Give Your Meal a Nutritious Boost

Looking for some ways to boost the nutritional content of your meal? Try out some of these quick and easy tips!

Breakfast
-Have leftover chicken from dinner? Forget your traditional cereal breakfast and go for a protein-packed, filling meal.
-Top oatmeal or cold cereal with sliced bananas, strawberries, or blueberries for some vitamins, minerals and fiber!
-Whip up an omelet with cancer-fighting veggies. Add avocado for some healthy fats.
-Instead of adding sugar to oatmeal, try some cinnamon instead.
-When making waffles or pancakes, sneak in some protein powder for a quick boost.
-Blend together a quick smoothie with fresh fruit and nut butter for a filling treat!

Lunch/Dinner
-Add extra veggies to your soups and salads.
-Add avocado slices to your sandwich for a boost of Vitamin E, Potassium, healthy fats, and Folate.
-Top spinach salads with tomatoes or fresh oranges. The Vitamin C in the oranges/tomatoes will help you to absorb the iron from the spinach.
-Food process mixed nuts, coconut oil, and cocoa powder for a nutty spread.
-Shred carrots or zucchini into meatloaf (or muffins) to add nutrients and fiber.
-Bread chicken in coconut or almond flour for extra fiber and protein.

Juicing Recipes and Pulp Muffins

This week, I had the pleasure of trying out a Ninja blender and Jack LaLanne juicer for a smoothie/juice table at work. Let's just say I am very much addicted to the both! I tried out a bunch of different recipes and combinations; however, there were a few that went over really well with the members (that I had come by my table), my family, and myself.

Strawberry Pineapple Smoothie
-1 mango
-1 banana
-1 cup berries
-1 cucumber
-1 cup pineapple
-1 orange
-2-3 cups of spinach/kale
-ice/water

*Since there is a lot of fruit in the smoothie, I suggest blending spinach, kale, and water, then adding in fruit to taste. Once you get over the green color, it is really great! I liked the mango taste better, so when I made it a second time, I added more mango and eliminated the banana.

Bunny Juice
-10 carrots
-3 apples
*For this recipe, I used the juicer. I did the carrots first, then added apples to taste.

Apple Banana Berry
-2 apples (juiced in the juicer first)
-2 bananas
-2 cups of berries
-water and ice
*For this recipe, I didn't add vegetables because of the green color. I was serving to kids, so green didn't go over so well. You can add spinach/kale, cucumbers, or beets for a vegetable punch.

Green Machine Juice
Juice 2 lemons, 1 cucumber, and 2 apples. Add to a blender with 2 cups spinach/kale.

My Experimentation Phase
(The monster is a prop for a nutrition class)

After using the juicer, I didn't want to just throw away the pulp, which contains all of the fiber. So, I decided to make muffins! Besides muffins, you can use pulp for vegetable stock, sauce for mac n' cheese, or mixed in another smoothie drink.

Juicer Pulp Muffins

Ingredients

-4 cups of pulp

-1/4c honey (I used a little less than 1/4c)

-3 eggs

-1 teaspoon vanilla

-1 cup coconut or olive oil ( I used about 1/2-3/4 cup because my pulp was a bit thinner)

-3 cups flour (I used 2 cups coconut flour and 1 cup white flour. You can also use almond flour.)

-1 teaspoon baking soda

-1 teaspoon nutmeg, or cinnamon (I used both, plus a little extra)

Directions

1. Mix together the first 5 ingredients. 

2. Add flour, baking soda, and cinnamon to wet ingredients. 

3. Grease muffin pans. Bake muffins at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Apple-Carrot Pulp Muffins

Ingredients

-2 cups pulp

-1 1/2 cup almond meal

-1/4 cup flaxseed

-1/2cup coconut palm sugar (I eliminated this)

-1 teaspoons baking powder

-dash salt

-dash cinnamon

-4 eggs

-2 teaspoons vanilla

-1/4cup honey (I used only about 1 tablespoon of honey)

Directions

1. Mix together all wet ingredients. 

2. Mix together all dry ingredients. Add wet to dry. (Can also add chopped walnuts).

3. Fill paper lined muffin tins with pulp mixture. 

4. Bake 25-30 minutes at 325 degrees.

I found the juice to be both filling and nutritious. It is a great way to sneak in some fruits and vegetables with cancer-fighting antioxidants. For a protein boost, try adding almond milk or protein powder to the recipes.

 Happy juicing!