Tag: smoothie

Understanding Your Eating Style

Most mornings, I wake up and make a smoothie for my kids. It sounds like a simple and quick breakfast, but in my house, nothing is that simple. My kids don’t consider a smoothie to be a meal. Once I hand them their smoothies, they ask me what else I’m making.

The smoothie, in their minds, is just a drink—an accompaniment to their meal, and not a meal on its own. So, each morning, I make smoothies along with scrambled eggs or pancakes or something else that they consider to be a real meal.

BUT, if I placed all of the smoothie ingredients onto the table and announced that breakfast was served, I bet that my kids would laugh in disbelief at the quantity of food before them. Look at the ingredients in this morning’s smoothie: nut milk, blueberries, a whole banana, a whole peach, and a quarter cup of strawberry yogurt. They would say that they couldn’t eat all of that food in one sitting. It doesn’t cross their minds that they DO eat all of that food in one sitting (in addition to the “real” meal that I’ve prepared).

This got me thinking…

How many adults go through the motions of either buying a smoothie or blending one at home each day without any appreciation for the significant quantity of food that they are consuming? Perhaps some adults realize it. My husband happens to be one of those people, which is why you’ll never see him eating plates of fruit and yogurt and milk. He’s not a big breakfast eater, and the thought of eating plates of food first thing in the morning is just too much for him. A smoothie, which hides all of the bulky volume of fruit, is a perfect solution for someone like him, who would otherwise not eat breakfast at all. He knows he’s getting all of the benefits of fruits, vegetables, nut butters, etc., without actually having to sit down and eat all of that food with utensils.

I happen to be on the other end of the spectrum. If I choose to drink a smoothie for breakfast, I am looking for snacks within an hour, even if I’m not actually hungry. I am like my children, and my brain interprets the smoothie as a drink, not a meal. I would much rather see an abundant breakfast in front of me—a breakfast that I can chew and savor, rather than gulp down. I don’t care about the convenience of having a smoothie in a cup that can travel from the home to the car. I’d much rather sit down with multiple plates and bowls of food to taste. Eating the individual ingredients of the smoothie would be a much more satisfying experience than drinking the blended version of those same ingredients.

If you are working towards healthier eating habits, it’s SO important to understand your thought processes surrounding food so that you can tailor your meals and snacks to complement your tendencies.

Eating mindfully is key.

If you are wondering whether smoothies are a good breakfast option, ask yourself these questions:

-Am I a volume eater? Do I like having lots of food in front of me?

-Do I need various textures of food to feel satisfied?

-Can I be satisfied with a liquid meal?

-Am I better off eating the unblended ingredients of a smoothie in whole form? Do I prefer liquid meals? If so, why? Does convenience and portability have anything to do with my preference for smoothies?

If you answer each of these questions and really consider how and why you think the way you do, you can begin to understand why you eat the way you do. Once you get a handle on why you eat the way you do, you will become more mindful of your food choices and begin to develop healthier eating habits.

In the past, I’ve touched upon the subject of different eating habits. Not everyone has the same approach to eating, and that’s okay. Just becoming more mindful of your own approach and your own inclinations can help you figure out how to create healthy habits that will work for you.

July 12, 2015
Best Recipes of 2014

Over the past year, we shared many of our “go-to” recipes with you — simple-to-prepare, seasonal recipes that we regularly make for our own families.

We also created new dishes by experimenting with old family recipes that tasted great but were in need of a healthy makeover. We replaced white sugar with maple syrup. We swapped white flour for brown rice flour. We relied on cooking methods that yield the most taste — for example, roasting our veggies for optimal flavor.

We tried to present traditional recipes in a new way. We made pesto out of broccoli rabe (vs. basil). We offered a baked oatmeal for a spin on your go-to bowl of oats. We created a delectable dairy and gluten-free banana walnut frozen dessert. We even brought you a light and healthy take on a classic French dessert with our Apple Raisin Clafoutis.

As we say goodbye to 2014, we want to take a moment to recognize those dishes that really stood out, for us, and, we think for you too. We hope all of our recipes make it into your kitchen in 2015, but if you only choose a few, here are the ones that we consider our “best in class.”

