Go-To Green Smoothie

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There is something about starting my day with a smoothie that sets my mind and body for an energized day. I strongly believe that every smoothie needs a vegetable component, and usually the vegetable component is in higher ratio than fruit. Do this, and you set yourself up to eat more vegetables in one meal than some people eat in a whole week. Since the blender does all the hard work, it also gives your GI a break from having to work so hard to digest (there are no teeth in your stomach!). Blending smoothies keeps all the pulp and fiber that juicing removes, giving you the most bang for your buck in one glass.

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I have started my day with a smoothie of some sort for years, but I have a handful of tried and true smoothies that are on repeat. My son has also eaten a smoothie almost daily since he was in utero. We usually share a high-fat, high-protein breakfast together (fried eggs in ghee are our jam!) and we’ve made this smoothie so many times together he can do it by himself.

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In addition to the unspoken vegetables that should sneak into every smoothie, you also need the three essentials, or holy trinity of smoothies, if you will:
1) Fiber
2) Fat
3) Protein

Fiber, fat, and protein will slow the digestion and absorption of nutrition. Without these, you basically have a milkshake. I also get asked often where we get our glass straws. We bought them from Strawsome a few years ago and have never had one break, even with a toddler using one daily! I find he’ll drink almost anything through a straw, and I’ve been known to feed him soup through them too!

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I use coconut water as the liquid base for most of my smoothies, especially if they have spinach in them. The alternative of using a dairy product (milk, yogurt, or kefir) is they contain enough calcium that it inhibits the absorption of iron from the spinach or other leafy green like kale. Through most of my teen, 20, and pre-natal years, I’ve been desperate to absorb as much iron as possible.

Go-To Green Smoothie

  • Servings: 6 servings
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Ingredients

Go-To Green Smoothie

*You could do without the powder packets if that’s not your thing, however I find this a great way to add loads and loads of nutrition that I can’t get from anywhere else. It also gives it a depth of flavor and sweetness, but there is enough sweetness in the flavored coconut water and mangoes that you could also do without the flavored protein powder.

Directions

Wash and rinse your spinach, kale, and avocado. Add all ingredients in the order given, always putting your frozen things on the top of the blender for the best blend, otherwise you will be stopping to “burp” the blender and let air out of the pockets. This smoothie makes approximately 6 servings.

We refrigerate ours in sealed glass jars for up to 3 days.

Photos and Content Copyright © Jaclyn Beaty Nutrition, 2019

Rasp-beet Smoothie

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As a general rule of thumb, the darker or more vibrant the color of a whole food, the more nutrition it contains. That is definitely the case with beets, and also part of the reason I find a way to incorporate these into my meal plans at least once a week. Since getting a solid dose of vegetables can some days be a challenge, I make it a point to start off my day with a vegetable at every breakfast. My Go-To Green Smoothie is loaded with anti-inflammatory carotenoids and phytonutrients, but this beet smoothie gets its deep red pigment from Betalain, a potent antioxidant and anti-fungal constituent. Many people can not break down Betalain, and its deep red hue can show up in urine or stool. It’s nothing to cause alarm, if anything it’s a great indicator of GI transit time! (note: ideal transit time is 18-24 hours).

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In addition to the unspoken vegetables that should sneak into every smoothie, you may also be familiar with my holy trinity of smoothie ingredients:
1) Fiber
2) Fat
3) Protein

Fiber, fat, and protein will slow the digestion and absorption of nutrition. Without these, your blood sugar wouldn’t react much differently than if you were drinking a milkshake. This smoothie is one of my simpler ones, so to make sure this checks all the boxes of my holy trinity, we’ll get our fiber from frozen raspberries, fat from coconut oil, and protein from a scoop of collagen and protein powder. Check, check, and check.

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My son and I share a high-fat, high-protein breakfast together every morning, and although our smoothies are pretty great, watching the school bus go by is definitely the highlight.

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Behind the scenes of a food photography set with a toddler under the same roof. With an entire house to play in, he chooses to be in the three square feet of space I need, naturally!

I use coconut water as the liquid base for most of my smoothies. I usually wake up feeling dehydrated, and although I start my morning with pure water, the potassium in coconut water helps dilute some puff and energize my day. Raspberries also contain Ellagic Acid which has been used as a holistic remedy for PMS symptoms.

