1 serving of veggies

Here is the favorite recipe for our Bake Sale so far...

Zucchini Brownies

1 cup flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup baking cocoa

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Combine in large bowl

2-3 cups shredded zucchini

Stir in

1 egg

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 brown sugar

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup oil

1 tsp vanilla

Combine in separate bowl and beat with fork. Stir in zucchini mixture. Spread evenly in greased 9 x 13 pan.

1/2 to 1 cup semisweet chips

Sprinkle on top of batter and bake in preheated 350 oven for 35-40 minutes.

Loving Our Internship

Hello friends! We had a great weekend... Here is a recap -

*Friday was a busy day in the hospital. Jo and I continued to "tag team" our patients. We have found that we work great together and feel much more comfortable seeing patients. Some of our Friday tasks included: carbohydrate counting educations for diabetic patients, dietary assessments for a woman aiming to gain weight (she was only 87 lbs!), and recommending tube feeds for cancer patients. The days are interesting but we were surely happy for the weekend. Jo, Dana (another intern), and I spent Friday night laying 3 deep in my bed watching movies, enjoying homemade popcorn and Diet Cherry Limeaids from Sonic. It was the perfect way to end the long week.

*We woke up Saturday morning to sunshine and a perfect pool day. We got our fill of Vitamin D at our pool with Karen (another intern). I then went to Whole Foods/Publix for my favorite part of the week... GROCERY SHOPPING! It's not as fun shopping on my budget and makes a longer trip since I'm constantly comparing prices. (Are you proud mom?!) I have been lucky to find a babysitting job for a family in Charleston and help out about once a week. He is a great kid and I love the parents. He reminds me a lot of my little brother when he was young; watches the military channel, reads the wall street journal, is way smarter than me, and a pleasure to be around. I just need to get better at my Wii and nerf gun skills. While I was babysitting, the girls went to a restaurant on Bowen's Island that was featured in the TV show "Man vs Food" on the Travel Channel. I wish I had a more exciting story about their dinner but unfortunately no one had a crazy, abnormally large and unhealthy meal, they just enjoyed some down home southern cooking. We then reunited back at our apartment for a nice night out.

Our internship director, Kelley, makes sure we do projects throughout the year to supplement our rotations. There are so many populations in dire need of nutrition education, it's hard to see it all in just 10 months. We have 8 main projects, one of us assigned to Project Manager since there are 8 interns. This week we've been working on our Bake Sale. We are asked to form a budget, market our product, and earn a profit. We will do two bake sales throughout the year in hopes of learning from the first and producing a better outcome the second time around. Here's our theme... "Something Extra to Your Ordinary". We will be selling zucchini brownies, beet cake, pumpkin muffins, and carrot cookies. Previous intern classes have sold typical bakery choices, but we we couldn't bring ourselves to do it! We believe there is no need to restrict sweets completely, just eat in moderation... and maybe squeeze in some veggies when possible! Each goodie will include the recipe card with healthy tips when baking. We want to make more than just a profit, we hope to educate people on making healthy choices. "Give a person a fish and you will feed them for a day: Teach them to fish and you feed them for a lifetime." What do you all think of our idea?!

Don't worry... we will be sure to give you recipes and tips : )

More to come this week with hospital updates...

Just call us RDs...

As Julie and I pulled into the hospital parking lot this morning a flock of seagulls squawked above us, the shuttle had to plow through at least a foot of ocean water to get to the hospital (high tide?), and as I pulled into our apartment complex today I noticed a crane exploring in the shrubberies. I am certainly not in Kentucky anymore. I'm not sure our surroundings will ever cease to amaze me! Did you know we live about 5 miles from one of those cheesy tourist stores, Treasure Island? True story.

This week seems to be flying by. Julie and I have already had three days with our new preceptors. She is covering cardiology, CT, vascular, GI med, and GI liver with a former MUSC intern, while I am working with the only male dietitian on staff seeing Hematology/Oncology patients as well as those receiving heart transplants. We quickly learned each dietitian has their own style and are getting a lesson in flexibility. It seems that for each rotation it is wise to adopt the style of your current preceptor; use their terminology, their abbreviations, mimic their recommendations, respect their method. When June comes and we have a certificate in hand, then it will be time to personalize.

Today was a great day. My preceptor had the day off so Julie and I both followed her preceptor. From the start she gave us assignments, and sent us up on the floor to work as a team interviewing patients, talking to nurses, reviewing charts, and making recommendations. At the end of the day we looked at each other and realized we had been successful. We wrote a tube feeding order, gave patient education on diabetic and low sodium diets, assessed patients, and wrote follow up notes in the chart. We received very little feedback (we took this to mean we have little room for improvement...they might as well just go ahead and deem us registered dietitians). To top it off we saw all these patients in record time and were out the hospital door by 1:30, that's including our trip to the gift shop for celebratory yogurt covered pretzels. Not too shabby.

Tonight I'm off to Healthy Charleston Challenge, the hospital wellness center's weight loss program (think Biggest Loser only a bit healthier). The interns are divided into two groups, half of us providing nutrition counseling to the fall participants and the other half to the spring participants. Each intern has two-three teams we are in charge of providing counseling for, working out with, etc. This week will be the first "real meeting," as last week was more of a kick off, get excited orientation; no snacks, only bottled water. I'm excited for the chance to spend a whole semester with the same people. When dealing with touchy subjects like weight, I feel it is crucial to build relationships and build trust before piping in with a laundry list of do's and don'ts. I already feel a responsibility to research and learn so that I can counsel these people with healthy, practical, proven information and practices. I'll continue to keep you posted!!

