Sprouts, Summer fruit, Super smoothie

I just realized that it’s just about April already. Spring seems to go by so quickly!  It’s probably the nicer weather and because I’m itching for steady 70 and 80 degree weather once again!

Sprouts

We’ve been enjoying the fruit of our latest grocery shopping fun at Whole Foods.  I mentioned that we planned to start juicing more.  We also decided we need to start eating more raw fruits and vegetables in general.  There’s been a few too many Amy’s and Kashi frozen pizzas and burritos eaten lately (not to mention sweet potato fries on my part, ha), and not as much “real” food as normal.

Enter: sprouts
This is a clover sprout salad with celery, mushrooms, chopped walnuts, feta, and vinegar & oil.  I love the taste of sprouts!

A few facts about the health benefits of sprouts:

• Rich in essential nutrients and minerals.  Sprouting makes an already nutritious food even more nutritious since it’s still “living”
• High in protein.
• Great source of enzymes. This helps keep our bodies healthy, fit, and energetic, and also makes sprouts easy to digest.
• Contain concentrated amounts of phytochemicals, that can protect against disease.

Breakfast

Breakfast this morning was 2 slices of toasted Bread of Life raisin bread with cashew butter and a little local honey, served with a strawberry Greek yogurt, and my vitamins, ha.  I put them on my plate so I wouldn’t forget to take them.

 
Bread of Life is a local KC organic bakery.  We don’t usually buy their bread for no reason in particular, but we picked up a loaf at the food expo we went to this past weekend.

Lunch

My husband surprised me with lunch today.  My nose lured me out of my office to see that Erik had made me this:
A grass fed grilled bison burger topped with caramelized onions and cheese on an Ezekiel bun.  Yum!!

Followed by some cantaloupe. Summer fruit, anyone??
Super Smoothie

For my afternoon pick-up, I made a super smoothie.  I’m always slightly afraid my smoothies won’t turn out well … too much ice, not enough ice, too sweet, not sweet enough, etc, etc.  But today’s combo was perfect!It included:

• A huge handful of spinach
• 1 grapefruit, peeled and broken apart
• 1/2 really ripe banana
• 1 TB acai powder
• 1 ts maca powder
• 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• Generous squirt agave nectar
• 5ish ice cubes

I’ve decided the key to a delicious smoothie (at least for me) is the additional of juice from an orange, grapefruit, lime, or lemon. Perfect!

Now I’m off to cook some dinner! I also get to pick up my really good friend from the airport, who will be in Missouri for about a week … yay!

What’s on your dinner menu for tonight??

Cha-cha-cha-chia!

Happy Weekend!

When I was little, my parents always used to joke about how they were going to get me a Chia Pet for Christmas. Because let’s just be honest here … Chia Pet commercials are pretty much the equivalent to Snuggie commercials. Cha-cha-cha-chia! (If my parents ever do decide I need a Chia Pet, it must be Chia Mr. T because I love him).

Little did I know, I’d be eating Chia seeds when I grew up!  Ha.  Here is my mini tutorial of this new super food that is the chia seed.

What is chia?

Chia is the richest and only unprocessed whole foods source of pure Omega-3. Chia is native to Central America and is a member of the mint family.

Facts about chia

- Chia was first used as a food as early as 3500 BC by the Aztecs. The seeds were eaten to improve endurance and were calling "running food" because of their staying power.

- Chia is high in Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, fiber, calcium, protein, magnesium and potassium. Unlike flax, it does not have to be ground.

- Chia seeds are about 20% protein.

- Chia seeds are very high in antioxidants and have a shelf live of about 5 years.

- When soaked in water for 30 seconds, chia seeds form a gel-like substance that slows down the rate at which digestive enzymes turns carbohydrates into sugar which will not spike your insulin.

How to use

- Chia seeds can be added to many foods such as cereal, soup, salad, yogurt, smoothies and baked goods. You can also grind chia seeds to make a flour or even sprout them.

Thus far, I’ve use chia seeds on toast …

In oats and cereal … 

On baked chicken … And in water with some juice from a lemon & a little stevia sweetener … when put in liquid, chia seeds become slightly gel-like.

I’ve found that chia seeds are basically tasteless and I really can’t even tell that I’m eating them except for that they’re high fiber and make things slightly more filling.

So basically … you can use chia seeds in just about anything! : )

For more information on chia seeds and recipes ideas, click here.

What’s your favorite way to eat chia seeds?

 

-Lesley