Best Drink:

Best Breakfast:

Best Appetizer:

Best Salad:

Best Soup:

Best Side Dish:

Best Main Course:

Best Dessert:

December 31, 2014
Tropical Thai Coconut Smoothie

Piña coladas are my summer-time splurge. I love the combination of coconut and pineapple — it’s just so delicious. Even if I’m not on a tropical island or on vacation, this drink helps me pretend that I am!

I thought I’d try my hand at a piña colada-like smoothie — or what I like to call my Tropical Thai Coconut Smoothie!

I recently discovered young Thai coconuts, and I thought they would be perfect for my concoction. In addition to the Thai coconut water and pulp, I incorporated frozen pineapple, some honey (for sweetness), vanilla extract (to mimic the flavor of vanilla ice cream) and a hint of lime. And, voila, my version of a piña colada (a healthier version) was born!

You can modify the recipe by adding half of a frozen banana or one cup of kale. You can also add some rum! (which REALLY made it taste like a piña colada).

We used a Coco Jack opener to help us dismantle our Thai coconut. If you don’t have a Coco Jack opener, you can certainly use coconut water. In fact our favorite brand of coconut water can be found in our shop!

Check out the photos below for more details on how we managed to open our Thai coconut.

Tropical Thai Coconut Smoothie
Yields between 4 and 5 cups

2 cups of fresh Thai coconut water (which seems to be the standard yield from a fresh Thai coconut), plus the pulp of one Thai coconut
1 cup of frozen pineapple
1 cup of ice
1/2 lime, juiced
1 tablespoon of honey
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Some optional ingredients:
1/2 frozen banana (please note, bananas are very sweet and potent, so use sparingly)
1 cup of fresh kale

Add all of the ingredients to the base of a blender (I used a Vitamix) and blend until smooth. Portion into glasses, or back into the Thai coconut, and enjoy!

July 23, 2014
Orange Dreamsicle Smoothie

When I was a kid in summer camp, I remember being offered an Orange Creamsicle bar every afternoon. It was such a cold, sweet treat after a long day in the sun. The creamy orange flavor will always remind me of the carefree days of summer. Although I no longer sit around eating Creamsicles every afternoon, I love recreating the delicious flavor of my favorite childhood ice cream treat by blending orange smoothies! It’s a great, healthy alternative to store-bought frozen desserts. Enjoy!

Ingredients
-Zest from 1 orange
-1 peeled orange
-1 frozen banana (sliced before freezing)
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-2 pitted dates
-½ cup soy milk (or milk of your choice)
-Handful of ice cubes

Directions
If possible, use a washed, organic orange for this recipe, as we will include the outer skin in the smoothie.

Orange zest is the top layer of an orange peel and is the source of essential oils, which adds great orangey flavor to your food. In order to zest an orange, use a fine grater and scrape only the orange coloring from the peel. Avoid grating the orange down to the white pith, which tastes bitter.

Add the zest to your blender, along with the peeled orange, 1 frozen banana, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 2 pitted dates, ½ cup of soy milk, and a handful of ice cubes. Blend all of the ingredients until you have a creamy consistency.

July 2, 2014
Green Smoothies 101: Buying the Basics

One of the quickest and easiest ways to improve your diet and to start each day with a nutritional bang is to blend green smoothies. If you are ready to join the green smoothie bandwagon, you will need a few kitchen staples on hand to make this a simple, natural process each day.

Stock Your Kitchen

Surprisingly, you can create many different, delicious green smoothies with the same few base ingredients. Just mix and match the following items in your blender with a couple of new ingredients each day to change the flavor. If you are working with recipes rather than mixing up your own concoctions, don’t worry—many recipes will include a few of these ingredients. You might need to add one or two new items from the supermarket, but the staples listed here will be used repeatedly. Nothing listed here will be wasted.

-Greens

In order to make green smoothies, you will obviously need to keep green leafy vegetables on hand. If you are short on time, you can buy plastic containers full of pre-washed organic greens from the produce section of your supermarket. It’s as simple as grabbing a handful of leaves and throwing them into the blender with your other ingredients. If you happen to have an autoimmune illness that affects your joints, I recommend working with greens that are low in oxalic acid, such as kale or collard greens. Stay away from spinach and swiss chard, which are both high in oxalic acid and can aggravate your joint condition.

