Flax and Chia Comparison

                           chia     flax

calories                137    150
fat g                         9      12
protein g               4.4      5.1
fiber g                 10.6      7.6

omega 3 mg        4915   6388
omega 6 mg        1620   1655
ratio 3:6               3.03    3.86

calcium mg           177     71.4
magnesium mg         0       110
phosphorus mg     265      180

The nutrition information above came from Nutrition Data dot com and is for one ounce of each. Here is the link to the chia and flax page on that site. The flax data comes up for 1 cup so you need to change to 1 ounce to compare them.

This morning Laura Jill asked me what I knew about chia seeds compared to flaxseeds. I tend to favor flaxseeds but do use chia seeds occasionally. I decided to summarize the nutrition data for one ounce of each in a table so everyone could compare for themselves.

We tend to favor organic flax for a few reasons these are:

• Better omega 3 to omega 6 ratio. This is particularly important if you still eat oil. The American diet is very high in omega 6 and low in omega 3. I have read studies that indicate the SAD diet is 1:50 (3:6) and should be closer to 1:1 or 1:2. Omega 3’s are the anti-inflammatory fat so they are good to have no matter what health issue you are concerned about.

• Flax is an excellent source of lignans and chia seeds don’t seem to have any good data on this. I found a few sources that indicated they also had lignans but they were selling chia seeds so I am reluctant to trust that data. The consumption of a diet rich in lignans is associated with breast, prostate and cardiovascular health.

• Organic flax is cheaper and easier to find than organic chia seeds.

Overall I think they are both a good choice, better than most things in the SAD diet, but since I know flax is a good source of lignans I am going to stick with that until I read something that indicates I should concentrate more on chia seeds.

Lignans have Breast Health Benefits

As you guys know I start my morning with a tablespoon of ground flaxseeds in my oatmeal or smoothie depending on the weather. Here is another reason to eat your flaxseeds. According to this abstract the lignans in flaxseeds may reduce breast cancer risk in post menopausal women by reducing estrogen. Additionally there seems to be link to a reduction in prostate, hair loss, skin cancer, colon cancer and blood sugar. Those are all good reasons to add a little flax to our food, in my opinion. This is the main reason I prefer flaxseeds to chia seeds for the lignans.

From other things I have read a tablespoon or two of ground flaxseed per day seems to be enough to provide benefits. That is very easy to add to your morning cereal, smoothie or sprinkle on your salad. You can always add raw flax crackers as well.

On a related note when I was in Costco last week the 2 pound bag of milled organic flax (pictured above) was priced at $4.79 which I think is lower than I saw it previously. If you belong to Costco you may want to look for it at your store.

This morning for breakfast I was craving strawberry banana yogurt. Of course I didn’t have it but that was what was stuck in my head. Instead I had oatmeal with cinnamon, flax, strawberries and banana slices. This was an excellent combination. I have no idea why I didn’t try this sooner.

Another Reason to Include Flaxseeds in your Diet

According to this abstract scientists now feel that the lignans in flaxseeds may provide protection against hormonal cancers (breast, prostate, endometrial) as well as skin cancer and diabetes. The recommended dosage is 1 to 2 tablespoons a day. We have been adding a tablespoon of ground flaxseeds to our breakfast (either on top of cooked oatmeal or in our smoothies) for about a year. When the flaxseed is well ground you don’t really know it is there. It is also good sprinkled on a salad if you prefer.

I have mentioned before that Costco is now carrying milled organic flaxseed (pictured above) for a really good price. It is $7.99 for two pounds at our local store. I find this flax to be a little more “chunky” than I prefer. To rectify this I place it in a coffee grinder before sprinkling it on our morning oatmeal. However, the texture is great for making flax crackers, which I do all the time now. Once I have opened a bag I keep it in my freezer so it won’t spoil as quickly.

I am going to run and catch up on my “health” reading. If I see anything else worth sharing, I will be back with another quick post.

More Raw Bread: Broccoli, Almond, Nori and Flax

Yesterday morning I made another batch of almond milk and decided to try using the almond pulp that was leftover in raw bread. I wasn’t certain what to expect. However you all know I love to experiment in the kitchen so I though why not give it a try. Here is what I did:

Broccoli, Almond, Nori and Flax Bread
Makes 16 pieces

Ingredients:

4 cups broccoli
¼ onion, peeled
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
Pulp from making almond milk from 1 cup of almonds (see recipe above)
1 2/3 cups flaxseeds, ground
Water necessary to make homogenous dough
Salt, pepper and cayenne to taste
1 sheet nori, cut into small squares with scissors – optional but recommended

Directions:

Place the broccoli in your food processor and pulse until it has been obliterated. You don’t want any large pieces to remain. Add the onion and garlic to the processor and process until it is also fine. Place the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add the pulp that is leftover from making almond milk and flaxseeds and stir to combine well. Add as much water as is necessary to form homogenous dough. Season the dough as desired. If you are using the nori add it last and stir it into the dough evenly.

Place a teflex sheet on your dehydrator screen. Place all the flax dough on one tray of your Excalibur. The dough will cover the sheet and will be about ½ inch thick. Dehydrate at 105 degrees until the top is firm. This took about 8 hours at our house.

I used my pizza peel to flip the dough on and then cut it into 16 slices. The underside was still very damp. I returned the dough to the dehydrator (wet side up) and dehydrated overnight. In the morning the dough was dry throughout but still somewhat soft. This mixture is more reminiscent of bread than a cracker.

Nutritional Information (this is an estimate since I am guessing at the almond pulp #'s):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 116.85
Calories From Fat (57%) - 66.88

Total Fat - 7.99g
Saturated Fat - 0.69g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 75.19mg
Potassium - 87.53mg
Total Carbohydrates - 8.92g
Fiber - 6.29g
Sugar - 0.61g
Protein - 4.54g

Comments:

When I decided to try this what I was testing was the taste and texture. This is definitely softer than the raw bread or crackers without the almond pulp. I think it will make a better base for raw pizza, which I have mentioned before that we eat often as a quick snack. The almond flavor does not really come through in this but it does seem to tame the flax flavor. I added nori for iodine and trace minerals but it doesn’t much flavor. If you want the nori flavor you will need to add more than one sheet to the mix.

