This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Albertsons. All opinions are 100% mine.

The dawn of a new year traditionally invites people to clean the slate, so to speak. And many folks use this as an opportunity to introduce healthy practices into their lifestyle. (Happy New Year, by the way!) While I’m a huge proponent of living mindfully and healthfully, I’m also not one to push for diets or fads or changes that cause you to just beat yourself up. That’s the opposite of healthy. All that said, if you want to introduce some better choices into your routine, whipping up this healthy green smoothie is a great way to start!

And when I say whip it up, I mean whip it up. This delicious smoothie comes together in just a few minutes with minimal ingredients! The recipe was made even quicker by the fact that I took advantage of Albertsons‘ DriveUp & Go for a super convenient way to shop.

As I mentioned above, the smoothie requires just five ingredients — a banana or two, frozen peaches and frozen mangos, spinach and some water. As someone who is mindful about what I put into my body, I opted to use O Organics® brand peaches, mangos, and spinach, which are all certified USDA organic.

But what does that actually mean? According to the USDA’s website:

USDA certified organic foods are grown and processed according to federal guidelines addressing, among many factors, soil quality, animal raising practices, pest and weed control, and use of additives. Organic producers rely on natural substances and physical, mechanical, or biologically based farming methods to the fullest extent possible.

Produce can be called organic if it’s certified to have grown on soil that had no prohibited substances applied for three years prior to harvest. Prohibited substances include most synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

Pesticides are no joke, so when I can’t grow my own food, I purchase organic to avoid ingesting a dangerous pesticide cocktail.

This healthy green smoothie makes about one large serving or two small ones so you can share with a friend. I love it because it’s an easy way to get some greens into my system, without needing to eat them in a salad. And, I can assure you, this smoothie in no way tastes like spinach. It would also be a great way to sneak greens into kiddos, too! (I’ve heard some folks get their kids excited by the green color and tell them it’s a Shrek drink – smart!)

Overall, this recipe is light, bright, and fruity. If you’d like to add a little extra protein in your drink, feel free to toss in a bit of plain, low fat greek yogurt and just increase the water so your smoothie isn’t too thick.

Once you’re ready to go, throw all your ingredients into a blender, puree away and you’re set! Enjoy at breakfast, as a healthy snack, or (my personal favorite), after a workout.

I shopped at Albertsons in my local area to score these ingredients, but you can also look for similar products at any of the Albertsons Companies family of stores, including Safeway, ACME Markets, Jewel-Osco, Randalls, Shaw’s Supermarket, Star Market, Tom Thumb and Vons.

Healthy Green Smoothie

 

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Prep time

3 mins

Total time

3 mins

 

Whip up a healthy green smoothie in just a few minutes with minimal ingredients!

Author: Big Sky, Little Kitchen

Recipe type: Drinks

Cuisine: American

Makes: 1

Ingredients

• 1 to 2 bananas (I usually opt for 1)
• ½ cup O Organics frozen peaches
• ½ cup O Organics frozen mango
• A couple large handfuls of O Organics baby spinach
• 4 to 8 ounces of water, depending on how thick or thin you prefer your smoothie
• 4 ounces non fat, plain greek yogurt (optional)

Instructions

1. Add all your ingredients to your blender, layering heavier ingredients at the bottom.
2. Add enough water to blend, and enjoy!

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Albertsons. All opinions are 100% mine.

One of the easiest things we can do with the abundance of summertime fresh produce (including fresh blackberries) is to make an easy, healthy blackberry jam with it! I’m also a fan of reducing the amount of refined sugar in my diet, so this recipe speaks to that desire by replacing refined sugar with nature’s candy – honey.

I shopped at Albertsons in my local Montana area to pick up these blackberries, but you can also find a beautiful assortment of fresh produce at any of the Albertsons Companies family of stores, including Safeway, ACME Markets, Jewel-Osco, Randalls, Shaw’s Supermarket, Star Market, Tom Thumb and Vons.

The best part about this jam is the simple list of ingredients – blackberries and honey! And, really, you could use any summer fruit. Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, or Flathead cherries are just a few that come to mind. As long as you can boil the fruit down and to a thicker, jam consistency, then you’re set!

Blackberries are particularly nice, though, because they naturally contain a higher amount of pectin than, say, strawberries, which helps the jam to thicken up. What exactly is pectin? Pectin is a carbohydrate found mostly in the skin and core of raw fruit. In nature, it functions as the structural “cement” that helps hold cell walls together. And, it also happens to help hold jams together, too!

