I’m starting a new weekly series of our current favorite foods in our household, that we are noshing on. (eating almost greedily). Hope you enjoy and always feel free to share what your family eats.
This week happens to be these…
Mandarin Oranges! Easy to peel, no seeds, and the PERFECT sweetness. 
Happy Blending!
Green Spring Smoothie
10 green grapes
2 cups spinach
3 stalks of celery
1 scoop of maca powder (optional)
1 kiwi (optional)
Blend all together. Vitamix or Blendtec work best.
Acai, (pronounced ah-sigh-ee), is the high-energy berry of a special Amazon palm tree. This little berry, about the size of a blueberry, is one of the most nutritious and powerful foods in the world! Amazingly, this berry is being called by many the miracle berry.
Harvested in the rainforests of Brazil, Acai berry tastes like a vibrant blend of berries and chocolate. Hidden within its royal purple pigment is the magic that makes it nature’s perfect energy fruit.
Acaí is packed full of:
antioxidants
amino acids
essential fatty acids
vitamins and minerals
The Açai Berry has the highest antioxidant score of any fruit or vegetable tested to date.
Unlike other fruits, the Açai Berry contains protein, fiber, Omega 6, and Omega 9 essential fatty acids. It is incredibly alkaline, assist the body with detox and maintaining optimum health in balancing ph levels. This is the most important aspects of living healthy.
Acai has twice the antioxidants of blueberries, 30x that of red wine! Acai is 100x more potent than Goji, Noni or Mangosteen.
I recently was at Whole foods and found the berry in the frozen section. You can buy it in individual packages then go home and make your own berry bowl. If you live in Santa Barbara, you’re familiar with Backyard Bowls.
Heres what I did:
1 packet of Acai
1/2 bag of organic mixed berries from Trader Joes
1 banana
1/2 a cup of water
2 ice cubes
Blend well. If you have a BlendTec or Vitamix, that will work the best. The consistency is very thick, which is exactly how you want it. When done blending and have poured into the bowl, add granola. You may also add strawberries, bananas, or any other fruit in the mix and on top. Play around.
Happy Healthiness!
My husband and I have decided to go meat-less for a little while. After having extensive talks with some very knowledgable folks, we’ve decided to take a hiatus.
The other night we started this meat-less lifestyle by making quinoa patties (vegetarian burgers). WOW, they were amazing!
quinoa is a grain-like seed, full of phytonutrients, antioxidants and can even help balance your blood sugar. quinoa contains 9 essential amino acids that are required by the body as building blocks for muscles. It also has magnesium, fiber and manganese, which acts as antioxidants in your body to get rid of dangerous cancer and disease-causing substances.
Quinoa is a great detoxifier, bone builder and brain food. So go to the store and stock up. Not only are quinoa patties good, so is a quinoa salad. For the salad, just cook the quinoa as directed, let cool, then add your choice of veggies (we like cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, scallions and broccoli). Squeeze some fresh lemon juice on the salad and add a little bit of olive oil and toss. You may also add feta if you’d like.
Below I have given the quinoa pattie recipe.
FYI: Tri-County market and Lazy Acres has great organic quinoa.
Trader Joe’s also sells it.
Quinoa Patties
2/3 cup quinoa, cooked
13/4 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained.
2/3 cups rolled oats (not quick-cooking, I used steel-cut)
Place your black beans in the food processor to mash them. In a bowl put your quinoa and oats and mix together, adding black beans. Form into patties and cook on a skillet for about 4 minutes on each side, or until crispy.
You may add any spices you’d like, we did curry powder. You can put bbq sauce or mustard, to wet your patties if you feel they are a bit dry.
On a whim I decided to make some homemade granola bars. I was very particular about my ingredients, and did not want something with too much sugar, and not enough taste. I did a little research and found an old recipe from the New York Times. All the ingredients were exactly what I wanted. Low in sugar, great taste (I was assuming before I even made them), and fairly easy. They turned out fantastic! I added the Omega 3 Trail mix from Trader Joe’s, which has cranberries, walnuts, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, almonds and pinenuts, in one little package. You can add anything you want and play around with the recipe.
Granola Bars
3 tbs.canola oil
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup flaxseed
1/2 teas. cinnamon
1/4 teas. salt
1/3 cup honey
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 teas. vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Oil a 9×9 baking pan. Add oil to saucepan. Add the oats. Stir over medium heat until the oats are lightly toasted, taking care not to let them burn. Stir until they are beginning to smell toasty and have slightly darkened, six to seven minutes. Remove from heat, and transfer to a bowl. Add the flaxseed, cinnamon and the salt.
Combine the honey, vanilla and brown sugar in the pan in which you toasted the oats. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil 5 minutes. Pour over the oat mixture, and stir until it is evenly distributed over the mixture. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then stir in chocolate chips and anything else you may choose to add.
Pour into baking pan, and spread evenly. Place in oven for 18 minutes. Do not allow to brown or the bars will be hard instead of chewy. Remove from the heat, and allow to cool. Cut into small squares.
Makes 15-20 bars.
Enjoy!
We all like cookies, what we don’t like are the calories. Here you have it, a new cookie to eat and not feel guilty. Zero Cookies, by Julian Bakery.
Gluten free, no starch or sugar, not sweetened with maltitol, xylitol or sorbitol. made with heart healthy fiber, good for digestion and helps satisfy hunger cravings.
You can purchase this delightful little treat at Whole Foods or Lazy Acres.
Goodnewssantabarbara 