Adding the left over almond pulp to the flax bread is definitely worth trying. I like the impact it had on the texture of the final product.  I will be playing around with this addition more often.

The thickness of the finished bread is less than 1/4 inch for those of you that are new to "raw bread".

Unrelated Note:

For those of you that have sent email asking if I am okay I appreciate your concern more than you know. Things are a little hectic here. Everything is still up in the air so no short-term plans at our house. I decided to finish the first two week course as quickly as possible. I had everything finished that I could yesterday morning and am now waiting for others to catch up so I can finish my discussion requirements. This was something I needed to do so it wasn’t hanging over my head. If any of you have any questions on the course please free to ask.

I also had a chance yesterday to chat with a friend about nutrition for quite a long time yesterday. It is always great to hear what someone else thinks and has read.

On the wheat grass growing front that is not going so well. We have grass, but not as much as we are suppose to. I am going to start a second tray today and this time not follow the instructions. I am convinced they had instructed us to far too many seeds.

For now I need to get into the kitchen and start a few things for the weekend. We are out of nut cheese, sun dried tomato pesto, beans and I want to make a different version of flax bread so we have enough for the weekend. I will be back later today after I check on my parents and get things squared away here. I hope you are all having a great Friday.

Broccoli and Onion Flax Crackers Topped with Mixed Nut Cheeze with Onion and Tomato

When I was making the carrot, apple, celery and ginger crackers I decided to make a savory cracker at the same time. Since I have now made flax crackers a few times I measure things any longer. It just isn’t necessary. I took about a cup of broccoli and tossed it in the food processor and processed it until was fine bits. I moved that to a bowl and did the same thing with ½ an onion and added that to the bowl with the broccoli. Next I added ground flax seeds until it appeared to be about half the total mixture. I add a squirt of liquid aminos for saltiness and enough water to turn everything into dough. Now spread the mixture on a teflex sheet and dehydrate at 105 degrees until the mixture is firm and dry on the top. Flip the sheet onto a cutting board (top down since the bottom will still be sticky). Cut into cracker sized pieces and return to the dehydrator, this time on the mesh sheet. Dehydrate until they are the texture you like. We like ours with a little moisture left. Store the cooled crackers in an air-tight container in your frig.

Why should you make flax crackers? I make them because they are another opportunity to get anti-inflammatory omega 3 fatty acids into my hubby. Also by having the flax crackers around we don’t miss crackers made from flour (which increases blood sugar and is the last thing you want if you are concerned about cancer). These crackers also contain both raw broccoli and onion. Since the nutrition in broccoli is heat sensitive having another way to serve broccoli raw is fine with me.

To go with the broccoli and onion flax crackers I made another quick nut cheeze. I have been experimenting with different nuts to see if they all work equally well. So far I like them all. Here is the nut cheeze I made yesterday.

Mixed Nut Cheeze with Sun-Dried Tomato and Dried Onions

Makes 8 - 2 ounce servings

Ingredients:

1 cup walnuts
½ cup raw pumpkin seeds
½ cup raw cashews
Water to soak the nuts
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
Water necessary to process the cheeze (I used approximately ½ cup)
Salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
6 sun-dried tomatoes, finely diced
2 tablespoon dehydrated onions, finely diced

Directions:

Soak the nuts for at least three hours and then drain thoroughly. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and garlic. Process to combine all the ingredients. You may need to scrape the sides of the food processor bowl once or twice. Slowly add water while you continue to process the nut cheeze. Add as much water as is necessary to achieve the texture you like. Add salt and pepper to taste. Dice the sun-dried tomatoes and onions and stir them into the cheeze so they remain in identifiable bits. Refrigerate until needed.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 188.89
Calories From Fat (73%) - 138.28

Total Fat - 16.15g
Saturated Fat - 2.11g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 34.8mg
Potassium - 248.35mg
Total Carbohydrates - 7.7g
Fiber - 1.88g
Sugar - 1.83g
Protein - 5.78g

Comments:

The color of this cheeze is not as white as when I use all raw cashew or macadamia nut. But the taste is more complex. I like the flavors you get when you combine different nuts. My hubby has been eating this cheeze on the broccoli crackers all weekend. It makes a nice meal with a spinach salad.

Unrelated Notes:

Dinner tonight is not totally planned yet. But there will be a new version of seitan cutlet made with dried mushroom powder and quinoa in place of bread crumb. We will be having a light whole wheat pasta dish, soup and salad. At least that is the plan at the moment. I need to finalize the details and get going. There may also be a little chocolate for after dinner since my hubby is a big fan of anything chocolate.

I hope you are all having a nice Valentine’s Day. I will be back later with the recipes from tonight’s dinner.

Flax Crackers with Carrot, Apple, Celery, Ginger and Oat

This is another post that is about a method rather than a recipe. You will understand as you read the post. In keeping with many of my recipes this is another one that uses the by-product from making something else that most people throw away. I have never liked the idea of tossing potentially nutritious things into the trash. Here is the story behind these crackers.

I had wanted a juicer for a few years but never bought one because I didn’t like the idea of throwing away the fiber filled pulp that remained after making juice. However when I saw a post on Jordan’s blog about flax crackers with green juice pulp I immediately ordered a juicer. I have been making flax bread since I picked up Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen with great success. I have come to realize that making flax bread and crackers is a very simple foolproof process. You don’t actually need a recipe for them to turn out great.

Thursday night I made us a juice of Carrot, Apple, Celery and Ginger that we both really liked. To make the juice I used 6 carrots, 1 apple, 2 stalks of celery and ½ inch of ginger. I decided to save the pulp in the refrigerator and use it in crackers that I made yesterday. To make the crackers I combined the dry pulp, I cup of ground golden flaxseeds, ¼ cup of dry old fashioned oatmeal (for texture) and enough water to make “dough”. I spread the flax mixture on two teflex sheets (about ¼ inch thick) and dehydrated for about 5 hours. Then I turned over the crackers and cut them into pieces and returned them to the mesh screen of the dehydrator for another 4 hours. Then dehydrate them until they are the texture you like.

