Berry Important News

Spring. Strawberries. Bright, plump, red. Sweet and juicy. Laden with pesticides. Move over apples, strawberries have stolen your spot as number one on the top of EWG’s dirty dozen list. 

What am I talking about?  Since 2004, the Environmental Working Group has been ranking pesticide contamination on 48 popular fruits and vegetables from over 35,000 samples tested by the US Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration.   They call it the EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce, or as it’s more commonly known: "The Dirty Dozen and Clean 15”  lists. This is the go-to guide for how to prioritize your dollars on organic produce if you cannot afford to buy (or don't always have access to) organic produce all the time.  While there are several repeat offenders each year (apples, zucchini, strawberries, tomatoes and grapes), apples have been taking home the top prize until this year's list was released and strawberries came out on top.

(Want to know more? Read all about it here)

That's all fine and good, but how does this strawberry news affect you as a consumer? This is your cue to make sure the strawberries you eat are certified organic. Bonus if they come from local farmers. And with strawberries just coming into peak season, this is the time to indulge.  If you want to really stock up, then purchase a flat of strawberries, wash, trim and slice some for immediate eating and then prep the extras for later with my berry preservation method: 

Wash, dry and cut strawberries into slices or small pieces.  Spread them out onto a cookie sheet and place in your freezer until they are frozen.  Once frozen, scoop them up into a zip top plastic bag and store in your freezer for later use.  They are great added to smoothies, stirred into hot oatmeal or tossed into salad. This works great with blueberries and raspberries, too.

Strawberries are worth the extra cost of going organic and not just to avoid pesticides. They offer a great dose of nutrition! They offer plenty of vitamin C, fiber, they support heart health and are full of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties.

The possibilities of what to do with strawberries are (almost) endless.  How about a strawberry-cucumber smoothie? Or a chia seed pudding?  You can add them to your overnight oats, infuse your water with a few fresh sliced berries or even try them with my pesto chicken salad recipe.

So make the most of strawberry season – buy organic – and enjoy every sweet bite!

What’s your favorite way to eat strawberries?

Making Breakfast a Little Easier

Now that Thanksgiving is over, the holiday season is officially underway.  Busy will define most of our days and for many, skipping meals tends to be a casualty of the crazy schedule.  A little “holiday preparedness” in the kitchen can help you stay nourished and energized for the demands of this season.

I love smoothies for their versatility and ease, but they just can’t be made ahead of time and saved for later. These little smoothie jars are a great way to have an easy breakfast or snack waiting for you, only a quick blend with almond milk is needed before drinking one up.   You can load them up with your favorite smoothie ingredients: everything from fruit to greens and protein powders and nuts.  Fill mason jars with everything except your favorite blending liquid and then store in the freezer. Soon as a smoothie craving hits, simply dump the contents of your mason jar into your blender, add 8-10 ounces of almond milk or coconut water and blend until well combined.  You can even pour it back into your mason jar to drink (depending on your jar size).

Here is one of my favorite combinations... what will yours be?

MASON JAR SMOOTHIE

Place the following ingredients into a mason jar, cover and place into the freezer. When ready to blend, add the contents to your blender with 8-10 ounces of almond milk and blend on high until well combined.

1 sliced banana

½ cup frozen or fresh blueberries

1 cup spinach

1 scoop protein powder

¼ cup cashews

pinch of cinnamon

Enjoy!

Protein without the Powder

Most mornings of the week my Vitamix is busy blending up a delicious smoothie for breakfast.  I am diligent about quality ingredients… right down to the protein I put in the mixing container. Now, while smoothies make a great breakfast option, they must have enough protein in them to not have your blood sugar skyrocket. Protein will help you feel full longer, will stabilize your blood sugar and will help build muscle.  

Not everyone likes protein powder as a source for adding protein, and there are A LOT of not-so-healthy protein powders out there, some with too many processed chemical ingredients and many that taste like chalk. So what’s a smoothie-loving, breakfast drinker supposed to do if they want to power up their morning blend with healthy protein, but don’t want to get there with a scoop of powder?

