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National Nutrition Month Recipes

Published: March 1, 2021

National Nutrition Month® is an annual campaign created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. During the month of March, everyone is invited to learn about making informed food choices and developing healthful eating and physical activity habits. We are starting it off with some fun healthier recipes that make you feel like you are enjoying the real thing! I have tested all of these recipes myself, and I approve of all of them!

1. Smoothie

    • Ingredients
      • Any type of frozen fruit (mango, strawberry, banana)
      • Your favorite non-dairy milk, regular milk, coconut water, or juice
      • Scoop of your favorite protein powder or nut butter (for added protein!)
      • Handful of spinach - either frozen or fresh (this is a great trick for getting greens into your diet!)
      • You can add a spoonful of honey or agave if you want a sweeter smoothie
      • You can make this a smoothie bowl by adding less liquid or a smoothie by adding more liquid 
    • Directions
      • Put everything into a blender and blend

2.Banana Oatmeal cookies These can also be “cookie dough” for kids because there are no eggs!

    • Ingredients
      • 2 very ripe bananas, mashed
      • 1 cup oats, rolled or quick 
      • ¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
    • Optional add ins
      • ½ teaspoon cinnamon 
      • ½ –1 teaspoon vanilla extract
      • ¼ cup shredded coconut
      • ¼ cup chopped nuts
      • ¼ cup dried fruit
      • 2 tablespoons nut butter
    • Directions
      • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, silicone mat, or lightly grease with oil.
      • Mix: In a medium size bowl, mash bananas to a fairly smooth consistency (a few small chunks is ok). Add oats and mix well. Add in chocolate chips, mix again. If the mixture is really wet, add a few more tablespoons of oats.
      • Scoop: Using a 1 tablespoon measuring spoon, scoop heaping scoops of mixture and place on cookie sheet. Leave in a dome shape or flatten it out a bit with your fingers to make a flatter shape. Depending on the size you scoop, you should get anywhere from 12 – 16 cookies.
      • Bake: Place in the oven, on the center rack, and bake for 15 – 20 minutes. If you make your scoops dome shaped and on the larger side, bake for 20 – 25 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool a few minutes before eating.
      • Makes about 12 – 16

3. Homemade Applesauce

    • Ingredients
      • 8 apples, peeled and cored
      • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
      • 1/2 cup water
      • 2 tbsp lemon juice
    • Directions
      • Peel and core your apples. The apple peeler and corer will speed up the process, but you can also cut and core your apples using a paring knife. Cut the apples into smaller chunks.
      • Combine the apples with cinnamon in a stock pot or Dutch oven. Add 1/2 cup water.
      • Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cover. Cook for 25-30 minutes on low heat. Apples will be broken down but still a bit chunky.
      • Remove from heat. Add lemon juice. For chunky applesauce mash with a potato masher or fork. For smooth applesauce use an immersion blender. Serve warm or cold.

4. Healthier Spinach and Artichoke Dip

    • Ingredients
      • 1 can of canned artichokes or 1 package of frozen artichokes
      • 10 oz of spinach, frozen or fresh
      • Salt and pepper to taste
      • 1 cup of plain low fat Greek yogurt
      • 1 cup of low-fat cottage cheese
      • ½ cup of low-fat mozzarella cheese
      • ¼ cup of low-fat grated parmesan
      • ½ teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
    • Directions
      • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
      • Cook frozen artichokes and frozen or fresh spinach together in a pan with a little oil (if canned artichokes, only cook spinach).
      • Chop up spinach and artichokes once cooled.
      • In a bowl mix together spinach, artichokes, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, mozzarella, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
      • Put this mixture into an 8x8 pan.
      • Sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top.
      • Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until your desired browning on the top.
      • If you want extra browning on the cheese broil for 1-2 minutes (make sure to watch so it doesn't burn!).

5. Healthier Avocado Cream

    • Ingredients
      • 1 or 2 avocados
      • ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
      • ¼ teaspoon Cumin 
      • ½ of lime (optional)
      • Salt and pepper to taste
    • Directions
      • Smash avocado
      • Add Greek yogurt
      • Squeeze lime juice, add
      • Add cumin
      • Add salt and pepper
      • Mix it up
    • This can be great on tacos or as a dip with veggies, this can also go great on toast 

6. Toast toppings – try a new topping and see what combination keeps you full!

    • Cottage cheese, egg, tomato, avocado
    • Avocado and tomatoes
    • Egg, avocado, radishes
    • Mustard, turkey, pickles (open face sandwich)
    • Peanut butter or any nut butter, banana, chia seeds, honey
    • Olive oil, salt, pepper, herbs

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