I served these crackers today with a little walnut butter and apple slice. Even my hubby liked them, as much as he wanted to make some “funny” comment he couldn’t come up with one. All he could come up with was “they are really good, much better than I expected.” He did think they needed the nut butter and apple slice but he told me he will gladly eat them again. Success! I love that I have found another way to get flax into my hubby.

Unrelated Note:

Tonight I am making a Moroccan inspired vegetable soup. Somehow I don’t think my parents are quite ready for raw food yet. Healthy vegan food is about as far as I can take them for now. I will be back later with my soup recipe.

I hope you are all having a great day!  I am enjoying the fact that it isn't snowing.

Ground Flaxseed Crackers – Curry Edition

As you may have noticed I have been trying to add more raw food to our diet. While I have no interest in going high raw I think that eating 50% raw is a good target. My husband liked the eggplant, mushroom and bell pepper I made as a test in the dehydrator a few weeks ago and was ready to order me a big fancy dehydrator then. However, I felt like I needed to explore the uses of the dehydrator a little more before I committed to another big kitchen gadget to take up valuable counter space. We like the kale chips quite a bit but the next thing I needed to try to make were flaxseed crackers. I have seen many recipes for the crackers that use whole flaxseeds. I chose to grind the seeds because I wanted to make certain we absorbed the omega 3 in the flaxseeds otherwise I saw no nutritional reason to eat them.

I have been doing some research about the benefits or drawbacks to eating a raw diet. It appears that while some foods are best eaten raw, the nutrition from other foods is more easily absorbed cooked since it breaks down the tough cell walls. I want to do a little more research but I will post something comprehensive on this topic in the upcoming week. Needless to say I am enjoying the research and can’t wait to share it with you all. I need to thoroughly research and source everything before I start writing.

This raw recipe is my modification of a recipe that is included in Charlie Trotter’s book “Raw”. His recipe uses whole flaxseed and a slightly different blend of spices. For my first attempt at flaxseed crackers I thought these were quite good. Here is what I did.

Ground Flaxseed Crackers – Curry Edition
Makes 10 crackers

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons golden flaxseeds, freshly ground
6 tablespoons water (or enough to make the mixture evenly smooth and spreadable)
1 teaspoon liquid aminos
1 teaspoon amber agave
1/8 teaspoon curry powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onions flakes
1/8 teaspoon sweet paprika
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients and stir to combine. Spread an even layer of the flax mixture onto the non-stick sheet (or fruit leather tray) that comes with your dehydrator. Dehydrate for 4 hours. If the crackers are firm enough, remove them from the sheet and cut the crackers into pieces and return them to the dehydrator (without the sheet) and continue to “cook” until the crackers are crisp. This will probably take 18 hours in total. The finished crackers can be store at room temperature until needed.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 24.57
Calories From Fat (59%) - 14.4

Total Fat - 1.65g
Saturated Fat - 0.16g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 34.01mg
Potassium - 3.51mg
Total Carbohydrates - 1.82g
Fiber - 1.28g
Sugar - 0.05g
Protein - 0.83g

Comments:

These crackers are much crisper than I expected. They have a nice “cracker like” snap. What they are missing is the pouf of most crackers that comes from a little leavening. From a flavor perspective these are much nicer than wheat crackers. I was quite surprised by the intensity of flavor of this cracker. I don’t mean that in a negative way. Wheat crackers are much more bland than these flaxseed crackers. Overall I was quite pleased and will exploring more flaxseed cracker recipes going forward.

I did learn some tips while making this first batch of crackers. Don’t spread the mixture too thin or it will create voids in the crackers. A little more water may have been good to thin this mixture a bit. It would have taken longer to dehydrate but would have been easier to spread. Try to spread the mixture as evenly as possible. Last I learned that you shouldn’t try to remove the crackers from the sheet until they are thoroughly dry on the bottom, but are still soft even to cut into pieces.

Nutritionally these crackers are a good source of omega 3 fatty acids and are anti-inflammatory and therefore healthy to consume in moderation. My husband and I were discussing these crackers this morning before he left for the office. We think they would be good with an appetizer plate or broken up on a salad like croutons. I also think they could be interesting put in the food processor and turn into cracker crumbs. They would need to be used raw so not to oxidize the fat to be most healthy.

Corn Sticks/Corn Bread

With the dinner we had tonight corn bread seemed like the appropriate accompaniment. Not that anyone needs this, but I have a cast-iron pan shaped like little ears of corn that was begging to be used this evening. Removing the corn sticks from the pan is a little tough, but they are so cute …. I just had to use it.

This recipe is a modification of a recipe in Mark Bittman’s book How to Cook Everything. My version uses whole-wheat flour (of course), and doesn’t use egg or buttermilk but other than those changes the recipe is the same.

Corn Sticks/Corn Bread
Makes 10 sticks (approximately 1 1/2” by 6 “)

Dry Ingredients:

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons of white cornmeal, finely ground
¼ cup of whole-wheat pastry flour
¾ teaspoon of baking powder
½ teaspoon of kosher salt
½ cup of corn kernels

Wet Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of golden flaxseeds, freshly ground
¾ - 1 cup of almond milk
1 tablespoon of canola oil

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. If using a cast iron pan you can coat it evenly with oil and heat it in the oven or on top of the stove. I used a corn stick pan and heated it in the oven.

Combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk to evenly distribute the ingredients. Add the corn kernels and toss them in the flour so that they are coated with flour. This flour coating will keep the corn from falling to the bottom of the batter. Set this bowl aside.

In a separate bowl combine the ground flaxseed, almond milk (start with ¾ cup) and canola oil and whisk to combine.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir to form a uniformly moist batter. The batter should be the consistency of pancake batter (thick, but spoonable). If you can’t easily spoon the batter add a little more almond milk until the batter is the correct consistency.

Remove the cast iron pan from the oven and spoon the batter into the pan. Return the pan to the oven.

If using a corn stick pan begin checking the sticks for doneness after 15 minutes. They are done if you insert a toothpick into the middle of the pan and it comes out clean. If using a cast iron skillet begin checking it for doneness after 25 minutes.