My recommendation for a healthy adult is to start your day off with a breakfast that includes a minimum of 18 grams of protein. A smoothie is a delicious, easy way to meet that requirement. Even without using a protein powder.

Here are some protein options that can be added to your morning mix:

·      Whole-milk, Greek yogurt.  My favorite brand is Wallaby Organic and one cup contains 19 grams of protein. I use vanilla for a little sweetness.

·      Kefir – about 6 grams of protein per cup, but with the added benefit of live active cultures (good for gut health!)

·      Hemp seeds.  Just 2 tablespoons contain 10 grams of protein

·      Pumpkin seeds. ¼ cup = 5 grams

·      Cashews.  ¼ cup = 7 grams

·      Almonds. ¼ cup = 4 grams

·      Chia seeds. 2 tbsp = 4 grams

Let’s not forget about the protein that comes from other smoothie ingredients:

·      Banana, 1 medium = 1.5 grams

·      Blueberries, 1 cup = 1.1 grams

·      Avocado, 1 = 2.6 grams

·      Kale, 1 cup = 2 grams

·      Spinach, 1 ½  cups = 1.5 grams

·      Almond milk, 1 cup = 1 gram

If you add up everything that goes into the blender, you’ll find that it’s pretty easy to get to 18 grams of protein.

Start blending your way to a healthy start to your day!  What’s your protein smoothie combination going to be?

(resources: www.whfoods.com, www.webmd.com,www.ndb.nal.usda.gov)

Sweet as a Peach

Summertime is here and that means peach season is upon us… and I love peach season! You don’t have to live in Georgia to know the joy of a sweet peach. This fragrant, juicy fruit is slightly tart, has soft flesh and each bite gives you mouth-watering flavor.  Peach season is short and they ripen quickly, so they need to be eaten fast. But they are sooo tasty (and good for you, too!) so buy them fresh while you can. 

My favorite? White peaches.  They look similar to yellow peaches with the skin on, but they are a bit sweeter in taste and a little less tart. Peaches are on the “dirty dozen” list, so be sure to buy organic whenever possible.

Just one large peach gives you vitamin A, vitamins C & E (antioxidants), potassium, fiber and has about 70 calories. They are low glycemic (won’t spike your blood sugar) and give the most benefit when you eat the skin. Just make sure to wash thoroughly before eating.

Peaches are great on their own (eat the skin, please!) and can be baked, grilled or diced and served with a dollop of yogurt.  Ripened peaches can be diced and put in the freezer for future use. Besides eating peaches fresh from the farmer’s market, you can blend them into this healthy creamy smoothie for a cool summer treat. 

Have a Peachy Summer!

Is There A Dragon In Your Smoothie?

Want to add a burst of color and nutrition to your morning smoothie? Then consider adding dragon fruit to your next blender mix.

Dragon Fruit, otherwise known as Pitaya (pronounced pee-ty-uh), is a brightly colored fruit from a climbing cactus plant.  It’s common in southern Asia and is starting to make an appearance here in the U.S.

It is a bright magenta-pink exterior with green leaves that look a bit like dragon scales (thus it’s nickname). The interior can be white, green or magenta, all speckled with tiny seeds.  This wild looking fruit comes with a punch of nutrients, too: vitamin C, high fiber, B-vitamins, magnesium and omega-3’s from the seeds.

If you can find one in your grocery store (or Asian market), simply cut open, remove the peel and eat the speckled flesh.  It has a mild taste similar to kiwi or melon. Another way – and a much easier way! - to get some Pitaya in your life is to add some to your smoothie by buying it in frozen smoothie packs in your grocery store’s frozen fruit section. Look for the PitayaPlus brand (which is raw, organic, non-GMO, and no added sweetener) or ask your store manager if they’ll start to carry it. Here’s a recipe to get you started. Why not try adding a little dragon to your day?

