Tags: smoothie

Spring Into Summer With Smoothie Bowls

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Spring Into Summer with Smoothie Bowls

Like to eat? Me too! While smoothies are a quick and easy way to get in great nutrition, I’ve always had one personal problem with them – I’d rather eat my food than drink it. Then entered the smoothie bowl. Tasty, nutritious and Instagram worthy? Hellooooo #BowlGoals. While making a smoothie bowl is quite straight forward, I am sharing my top 5 tips for getting the most nutrition (and taste) out of your next creation.

  1. Start with a nutritious (and tasty) base

    • When making a balanced smoothie bowl (or any meal or snack for that matter), it is important to include a protein, carbohydrate and healthy fat.
    • For this tip, let’s focus on protein. While there are many ways to incorporate protein into a smoothie bowl, one of the best ways I recommend is to use a protein-rich base like:
      • Kefir
      • Milk or lactose-free milk
      • Soy milk
      • Greek yogurt
      • Skyr-style yogurt
    • Not only do these options provide protein, they also contain other nutrients like calcium, vitamin D and probiotics!

  2. All the fruits and veggies

    • Next up, let’s chat about carbohydrates. Carbohydrates, especially fruits and veggies, are an important part of what we eat.
    • According to the CDC, 76% of Americans are not consuming the recommended 1.5-2 cups of fruit per day and 87% are not meeting the 2-3 cups of veggies recommended per day.1 This means there is plenty of room in our smoothie bowls for fruits and veggies!
    • Fruits
      • One of my favorite tips is to add frozen fruit! This allows for a thicker and creamier texture – perfect for eating by the spoonful.
      • Frozen, fresh and canned fruit (in 100% fruit juice) are great ways to add flavor, color and variety.
      • My personal favorites are using in-season fresh fruit (bananas are always a great option), frozen berries or cherries and canned pineapple!
    • Veggies
      • Long gone are the days where you must have a brown smoothie bowl in order to get your veggies!
      • Although greens (like spinach and kale) are great additions to smoothies, milder tasting veggies such as cooked cauliflower or sweet potato can add variety in texture and nutrition.
      • Don’t forget about no-salt added canned beans! White northern beans and chickpeas also add great variety and are an inexpensive addition to your smoothie bowl.

  1. Add in your healthy fats

    • Healthy fats are often forgotten when blending up a smoothie bowl, however, they can add in key nutrients such as fiber, healthy monounsaturated fats and omega-3s!
    • Try adding one of these the next time you create your own concoction:
      • Avocado
      • Nut or seed butter
      • Flax oil
      • Avocado oil
      • Hemp seed
      • Chia seed
      • Ground flax seed

  1. Blend it up

    • This may sound like a simple step, but I wanted to include this tip with a few helpful hints.
    • If using greens, blend the base and greens first before adding in other ingredients. This will ensure that greens are well blended. Although I said I like to ‘eat’ my food, I’m not a fan of leaves of spinach sticking out of my smoothie bowl.
    • If you are not going to eat your smoothie bowl right away (aka meal prepping), be warned that you shouldn’t mix dairy and pineapple together. Pineapple naturally contains the enzyme bromelain, which when mixed with dairy and left to sit, the dairy will curdle.

  2. Don’t forget the toppings

    • After you have your tasty, nutritious and blended creation, the fun part starts.
    • Pour your smoothie mix into your favorite bowl and top with tasty toppings!
    • You can choose toppings based on flavor or design, but either way, have fun with it! Here are some of my favorite suggestions:
      • Nuts and seeds
      • Hemp, chia, and flax seeds
      • Nut and seed butters
      • Fruit slices
      • Edible flowers
      • 100% dried fruit
      • Cacao nibs
      • Granola

To help start you off right, try one of my personal favorite smoothie bowl recipes – Blueberry, Avocado, and Banana Smoothie Bowl!

Healthy and Happy Eating,
Emily Parent, RD, LD

 

  1. (2015, July 10). Adults meeting fruit and vegetable intake recommendations — United States, 2013. Retrieved from www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6426a1.htm

 

Your New Back-To-School Routine: Batch Cooking Breakfast

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Your New Back-To-School Routine: Batch Cooking Breakfast

Back-to-school means new routines for the entire family. While this change in daily patterns can be stressful, there’s one routine recommended by the Coborn’s Dietitian Team that can set the stage for a successful kick off to the new school year – breakfast batch cooking.

