Green Smoothie Muffins

Green Smoothie Muffins

For those of you who have lots of green smoothie ingredients on hand but are craving something to actually chew, try this fun twist on a traditional breakfast item.  Pair it with some fruit and a glass of milk and you've got a great start to your day!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups fresh spinach 
• 1/2 cup pineapple 
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup low-fat milk
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt 
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 ∘F
2. In a blender, blend the first 8 ingredients (spinach through milk) until smooth.
3. In large mixing bowl, mix together the remaining 6 dry ingredients (sugar through whole wheat flour).
4. Add liquid ingredients to dry, and mix just until fully moistened and well combined. 
5. Coat muffin pans with cooking spray (recipe should fill 14-16 muffins depending on the size of the tin) Or grease small, clean terra cotta pots for a more festive, spring-like muffin presentation.
6. Fill muffin tins (or pots) 2/3 full.  
7. Bake at 400 ∘F for 15-18 minutes or until muffins spring back when lightly pressed.

Nutritional Info:
Serving size: 1 muffin
Yield: 16 muffins
Calories: 145
Total Fat: 4 g
Cholesterol: 12 mg
Sodium: 230 mg
Potassium: 118 mg
Total Carbohydrates: 18g
Dietary Fiber: 2 g
Sugars: 11 g
Protein: 3 g
Provides: 28% Vitamin A; 12% Folate; 15% Manganese; 9% Vitamin C

Nutrition on a Budget

 

With a few tweaks to your shopping, cooking and eating routine, you can not only improve your nutrition, but save money as well!

Choosing Cereal: Rule of 5s

Breakfast cereal is convenient part many a busy morning.  And in many cases, cold cereal provides some great nutrition.  However, not all cereal is created equal.  Many breakfast cereals are full of added sugar, leaving out the whole grains for which this food is named.  So how does one successfully navigate the cereal aisle?  Try using this rule of 5s for optimal cereal nutrition, or for those trying to baby step their way towards better nutrition, you can start with the rule of 9&3.

Rule of 5s

Look at the nutrition label and choose a cereal with:

1. 5 or less grams of sugar per serving
2. 5 or more grams of fiber per serving

My kids tend to want to revolt if all they find in the pantry is "rule of 5" cereals.  So I have created a slightly more relaxed rule to keep them from raiding their friends pantry in search of greater cereal variety.  


Rule of 9&3

Look at the nutrition label and choose a cereal with:

1. 9 or less grams of sugar per serving
2. 3 or more grams of fiber per serving

 We usually end up eating a combination of both of the above cereals.  So choose wisely, and enjoy all the benefits that whole grains adds to your diet with cold cereal.  Whether sogging up in a bowl of milk, or dry as a quick snack, cereal can provide serious nutrition.

 

Enjoying the Taste of Eating Right: the Key to Life-long Heatlh

March is National Nutrition Month®, and this year's theme is "Enjoy the Taste of Eating Right".  Here are a few reasons I love this idea of enjoying food:

• The more real satisfaction we find in "real" or "right" food, the less likely we are to munch our way through other snacks.
• Food is designed to nourish our bodies and our souls.  In other words, food not only should make us healthy, but happy as well.
• Eating right provides so many more flavors, textures and eye-appeal than eating pre-packaged, convenience, or fast-food.
• A large part of America's nutrition woes come from fear, deprivation, and guilt associated with food.  Enjoying food and ridding ourselves of all the psychological, and emotional baggage of dieting opens up a whole new world of health.

I love food and my main mantra for healthy eating is: make half of what you eat plants (fruits and veggies).  So here's a glance at how I as a dietitian enjoy the taste of eating right.  I'll be posting more details throughout the month on my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NutritiousIntent