Zesty Cook

Peanut Butter, Mango and Greens {Smoothie}

zesty — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 12:15:52 +0000

Hey there it’s Danielle from Food Confidence with this week’s luscious green smoothie! This one is a great on-the-go breakfast or post workout recovery shake. It’s full of chocolately-peanuty mango flavor. If you’re scared to try this shake because it’s green, I promise…you don’t taste the spinach at all! That’s just one great reason to add baby spinach to your smoothies, you get tons of good nutrition without sacrificing great taste. Mango is also a nutrition star — it contains vitamins A, C and D along with the antioxidant power of 25 different kinds of carotenoids, including beta carotene. These antioxidant compounds have been found to protect against colon, breast, leukemia and prostate cancers.

Here’s how you make it:

Ingredients

6-8 oz unsweetened almond milk
1 Tbsp natural peanut butter
1 cup frozen mango
1 big handful baby spinach
1 scoop chocolate protein powder (I use Vega One)

Method

Place the almond milk, spinach, peanut butter, mango and protein powder in a blender.
Blend until smooth and enjoy!

Zesty Tip: You never have too much frozen fruit on hand. This is a great way to keep your smoothies unique and non boring but also a great way to make your smoothies cold and ready to go.

Danielle Omar is a nutritionist for busy men and women, focusing on creating personal eating strategies through her signature approach, “Learn it, Live it, Love it.” She loves helping working parents, busy families, and stressed out professionals change the way they think about food. Join Danielle’s newsletter for inspiration and tips to help you become a confident eater.

Need for Speed – 8 Meal Preparation Tips

zesty — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 11:00:11 +0000

Our society has forced alot of us to eat on the run or have very little time to prepare meals. Whether your in the corporate world, busy parents with kids or just plain busy – having tips to prepare healthy quick meals is a big help. I put together a few simple ways to be effective and cost efficient that you can try when preparing your next meal.

1. Prepare Food Immediately from the Grocery Store

Whether your chopping green peppers for stir fry or seeding and slicing a cantalope – Doing this right way and storing in ziploc bags can save you valuable time during meal preparation and also allows you to make healhier choices when you have a huge munch on.

2. Make a weekly meal plan

Check family members’ schedules before deciding which nights to cook. To increase family involvement, ask everyone to pick and schedule one family meal a week. Having a plan also makes writing shopping and “to do” lists easier.

3. Cook once, eat twice

Double favorite recipes, freezing extra servings in easy-to-thaw portions. Freeze extra cooked chicken breasts for quick salads, quesadillas, enchiladas, and soup.

4. Streamline shopping

Keep a running grocery list of items needed by category, such as breads, meats, and produce to reduce “emergency” trips for missing ingredients.

5. Get children involved in making dinner

Besides benefiting from the obvious creative aspects of cooking and the boost to their self-esteem, there are the more practical bonuses of developing math skills and learning how to eat well. Also if they are helping you with meal time – then you are not being distracted and things will move quicker.

6. Time is money

Take help where you can get it. “Sometimes it’s worth the added cents to choose raw deveined shrimp over shrimp you have to clean, or chicken cutlets over the breasts you would have to trim and split,” I also uses canned foods, such as beans, tomatoes and stocks, because of the time savings in certain situations.

7. Plug in the Slow Cooker

Although it might seem like a contradiction, slow cookers actually make quick work of getting a meal on the table. Just toss the ingredients in the cooker in the morning, and dinner is ready when you get home.

8. Keep your pantry stocked

The pantry being the building blocks of fast meals: basics such as pastas, rice, broths, stocks, canned tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, and canned beans.

Green Pina Colada {smoothie}

zesty — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:51:51 +0000

Hey zesty readers, it’s Danielle again from Food Confidence with another smoothie recipe for you to try! We’re going green again this week but it’s all good. This smoothie will take you back to your last tropical vacation! It’s smooth and creamy and one of my favorites (your kids will drink it up, too)!

It’s also a great beginner recipe for anyone new to adding greens to their smoothie — you won’t even taste the spinach, despite the green color!

Ingredients

1 cup frozen pineapple
1-2 handfuls baby spinach
4-6 oz unsweetened coconut milk
1 banana (can be frozen)
5-6 sprigs mint

Method

Place the coconut milk, spinach, pineapple, banana and mint in a blender. Blend until smooth.

Zesty Tip: Fresh mint is easy to grow in your kitchen window sill or even on your deck/porch. Save lots of money through the year with your own mint patch. Great for drinks, desserts and even to freshen your breath.