Nutritional Information (per stick):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 71.61
Calories From Fat (35%) - 24.83

Total Fat - 2.83g
Saturated Fat - 0.24g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 165.53mg
Potassium - 67.46mg
Total Carbohydrates - 10.62g
Fiber - 1.8g
Sugar - 0.31g
Protein - 1.71g

Comments:

This recipe results in a moist, tender and flavorful cornbread. We didn’t use butter or oil on these at dinner tonight, and they didn’t need it. If you want to take this recipe over the top you can make a little orange/agave/Earth Balance.

My husband told me this was his favorite part of dinner this evening. I guess that says it all.

If you want a little more flavor these would be fabulous with a little hot crushed peppers, pickled jalapeno or even some finely diced roasted red peppers. Chili powder, cumin or minced cilantro would also be good in this recipe.

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Pancakes Topped with Banana

My husband wanted pancakes this morning so that is what we had. I decided that we were going to ignore the fat restrictions this morning and go for it.

I haven’t made pancakes in a long time (possibly years) so I needed a starting recipe. I used my ancient New York Times Cookbook (copyright 1961) and started making changes. The resulting pancakes are nothing like the original, but it worked so what the heck.

Of course I used whole-wheat pastry flour in place of white flour. I don’t keep white flour in the house, so that wasn’t going into breakfast. I used ground flaxseeds in place of egg, canola oil in place of shortening (and less of it), and almond milk in place of whole milk. Then I added peanut butter, cinnamon and ginger.

I changed so many things I really wasn’t certain how these would work. Shockingly, these turned out great. I liked the peanut butter taste in the pancake, combined with the banana on top. I don’t really think the peanut butter on top was necessary so I may omit it next time.

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Pancakes Topped with Banana
Serves 2 big appetites (makes 8 – 5 inch pancakes)

Dry Ingredients:

¾ cups of whole-wheat pastry flour
1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder
½ teaspoon of kosher salt
½ teaspoon of cinnamon, ground
¼ teaspoon of ginger, powdered

Wet Ingredients:

2 tablespoon of golden flaxseeds, freshly ground
1 ¼ cups of almond milk – or enough to get the correct consistency, don’t add all at once
2 tablespoons of canola oil
2 tablespoons of peanut butter

Topping ingredients:

2 tablespoons of peanut butter
1 banana, sliced
1 teaspoon of agave, or to taste

Directions:

Combine dry ingredients and whisk to evenly distribute the leavening agent (baking powder). Set dry ingredients aside.

In another bowl combine the wet ingredients (using only ¾ cup of almond milk at first) and whisk to completely saturate the flaxseeds and to distribute the peanut butter.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients together and stir to combine. If you have any large areas of flour that are still dry add the remaining milk a little at a time until you have only small lumps of flour. Don’t beat your pancake batter to remove all the lumps, this makes a tough pancake and you don’t want that. How much milk you will need to use depends on the moisture in your flour. I keep my flour in the freezer so it tends to be very dry and therefore I need more liquid than most recipes call for.

Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium high heat. I used a cast iron griddle that I lightly wiped with a tablespoon of canola oil on a paper towel.

Dollop the pancake (approximately 1/4 cup per pancake) on the hot griddle and cook on the first side until bubbles form on the top of the pancakes (about three or four minutes depending on the pan you use and your heat level). The bubbles are an indication that it is time to flip the pancakes. Cook on the other side until the bottom is lightly golden (about another 2 minutes). It is best if you flip the pancakes only once.

I served this immediately with a bit of peanut butter, sliced bananas and a drizzle of agave. Yummy!

Nutritional Information (assumes 2 servings):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 608.98
Calories From Fat (53%) - 321.59

Total Fat - 37.28g
Saturated Fat - 5.04g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 1084.9mg
Potassium - 732.41mg
Total Carbohydrates - 59.89g
Fiber - 13.19g
Sugar - 10.48g
Protein - 17.59g

Comments:

My husband, who is not prone to gushing, thought these were “very good”. He liked the texture and the flavor, but thought they needed more agave on top (he does have a vicious sweet tooth though). We like the peanut butter and banana combination at our house so it should be no surprise that these were well received. This is definitely a breakfast that will show up again at our house.

Banana, Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Oatmeal and Flaxseed Meal in a Glass

I made this smoothie to be an entire meal in a glass. When I don’t feel like I am 100% I would prefer to drink my breakfast rather that do a lot of chewing. I think the same can be said for most people.

According to one website I saw this morning there are over 400 medications that American’s take everyday that cause dry mouth. If anyone in your family is on a blood pressure medication they may be experiencing dry mouth. This breakfast would be great for them. I also understand that most cancer treatments cause dry mouth so this recipe would also be good for cancer patients.

This is one of those recipes I tinkered with in my cookbook program before I actually prepared it. An extra banana was added to this smoothie to increase the calories. I also used a little more dry oatmeal and peanut butter for the same reason.

My husband thought this smoothie was delicious, but he loves anything chocolate so that may be why he enjoyed it so much. This smoothie is thick, rich and goes down really easy.

Banana, Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Oatmeal and Flaxseed Meal in a Glass
Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 bananas
¾ cup of old fashioned oatmeal, dry
1 ½ tablespoons of cocoa powder
2 tablespoons of peanut butter
2 tablespoons of golden flaxseeds, ground
1 scoop of stevia
¼ teaspoon of cinnamon
¼ teaspoon of ginger, powdered
2 cups of almond milk, unsweetened
1 ½ cups of ice

Directions:

Put everything in the blender and puree until completely smooth. Serve immediately in a chilled glass.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 409.56
Calories From Fat (35%) - 145.27

Total Fat - 16.96g
Saturated Fat - 2.71g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 238.13mg
Potassium - 908.87mg
Total Carbohydrates - 61.26g
Fiber - 13.18g
Sugar - 16.18g
Protein - 12.55g

Comments:

The most dominant flavor in this smoothie is banana, followed by chocolate with peanut butter in the background. The ginger and cinnamon are very mild background flavors that add complexity to the smoothie without adding distinctive flavor.

This smoothie does contain a good bit of fat from the peanut butter and flaxseeds. Since I needed to up the calories I decided not to reduce the peanut butter. The flaxseeds contain healthy Omega 3's that fight cancer so I wasn't reducing those either.

