Author Archives: Toni Kuehneman

Toni Kuehneman, MS, RD, LMNT is a registered dietitian for the Alegent Health Heart and Vascular Institute. She’s worked at Alegent Health for 15 years, focusing her expertise on providing medical nutrition therapy for patients with heart disease. Like what you read here? Then join Toni at one of Alegent Health’s Heart Healthy Cooking events. She’s the face of the series, which brings together local chefs and cardiologists once a month to teach us all how to eat and live a little more heart healthy. Nutrition is actually a second career for Toni, as she has a bachelor’s degree in social work. After several years in that profession, she decided to help people in a different way and returned to college to earn her Master’s degree in nutrition from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

How Do I … ?

A participant in one of my recent community presentations asked questions about cutting and preparing certain foods. I wondered if other folks had the same concerns. How do you cut an avocado? Or a pineapple? Coming to the rescue is the national organization for Registered Dietitians, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The organization recently completed a series of “How do I” videos. The YouTube videos are less than a minute in length and cover about twenty food items. Since it is more economical to buy fresh, whole produce, you … Continue reading

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Eggs and More Eggs

Do you have some beautifully colored eggs left from the Easter holiday? What to do with those hard-boiled eggs? Following food safety guidelines, you need to keep those beautiful colored eggs in the refrigerator. If you take a hard-boiled egg to work or school, be sure that it travels with a frozen gel pack. Hard-boiled eggs may be kept safely in the refrigerator for one week after cooking. How does my family eat all those eggs in one week? Some suggestions for you: Add some of them to potato salad … Continue reading

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Spring Clean your Food Choices

March is National Nutrition Month. This year is more special because it is the 40th anniversary of the yearly nutrition and education campaign. Since I have worked as a Registered Dietitian for 21 years, I just realized that I have been involved in the campaign for just over half of those 40 years. This year’s theme is: “Eat Right, Your way, Every Day”. This theme encourages personalized healthy eating styles. It recognizes that food preferences, lifestyle, cultural and ethnic traditions, and health concerns impact individual food choices. With this theme … Continue reading

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Are you a “Seefood” Eater?

The title is not a spelling error.  This blog is not about eating seafood (although I encourage you to enjoy seafood at least twice a week).  It is about food cravings and some tips to manage them. A “seefood” eater is a characteristic of many Americans.  News reports have followed Americans throughout the day.  We see an American at work that enjoys lunch, and then one hour later sees some food in the employee resource area.  Seeing food, he or she will decide to eat the food just because it … Continue reading

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Is It a Heart Attack or a Virus?

February is Heart Month. For 10 years, the American Heart Association has dedicated the first Friday of February as National Wear Red Day.  It is a day to remember that every minute of each day, someone’s wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, grandmother die from heart disease or stroke. For me it is a day to remember my mother and sister.  In June of 1972, I received a phone call from my sister.  My mother was in the hospital because she had suffered a heart attack.  In 1972, procedures that we … Continue reading

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