"What Kind of Yogurt Should I Buy?"

This is one question I am frequently asked to answer and I can understand why.  Navigating the yogurt aisle at the grocery store can be stressful. There are dozens of brands and variations of yogurt formulations. You’ll see mainstream brands like Danon and Yoplait and options like Greek yogurts, sheep’s milk yogurt, soy and almond milk yogurts. You can even find yogurt spin-off’s like kefir and lassi.

Before we get to which type of yogurt I recommend, let’s first take a look at why you should include yogurt in your diet and what an authentic, good quality yogurt looks like.

Yogurt is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria are known as yogurt cultures, of which there are a few varieties. Yogurt has been around for thousands of years and thus considered a “traditional fermented food” when properly made. The benefits of eating yogurt lie in the key word: fermented.  It is through fermentation that our body gets vital probiotic strains that aid digestion, support gut-health and help fight infection (1).  It can even help reduce cholesterol and aid in weight loss. 

But here’s the thing . . . you need to be eating the RIGHT kind of yogurt products to get these benefits! Much of our commercial yogurts do not make the cut. The key component to any yogurt worthy of your spoon is the presence of live active cultures (verifed by reading the ingredients list and looking for words like L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus, S. thermophilus, bifidus, L. paracasei). 

Other components to look for when shopping for a quality yogurt are that it’s made from whole milk, or worse case, 2% (NO Fat Free products allowed!). Also check that there are no added sugars (or artificial sugars). Milk has some naturally occurring sugars, so what you’re looking for is an ingredients list that does not include sugar in any form.  If you’re still with me, then Yes, I’m saying you need to buy plain, whole milk yogurt with live active cultures and then sweeten it yourself.  Self-sweetening allows you to control the level and source of sugar. Fresh fruit, a teaspoon of raw honey or 100% maple syrup, even a ¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract, are all delicious ways to customize your flavor profile while keeping sugar, artificial ingredients and calories in check.  If you want to up your protein intake, then reach for Greek yogurt, which, when made authentically, is strained and creates a higher protein content and a thicker consistency.

My favorite yogurt is the homemade version I make, but for those times I need to purchase, my go-to brands are Wallaby Organic Whole Milk Yogurt, Siggi, Stoneyfield Organic Grass Fed yogurt and Organic Valley.

If you typically reach for Yoplait, Danon, Activia, or even Chobani, then it’s time to make the switch. The Cornucopia Institute has a rating sheet on their site that lets dozens of brands rated for the quality of ingredients including live active cultures.  Here’s the link to see how your favorites fared.

(1) site source Dr. Axehttps://draxe.com/probiotic-yogurt/

Score a FREE jar of Justin’s Almond Butter

Peanut butter lovers, rejoice—there’s a new nut butter on the scene. Meet Justin’s Classic Almond Butter, a delightfully simple spread that will win over even the most devout PB&J fans. An added bonus? It’s naturally gluten-free, vegan, and Paleo-friendly.

Whether spread on toast, or drizzled over apple slices, Justin’s Classic Almond Butter

is the MVP of snack time. Made from just two ingredients—almonds and sustainably sourced red palm fruit oil—this almond butter is as wholesome as it is delicious.

Often, manufacturers try to jazz up nut butters by adding sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Justin’s, on the other hand, is the real deal—this almond butter doesn’t need any sweeteners or fillers to make it palatable. The great taste comes from the naturally delicious almonds. Since every spoonful includes a solid serving of protein and healthy fats, you can feel good about indulging in this creamy spread.  Plus, Paleo eaters or people with peanut allergies can safely enjoy Justin’s almond butter as a peanut butter substitute!

Once you try almond butter, you’ll never want to go back to sugary peanut butter again. For a limited time, Thrive Market is offering a free jar of Justin’s Classic Almond Butter!

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Do You Grill Your Guac?

There is a certain kind of excitement that comes with getting something new, whether it be a new pair of shoes, new gadget (like an iPad) or even a new favorite show on TV.  For me, the excitement over our new Big Green Egg (BGE) grill is motivating me to put close to anything I can “over the coals”. I’ll save the long explanation of the Big Green Egg, but let’s just say it’s the most amazing grill we’ve ever owned - long cook times, fantastic flavor for everything we’ve cooked, and easy to use. 