Blend the following ingredients until desired consistency: 

Dragon Fruit Smoothie

8 oz. coconut water

½ cup pitaya or 1 frozen pitaya packet

1 banana

½ cup plain Greek yogurt

large handful of spinach

4 ice cubes

*add more or less coconut water to adjust consistency

It's That (Pumpkin) Time of Year Again

October isn’t my favorite month, but October brings pumpkins and that means pumpkin pie and pumpkin pie is definitely a favorite of mine!

This fruit is more than just a big round gourd to carve into a jack-o-lantern for Halloween and pumpkin goes beyond filling a piecrust for your Thanksgiving table. It can be a gourmet filling for ravioli or the base of a hearty fall soup. It’s great in risotto and homemade pumpkin bread, too.  Its flesh and its seeds are filled with nutrients and health benefits and can be eaten in a variety of ways.

Here are a few benefits of pumpkin:

·      1 cup of cooked pumpkin gives you 200% of the recommended intake of Vitamin A. It’s full of carotenoids, which aid your vision.

·      There are 3 grams of fiber in a 1 cup serving which helps fill you up and keep your digestion balanced.

·      Contains beta carotene, an anti-oxidant which helps to prevent cancer

·      Gives you vitamin C, which aids collagen production and keeps wrinkles at bay.

·      1 cup of cooked pumpkin contains more potassium than a banana. This helps balance your body’s electrolytes, especially after a heavy workout.

·      Pumpkin seeds – aka pepitas- are a great source of magnesium(good for your heart), and zinc (helps your immune system).

As much as pumpkin pie is a favorite of mine, Clean eating is still a priority so I have found a healthy, delicious way to get my pumpkin fix (and I don’t have to wait until Thanksgiving dinner to be over!).  It’s a pumpkin smoothie (recipe below). This smoothie is a great for breakfast or an afternoon snack – the taste of pumpkin pie without all the unhealthy ingredients found in a pie.

Pumpkin Smoothie  (makes 1 serving)

½ cup pumpkin puree

1 ½ cups milk alternative (I use almond milk)

1 serving protein powder

½ banana

½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

3-4 ice cubes

Blend until well combined.

[Print Recipe]

Enjoy!

There has been a lot of press lately regarding the non-existent pumpkin in Starbuck’s Pumpkin Lattes and so of all the seasonal pumpkin items you can enjoy, keep this one off your list!

New Favorite Grocery Store Find

I’m a green smoothie (and green juice) kind of girl and I like to change the way I go ‘green’ from time to time.  Typically my smoothies get their green from spinach and kale, but from time to time I’ve been known to buy a bunch of collard greens and throw those in, too.  Then, there are days when I’m overdue for a grocery store run so there are no fresh greens on hand.  I usually improvise, but that might no longer be necessary as I’ve found a new favorite item at the grocery store.

You’ll find it in the frozen vegetable section… it’s Earthbound Farm’s Organic Collard Greens.  The bag is full of small pieces of collard greens, frozen in a way that they don’t clump up.  The re-sealable bag makes it easy to grab a handful to add to your smoothies, especially on those mornings when you realize you’re out of fresh kale or spinach. You could easily cook them up to add to hot quinoa or pasta.

Collard Greens are full of goodness! They are a cruciferous vegetable that is high in vitamins A, C, K and minerals like iron, calcium, selenium, manganese and zinc. (Because of its high vitamin K and membership in the cruciferous vegetable family, eat sparingly if you have a thyroid disorder or take blood thinners.)  Add this leafy green to your smoothies, cook and add to eggs or add chopped fresh collards to a salad. Collards help lower cholesterol, fend-off disease, aid in digestion and reduce inflammation overall.  However you enjoy it, know it’s giving you a boost of nutrition in a quick and easy way.

Here’s a quick summer smoothie recipe to get you started:

Add to blender:

 10 oz. Almond Milk

1 cup organic strawberries

½ cup organic raspberries

protein powder

2 TBSP flax seeds

1 cup frozen collard greens

3-4 ice cubes

Blend until well combined.  Enjoy!