Rasp-Beet Smoothie

  • Servings: 6 servings
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Ingredients

Rasp-Beet Smoothie

*Time Saving Tip: During dinner prep the night before you plan to have this smoothie, wash and cut beets into small 1″ slices or cubes. Preheat oven to 350. Fill a 9×13 pan with cut beets and cover with 1/2″ water. Roast for 40 minutes until tender. Once cooled, transfer to a glass storage container and chill in the refrigerator until ready to use in the morning.

A note about protein powder: you could do without the protein powder if that’s not your thing, however I find this a great way to add loads of nutrition that I can’t get from anywhere else. If you forgo the collagen or protein powder, I recommend adding a tablespoon or two of a neutral nut butter like cashew butter to maintain a dose of protein. I like the protein powders because of the depth of flavor and sweetness, but there is enough sweetness in the flavored coconut water and raspberries that you could also do without the flavored protein powder.

Directions

Add all ingredients in the order given and blend!

Refrigerate left overs in sealed glass jars for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3-6 months.

Photos and Content Copyright © Jaclyn Beaty Nutrition, 2019

Sneaky Snickerdoodles

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My son’s first cookie was this little gem. He was almost 2.5 and loved helping cook most things, but wasn’t old enough for me to feel comfortable letting him eat anything. When cookies started appearing in many of the books we’d read, I knew a cookie was in his near future. I was a-okay with this being his first bite. I call them sneaky snickerdoodles because they’re more like a bite-sized protein snack, not the highly-processed, overly-sweet, refined cookie much of the world has come to know and love. Seven ingredients also make it ideal for little hands to help mix and stir, and you don’t have to worry about them snitching raw egg dough because they’re egg free!

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When it comes to optimal health, managing blood sugar balance is paramount. I talk a lot about blood sugar balance in my recipes because it’s worth repeating. It’s not just something that people with diabetes have to pay attention to. It’s essential for everyone if you want to feel your best emotionally and physically! There’s no population who suffers greater from blood sugar spikes than KIDS. Little ones aren’t cognitively capable of interpreting the feedback their body is giving them. Let’s be honest, many adults aren’t mindful of the language their body speaks either. One of the best ways to keep blood sugar stable is to not let it spike in the first place! Simple refined sugars cause an immediate surge of sugars into the blood stream. The pancreas overreacts by secreting insulin to drive that sugar into cells, which in turn causes the blood sugar to fall even lower- known as blood sugar rebounding. It’s a roller coaster of hormones that are trying to manage our roller coaster of emotions and energy.

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These are a one-bowl wonder, so clean up is a cinch. Most cookie recipes separate wet and dry ingredients, but I find that to be an unnecessary step (you’re welcome). When I had to go egg-free and dairy-free in the early days of nursing #2, these were my jam. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say the cookie dough was my saving grace. Sweet enough to calm a sugar craving, and enough protein and fat that I didn’t keep eating uncontrollably!

Sneaky Snickerdoodles

  • Servings: 18 cookies
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Ingredients

Sneaky Snickerdoodle Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups almond flour or almond meal
  • 3/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup almond butter*
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla

*Runny almond butter is best! A jar is usually the runniest when newly opened. If you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel on your almond butter, add an additional 1-2 teaspoons of coconut oil to the recipe.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer bowl, add all ingredients in the order given. Mix just until all ingredients are incorporated.

Scoop 1 inch round balls of dough onto prepared cookie sheet. You may choose to roll them in your hands or use a cookie dough scoop for more consistency. Using the bottom of a glass jar or cup, flatten the balls into round cookies, about 1/4″ thick.

Bake for approximately 10 minutes. If you like a gooier cookie, pull them out sooner, around 8 minutes. Transfer to a wire wrack to cool completely. Store them in a tightly sealed container for up to a week in the refrigerator or 3-6 months in the freezer.