This BGE enthusiasm led me to experiment with making guacamole recently.  Avocadoes are quite possibly my most favorite food and avocado season is upon us! I love a delicious, fresh guacamole, but to add an authentically roasted flavor to it seemed like a perfect way to up the guac game. 

I prepped (aka: washed, sliced and lightly brushed with coconut oil) my organic ingredients: red onion, red pepper, Serrano chili, heirloom tomatoes, limes and avocadoes (pitted, with skin on). Then placed them face down on the grill over medium heat and cooked each until they were just starting to char and blister.  As they finished cooking, I took them off to cool.  Once they were done, I scooped out the avocado, chopped the peppers and onions and combined everything except the limes in a bowl and mashed until they came together in perfect union.  I added fresh crushed garlic, sea salt and squeezed one lime at a time until the flavor was just right.  It was a perfect compliment to our turkey burgers and doubled as a tasty dip for the grilled sweet potato fries.  A 100% cooked outdoors meal - - tastes great and keeps the heat out of the kitchen! 

You could easily adapt this concept and grill your mango salsa or grill tomatoes and bread for a twist on the traditional Italian tomato-bread salad.  How will you up your grilling game this summer?  Share your inspiration in the comments below. We’d love to hear from you!

*note: Grilling slightly changes the texture of avocadoes.  If that does not appeal to you, then grill all the ingredients except the avocado and then add them to a bowl with (un-grilled) avocado and mash together for a still-delicious guacamole.

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!

Summertime Staple

Temperatures are heating up, long summer days are here, weekends at the beach and backyard barbecues are on the calendar. These things all point to summer, but for me, watermelons are a sure sign summer has arrived.  This large gourd of a fruit, that some say moonlights as a vegetable, might be mostly water, but that doesn’t mean it lacks nutritional value.   This red, juicy fruit is more than a juicy side dish or source for seed spitting contests at summer barbeques. It’s a great hydrator and full of heart healthy vitamins, too.

The nutrient profile of watermelon shows you’ll get vitamins A and C, potassium, magnesium and even a bit of calcium in a one cup serving of whole fruit (not juiced), all without a lot of sugar or calories.  What a great way to hydrate on a hot summer day or after a tough workout!

A big red, juicy wedge of chilled watermelon is always delicious, but if you want to branch out and see what other personalities this fruit has, try one of these recipes:

·      Watermelon Pops -   place cut wedges of watermelon on popsicle sticks and top with fresh squeezed lime, a drizzle of honey and a pinch of sea salt

·      Watermelon Cooler (with or without alcohol)   

·      Watermelon Sorbet   

·      Watermelon Goat Cheese Salad  

Need a little help choosing your melon?

The best tasting watermelons are those that are in season - summer and early fall -  because they need heat to fully ripen. Look for one that has a smooth rind with a creamy yellow spot where it sat on the ground to ripen. A white spot means it hasn’t fully ripened. Store in a cool spot and once cut, keep in the refrigerator for up to four days.

Watermelon and summer, a great combo! Make sure your summer doesn’t pass without these two meeting up. 

Source:  http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/2072/2

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!

8 Ways to Prepare for a Hunger Emergency

It happens to all of us; we get busy running errands, a meeting goes late, traffic holds us up and we suddenly find a growling bear of hunger taking control and we reach for the nearest thing to eat, even if it’s far from healthy. I call it a “hunger emergency” and when this happens, we tend to choose sugary, highly refined, low quality foods to chase away the hunger bear.

Don’t let this happen to you.  Planning ahead is the best solution. Choose protein as part of your snack; it is best at controlling blood sugar and will keep the hunger surge from getting too big.

Here are 8 ways to get prepared:

1.    Keep a small bag of almonds or walnuts handy. Or make a batch of your own trail mix using almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, goji berries and shredded coconut.

2.    Fruit and Nuts. Have fruit that travels well on hand, like apples or oranges, and pair with a handful of nuts for a balance of protein, fats and carbs.

3.    Similar to number two, buy travel packs of almond butter to have on hand to pair with a banana, apple or crackers. 

4.    Hummus and crackers or cut vegetables is always a good snack option. (I like Mary’s Gone brand crackers.)

5.    Healthy snack bars made from whole food as ingredients. Larabar, and Simple Squares are good brands or try making your own with this recipe from 100DaysofRealFood.

