word ‘superfood’ and much rather spend my money on shoes and homewares.

I don’t like kale, I have an on again, off again relationship with quinoa and lentils, and I just really love porridge.

   

I’m a massive fan of the whole paddock-plate-stomach thing & I love to be in the kitchen trying new recipes and making all my family and friends eat it. I spend far too much time on social media screenshotting recipes & foodie hotspots, and I actually love grocery shopping.

But most of all, I love to be able to sit down with my family and friends and eat good great food, drink wine & talk about the wonderful lives we lead.

For me, food is more than just fuel. It brings me pleasure and enjoyment. I use it as an expression of love & it features in many of my social activities and celebrations. I find that by taking the time out of our busy lives to go for a late-night gelato date or a latte allows us to socialise and have conversations with our family and friends. These conversations, no matter how simple, enable us to learn more about the people in our lives and the world we live in, and help us build the relationships essential to living a healthy and happy life.

Since entering the working-as-a-paid-dietitian world, educating children on practical food and nutrition education, and promoting health rather than diets are definitely becoming the jam to my peanut butter. I have found our population is concerned with perfecting our diets with ‘superfoods’ and #cleaneating, and yet many of us are failing to get the basics right. It’s time we go back to basics & focus more on eating how our grandparents did – fresh, whole food paddock-to-plate goodness. I often say ‘eat a rainbow’ and strongly believe that there is a place for all foods in a healthy diet.

I started Broccoli & blueberries when I swapped the university safety blanket and entered the real world as graduate dietitian. I guess this has all ended up becoming a bit of a diary for me as I have progressed from getting my first job to now. I’ve been brutally honest about the whole situation, and I hope that, if you are on the road to that first job, it supports you in some way.

If you would like to really get to know my journey, a fork in the road will talk about my university life. This post celebrates one year of being a graduate dietitian and blogging. Leaving Melbourne was a big deal & something I never imagined, so you can read about this too.

I’m over on twitter – mainly talking food and nutrition. Occasionally I’ll be up on the soap box and become miss tweetalot during controversial episodes of Sunday night or any television show finale.

I’m also on Instagram taking photos of porridge, anything peanut butter and shots of my parents golden retriever Molly.

I’ve written a variety of articles for a few different blogs, and have my tips feature here or there, and the occasional ramble reblogged.  You can find all these bits and pieces my media section.

I’m also on Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest. So please, do join me if you wish.

Once again, thanks for popping by Broccoli & blueberries and I really do hope it is useful to you in some way.

Emma xo

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Disclaimer: The content of this site is my own and based on my nutrition and dietetics education and scientific research. Please acknowledge that this information is general advice and if you require individually tailored information, please see an Accredited Practising Dietitian.

What does a dietitian do? Click here to find out more.