Later this evening we are headed to a trendy little Charleston restaurant for the kick off of the Charleston Trident Dietetic Association. You just say free food and you are sure to have perfect attendance from the interns! So, that should be a good time to mingle and "network" with area dietitians. I hear MUSC sort of dominates these meetings (there are something like 29 dietitians on staff), but that just means we're already in with the popular crowd. : )

One final word: My new favorite beverage is Sprite Zero plus a splash of Simply Orange with mango. YUMMM! Try it!

Happy Birthday Jo : )

Well before I start, let me just say... Happy Birthday to Jo!!!

We have been oh-so-busy and negligent in updating our blog. Let's give a weekly recap...

First rotation is complete! While each of our experiences was quite different, we both enjoyed all the knowledge smushed into our heads. Jo had a more "independent" experience; seeing patients alone, interpreting lab values, and leading mini nutrition classes. Way to go Jo! We never doubted her level of expertise... although we sometimes doubt that preceptors teaching skills. On the other hand, I (Julie) had an amazing preceptor who impressed me with her dedication to dietetics. I really enjoyed seeing how the doctors value her opinion. By the end of the week I was talking with patients, researching interesting patients, and writing nutritional notes in the charts.

Not only are we interns... but we are dog sitters! Our preceptors dog, Charlie, spent the weekend with us. The first hour started rough: vomit and pee on the carpet. But after that, it was smooth sailing. It was amazing how quickly we fell in love with the pup. It was nice to come home to her. Charlie was very comfortable sleeping in Jo's bed every night.

Our friend Krista came over on Friday with every intention of venturing out into Charleston. By the time 9 oclock rolled around, we were looking at each other with sleepy eyes. After our long week, an early bedtime was needed. The 3 of us went to Folly Beach and enjoyed a day of sunshine. It was my first time to the beach here! (Jo was so proud of me... i'm quite the pool rat). Krista and Jo went to a local restaurant called VooDoo to enjoy Lobster Corndogs while I went to babysitting. The interns came over later to play games and enjoy a night out.

As if we don't spend enough time together, it turns out that even our rotations are paired! We spent the last 2 weeks in the old MUSC hospital and now we are in the brand new, beautiful "Ashley River Tower" Building. This means another 2 weeks of us eating lunch together : ) My rotation is cardiology/transplant with a former MUSC intern, Ashleigh. Jo is with the only male dietitian, Mike, on the oncology rotation. We are looking forward to working with new dietitians. Unfortunately Mike works until 5 so we have to drive separate. I guess we will have to suffer through our 3 mile commute alone...

All of the interns will be going to Taco Boy for dinner tonight to celebrate Jo's birthday. It's the best Mexican food in Charleston! Jo isn't home yet but I have a cupcake awaiting her arrival. Hope she has a wonderful day. And if we get any funny pictures of her in a sombrero... i'll be sure to post!

Our lunches are packed in the fridge and the coffee pot timer is set. We are ready for week two, minus the fact that Julie and I BOTH forgot to wash our scrubs. There's probably a hospital rule against that. But, who can blame us?!? We had house guests! Julie's mom and one of my favorite Samford roomies, Anna came in town for Labor Day weekend. We finally had an excuse to splurge on Charleston cuisine and spend a guilt free day lounging at the beach (or pool in Julie's case-she thinks the beach is a hassle). I think we both found our visitors to be the perfect end to our first week of clinicals.

Speaking of clinicals...we just finished week one!!! I think the week ended without any trauma or major embarrassment. Success! Julie is starting in trauma and transplant while I am in general medicine. As I write this I'm thinking I may have received the easier of the two options. Regardless, I think we have both been floored by the knowledge of our preceptors. They know nutrition and they understand the disease states in which they work, but they also understand the hospital. They know the capabilities and limits of the kitchen, they know which doctors to paige and which doctors to find, and they know how to read the chicken scratch called medical documentation. Doctors clearly don't have to write the same handwritten note of application to med school as we do for a dietetic internship! We're learning to interpret, however, and we are daily encouraged by the wealth of knowledge possessed by dietitians barely older than ourselves. I really am confident that MUSC will fill us with that same kind of skill and ability.

On a somewhat repetitive note (I think I say this every time I blog), time seems funny right now. We already feel like we've been in Charleston for years, it seems like such a natural fit. I am constantly reminding myself, I've only know these girls a month! We have been so blessed by the easy flow of relationships in which we can confide or just share a mindless hour of reality t.v. I find myself missing them now that we are spread across campus, one-on-one with our preceptors. We became so accustomed to spending all day together in class. Now we don't even see each other for lunch! But, that makes our weekend reunions and gym dates all the sweeter. It's exciting to have a group of girls who are so similar in their love for dietetics to share these new experiences with. Who else would care that I wrote a tube feeding order by myself or that Julie took the time to find out her patient likes red jello but not yellow, thus he is now eating?! It's amazing how much we are learning and seeing, and the best part is, IT'S REAL. These are not case studies or text books. They are real people with real families and real needs, and we get to touch their lives. It makes that extra cup of early morning coffee go down a little smoother.

Thanks, to Aunt Nancy for contributing to the coffee fund, by the way!! I feel privileged to have been included in such a generous gesture! Julie and I are so lucky to have so many people faithfully encouraging us.

P.S. Does anyone have any good cactus recipes? Time is running out for our cactus leaf in the fridge...

Julie's mom treated us to a lovely dinner at Rou de Jean, a local french restaurant.

Anna and I after Sunday lunch.