6.    From Scratch Popcorn made from loose kernels popped in a brown paper bag in the microwave (not a pre-packed microwave type) sprinkled with fresh herbs and salt or nutritional yeast for a dairy free, cheesy taste.  No harmful chemicals and you still have a bag for easy transport. Simply put ¼ cup organic popcorn kernels in a brown lunch bag, roll the top down, microwave until they are popped. Sprinkle herbs, salt and/or nutritional yeast in the bag, shake and eat.

7.    Jerky. Not all brands are good, but Krave is awesome. Nitrate free, gluten free, no MSG or corn syrup. They have flavors that are sure to make your mouth water (turkey basil citrus, beef chili lime, sesame ginger) and chase away hunger. Check out Thrive Market for great prices on Krave.

8.    Roasted Chickpeas. Roast a batch of these at home. Sprinkle with your favorite flavors (cayenne pepper, sea salt or garlic and herbs) and you’ve got a healthy, crunchy, on-the-go snack. To make: drain a can of chickpeas, rinse and blot dry.  Toss with a little bit of olive oil and salt, spread on a rimmed cookie sheet and bake at 450°F for 30-40 minutes or until browned and crispy.

And most important:

Drink water all day long! Sometimes when we feel hungry, we are actually getting dehydrated; so keeping up on your water intake should be priority number one.

What's your favorite way to avoid a hunger emergency?

Clean Food Cheat Sheet

I recently spent three days at the Natural Products Expo West (NPEW) and have so much to share! Hours of educational seminars and hundreds (thousands?) of products to check out, mean more info than I can reasonably share with you here in just one post.  So for this week, I’m sharing a quick list of favorite food products. 

It’s no secret that the word “Natural” is a loose term with no meaningful definition (see my earlier post here) and my experience at NPEW just confirmed how much I need to work on continuing to spread the word about paying attention to what ingredients are in the food you eat! Of the thousands of vendors at the expo, just a fraction of the booths had brands I trust or shared new products that passed the “clean ingredients” standard of this blog.  Ingredients like carrageenan, canola oil,  maltodextrin, autolyzed yeast extract and soy protein isolate are far from clean or healthy, but showed up in many products. 

In the interest of time and space, here are some of my favorite brands, in bold, that were at the Expo with a favorite product in parenthesis. Kind of like a little cheat sheet for your next trip to the grocery store. I know it’s much easier to just grab a favorite brand, so here are a few products you can just ‘grab and go’ the next time you’re at the store:

Food Should Taste Good (multi grain chip), The Chia Co. (chia shots, chia pods), Pamela’s (gluten free pancake mix), Go Raw (sprouted seeds for snacking), Lundberg Family Farms (organic brown rice), Bob’s Red Mill (rolled oats and whole grain pancake mix), Niman Ranch (humane and sustainably raised meat products), Amy’s (pesto pizza and Chinese noodles & vegetable with cashew cream), Organic Valley (grass fed butter and cream), Ancient Harvest (new ancient grain hot oatmeal), Late July (organic snacks), OrganicVille/Sky Valley (sriracha and dijon), Sun Warrior (protein powders), Navitas (superfoods), Tava (flavored ghee), To Your Health Sprouted Flour Company (sprouted flours), Alvarado Street Bakery (sprouted sourdough bread), Noosa (new pumpkin flavor in July), Theo (amazing peanut butter cup candy), Mary’s Gone Crackers (new line of thins coming out soon), Celtic Salt (lots of good flavor blends, too),  Silk (cashew milk), Wallaby (awesome organic Greek yogurt and kefir) and...

·      Bliss – well, this doesn’t quite count as grab and go if you live outside of Oregon or Washington, but if you want to try their amazing Cinnamon Chia Seed Peanut Butter bliss, it can be found online and is worth every cent of the shipping cost. It's my favorite product from the Expo - Delicious! (Better yet, if you can't find it, tell your local grocery store to order some for their shelves!)

If you try any of these brands and their products, send an email or leave a comment… reader feedback is always appreciated! Share what your favorites are with Grow in Wellness.

And don’t forget… the healthiest foods are those that don’t need an ingredient label like fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.

 Coming soon – body care and home cleaning products to help you ‘live green’! 

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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!