Good Things Come in Small Packages

Our culture tends to subscribe to a “bigger is better” mentality, but that is not always the case, as some wonderful things come in small packages… things like babies and diamond rings (insert heartfelt “sigh”). I’m not so sure who gets credit for the phrase “good things come in small packages”, but this age-old proverb can mean so much more than something sparkly in a small box, although I must say; I’ll take that kind of small package any day (grin).

But since this blog focuses on whole foods and clean eating, I’m sure you have already figured out that I’m referring to food.  In this case, seeds.  Those who are followers of a paleo diet are big seed eaters and you might even know someone who has eaten seeds to help improve fertility.  These little seeds, some of which I’ll profile below, are often an afterthought when it comes to how they are used… a sprinkle here or there or a few dotted on a hamburger bun, but never much attention past that.  I want to share with you the powerful punch of goodness these small packages can deliver. These are just a few of the seeds you can easily incorporate into your day. How many of these do you eat on a regular basis?

Chia – one of my favorite super foods (and earlier post), these seeds give you fiber, omega 3’s and (just 2 tablespoons) give you as much calcium as ½ cup of milk. Add to your smoothies, morning yogurt or make a healthy pudding with them. You can even make raspberry chia seed jam.

Flax  - another way to boost fiber and help lower cholesterol through the ALA’s (alpha lipolic acid) they deliver.  One ounce of flax seeds has double the omega 3’s of salmon, but they must be ground to be efficiently used by the body. Great sprinkled on salad, in yogurt or mixed into oatmeal. I add them to smoothies any time of the day.

Hemp – don’t let the name scare you, this hemp is not going to give you a high, but it will give you a boost of protein (10 grams in 3 Tablespoons). Hemp is a great vegan source of protein (contains all essential amino acids) and is easily digestible. You can add hemp seeds a smoothie, toss them on a salad or use them in a homemade pesto in place of pine nuts. See below for a quick smoothie with hemp seeds.

Sesame – these tiny pale seeds that come in gold, white and black varieties are high in phytonutrients, a cholesterol lowering and blood pressure lowering compound. And as a bonus, they give you a bit of calcium, too.  Toast them and add them to chicken salad, stir fry’s and even try them as a fish coating.

Sunflower – I am past the age of needing to crack the outer shell and spit it out in order to get to the yummy middle, so I now buy my sunflower seeds raw and shelled. They provide a dose of vitamin E, keep brain cells healthy, and provide selenium, a mineral that provides cancer protection. I add them to salads and to my homemade trail mix.

There are dozens of ways to incorporate these small packages of goodness into your day, but in the meantime, here’s a recipe to get you started… enjoy!

Simple Hemp Seed Smoothie

Blend:

1 ½ cups almond milk 


3 TBSP hemp seeds


1 cup frozen blueberries

½ frozen banana

2 large kale leaves, de-stemmed

3 ice cubes (optional, to thicken, if desired)

A Rainbow of Possibilities

©growinwellness.com

Maybe it’s because I welcomed in the New Year in a place known for rainbows, but adding a variety of color to your morning seems like a good idea no matter where you wake up.  And what’s the quickest way to deliver? Make a smoothie.  One of the easiest breakfasts you can make is protein-packed smoothie.  Not only can you blend healthy goodness in minutes, you can easily take it on the go as a portable breakfast (or even as an afternoon snack).

Of all the things I love about morning smoothies, it’s hard to beat how many options there are.  (The irony of that statement, though, is that I have one favorite that I drink most days of the week). Once you have your basic recipe, you can personalize it any way you want. Before I leave you with my absolute favorite morning smoothie recipe, let me give you the framework for making a healthy smoothie and not a sugary dessert.

Start with a good base.  Coconut water is hydrating and has electrolytes, almond milk is a good choice for a little heartier base and if you really want to thicken up your smoothie and add a healthy probiotic boost you can use kefir* (a fermented yogurt-like liquid) as your base. * Kefir makes a thick smoothie, so you may want to add more fresh than frozen fruits.