Photos and Content Copyright © Jaclyn Beaty Nutrition, 2019

Apple Cinnamon Star Muffins

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These muffins make food fun! Everybody enjoys eating food that looks good, and since we also eat with our eyes, these are particularly enticing to little ones. These top the charts as one of my toddler’s favorite foods because a) he loves apples, b) he’s obsessed with stars, and c) he could eat his weight in muffins. This is my toddler trifecta.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Since this recipe was developed with little stomachs in mind, they are sweetened only with fruit from bananas and apples. Balancing blood sugar of kids (and adults!) is an important factor in keeping emotions and energy stable. Healthy fat from coconut oil and flaxseed allows slower digestion, and the heaping helping of cinnamon is beneficial to blood sugar balance. This egg-free, dairy-free recipe is a cinch to clean up since all of it can be dumped into one bowl and pulsed in a food processor. And that pulse button is the perfect way to get kids excited to help in the kitchen.

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Now, before you take another look at the star shapes and mutter things ain’t nobody got time for, you could easily do without the star if you’re in a pinch, or replace it with another small cookie cutter you have if your kiddo’s Play Doh collection. If it’s within the realm of possibilities for you, a fun shape might be just what it takes to introduce kids to whole, clean foods that don’t come out of a bag.

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Have fun with different shapes! We happened to have a batch of these topped with hearts baking while we worked on Valentines. A Christmas tree, pumpkin, numbers, or letters would entice little hands to reach for one. They made the house smell so good! Be sure to get your kids to help in the kitchen to expose them to the appreciation of cooking and kitchen stewardship.

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Apple Cinnamon Star Muffins

  • Servings: 12 cups
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 cups quick 1-minute oats
  • 3 Tbsp ground flaxseed
  • 2 Tbsp arrowroot starch
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • Dash nutmeg

Wet Ingredients

  • 2 small apples; 1 1/2 coarsely chopped, and 1/2 reserved as discs for cut-outs*
  • 3 1/2 ripe bananas
  • 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

*I used honeycrisp, but any sweet apple will work. If you plan to use a cutter shape for the top, be sure to plan ahead by saving half of an apple to be sliced in transverse discs about 1/4″ thick. Any scrap that remains from the cutouts should be added back to the bowl of wet ingredients.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 12-cup muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Add all dry ingredients into a large food processor and pulse a few times until well blended. Add the wet ingredients directly into the food processor on top of the dry ingredients and blend until completely incorporated.

Drop spoonfuls of the batter into the prepared muffin cups and top with your star-shaped apple pieces, or other selected shape. Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes or until the center of muffins read 200 degrees when an instant read thermometer is inserted.

Transfer the muffins to a cooling rack to cool completely. These will keep for up to one week in the refrigerator in a tightly sealed container. I enjoy these with a hefty dollop of ghee and glass of almond milk!

Photos and Content Copyright © Jaclyn Beaty Nutrition, 2019

Babyfood Liver Pate

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High quality organ meats are one of the best foods to introduce to babies starting around 6 months. I have introduced chicken liver and beef liver pate to my babe as first foods, and aim to offer this around 3-4 servings a week for adequate iron, choline, and zinc.

For more on why this is a perfect first food, read my article on 6-9 month feeding practices.

If you cringe at the word ‘liver’ or it isn’t something that has ever passed your lips, don’t mistake that for meaning your baby won’t like it either. When pureed with chicken broth or bone broth, it’s the most nutrient dense food your baby could eat, second to mother’s milk.

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I like to save a small jar in the refrigerator for immediate use, and then freeze the rest into mini-muffin molds and freeze along with the rest of my baby food stash.

Babyfood Liver Pate

  • Servings: 16, one ounce servings
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Ingredients

Babyfood Liver Pate

  • 1 lb high quality organic, free-range chicken livers
  • 1/2 cup bone broth, chicken broth, or water
  • pinch of sea salt

Directions

In a small saucepan, bring livers and broth to boil, then reduce to simmer for 14-16 minutes, stirring occasionally. I use an instant read thermometer to check the internal temp of the liver has reached 165 F. Transfer livers and broth to high-speed blender, add salt if desired, and puree until creamy, whipped consistency is achieved. 

Reserve a single serving of liver pate to use within 1-2 days, and transfer the remaining into silicone sections or muffin tins and freeze in small portions until ready to use.

Photos and Content Copyright © Jaclyn Beaty Nutrition, 2019