Christine’s Crossing — Green Smoothies 101

Starter Green Smoothie

It’s time once again to hear from Health Coach, Christine de la Cruz—this month on the subject of green smoothies…

Do you ever wonder what in the world you are going to do with all of the gorgeous greens you receive on Wednesdays? Some weeks I can barely fit them in my refrigerator—which is actually a great problem to have.  My solution to not wasting one fabulous bit is to make green smoothies!

Include a green smoothie in your diet every day for 30 days, and you will see some of these awesome benefits:  improved digestion, increased energy, weight loss, glowing skin, luxurious hair, improved sleep and better moods. Who’s not on board now?  And the best part is that you don’t have to change anything else you are consuming.

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Springy Summer Rolls

Spring Rolls

Whether you call them spring rolls, summer rolls or even plain old salad wraps doesn’t really matter—unless you feel the need to be culturally precise.  Whatever name you choose, Vietnamese-style rice paper wraps are an irresistibly fun and tasty, hands-on approach to pushing fruit and vegetables.  Call it sneaky if you want, but what kid (or adult) doesn’t embrace the idea of choosing the food on their plate—and having the chance to play with it, too?  Pull out all the veggies, Mom.  This is the day you’ve waited for.

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Trader Joe’s Banana Strawberry Muffins

Caroline's Banana Strawberry Muffin

 

These muffins are not only delicious and filling, but another great part about making this recipe is that the muffins are very flexible. Since this muffin showcases so many different flavors and textures, it is easy to add a personal tweak to the muffins, but they are still guaranteed to be healthy and flavorful. They are easy to make, since you use a muffin mix, but they are also personalized, since you can pick and choose the extras. You can add chocolate or not, strawberries or not, walnuts or not. Any way you choose, the muffins are guaranteed to taste superb. Overall, this is a quick and tasty muffin that we definitely recommend.

Recipe adapted by Tess M and Caroline W, 6th grade students at The Girls’ Middle School.

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Easy Banana Strawberry Muffins

Sparkling Banana Strawberry Muffin

These delicious, fluffy muffins will have you in awe once you take your first bite. The best part of this recipe is that it is flexible, and you can remove any ingredients (other than the banana mix) to suit your purposes. This is useful for mornings when you want to have something delicious, but don’t have the time to make it from scratch. If you want a really moist muffin, use two bananas but if you want a more “cakey” muffin, use one.

Banana Muffins with StrawberriesThese muffins were created by Emma P, Katelyn E, Ariana C and Ashley J, 7th graders at The Girls’ Middle School.

 

 

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Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp




Rhubarb and strawberries are an old-fashioned American combination.  Think lattice-weave-pastry-topped pie wedges served up with scoops of home-churned vanilla ice cream—an early summer stand-by at any number of small-town, middle-America diners of yesteryear.  Perch on a Naugahyde-covered stool at the counter, sip a mug of black coffee (no latté please) and tuck into a forkful. Nothing better on earth.  While this exact experience might be a relic of the past, the taste is easy to recreate with a simple crumble topping instead of the pie crust.  Serve some up with this week’s ruby-red rhubarb.  You won’t find this spring jewel in the markets much longer.

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