Tag: breakfast

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Start Your Day with a Taste of the Tropics Smoothie

Start your day with a smoothie that will make you smile! This colorful and refreshing pineapple kale smoothie is a great way to add greens into your breakfast routine with a taste of the tropics.  Kale has detoxifying benefits for the liver and pineapple is loaded with digestive enzymes that are good for the stomach. The coconut oil provides your body with healthy fats and a flavor that instantly transports you to a tropical island getaway.  A VitaMix-type blender is the best blender to achieve a smooth consistency. There’s happiness in every sip!

Wondering how to pick a ripe pineapple?

It’s pretty easy, actually. Just follow these three steps and you’ll be choosing perfectly sweet, slightly tangy pineapples: 

Check the color — The exterior of a pineapple changes from green to yellow as it ripens. The more yellow the exterior, the more ripe the fruit. Once it starts to turn an orangish color, it’s gone too far. 

Give it a gentle squeeze — A ripe pineapple will “give” a little bit when you squeeze it. If it’s hard, leave it at the grocery store!

Smell it — If it passes your color and squeeze test, sniff the base of the pineapple. If it smells sweet and fruity, you’re good to go. If it smells funky, or like vinegar, it’s past its prime.

Pineapple Kale Smoothie

Ingredients

  • ½ cup coconut water
  • 1 tsp coconut oil
  • ½ cup seeded and diced cucumber
  • 1 cup fresh pineapple
  • 1 cup loosely packed kale, washed, stemmed and chopped
  • ½ tsp lime juice

Preparation

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Serves 1-2.

Serving Size: 1 cup

ENJOY!

 

Do you find that you start eating healthy but get derailed? Consider private coaching! I help people attain their goals by unraveling those self-sabotaging behaviors that get in the way. Let’s play! I’ll help you create new habits that lead to long-term change. Get what you want. Finally. Check out CoachMe

Meet Melissa: Melissa Rapoport is the Manager of Health Coaching and Lifestyle Programming at Blum Center for Health in Rye Brook, NY. She combines her graduate work in Developmental Psychology with her education in nutrition, health and coaching to create highly individualized programs that result in lifetime change. A contributing author to three international bestselling books, Melissa’s greatest joy is her relationship with her two daughters. To learn more about Melissa’s coaching practice at Blum Center for Health, click here.

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Summer Green Smoothie Instead of Coffee? You Bet!

Like most of you, I really love my morning coffee (my morning fuel of choice is espresso).  The nespresso machine in my kitchen has been an attractive nuisance since I bought it, making it way too easy to have one or two shots as I am revving up to start my day.  As August rolled around, I decided to do an experiment to see if my espresso was affecting how I felt, good or bad. To do this, I decided to kick the habit, and substitute my espresso for black tea (which also has caffeine), followed by a green smoothie made from contents of my garden. Yummy live food that I whipped up in my Nutrabullet.  And here is what I discovered.

It took a few days to adjust, but by day 3, I noticed that I was sleeping deeper and longer.  Since I was having my espresso only very early in the mornings, it shocked me that it had such a dramatic effect on my sleep so many hours later. I always thought that because I wasn’t having caffeine or coffee after 10 am, it wouldn’t make a difference.  Boy was I wrong!

I found myself sleeping later in the mornings and remembering my dreams.  If you are having any sleep issues whatever, I strongly recommend quitting coffee and see what happens!  It has been about 4 weeks now, and I am still sleeping great, feeling more rested in the mornings.

What I Learned About Green Smoothies

I used to be more of a berries-in-the-smoothie girl, but I switched to a more tart, savory drink instead of sweet.  You will see my recipe below. After my live, green, smoothie breakfast, I am zipping to work and buzzing with a better energy than I used to get from espresso!  I decided to write this blog to inspire those of you that read this, to try this experiment. The good news is that you can get greens triple washed and ready to use, making this smoothie super easy to make each morning.  I usually go out to the garden and add fresh parsley, rosemary, basil, or mint, in addition to the kale and spinach. You can customize this to your taste.

Here are the nutrition facts:

Total calories:  265;

Fat: 12.9 grams; Carbs: 34.6 grams; Fiber: 7.2 grams: Sugar: 17 grams; Protein: 11.2 grams

Green Smoothie Recipe:

½ apple, skin on

½ banana

½ cup Baby Kale

½ cup Baby spinach

1 TBL fresh lemon juice

1 TBL fresh lime juice

2 TBL organic Hemp seeds

1 cup cold filtered water

Optional:  A twig of rosemary and a handful parsley from the garden, or other herbs of your choice like a few leaves of mint or basil.

Put all ingredients in the Nutrabullet and enjoy!

 

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Try This Hearty Breakfast Cereal for Cool Mornings

As the weather turns cooler you may be wondering how to incorporate a heartier breakfast that’s good for your gut and good for your joints.

Start the day well with a warm and healthy breakfast cereal. A bowl of hot quinoa cereal on a cool morning is one of life’s simple pleasures and incredibly versatile.

You can use different combinations of spices, toppings, and fruits to customize your breakfast.

Think seasonal: Experiment and try adding autumn fruits, such apples, pears and blackberries. Stir in some of your favorite nuts and seeds, including chia or flax seeds — it’s a great to add fiber and protein! And, consider playing with some warming spices, such as ginger or cardamom. You can’t go wrong!

Use our basic recipe as your starting point:

Hot Quinoa Cereal with Fruit & Nuts

3 servings

  • ½ cup quinoa
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup non-dairy milk, like almond, coconut or rice milk
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • ¾ Tbsp maple syrup
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp  vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup slivered almond or toasted walnuts
  • Optional: fresh berries, ghee

Directions:

  1. Rinse the quinoa with cold water in a fine mesh strainer and drain.
  2. Put the water, milk and salt in a pot and bring to a boil.  
  3. Stir in the quinoa, turn down the heat to medium low, cover the pot, and simmer gently for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding more milk if needed. The cereal is done when the quinoa is soft and has the consistency of oatmeal.
  4. Remove from the heat and stir in the maple syrup, cinnamon and vanilla.
  5. Transfer to bowls and serve warm or cold with toasted nuts and fresh berries and stir in a teaspoon of ghee if desired.

 

Meet Melissa: Melissa Rapoport is the Manager of Health Coaching and Lifestyle Programming at Blum Center for Health in Rye Brook, NY. She combines her graduate work in Developmental Psychology with her education in nutrition, health and coaching to create highly individualized programs that result in lifetime change. A contributing author to three international bestselling books, Melissa’s greatest joy is her relationship with her two daughters.

 

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Blueberry and Spinach Smoothie

Blueberry Spinach Smoothie

When most people think of smoothies, they think of all-fruit drinks. But smoothies are a great way to pack in the vegetables and the antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals your liver needs to eliminate harmful substances.

Serves 1-2

Ingredients
1 cup almond, coconut, or rice milk
¾ cup frozen blueberries
1 banana
1 T. ground flax seeds (optional)
1 scoop protein powder
1-2 handfuls of spinach or kale

Directions
Blend all ingredients until desired consistency is reached, adding water to thin if necessary.