A Nutritionist Eats » smoothie

piña colada smoothie

anutritionisteats — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:00:03 +0000

After seeing a tweet from Luna & Larry’s about putting coconut ice cream in a smoothie, I knew something similar had to be done in my kitchen. And soon.

Piña coladas instantly came to mind – anything to bring up memories of beaches, sand and cocktails in the morning in the midst of the winter sounds heavenly and I can almost smell the salt water. This is definitely a healthier version, without the sugar, calories and of course the rum (which makes for not such a fun and relaxing drink) but one I can feel good about drinking at 10 AM on a Sunday.

Piña Colada Smoothie:

1 cup fresh or frozen pineapple
1 cup almond milk
1/3 cup coconut ice cream
2 drops Vanilla Cream stevia

tera's whey

anutritionisteats — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:00:42 +0000

Finding this protein powder was SO much fun! I had an “internet date” with Holly from The Healthy Everythingtarian and it was a perfect first date in my opinion She is as much fun in person as she conveys through her blog. I hope to see her again soon, I’ll probably be needing some more Wisconsin goodies in the near future! We met at this great little store called Fromagination that has great foodie finds, local cheese and products and sandwiches to go. Totally my type of store. We grabbed some sandwiches and went to walk the Farmer’s Market.

I loved the packaging on this product (I know, it happened again – hey, I’m a sucker for great packaging!) but I also loved the fact that they use whey from local farms (like Organic Valley), have a short ingredient list, are sweetened with stevia and there are no wacky protein powder ingredients. I’m not a huge protein powder person but after I lift mega weights do yoga or check my emails sometimes I need a little protein! At first I tried the fair trade dark chocolate mixed with almond milk and it was good but I thought I would like it better in a smoothie so I took it back home, blended it with frozen banana and enjoyed the next day. One packet has 20 grams of protein and was a great addition to my smoothie. Next to try is yumberry and I can’t wait! Check out the website here – you can order online if you can’t get to Wisco anytime soon.

ask the nutritionist: meal planning

anutritionisteats — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:00:00 +0000

I am what you call a planner. Plain. And. Simple. I have most of my weekends planned through October and while it drives some of you crazy (and you know who you are) I happen to like being organized! (Ok…it may be on the border of organization and craziness)

But the most important of planning? Meals!

I plan out my meals on a weekly basis which is also how I make my grocery shopping list. When I was in college and had lots of time I would just mosey on over to the store whenever I needed to get something. But that is not an option anymore and I like to just make one trip to the store a week – plus, it saves $$! I either write out on paper or if I’m feeling especially nerdy, I will type it out into an excel sheet. Yes. I’m serious.

I usually have a stack of recipes that I’m dying to make so I’ll usually incorporate one or two of those per week for dinner and then stick to some simple meals for the other nights. Between sports and travel we usually have about 3-4 dinners at home per week. Oh, and I always prep dinner with a glass of wine and some cheese. It’s just how I roll.

Since I usually take my lunch to work, these also must be very deliberately planned out. I secretly long to work from home so that I can make my lunches as I need them. Someday. (sigh) Lunches are usually salads with various toppings (I tend to save my creativity for dinner!) I’m also working on simplifying my lunches so that I don’t have to spend so much time the night before getting everything ready.

I don’t always plan breakfasts (it is usually my least favorite meal, unless it’s a weekend breakfast) so I usually just make sure I have the appropriate ingredients to come up with something: smoothies, fruit salad, toast, eggs, etc.

Then I plan the meals out by day, list out the ingredients that I need and I’m done! No more digging in the refrigerator at 6:30 trying to find something for dinner.

Confession: I really don’t follow a budget (terrible, I know, but I just love food!! I can’t help it) I did while doing an eating experiment a while back so this is also something that I would like to work on doing!

Do you plan out your meals or go with the flow?

Green Monster Smoothie: Parts Two & Three

anutritionisteats — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:00:00 +0000

The second try of the beloved Green Monster smoothie went much better than my first try.

With the addition of frozen peaches and brown rice protein powder it turned out to be a much nicer color than the first edition but still not the vibrant green that I had seen.

Taste? Delicious!

Well they say the third time is a charm and that definitely was the case for me and my quest to find the perfect Green Monster smoothie.

I finally had almond milk and used fresh spinach on this one which I think helped add to the fabulous color!

Ingredients:

Frozen banana, almond milk, fresh spinach, Naked’s Green Machine and hemp protein & fiber powder.

This was by far the best-tasting and is the winning combo – I will of course keep trying new flavors to keep it fresh but I will be making this recipe again very soon!

The Secret to staying young? Antioxidants

anutritionisteats — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:00:00 +0000

With all the talk about antioxidants, what are they and what do they really do?

The cells in our body are constantly under attack from free radicals. The free radicals are naturally produced as your body makes energy from food but can also come from environmental stresses – pollution, smoking, etc.

What is so bad about free radicals? The damage that they cause is thought to increase LDL cholesterol, play a role in alzheimer’s disease and in aging in general.

This is where antioxidants come into the picture – they work to cancel out the free radicals. Vitamin C, E and carotenoids are the main sources of antioxidants so adding them into your diet is a good idea. They can help reduce the risk of heart disease, certain cancers and can help to protect brain, vision and slow the aging process.