I think this is my husband’s favorite smoothie so far. I thought it was very tasty and filling. The cool thickness would feel wonderful if anyone in your family has a sore throat.

Update:

My husband must have loved this smoothie. He asked me to make him a second one tonight for a snack since "he was certain he hadn't eaten enough today and needed the calories". Since my husband never asks for a specific item I know this smoothie was a winner.

Whole Wheat Waffles with Flaxseeds and Triple Berry Sauce

This morning I decided to make waffles for my husband, but I wanted to make my standard whole-wheat waffle recipe even healthier.

Since flaxseeds contain omega 3’s and have been shown to reduce the tumor size in breast cancer and prostate cancer patients I wanted to add them to the waffles. I added 2 tablespoons only because that is what I put in our morning smoothie (not very technical I know). I reduced the canola oil in the original recipe since I added fat with the flaxseeds. I also substituted almond milk for soymilk because that is the milk we normally have on hand now (and it is lower calorie than soymilk). The cinnamon was added to help our bodies process the sugar from the fruit I added to the top of the waffles.

We did think these waffles were a little heavier than my standard whole-wheat recipe, but we also thought they had good crunch and flavor. I will be tweaking this recipe in the coming months to try to lighten the interior of the waffle a little, but this recipe is good enough as is, provided you remember it is a 100% whole-wheat vegan waffle. I don’t know that it is possible to make whole-wheat vegan waffles as fluffy as white flour waffles. However, you can feel good about feeding these waffles to your family.

Whole Wheat Waffles with Flaxseeds
Serves 2 big appetites or 3 regular eaters

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups of whole-wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
¼ teaspoon of kosher salt
¼ teaspoon of cinnamon
12 ounces of almond milk, unsweetened
½ tablespoon of canola oil
2 tablespoons of golden flaxseeds, freshly ground

Directions:

Heat your waffle iron while you make the waffle batter.

Mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon) and whisk to combine. Add the remaining ingredients (almond milk, canola oil and ground flaxseed). Whisk to combine the wet and dry ingredients. If you keep your flour in the freezer and the batter seems a little stick add a couple tablespoons of water to thin the dough a little.

Cook the waffles until to the directions for your waffle iron. Serve them while they are hot. If you are making waffles for a crowd you can hold the waffles in a 200-degree oven on a half sheet pan with a wire rack. The elevation of the wire rack keeps the waffles from getting soggy on the bottom.

I served this with a triple berry sauce and a few sliced almonds on top. The almonds were only added for crunchy texture.

Nutritional Information (assumes 2 servings):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 488.92
Calories From Fat (22%)- 107.62

Total Fat - 12.26g
Saturated Fat - 1.3g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 574.08mg
Potassium - 567.08mg
Total Carbohydrates - 80.89g
Fiber - 15.18g
Sugar - 7.16g
Protein - 19.91g

Triple Berry Sauce for Waffles
Serves 2 (or enough for the waffle recipe above)

Ingredients:

2 cups of frozen berries (I used a mix of blueberries, raspberries and Marion berries)
1 scoop of stevia
¼ teaspoon of cinnamon, ground

Directions:

Add the berries to a saucepan and cook until they begin to give up their liquid. Stir them occasionally to make certain the berries don’t stick. Continue to cook until the berries slump (lose their shape) and the juice that released from the berries thickens. This will happen in 15 minutes (of the time it takes to make the waffles). Add the stevia and cinnamon and turn off the heat. Serve the berry sauce on top the hot waffles.

Nutritional Information (assumes 2 servings):

Amount Per Serving
Calories 83.45
Calories From Fat (5%) - 3.92

Total Fat - 0.48g
Saturated Fat - 0.04g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 1.48mg
Potassium - 113.05mg
Total Carbohydrates - 21.77g
Fiber - 3.65g
Sugar - 14.45g
Protein - 1.09g

Comments:

These waffle aren’t as light and fluffy as white flour waffles. We think they are a nice compromise between taste and health. These waffles get a nice crust on the exterior from the inclusion of the agave and canola oil. They also brown well considering they don’t include egg. I am quite pleased with the 19 grams of fiber and 20 grams of protein in this waffle and berry sauce recipe. I will be tweaking this recipe in the coming months to try to lighter the interior of the waffle, just a little.

Chocolate, Banana and Peanut Butter Smoothie

Today’s smoothie was a little different since it included cocoa powder. My husband is a chocoholic through and through. He loves all things chocolate. Since we are trying to eliminate sugar from our diet (because cancer loves sugar) we have also given up chocolate, although not intentionally. Today I thought I would see if I could add cocoa to our smoothie and see if we liked it. I initially made this smoothie without stevia and quickly realized it needed a little sweetener. I thought it was a little too sweet, but my husband did not think this smoothie was too sweet.

Chocolate, Banana and Peanut Butter Smoothie
Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 frozen banana, peeled
2 tablespoons of golden flaxseeds, ground
½ cup of oatmeal, dry
1 ½ tablespoons of peanut butter
½ teaspoon of cinnamon, ground
½ teaspoon of ginger, powdered
1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
2 scoops (2 grams) of powdered stevia
1 ½ cups of water
8 ice cubes

Directions:

Toss everything in the blender and puree until completely smooth. Serve immediately in a chilled glass.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 258.55
Calories From Fat (37%) - 94.62

Total Fat - 11.31g
Saturated Fat - 2.04g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 13.58mg
Potassium - 423.73mg
Total Carbohydrates - 37.84g
Fiber - 8.96g
Sugar - 8.53g
Protein - 8.53g

Comments:

This was good blend of flavors. Not individual flavor was dominant in the final drink. I thought the smoothie was little too sweet, but my husband did not agree. He thought it could use more cocoa, I thought it had enough cocoa. What I am telling you is that when it comes to chocolate and sweetness we all have very individual tastes. I think this is a good starting point for a smoothie. Either way, we both liked this smoothie even though we didn't agree on the modifications to be made to the next version.

If you are concerned about adding the cocoa, remember that it is high in antioxidants. As always the flaxseeds were included for their Omega 3’s since they are anti-inflammatory and help fight cancer. The ginger is also anti-inflammatory and is included for the same reason.

