After spending about fifteen to twenty minutes surfing the internet trying to find a nutrition-related blog that jumped out at me, I started to lose hope. Are all food blogs this boring? Oh look, another quinoa recipe, I thought. Almost at the point of giving up on the hope that I’d ever find an eye-catching foodie blog that was both informative AND funny, I stumbled upon “Live and Love to Eat.” Right away, I knew this would be the blog for me….I mean, come on, who doesn’t LOVE to eat?!
Because the name drew me in right away, I had to find out more. Right away, I liked the clean, simplistic design of the overall website, but was also aware of the clever details meticulously added in. One of my favorites is the use of vegetables as a background for the font of the blog, as their color really pops against the white background.
The other, Claire Marshall, is a Registered Dietitian from Pittsburgh. I like that she included personal details about herself, such as pictures and sharing that she is a newlywed, but did not indulge so much that I no longer saw as a professional. She draws a boundary that although she is friendly and open to communicating with all her readers, that she knows (and loves!) what she does, and she does it well.
One of my favorite parts about Claire’s site is that she incorporates beautiful pictures into her blogs. Each picture is crystal clear, and they all focused on each of her subjects so that you know exactly what she is talking about in each post before you even begin to read. This was found to be extremely helpful when I was scrolling through her site trying to find a recipe to make for a potluck this week… I needed a recipe, and I needed one FAST! I needed only 30 seconds to scroll through because each picture is big enough to see even when you are passing through fast. I ended up choosing the spaghetti squash caprese to make, and it was delicious! I can attest from personally making one of her recipes that they are easy to follow with simple, on-hand ingredients, and they turn out exactly as she describes them to.
I can definitely see myself incorporating some of what she uses in my blog posts. First, if I ever wrote a blog about nutrition, I would definitely incorporate an exercise aspect as well, just as Claire does. It is super helpful that she has a clear list of every routine she does by a daily and weekly basis. I also like her “Link Love” section because it gives the readers options to explore other areas that she may not have written about on her site! Giving shout outs to other blog sites may also mean getting shoutouts in return, and this overall means more readers for everyone! It’s a win-win. I would also love to learn how to utilize photography like she does; it adds dimension and color to every page, and really adds to the overall quality of the site.
I highly recommend this blog to anyone looking for quick dinner recipes, exercise ideas, or anyone who wants to spread “link love.” To check it out, just follow https://clairetherd.wordpress.com/. Happy hunting from one foodie to another!