“Gluten free,” “vegan,” and “GMO” are buzzwords that have obsessed our generation for years. But what do these words really mean? Many AU students are on a daily struggle between scarfing down Tenders, eating Freshii, or cooking a healthy meal at home. Luckily, we have Roxanna Nowrouzi, a current sophomore at American University and nutrition guru. On her blog, www.skinnybbowl.com, and through Facebook and Instagram, Roxanna introduces her own unique recipes that promote healthy eating. One look at her cakes, and you won’t even care that she sneaks avocados into her chocolate ganache.
Homemade Chocolate
Her Campus American University: How long has skinnybbowl.com existed?
Roxanna Nowrouzi: I’ve had the Instagram since March of 2014 and I started my website in August of 2014.
HCAU: What made you want to start your blog?
RN: Well, I was raised by a nutritionist mother and I came to [Catholic University] and was eating the food from the cafeteria, but I felt like my daily needs weren’t being met by the food there. They added extra butter and stuff like that, and since I hadn’t eaten foods with extra additives my whole life, it was a shock to my system and I was constantly getting sick. So I would cook for myself and post pictures of my smoothie bowls on Twitter every once in a while, and all my friends would go crazy. They’d be like “Oh my God, what is that?” So they started coming to my dorm room and they bought a little blender and I would start making them smoothie bowls. By March or February, not only were my friends asking me for advice, but people I didn’t even know showed up too.
So many people were asking me questions, so I’m like ‘You know what, I’m going to start this.’ So my roommates and I were sitting down and we came up with the name, “Skinny Betch Bowl” – so “bowls for skinny betches” because it started from oatmeal and the smoothie bowls. I didn’t make a website right away. I started an Instagram to post my photos and write a little bit of content. On Instagram, I was posting yogurt, oatmeal, smoothie bowls, and then little snacks, like wraps and sushi rolls that I made in my dorm room.
Then I went home for summer and I got more into it. I started making cakes, and instead of little snacks, I really started to transform my life. So instead of eating a regular cake, I would transform all the ingredients with things that are more nutritious. And I was like, ‘You know what, I don’t think this Instagram is enough.’ So I created the site so that I could have full recipes and post about health and nutrition.
Smoothie Bowl – frozen fruit blended with coconut water, coconut milk, or almond milk and topped with fresh fruit
HCAU: How do you come up with your recipes?
RN: My older brother, who is 26, is constantly sending me recipes, and so is my mom. I get my inspiration from them, but also from a lot of other places. Whether it be walking through campus or at Whole Foods. If I see a banana bread cake, I think “Wow, I wish I could eat that,” so I create my own version of banana bread! The usual banana bread ingredients include bananas, eggs, flour, vanilla extract and sugar. So I’ll transform it, using almond flour, almond milk or coconut milk, then I’ll play it by ear to make sure the batter is the right consistency and the cake turns out right. I try to always create healthier options without compromising the taste.
HCAU: What is your favorite ingredient to work with?
RN: I’m a huge fan of coconut. So I would say coconut flakes or anything coconut related. I basically add coconut into every single one of my recipes, I just realized that.
Chocolate Haystacks
HCAU: Sometimes eating healthy can be expensive. What advice do you have for people who are on a budget? And how do you suggest college students go about eating healthy?
RN: There are lots of options. I go to Whole Foods or Trader Joes, or if I don’t feel like spending that much, I’ll go to Giant because they do have organic food options.
I would suggest in investing in some type of small smoothie maker. You can get a blender around $50, I remember mine was $30. You should buy frozen fruits and vegetables, they’re pretty economical, or you can buy them fresh if you have time. If you’re making smoothies, you should definitely buy chia seeds, coconut flakes, and other toppings that have some sort of nutritional benefit. Protein is definitely important, so if you’re into protein powder you can add that too. I try to add things that are high in protein like peanut butter, almond butter, or nuts. So whatever toppings you can afford and some type of nut butter.
If you can cook, I would recommend buying a lot of quinoa, brown rice and chicken breast. You can do oatmeal – oats are pretty cheap. You can do eggs, hummus, rice crackers, healthy chips like Nut Thins or Way Better Chips. Bars are great. But bars are pretty tricky because almost every single bar that I know of is fattening. So if you’re going to go for a bar, I would definitely read the ingredients. What I eat are GoMacro Bars and they’re really filling.
Pad Thai
HCAU: What do you hope people will get out of skinnybbowl.com?
RN: Most importantly, there are so many benefits of eating healthy, so I hope people can reap the same benefits that I have, like having more energy, feeling better, having a clear mind and all the physical benefits, as well. If you’re putting chemicals into your body, that just shows how you treat yourself. My motto is: because I love my body and I love myself, I only put the best things into my body. I want to put fruits and vegetables so that I can help myself. And once you start, you really feel it. I have a friend who changed her diet and her energy levels and mood have drastically changed. I just want everyone to have guidance because a lot of people don’t know much about food or diseases, or the way you can benefit from eating better.
Fruit Platter
HCAU: Do you ever eat foods that are more on the unhealthy side?
RN: Every once in a while if I’m studying I’ll get some pizza from Domino’s because they have gluten free pizza. Or if I’m out, and I’m really craving frozen yogurt, I’ll treat myself. I don’t care. I love fries, that’s my weakness. If I do decide to treat myself when I go out, I’ll just be smart about it. I don’t restrict myself, I don’t like to.
HCAU: What advice do you have for people who have their own blogs or want to start one?
RN: I definitely would say set a mission and set a goal of what you want to accomplish. Whether it’s a goal you want to reach in one year, five years, or a month. Before you start your blog, I would choose an audience and make sure it is appropriate for your subject. Let’s say you’re into alternative fashion, your target obviously is not going to be 60-year old moms. So set an audience that you can attract because it’s almost impossible to have just a general audience. I would also say to be consistent with your blog, try to figure out what people like and stick with it. If I put up a picture of a cake and it gets 200 likes and I put up a picture of something banana related and no one likes it, that means that people are more interested in cake – so I’ll post more cakes. And lastly, always do what you love most. Don’t forget to show your personality throughout your blog, because it’s all about you!
Check out skinnybbowl.com, and like Roxanna on Facebook at Skinny Betch Bowl and follow her on Instagram, @skinnybetchbowl!
Photos belong to the author