Green Drink update:

We had a full strength green powder drink this morning. However we only had a half serving. We both drank it in three gulps. It is not enjoyable, and anyone that tells you it is, is lying. After our smoothie we discussed the drink and decided we can do three gulps, but don’t want to do more than that at one time. We also purchased red drink powder and are going to have a half serving of each (red and green powder) every day, one in the morning and one in the evening. At this point that is the best we can do. We may be able to up the dose in the future, but not just yet.

Banana, Peanut Butter, Cinnamon, Ginger and Oatmeal Smoothie

Yes, I know it is another banana and peanut butter smoothie. I have been trying to perfect the banana and peanut butter combination and I think we are getting close. By increasing the oatmeal the smoothie is thicker and has more fiber and calories without impacting the flavor. I definitely like the ginger and cinnamon combination. Both my husband and I decided to keep the peanut butter in our morning smoothie even though it has more fat than the book "Life Over Cancer" recommends. We will lower our overall fat percentage by eating plain vegetables and fruit, and by not having a smoothie every day.

Banana, Peanut Butter, Cinnamon, Ginger and Oatmeal Smoothie
Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 frozen banana, peeled
1 ½ tablespoons of peanut butter
½ cup of oatmeal, dry
½ teaspoon of powdered ginger
½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons of golden flaxseed, freshly ground
1 ½ cups of water
8 ice cubes

Directions:

Toss everything in the blender and puree until completely smooth. Serve immediately in chilled glasses.

Nutritional Information:

Calories - 252.37
Calories From Fat (37%) - 92.9

Total Fat - 10.94g
Saturated Fat - 1.85g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 66.45mg
Potassium - 382.58mg
Total Carbohydrates - 35.37g
Fiber - 8.06g
Sugar - 8.48g
Protein - 8g

Comments:

I definitely think this is my favorite banana and peanut butter smoothie so far. I think the spice combination and the texture is fantastic. The smoothie is thick but still drinkable. Overall, this is a great flavor combination.

Banana, Peanut Butter, Ginger and Cinnamon Smoothie

I didn’t make the green smoothie this morning because my husband woke up with an upset stomach and didn’t think the green would go down well. I added a couple of fresh ginger slices to our green tea this morning to help with his stomach upset. As usual we also had a few fresh edamame with our green tea since soy and green tea work better together than separately.

We had a banana smoothie this morning since they are good if the stomach upset moves to the lower GI system. I added little powdered ginger to our smoothie to assist with the stomach upset. It seems to have worked since his stomach is now fine. The flaxseeds are always a part of my smoothies for their omega 3’s. Since omega 3 is an anti-inflammatory fat that helps to fight cancer I like to add it when I can.

This smoothie contains one of our favorite flavor combinations, banana and peanut butter. The cinnamon and ginger are both subtle flavors in this smoothie with neither one being dominant. We also liked the iciness of this smoothie. I may increase the amount of ice in our smoothies going forward. We both liked the addition of the ginger, which was subtle but added a nice anti-inflammatory punch.

Banana, Peanut Butter, Ginger and Cinnamon Smoothie
Makes 2 servings approximately 1 1/2 cups each

Ingredients:

1 banana, frozen – peeled
1 ½ tablespoons of peanut butter
2 tablespoons of golden flaxseeds, freshly ground
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
½ teaspoon of ginger, ground
1 ¼ cups of water
8 ice cubes

Directions:

Place ingredients in the blender and process until smooth. Serve immediately in chilled glasses.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 185.77
Calories From Fat (48%) - 88.63

Total Fat - 10.42g
Saturated Fat - 1.75g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 65.85mg
Potassium - 300.38mg
Total Carbohydrates - 20.68g
Fiber - 5.66g
Sugar - 8.36g
Protein - 5.74g

Comments:

Peanut Butter and Banana is one of our favorite combinations. The addition of the powdered ginger was surprisingly light in the end. I like that it adds another source of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents. This drink does exceed my targeted fat percentage by a mile. However, since my husband had an upset stomach this morning I thought it was more important that he eat something. I will add other plain fruits and vegetables to our day to try to get the overall fat percentage down.

Green Smoothie with Banana and Mixed Berries

When we were shopping yesterday one of the items on our list was green drink powder. The most recent book I have been reading “Life Over Cancer” recommends green drink powder to make certain you get the 12 servings of vegetables they want you to consume each day. If you haven’t tried to buy green drink powder before it is completely confusing. There are so many brands of the stuff and the ingredient combinations are varied. You can spend a lot of time reading labels in the store.

I chose Green Vibrance (which they carry at Whole Foods) for a number of reasons. First, it contains 25 billion dairy free probiotics per dose from 12 different strains. Given that probiotics are so important for intestinal health I liked the idea of a lot of probiotics. Second, the product is mostly organic. A product being organic is always a big plus with me. Third, each dose contains 1500 mgs of spirulina. Last, each dose contains 1000 IU of Vitamin D, 100 IU of Vitamin E and 3.51 mcg of Vitamin B12. I thought this brand had some impressive nutritional statistics so we picked it up. If you look for it know that it is a little pricey ($44.99 for a 30 dose container).

The taste…… well, it tastes green. I can definitely say it is an acquired taste, which I have not yet acquired. I tried a little bit straight and it makes like something that is really good for you, like cod liver oil.

Today’s smoothie was designed to mask the taste of the green powder, which it did. However, I only used 1 tablespoon of the powder, which equates to ½ a dose. I decided that is the most we do for now. The mixed berries did a great job of overpowering the taste of the green powder. The berries also made the color more appealing. Tomorrow’s smoothie is going to be green since I feel we need to drink it once without the berries to see what it is like.

I think it is going to take us a few weeks to get accustomed to this green drink powder. We will be using half the recommended amount of powder while we “acquire” a taste for this green drink. We both know the green powder is good for us and plan to work to find ways to include it in our diet that we also enjoy. This smoothie is a good start of how to incorporate green drink powder into your diet in an enjoyable drink.