-Frozen berries

These days, you can find bags of frozen organic berries at most supermarkets. Buy a couple of bags of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or blackberries. You can buy mixed bags of berries or bags of each individual type of berry. I recommend buying berries that you typically DO NOT eat often or do not enjoy. It’s a great way of adding variety and new nutrients to your diet. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but smoothies happen to be a great way of consuming foods that you’d rather not. Flavors and textures of any particular fruit or vegetable just disappear into blended goodness. Personally, I am not a huge fan of eating fresh blackberries. I happen to enjoy the flavor, but I can’t deal with all of the seeds. It drives me crazy, so now I consume all of my blackberries in pureed form. I just throw a nice big handful of frozen blackberries into my blender, and I get all of the benefits of eating them without actually having to deal with the unpleasant texture of the seeds.

-Frozen bananas

Buy a bunch of bananas, and allow them to ripen on your countertop for a few days. Brown bananas are not particularly appetizing to eat as a snack, but they are perfect for smoothies. Slice each banana, and freeze the slices. Frozen bananas slices blend much more easily than frozen bananas that haven’t been sliced.

-Liquid for your smoothies

I like to stock my pantry with organic, non-GMO soy milk, almond milk, and coconut water. If you prefer a smoothie with a juice base, keep your fridge stocked with orange juice, apple juice, or whatever it is that you prefer.

-Almond butter

If you are worried about getting hungry within an hour or so after consuming your smoothie, turn your drink into a stick-to-your-ribs meal by adding a tablespoon of almond butter to your blender. If you aren’t a huge fan of almond butter, try another type of nut butter, or maybe even a piece of non-GMO organic tofu.

-Fresh Ice

I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve reached into my freezer to grab a handful of ice for my smoothie and realized that my ice smelled a little funky. Whether you have an automatic ice maker in your freezer like me or a few trays of ice that you fill with water and freeze yourself, check your ice before you actually need to use it! Once a month, I dump all of my ice out of the freezer bin that collects my ice cubes from the ice maker. I scrub the ice container with hot soapy water, and I collect all new ice cubes. There’s really no easier way to ruin a delicious smoothie than to fill your blender with old, stinky ice. Take the time to make sure you are using good ice. And don’t forget that you always have the option of skipping ice altogether and just adding more frozen berries instead!

-Lemons/limes

When you first start making green smoothies, you will most likely dapple with recipes that include lots of fruit. Once you become accustomed to these smoothies, you will probably start lowering the quantity of fruit and increasing the quantity of greens and other vegetables. If you move on to these more savory green smoothies, you will want to have fresh lemons and limes on hand. A good squeeze of lemon or lime really compliments any greens or herbs, like parsley, that you might add to your blender. Lemons and limes have quite a long shelf life in the refrigerator, so go ahead and buy a few. Even if you don’t use them today, you can use them in a few weeks, and they will be just as good.

January 26, 2014
Apple-Pie-In-A-Cup Smoothie

This might be my favorite dessert smoothie ever. I call it a “dessert” smoothie because the apple-cinnamon flavor reminds me of apple pie. Turn to this drink instead of taking down a box of cookies and a half-gallon of ice cream. It has the perfect level of sweetness to satisfy your cravings.

Feel free to add a generous handful of baby kale leaves to this recipe. If you don’t mind the green hue, you will benefit from the added nutrition, and honestly, I don’t detect much of a difference in flavor.

Remember to honor yourself and the experience of consuming this delicious drink. It somehow tastes better when you sit down and sip it slowly out of a beautiful glass. I know you are busy. I’m tempted as much as anyone else to just pour my smoothie into a random old mug and drink it while multi-tasking around the house. Let’s change how we eat. Let’s make a real effort to eat mindfully.

Blend:

1 Fuji apple
1 frozen banana (sliced before freezing)
1 Tbsp almond butter
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 cup soy/rice/almond milk
2 handfuls of ice
1 handful baby kale (optional)

Makes about 20-ounces of smoothie.

January 19, 2014