In batch cooking, key meal elements are prepared in advance to make daily meal prep quicker. Given the pace of hectic school mornings, pre-prepping breakfast meals over the weekend ensures all family members start their day with a nutritious, quick and convenient breakfast. There’s no need to stop and think “what’s for breakfast?” every morning, as you’ve planned it out in advance.

While we’re not the first to tell you that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, what you may not know is that only 18% of breakfasts include fruit and less than 6% include vegetables. Batch cooking breakfast can ensure kids and parents alike start their day with at least one fruit or vegetable.

Breakfast meals that are perfect for batch cooking include:

  • Omelet cups made in muffin tins. Use leftover vegetables in your refrigerator such as spinach, mushrooms, zucchini, and onions, and consider adding spice with seasonal ingredients like hatch chili peppers. Once the omelet cups cool, individually wrap them.  On busy weekday mornings, microwave for a quick, hot breakfast.
  • Blueberry Protein Walnut Breakfast Bars, our featured recipe, is a great example of how to optimize nutrition by pairing nutrient dense foods, like blueberries and walnuts. Combined they provide protein, good fat and fiber. Make a batch of the bars on Sundays, cutting into portions perfect for your ages of children. You now have a grab-and-go breakfast ready for the week ahead.
  • Bento Box Breakfast. In a plastic container that has segments, place finger friendly fruits like orange or tangerine slices or berries in one segment, nuts, such as walnuts in another, and string cheese in another. Pre-pack the containers and refrigerate so they’re ready to grab as you head out to the carpool on busy school mornings.
  • Customized smoothie packs. Based on flavor preferences of your family members, use small containers or baggies to package fruit and vegetables with added plain yogurt or your favorite nut butter, and then freeze. On weekday mornings, set out milk and the blender for each person to make their own smoothie.

Starting this new routine means setting aside some time over the weekend to prep, but the reward of knowing your family starts off on their day with a nutritious breakfast that includes fruit and vegetables is a valuable payoff.

Happy & healthy eating,
Amy, RD, LD

Blueberry, Avocado & Banana Smoothie Bowl

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Blueberry, Avocado & Banana Smoothie Bowl

Author: Lifeway Kefir
Serves: 1-2
Ingredients
  • 1 Cup Blueberry Low-Fat Lifeway Kefir
  • 1 Cup Frozen Blueberries
  • 2 Tbsp. Avocado
  • 1 Banana, frozen
  • Additional Toppings
  • Granola
  • Blueberries
  • Banana Slices
  • Fresh Mint
Instructions
  1. Blend all ingredients in blender or food processor until smooth.
  2. Pour into 1-2 Bowls. Top with desired toppings. 
Notes
Try adding 1 Tbsp Ground Flaxseed or 1 Tbsp Chia Seeds for added nutrition!

 

 

How to Incorporate Flax Seed into Your Diet

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A Natural Approach with Cheryl - www.cobornsblog.com

Cheryl

First a little tutorial about flax seeds… Flax is a super seed grown mostly in Canada, North Dakota and South Dakota. Minnesota and Wisconsin also produce flax.

Canada is the leading producer of brown flax seed and the Dakota’s tend to produce more of the golden flax. There is little difference in the two colors but many prefer the gold because it is easier to sneak into recipes, the brown is more visible in those muffins! Continue reading →

Gotta Love A Granny Smith

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Granny Smith apples are one of the most deliciously versatile apples the world have ever known! Kids love them fresh out of hand (Not to mention covered in caramel candy) while chefs and bakers love their citrus tart flavor, which is ideal for a wide variety of recipes. They are not only tasty but they are quite the social apple. According to our research, there are more people tweeting about Granny Smiths than any other variety! Continue reading →

Pumpkin Shakes

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Pumpkin Shakes

Pumpkin Shakes

If Fall is in the air, then it’s officially Pumpkin Spice Season – so celebrate with a friend by making up a couple of these Pumpkin Shakes! You can also blend your favorite seasonal flavors… try this Maple Pumpkin Cold Brew recipe as well for more Fall favorites!

Shop from the comfort of your home! You can shop online at any of our proud family of stores for these recipe ingredients as well as the rest of your grocery list! We offer curbside pick up at all locations and delivery in select locations as well. Don’t forget to connect your MORE Rewards account when you shop online for extra savings, digital coupons, and many other rewards too!


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