Next add a high quality protein powder – choose plant based and one with no bad artificial sweeteners. Protein is a key element to breakfast – it stabilizes your blood sugar (reducing sugar cravings), strengthens your immune system and keeps you feeling full (helping with weight control). My favorite brands are SunWarrior Raw protein powder in vanilla, VegaOne all-in-one and Arbonne’s vanilla.

Include at least a cup of greens* (kale, spinach, collards) and a cup or so of fresh and frozen fruit and you have a good basic recipe. *Note: if you do not have a high powered blender, your greens will not pulverize quite as much, so expect to see small leaf pieces in the end result. 

Now, to really boost the power of your smoothie start adding in all kinds of goodness in the form of ”superfoods”:  hemp seeds, ground flax, chia seeds, maca powder, raw cacao, goji berries, nut butter, spirulina powder or even an avocado. Experiment with different combinations of fruits and add-ins until you find a few favorites.

You will notice that I do not list any sweeteners in my recipe. It is not necessary (or advisable) to add more sugar than what is already present in the fruit and protein powder. BUT, if you feel compelled to make your smoothie even sweeter, then I recommend using a teaspoon of raw honey (only raw!) or a few pitted dates.

Create your own weekly rainbow by changing up what you blend in the morning. The photo I posted shows a few variations. Love pink? Try blending strawberries and bananas with goji berry powder, flax and maca. Want to add a burst of sunshine to your morning? Blend mango with peaches and bananas, chia, coconut water and hemp seeds.  If purple is your favorite color, then mix blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and spinach with kefir for a base. And if green is your best color then a combination of banana, kale, cinnamon, chia seeds and flax will give you a green boost. The ones in the above photo do not all have greens, but do contain protein powder.

Which is my favorite ‘go-to’ morning smoothie?  The Green one, of course! Let me know what your favorite combination is!  Happy Blending!

Green Goodness Breakfast Smoothie

1 ½ cups almond milk

protein powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp chia seeds

1 tbsp almond butter

1 tsp ground flax seeds

1 cup of kale leaves (washed and stemmed)

1 banana

3-4 ice cubes

Fill blender with ingredients in order listed and blend until well combined.  Pour into a glass and enjoy! (Or put in a disposable cup and take it with you.)

Happiness Over a Blender

When you are a Health Coach, some of the most unusual things can make you giddy. Like finding zucchini blossoms at the farmer’s market…or finding a place that makes a smoothie with hemp seeds and maca…or, as was the case for me this weekend, coming across a Vitamix demonstration at my Whole Foods Market. I love to see what the demonstrator is going to make (it’s always delicious!) and get new ideas of what I can buy and blend. There is just something about a Vitamix that one does not quite understand or appreciate until there is one in your kitchen and you witness, first-hand, its amazing abilities.  Want to pulverize kale? Make dairy free ‘ice cream’?  Make hot soups and nut milks? I can tell you, the one Cuisinart and two Ninja blenders I’ve gone through couldn’t compare to what my Vitamix can do. (I am told that the BlendTec is a highly regarded competitor, and that may be the case, I’d love to hear if you have compared the two.)  I could go on and on about how much I love my Vitamix, but I will skip to the fun stuff and share a few great recipes for you to try.  If you don’t have a powerful blender, you might find that the kale and spinach don’t break down quite as much, but the taste will not be affected.  Happy Blending!

Dairy Free Chocolate Banana Ice Cream

1 Frozen Banana (cut in half)

1 TBSP raw cacao powder

dash of cinnamon

¼ cup vanilla almond milk

Put all items in blender and blend until smooth.

Drink Your Greens *

1 cup (or more) spinach

1/3 bunch of parsley

1 banana

1 kiwi

1 cup almond milk

 Put all items in the blender and blend until smooth. Option:  add 4-5 ice cubes for a frothier, colder smoothie.

Can’t See the Green Smoothie *

1 cup spinach or kale

1 cup frozen blueberries

1 banana

1cup coconut water (more or less, to desired consistency)

Put all items in the blender and blend until smooth.  Adjust coconut water to your desired consistency. 

*add a scoop of non-soy protein powder to make this a great breakfast drink.