Green Smoothie with Banana and Mixed Berries
Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon of Green Vibrance Powder
1 frozen banana
1 cup of mixed frozen berries (blueberries, raspberries and marion berries)
2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
2 cups of water

Directions:

Toss everything into the blender and puree until smooth. Serve immediately in chilled glasses.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 176.44
Calories From Fat (31%) - 54.16

Total Fat - 8.54g
Saturated Fat - 0.94g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 35.49mg
Potassium - 378.22mg
Total Carbohydrates - 31.65g
Fiber - 8.22g
Sugar - 15.05g
Protein - 4.51g

Comments:

This smoothie tasted better than I expected. There was a grassy note in the background, but the berries did a nice job of overpowering the flavor. Both my husband and I thought we could drink the green powder this way. Tomorrow I will try the smoothie without the berries and see what happens.

Breakfast: Peach, Pineapple and Banana Smoothie and Hummus topped Bagel

This morning I used the cookbook program to make “electronic only” recipes before I went into the kitchen to cook. I knew I wanted to use 2 tablespoons of flaxseeds in the smoothie this morning for the Omega 3’s and their ability to fight cancer. Once I started adding fruit into the program it became obvious that I needed to include more calories than I could get into a smoothie. When I added the bagel and hummus the total fat percentage fell to 12%.




I included the cinnamon in the smoothie since it helps the body to process the natural sugar that is present in the fruit. The frozen banana was included for potassium and thickness. The no fat added hummus was included to up the protein in our breakfast.

Breakfast: Peach, Pineapple and Banana Smoothie and Hummus topped Bagel
Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 peaches, pitted and cut into chunks
1 frozen banana, peeled and cut into chunks
½ cup of pineapple, drained
2 tablespoons of golden flaxseeds, freshly ground
1 cup of water
½ teaspoon of cinnamon

1 sprouted wheat bagel, cut in half and toasted
6 tablespoons of roasted red pepper, garlic and paprika hummus

Directions:

Place the peaches, banana, pineapple, flaxseeds, water and cinnamon into the blender. Process until completely smooth. Pour into your serving glass. Serve cold.

Spread the hummus on the toasted bagel half.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 421.87
Calories From Fat (12%) - 50.44

Total Fat - 5.84g
Saturated Fat - 0.59g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 514.32mg
Potassium - 734.17mg
Total Carbohydrates - 84.6g
Fiber - 12.56g
Sugar - 30.43g
Protein - 12.87g

Comments:

The little bit of pineapple I included added a nice flavor to the smoothie. I don’t think I would add more than ½ cup or the flavor would take over the smoothie. The peach was a background flavor in this smoothie. This was a good combination of flavors where no single flavor dominated. The cinnamon flavor was also subtle. I did miss my nut butter in the smoothie, but this may be all in my head.

If I am going to include a sprouted wheat bagel in our breakfast each morning I will need to develop a recipe of my own. The bagels I have been buying are good, but they are only mostly whole wheat and I would prefer all whole wheat. Expect to see a sprouted wheat bagel recipe sometime in the next week or so.

Overall we were happy with this breakfast. It had good flavor and was quite filling.

Peach, Cherry and Almond Smoothies

According to “the experts” most people eat the same 20 foods most of the time. I find this fact startling, and troubling at the same time. Don’t most people realize that you need to vary your food choices in order to maximize your nutrition? I intentionally vary the foods we eat to maximize the vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients we consume. For a few years now I have tried to buy at least one new food every time I go grocery shopping. It is not as easy now to find new foods as it was I started this process. Once you have purchased horned melon and dragon fruit you are obviously running out of new foods to try. However, I still try to change what I buy so we don't get into a food rut.

Different foods contain different combinations of nutrients. When we eat the same foods every week, we are consuming the same nutrients and probably missing some micro nutrient that we are deficient in. When I first started trying to buy new foods each week it was difficult to know how to prepare and cook the foods. I took it as a challenge and bought the foods and researched their use when I got home. If you decide you want to give this a try both Wegman’s and Whole Foods carry unusual produce and dried foods.

If you are thinking that you don’t need to vary your food because you take a multivitamin and mineral I urge you to rethink this. According to scientists your body is better able to absorb nutrients in their natural form (food) than in supplement form. Also, there are so many micro nutrients that it would be impossible to include them all in a multivitamin. We do take a multivitamin at our house as insurance that we aren’t missing any major components. However, I believe that getting your nutrition from food should be the goal.

The fresh cherries in today's smoothie came from our CSA. I wasn’t certain how I was going to use them when I picked them up (nothing new there). Today I thought they would be good to add our smoothie. Cherries are a good source of anthocyanins (an powerful antioxidant) and are high on the ORAC scale. Most dark fruit (cherries, blueberries, raspberries) is a good source of nutrition. Whatever fruit you choose, try to change it each week to get as many phytonutrients into your diet as you can.

Peach, Cherry and Almond Smoothie
Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 peaches, pitted and cut into chunks
20 cherries, pitted
2 tablespoons of golden flaxseeds, freshly ground
2 tablespoons of almond butter
2 cups of water
8 ice cubes

Directions:

Place everything in the blender and puree until completely smooth. Serve immediately in a chilled glass.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 273.17
Calories From Fat (44%) - 119.47

Total Fat - 14.11g
Saturated Fat - 1.36g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 83.33mg
Potassium - 604.06mg
Total Carbohydrates - 35.5g
Fiber - 7.67g
Sugar - 24.47g
Protein - 6.71g

Comments:

The flavor of this smoothie is a nice combination of flavors that don’t overpower each other. Sometimes when I combine flavors I am surprised that they blend together so well you can’t seem to detect the specific components. This was one of those combinations. The smoothie was light since the peaches are not a strong flavor, and since there were only a few cherries they didn't dominant the flavor either. The almond butter is a much more subtle flavor than peanut and also blended into the background. Overall, I think this was well rounded smoothie in terms of flavor.

I added the almond butter this morning by habit. It completely slipped my mind that I was going to test the protein theory again today. I will try to remember to leave the nut butter out of our smoothie tomorrow to continue the test.

Wild Blueberry and Peach Smoothie

This morning I wanted to make a smoothie that didn’t included any nut butter to see how it impacted the nutrition and if my husband or I got hungry earlier in the day due to the reduction in protein.

The flavor of this smoothie was mostly peach and blueberry, in that order. The cinnamon was a very subtle flavor in the background. I could not taste any other flavors in this smoothie.