Keep in mind that you’ll want to choose a pot with just a little extra headroom (about an inch or so is fine) because the blackberries will start bubbling and producing the prettiest, pinky-purple foam as they begin to cook down. If the bubbling bothers you, you can knock it back by stirring regularly. I used a 3-quart pot and had no issues when making the jam.

Did you know that blackberries are packed fully of Vitamin C? “Vitamin C is integral to collagen formation in bones, connective tissue, and blood vessels.” They’re also high in fiber, a great source of Vitamin K, high in manganese, they may boost brain health, and they help support oral health due to their anti-inflammatory qualities. Lastly, one cup of raw blackberries has only 62 calories, 1 gram of fat, and 14 carbs. (Source: Healthline) Pretty darn great if you ask me!

While most people use jam on toast or in sandwiches, you can always get creative with your jam in other ways too! This healthy blackberry jam is especially tasty on pancakes, muffins, and crepes, and I love to make a healthy dessert by swirling some into non-fat plain greek yogurt for a creamy, healthy treat.

If that sounds good to you, did you know that you can make it even easier on yourself with grocery delivery from Albertsons? Albertsons and Safeway also offer Grocery Delivery and Drive Up & Go for convenient ways to shop!

What sorts of things do you love to make with fresh blackberries? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Don’t forget to check Albertsons’ Weekly Ad for deals!

Healthy Blackberry Jam

 

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Prep time

2 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

32 mins

 

Easy, healthy blackberry jam makes summer produce the star and keeps refined sugar on the sidelines.

Author: Big Sky, Little Kitchen

Makes: Approximately 1.5 pints

Ingredients

• 5 cups fresh blackberries (about 2½ pounds)
• ½ cup honey or 1 cup white sugar

Instructions

1. Wash the blackberries well. Add all fruit to a medium-sized sauce pot (about 3 quarts is good). Add the honey (or white sugar if you're using it in place of the honey) to the pot. Stir to combine.
2. Place the pot on medium to medium-low heat and simmer covered for about 10 minutes. (Stir to keep any bubbling down.) Remove the lid and allow the fruit to cook for another 20 minutes while you stir from time to time. Make sure the fruit doesn't scorch. If the fruit mixture looks too thin, keep cooking and monitoring regularly until it's a thicker consistency and most of the liquid has boiled off.
3. Once the jam is gelling, transfer to a glass container to cool. Once cooled, store in the fridge.

Notes

If your jam isn't coming together at 30 minutes, this likely means you're cooking at too low a temperature. But don't give up! Keep cooking until most of the liquid has cooked off and you're left with a jam consistency to your fruit.

If you'd like, you can squeeze 2-3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice into your blackberries at the start of your cooking, too.

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I’m usually more of a savory-for-breakfast kind of girl, but sometimes you have to go a little decadent and splurge on some good ol’ crispy-on-the-outside, warm-and-soft-on-the-inside belgian waffles with coconut whipped cream and strawberries.

And waffles are just fun to make and eat. As a kid I remember having a blast filling the iron and then, once the waffles were ready to be devoured, trying to get every little square filled with maple syrup and butter, pretending I was eating a syrup lake with lots of mini moats. Oh to be a kid!

I found that when making these waffles, I didn’t need to grease my waffle-maker, but if your iron sometimes has troubles with the final waffle sticking to the inside, then you might want to grease it before each addition of batter.

Instead of topping these waffles with butter, I’ve opted for a lovely dollop of coconut whipped cream. If you’d like to do this, too, you’ll want to plan ahead to make sure your whipped cream is ready to use in the morning (or whenever you choose to serve these – I’m a *huge* fan of breakfast for dinner!).

The coconut whipped cream is made from the solids from a can of full-fat coconut milk. This comes about by refrigerating the can overnight to separate the solid from the liquid and get the cream nice and firm. It’s important to note that you’ll want to use a coconut milk brand that does NOT use guar gum, and it MUST be full fat. The guar gum prevents the solid and liquid from separating, but we want these two things separated, so avoid the guar gum or you’ll run into difficulties making the coconut whipped cream. I used the Sun Luck brand, and it also appears as though the Goya brand would work well too.

Top everything everything with diced, fresh strawberries (the better to fit in those squares!), and a splash of maple syrup – the real stuff from the trees, no imitations here.

Also, random sidenote – who on earth thought to stick a tap into a tree and drink its sap? I’m forever grateful to the people who have come up with these strange, awesome, and tasty things.

These waffles also boast a little extra flavor from just a hint of two of my favorite spices, nutmeg and cinnamon. However, if you’d rather have a non-spiced and more savory waffle as your vehicle for the coconut cream and strawberries (or whatever else you’d like to top this with), then feel free to leave the spices out. But I tell you – they taste great in this mixture!

