***The post In the Kitchen with Abbey Sharp of Abbey’s Kitchen appeared first on In Search Of Yummy-ness. Please visit the original post if you'd like to pin this recipe.***
Photo Credit: Kyla Zanardi
In this monthly series I’m interviewing my favourite bloggers and sharing their kitchens, typical workdays and favourite eats. This month I’m chatting with Abbey Sharp of Abbey’s Kitchen!
About Abbey Sharp:
Abbey is a veteran of the food blogging world. Since launching her blog in 2009, Abbey has transformed her hobby blog into a useful resource website.
The newly redesigned Abbey’s Kitchen website features a wealth of content including healthy recipes, busting nutrition myths, answering controversial questions about food and nutrition and user-friendly infographics.
Abbey also has a Youtube channel where she covers the same kind of content, with lots of her cheeky sass!
Photo Credit: Kyla Zanardi
Hey Abbey, your new website looks amazing! I see that you’re discussing nutrition myths pretty often these days, why is that important to you?
The reality is, nutrition is a super complicated discipline. It’s always changing, always evolving and unbearably difficult to study well. It’s my job to cut through the sensationalized headlines and get you the facts – even when they’re not as sexy as telling someone to eat an herb and lose 10 pounds.
Ultimately, good health comes down to moderation, not sensational extremes.
I know that you don’t like to label food as healthy and unhealthy. I think some people might find that odd, since you’re a Registered Dietician. Do you want to explain your food philosophy?
Yes, I eat everything and I also don’t like to dichotomize food as good food and bad food. When we do this, it really takes the pleasure out of eating, and makes healthy eating feel like an automatic state of deprivation. It doesn’t have to be!
When you change your perspective to start thinking of all foods in positive terms and see the redeeming qualities in all foods, you no longer feel the need to sneakily binge on the “bad” food one day, and force yourself to eat the “good” food the next.
Unfortunately, in our society, we have really lost touch with our ability to derive pleasure from food without simultaneously experiencing guilt, and its my belief (and many others) that this is the reason why we are seeing a rise in chronic disease and weight management issues.
Related:
Why are we so judgemental about what we eat?
From eating clean to eating disorder – the making of orthorexia
Photo Credit: Kyla Zanardi
Honestly, this is why I love your blog. I trust that the information you’re sharing is accurate, and you always show food in a positive light!
Ok, I’d like to talk about your business next. Do you have any exciting news to share with us?
Oh dear, so much! Before January had even closed up, I was already pretty much slammed with spokesperson work. I am the official ambassador of Electrolux and Frigidaire this year in a large multi-faceted campaign!
I also just finished a TV tour with Green & Blacks chocolate, and another one with Dairy Farmers of Canada. Now I’m doing one with Cloverleaf Tuna. It’s going to be a pretty busy year!!
It sounds like it!! Are you blogging full-time or is this all part of a larger business?
Ha, I do this more than full-time! It’s not just blogging though. My business encompasses a lot of other things, including blogging.
What does your typical workday look like?
There is no such thing as a typical workday for me. Some days I am testing recipes, so I will spend half of a full day in the kitchen developing a recipe and then shooting it. Other days I am writing blogs, freelance nutrition/food articles, YouTube scripts and TV segment scripts.
Sometimes I spend a full half day answering emails and reading nutrition research for a blog post or TV segment. And some days I’m actually on set – either doing a TV segment or shooting my YouTube series. Almost every day though I spend a few hours in meetings with brand clients or PR agents either crafting matte stories, learning branded messages or coming up with branded content.
Avocado Chicken Salad. Photo courtesy of Abbey’s Kitchen.
In the middle of a hectic week, what are you making for dinner?
Probably something with eggs like a quickie frittata and a very simple vegetable side dish like steamed green beans or broccoli. I also almost always have pre-cooked chicken in the fridge that I could easily throw together in a healthy avocado chicken salad.
Do you listen to music while you cook? If so, what’s playing?
I have a TV in my kitchen so I actually usually watch daytime TV when I’m testing recipes. It’s one of my favourite part about my job because it gets me out of my office and away from answering boring emails all day. So I usually watch Family Feud, Criminal Minds or a trashy TLC show while I cook.
Abbey’s home kitchen (look at that view!). Photo credit: Abbey Sharp
What do you love about your kitchen?
My kitchen is a beauty. I didn’t design it, but I pretty much was sold on the condo because of it. I love the big island, the high-end appliances, and that I have floor to ceiling windows overlooking the entire city from the 33rd floor. But sadly, I’ve grown out of it!
We just bought a house and are renovating it right now, and that includes building my beloved kitchen from the ground up!
Name one item in your kitchen that you would be devastated to lose.
My Nespresso milk frother. I would die. I work from home, so having good coffee in my condo is an absolute must. I’m a cappuccino girl and LOVE my frothy milk. Sometimes (actually, like right now, as I write these answers) I just make myself a cup of frothed milk. It’s so comforting.
You might recognize Abbey’s kitchen from her YouTube videos! Photo credit: Abbey Sharp
When you’re not cooking or blogging, what are you doing?
I am a bit of a gym rat. I love to work out. I see my trainer a few times a week, and the rest of the week I spend at my fitness club (Equinox) doing various strength and spin classes. I also take ballroom dance classes with by fiancé – we are getting pretty damn good at Salsa and Swing 
What’s in your fridge right now?
Mostly my daily essentials. Chicken breasts (some cooked and sliced in pre-portioned baggies and some raw), some tenderloin steaks, almond milk, regular 1% milk, plain 0% Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, egg whites, blueberries, grapes, apples, citrus (lemon and limes!), celery, carrots, zucchini, green beans. And a few random jams, pickles and preserves.
Spicy Sausage Pizza. Photo courtesy of Abbey’s Kitchen.
Hungry friends show up at your door unexpectedly – what are you going to feed them?
Well, I always have tons of vegetables on hand so I for sure would make a big salad. I also would likely want to make something light and healthy, but still fun. I love this recipe for turkey sausage flatbread pizza because it’s packed with spicy flavour, but is surprisingly low in calories and carbs.
Another favourite right now is my turkey stuffed apples with pomegranate seeds– it’s a take on an Ottolenghi recipe and is gluten free and dairy free so it would appeal to a variety of palates. My family adores it.
I’m hungry, where should we go to eat?
Oh goodness, the hardest question to ask a foodie in Toronto. I love Buca (Yorkville), Rasa, Big Crow, Fat Pasha, Alo and Bar Raval.
Have you ever made a bad dish/set food on fire/ate an entire pie in one sitting?
HA! All of the above!! No, seriously. I don’t think I’ve ever set anything on fire, per se. Maybe burnt something in broiler a few times but yah, I make things I don’t love all the time. The other day I made steak while I was super exhausted and a bit sick, and I accidentally coated it in chili powder instead of a simple steak rub I thought I was using. Yikes.
As for eating a whole pie, well, pie wouldn’t be my vice… I’m more of a cake girl. I would have to be really hungry to eat a whole cake in one sitting, but give me a few days with it and I can probably get the job done.
Disclosure:
This is not a sponsored post.
Photos have been published with permission from Abbey Sharp.