Wild blueberries are a very healthy food that I try to keep in our freezer. These berries are very high in antioxidants, particularly anthocyanins. They are reported to fight inflammation and inhibit all stages of cancer. Wild blueberries are also reported to prevent urinary tract infections and protect your heart. There are many reasons to include wild blueberries in your diet. If you are a member of Costco they sell large bags of the frozen berries all year.

This is the smoothie we had this morning.

Wild Blueberry and Peach Smoothie
Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 peaches, pitted and cut into chunks
1 cup of wild blueberries, frozen
2 tablespoons of flaxseeds, freshly ground
1/3 cup of oatmeal (dry)
½ cup of almond milk, unsweetened
¼ teaspoon of cinnamon
1 cup of water, filtered
8 ice cubes:

Directions:

Place everything in your blender and process until completely smooth. Serve immediately in chilled glasses.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 225.37
Calories From Fat (22%) - 48.8

Total Fat - 5.59g
Saturated Fat - 0.5g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 45.71mg
Potassium - 403.26mg
Total Carbohydrates - 41.34g
Fiber - 7.38g
Sugar - 13.26g
Protein - 5.99g

Comments:

Without the nut butter this smoothie tasted like thick fruit juice. I enjoyed the flavor but am curious to see how long my husband and I remain satiated from this smoothie. I will post an update at lunchtime to let everyone know if there was any noticeable difference in hunger by midday.

Update:

I started getting hungry about 4 hours after breakfast and waited 5 hours for lunch. Since I normally don't get hungry until 5 or 6 hours after breakfast I think the reduction in protein made a difference in how long I stayed satisfied. If I remember I will try this experiment again tomorrow to see if I get the same results.

Peach and Almond Smoothie

Fresh local peaches were everywhere at the farmers’ market this morning, and I am a happy woman. I love fresh peaches! They may be my all-time favorite food. Needless to say we bought a small basket, which contained 20 peaches. That may be enough peaches to get me through to next Sunday. Good thing my husband doesn’t love peaches the way I do.

Since we had peaches the choice for which fruit we put in our smoothie was quite obvious. I like the combination of peaches and almonds. The almonds in this dish are obvious but not dominant. I also included the flaxseeds for omega 3’s and their reported ability to fight cancer and prevent heart disease. The oatmeal was included for fiber and to make the smoothie thicker.

Peach and Almond Smoothie
Serves 2

Ingredients:

4 peaches, pitted and cut into chunks
2 cups of almond milk, unsweetened
2 tablespoons of flaxseeds, freshly ground
1/3 cup of old fashioned oatmeal (dry)
2 tablespoons of almond butter, unsweetened and unsalted
½ tablespoon of almond extract
6 ice cubes
pinch of nutmeg, freshly ground (part for in smoothie and part on top)

Directions:

Put everything in the blender and puree until smooth. Serve in a chilled glass with a little fresh nutmeg grated on top.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 372.56
Calories From Fat (41%) - 154.44

Total Fat - 17.77g
Saturated Fat - 1.46g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 226.43mg
Potassium - 963.16mg
Total Carbohydrates - 49.21g
Fiber - 10.93g
Sugar - 27.25g
Protein - 9.78g

Comments:

I enjoyed this smoothie very much, but I love anything peach. The flavors of this smoothie are subtle but have a nice depth of flavor. If you haven’t tried to combine almond and peach I highly recommend that you give it a try. Tomorrow I may add fresh spinach to this smoothie for nutrition and to see what that does to the flavor.

When I used the cookbook program this morning to calculate the nutritional information the fat seemed too high so I manually checked the numbers. I discovered the program was using flaxseed oil and not ground flaxseeds in the calculations. I have made that correction in the program and have updated the other recipes on the blog that included flaxseeds. You will see a note at the bottom of the recipes indicating the nutritional information was updated. If you notice any prior recipes with flaxseeds that don’t indicate they were updated please let me know.

Banana, Peanut Butter, Oatmeal and Flaxseed Smoothie

We love peanut butter and bananas at our house. Today’s smoothie is yet another peanut butter and banana combination. This smoothie is high in fat, due to the peanut butter and flaxseed. If you are watching your fat intake I would suggest a fruit smoothie without peanut butter. However, if you are a big fan of peanut, like we are, this is a tasty smoothie that is also packed with nutrition. Peanuts are a good source of protein, vitamin E and niacin.

The flaxseeds are included for their omega 3 fatty acids that are anti-inflammatory and thought to fight cancer. The standard American Diet is typically higher in pro-inflammatory fats (omega 6). I try to add omega 3’s to our diet whenever possible. I have seen many different ratios of the optimal ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fats. However, the average of what I have seen seems to be between 1:2 and 1:3. These same sources indicate that Americans typically consume a ratio of 1:20 or more, which is extremely unhealthy and very pro-inflammatory.

The banana and peanut butter flavors in this smoothie are well balanced with a subtle hint of cinnamon in the background. The texture of the peanut butter is thick from the frozen banana, ice cubes and oatmeal. If you haven’t tried oatmeal in your smoothies, this is something that is worth a try. We like the fiber and thickness it adds to our smoothies.

Banana, Peanut Butter, Oatmeal and Flaxseed Smoothie
Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

2 frozen bananas
3 tablespoons of peanut butter (preferably with the skins included)
1/3 cup of oatmeal
2 tablespoons of flaxseed, ground
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
8 ice cubes (approximately 1 cup)
2 cups of water

Directions:

Place everything in the blender and process until completely smooth. Serve immediately in chilled glasses.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 352.2
Calories From Fat (41%) - 143.84

Total Fat - 17.03g
Saturated Fat - 3.15g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 119.96mg
Potassium - 639.41mg
Total Carbohydrates - 46g
Fiber - 9.46g
Sugar - 16.75g
Protein - 10.89g

Comments:

This smoothie is rich and creamy, and tastes great. The fat is a little high so we will be having a light salad for lunch today. Both my husband and I liked this smoothie. Doesn’t it always seem like the higher fat recipes always taste the best? At least 50% of the fat in peanut butter is healthy monounsaturated fat.

Nutritional Info updated 07.05.09