Make sure to serve these babies hot off the waffle iron, but if you find yourself with a few extra, they can easily be reheated in the oven or a toaster oven for a few minutes to bring back that crisp outside texture.

And enjoy! Justify all this decadence with a good hike in the mountains, knowing that you’ve just treated yourself to a solid, and exceptionally tasty energy boost.

Belgian Waffles with Coconut Whipped Cream and Strawberries

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

35 mins

 

Author: Big Sky, Little Kitchen
Barely adapted from Something Swanky and Oh She Glows

Recipe type: Breakfast

Makes: Approximately 6 belgian-style waffles

Ingredients

For the Waffles:

• 1¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup corn starch
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup almond milk
• ½ cup heavy cream
• ¾ cup buttermilk
• ½ cup cooking oil
• 1½ tsp. vanilla
• ⅛ tsp. nutmeg
• ½ tsp cinnamon

For the Coconut Whipped Cream

• 1 can full-fat coconut milk without guar gum as an ingredient, chilled overnight
• 2 tsp. sugar or maple syrup
• ½ tsp. vanilla

Instructions

For the Waffles:

1. Get your waffle iron nice and hot and ready to go.
2. Whisk all of the ingredients together in a large bowl until smooth.
3. Pour approximately ½ cup batter onto the hot waffle iron, and cook to your preferred darkness, or follow your waffle-maker's instructions.
4. Serve hot with a dollop of coconut whipped cream, diced fresh strawberries and a splash of real maple syrup.

For the Coconut Whipped Cream:

1. Ensure your can of full-fat coconut milk has been chilled overnight to make the coconut solids nice and firm.
2. Remove the can from your fridge and flip it upside down to bring the liquid to the top. Open the can and pour the liquid into a bowl or plastic container for storage. (You can use this later in yummy smoothies!)
3. Scoop out the firm coconut cream from the can and place it into a medium to large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.
4. Whip the cream until light and fluffy.
5. Add in your preferred sweetener and vanilla and whip again. Serve with your waffles.

Notes

If you'd rather not use the almond milk, cream and buttermilk in the waffles, you can just use regular milk. But I liked how decadent the cream made this and how the buttermilk added just a bit of tang.

If you don't eat all of these in one sitting, you can reheat your waffles in a 325 degree oven for 5 minutes. Leftover coconut cream stores well in the fridge - just scoop into a bowl and stir or re-whip when ready to use again.

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I have a decidedly wicked sweet tooth, so when I come across recipes that satisfy my craving for sweets in a pretty healthful way like this coconut chia seed pudding with strawberries, then you can bet your boots I’ll be shouting across the mountaintops about it.

To knock it out of the park, this recipe is easy and really quick to put together. You just have to exercise a little patience as you wait for those magical little chia seeds to set overnight.

But oooooh, let me tell you. The wait is definitely worth it.

Because this pudding features coconut milk that’s low in calories (I call for something along the lines of what Silk offers, not the coconut milk from a can, though you could certainly use this – it’d just add some fat) and non-fat greek yogurt, you can even indulge in this for breakfast.

I can tell you, this makes for a great treat to wake up to in the morning – especially if, like me, you’re absolutely NOT a morning person. Those fresh strawberries and the creaminess of this pudding are just the perfect way to get you going for the day.

This recipe serves about four, but I can assure you you’ll probably want to double it, as it tends to disappear quickly it’s just that good.

Coconut Chia Seed Pudding with Strawberries

 

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Prep time

40 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Author: Big Sky, Little Kitchen
Adapted from this Chia Seed Pudding recipe

Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup unflavored coconut milk
• 1 cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ⅛ teaspoon Kosher salt
• ¼ cup chia seeds
• 6 to 8 large strawberries, hulled and chopped or sliced

Instructions

1. In a medium-size bowl combine the coconut milk, yogurt, maple syrup, vanilla and salt. Whisk gently until blended and creamy. Add in the chia seeds and whisk until coated and combined.
2. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. If you feel the seeds have settled into the mixture a bit, stir to redistribute. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
3. The next day, prepare your strawberries. Spoon the pudding mixture into four bowls or glasses and top with even amounts of strawberries and serve.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 1 Calories: 161 Fat: 4.5g Saturated fat: 1.3g Unsaturated fat: 2.6 g Trans fat: 0g Carbohydrates: 20.1g Sugar: 11.6g Sodium: 155mg Fiber: 6g Protein: 9.4g Cholesterol: 2.5mg

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