Antioxidants really are the fountain of youth.

photo by Nadia

In My Cupboard: Hemp Protein & Fiber Powder

anutritionisteats — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:00:00 +0000

As you might know – I love all things hemp. Hemp Bagels are one of my favorites AND Manitoba Harvest’s Hemp Protein Powder also has those amazing hemp properties that I appreciate!

Since I’ve been making more smoothies lately, it really helps if I add a bit of protein powder to keep me going through the morning. One of my favorites is the hemp protein & fiber powder. First of all a serving contains 127 calories, 3 grams of fat 14 grams of fiber and 11 grams of protein. I love that hemp contains essential amino acids and omega-3 fatty acids and that it is a sustainable crop as well.

This is definitely a great addition to the Green Monster smoothies. Try it out and let me know what you think!

Time to try the Green Monster: Part 1

anutritionisteats — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:00:00 +0000

This is a smoothie I have seen all over the blog world so I decided I should finally try it out. Angela, Jenna and Haley have all written about it and seem to love it. And while I’m certainly open to green juices (Read about my love of greens here) I will definitely admit that adding a handful of spinach to my morning smoothie was a little nerve-racking.

See first try here: as you can see it is an awful color. The taste? Good but I did get a few tastes of spinach. Not in an awful kind of way but it was there.
(It had frozen banana, frozen spinach and mango juice)

I was out of almond milk and I really did want to add that so I defintely have some tweaking to do on flavor and color! Also fresh spinach might turn out better as well. More to come on the Green Monsters…

In my cupboard: Raw Almond Butter

anutritionisteats — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:00:00 +0000

We all know that we should be eating almonds, they are a great snack, etc. etc. I eat almonds, but lately I have been a big fan of almond butter – it is fabulous on banana’s, great in smoothies and easy to throw in just about anything that needs a dose of some healthy fats and protein!

What are the benefits of almonds?

- high in monosaturated fats (good fats, similar to olive oil)

- high in Vitamin E

- can help lower LDL cholesterol

- they are a low glycemic food and can actually help lower the glycemic index of a meal ie. almond butter on toast

- Heart healthy

- source of antioxidants

- great source of protein

- portable and easy to bring anywhere!

photos by Rune T & domestifluff

For when you can't make your own….

anutritionisteats — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 13:00:00 +0000

The Vivanno smoothie from Starbucks was a great “away-from-home” option for a smoothie. I don’t have a blender at my desk yet This was deliciously creamy but not overly sweet.

I tried the Orange Mango Banana with Matcha – it includes a whole banana, mango juice a fiber-protein powder and matcha. As always you can substitute the milk for soy if you so desire.

Here are the stats:

about 300 calories

6 grams of fiber

16 grams of protein

provides 35% of Vit A & 40% of Vit C

ask the nutritionist: greens

anutritionisteats — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:00:00 +0000

For those of you intrenched in the whole Co-op shopping, carrot-juice drinking lifestyle you are probably very familiar with greens. I go through phases of taking “the greens” but never quite knew the benefits, except that it was good for me. I think this happens a lot, we know that eating certain things are good for us but we might not know the power of the foods we eat. Well, greens are very powerful so I suggest that you start a greens-taking regimen!

picture by JulianVH

Alfalfa: provides calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, Vitamins A & C, thiamine, riboflavin and niacin.

Kelp: rich source of vitamins and minerals including iodine

Spirulina: high in protein, can help improve immunity, lower cholesterol, and stabilize blood sugar

Chlorella: helps protect from damaging chemicals

Wheat Grass: source of chlorophyll, Amino Acids, minerals and vitamins

Green Tea: contains catechins which may help prevent cancer and tumors, also a powerful antioxidant

So now that you know all of the benefits of greens, how do you get them?

Here are my two favorites:

Naked Juice Green Machine: In addition to almost three apples, 1/2 of a banana, 1/3 of a kiwi, 1/3 of a mango and a hint of pineapple, here are the greens inside: spirulina, chlorella, broccoli, spinach, blue green algae, garlic, barley grass, wheat grass, ginger and parsley. After typing this I realize that it sounds absolutely awful but I promise, this juice is delicious! And yes, the juice is green.

Amazing Grass GREENSuperFood: This is a powder that you can mix with juice – I have done a mix of juice and water but am totally not brave enough to do straight water…..Anyway it contains 5 different blends that really do make for an Amazing Superfood:

Green Food Blend: Wheat Grass*, Barley Grass*, Alfalfa*, Spirulina*, Spinach*, Chlorella, Broccoli* *denotes Organic ingredients

Antioxidant Blend: Acai*, Maca*, Carrot*, Beet*, Raspberry, Rose Hips, Pineapple, Green Tea, Acerola Cherry

EFA Fiber Blend: Flax Seed Powder*, Apple Pectin Fiber

Digestive Enzyme & Active Culture Pre & Probiotic Blend: F.O.S. (from chicory root), L. Acidophilus, Alpha and Beta Amylase, Protease, Lipase, Lactase, Cellulase

Energizing Herb Blend: Siberian Eleuthero Root, Peppermint