Category Archives: Recipes

Peach Green Smoothie Recipe

Posted on by Allen Stern

I’d like to share the recipe for one of my favorite green smoothies…a peach green smoothie that incorporates a variety of superfoods to kick up the nutrition level. This smoothie is close behind my favorite strawberry green smoothie. I am sure once you try this smoothie, it will become one of your favorites too! And before we go on, don’t forget to signup for my Smoothie a Day Newsletter!

This green smoothie uses the superfoods of ginger, maca, flax and chia. Remember that with any superfood smoothie, if you don’t have the superfoods on hand, you can still make this smoothie without any/all. The superfoods won’t change the taste of the smoothie…I find that they help increase the nutrition level and help with weight loss, detox and energy.

Please share this wonderful recipe:

My goal is to add as many things to my green smoothies without affecting the taste. This way I get the best possible nutrition in my cup of green goodness.

Peach Green Superfood Smoothie Recipe

BTW, have you tried my super world famous apple snack?

Here are a few of the benefits of ginger and maca root powder:

Ginger (source):

  • Ginger is a diaphoretic… meaning that it makes you sweat. It is believed in the Philippines that chewing ginger will expel evil spirits
  • Ginger is shown to work wonders in the treatment of everything from cancer to migraines and stomach aches
  • Ginger is high in potassium and also contains manganese, silicon, vitamin A, C, E, B-complex, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, iron, zinc, calcium, beta-carotene and helps with the absorption of calcium.

Maca (source):

  • Increases energy, endurance and stamina in your body.
  • Increases sexual strength as well and it acts as an aphrodisiac. Hence, both fertility and sexual desire are improved after consuming maca powder.
  • Increases your muscular strength. In fact, Incan warriors used it regularly to help them increase their strength and prowess in battle
Peach Green Smoothie Recipe
 

Prep time

Cook time

Total time

 

Author:
Recipe type: Drinks
Serves: 1

Ingredients
  • 1 fresh peach or the equivalent frozen peach slices
  • 3 ounces orange juice
  • 3 ounces water
  • 1 small banana (fresh or frozen)
  • 1 teaspoon maca root powder
  • 1 tablespoon chia seeds
  • 1 tablespoon flax seeds
  • ½ inch ginger root
  • 2-3 handfuls of spinach

Instructions
  1. Put everything in your blender, blend and enjoy

Related: These are my favorite chia seeds.

Get a fresh smoothie each morning with my Smoothie a Day newsletter!

Healthy Cacao Chocolate Covered Apples Recipe

Posted on by Allen Stern

Want a sweet and tasty treat that is also super healthy? You’ve got to check out my Chocolate Covered Apple recipe that uses raw cacao for the chocolate sauce. This recipe is also vegan and vegetarian. It only takes a couple minutes to make and will wow yourself and your guests.

It’s been so unseasonably warm here in Austin this week. I’ve tried to play hookie on work and enjoy the outdoors and the beautiful weather. Although I must admit I’d love a couple days of snow. I’ve had a few smoothies near the pool and even a citrus-infused Yerba Mate earlier this week.

I had a craving for some chocolate so I wanted to create something that I could share with a friend that would be sweet but naturally also healthy. I’ve been on an apple kick as of late but wanted to make something other than my now world-famous apple snack. So why not put apple and chocolate together?!?! Oh yea!

Healthy Chocolate Covered Apple Recipe

The pinch of lemon juice on the apples will give you a tart pop with the sweetness of the apples and the chocolate sauce.

Before we get to the recipe, check out some of the awesome health benefits of raw cacao powder – who knew that chocolate was good for you!  (source)

  • Cacao has more antioxidant flavonoids than any food tested so far, including blueberries, red wine, and black and green teas. In fact, it has up to four times the quantity of antioxidants found in green tea.
  • Raw cacao powder is a great source of magnesium, which is beneficial for heart health, good digestion, brain alertness, strong bones, and mental health.
  • A Harvard study focused on the Kuna Indians off the Caribbean coast of Panama who drink 5 cups of cacao every day, linking it to their lower rates of heart disease and hypertension.

Raw cacao can have a slightly bitter taste (it’s not like a hershey bar) so you may want to play with the amount of stevia you use to make sure it comes out sweet. Over time I’ve found that I like the raw cacao close to direct from the bag but the recipe below is for someone just starting out with raw cacao and stevia.

I used NuNaturals alcohol-free stevia liquid and Navitas Naturals cacao powder for this recipe. I also used my Blendtec blender to blend the chocolate sauce.

Healthy Chocolate Cacao Covered Apples Recipe
 

Prep time

Cook time

Total time

 

Author:
Serves: 1

Ingredients
  • 1 apple (I used Fuji)
  • juice of ½ lemon
  • 2-3 tablespoons raw cacao powder
  • 1 frozen banana
  • 4 ounces water
  • 1-2 droppers liquid stevia

Instructions
  1. juice lemon into bowl
  2. slice apple into desired pieces and place into bowl with lemon juice
  3. place bowl into fridge for 15 minutes
  4. blend banana, cacao, water and stevia until smooth
  5. after blending, taste and adjust stevia as needed until desired sweetness

You can either drizzle the chocolate sauce over your apple slices or place the raw cacao chocolate sauce into a bowl and then dip the apple slices as you eat them. The lemon juice will prevent the apple slices from browning.

Get a fresh smoothie each morning with my Smoothie a Day newsletter!

Strawberry Superfood Smoothie Recipe

Posted on by Allen Stern

Here’s my easy recipe for a strawberry superfood smoothie that will keep your energy on high all day and help you lose weight.

If you have been to LTF before, you already know how much I love my green smoothies. If you are new to LTF, welcome and I hope you stay a while. From a weight loss perspective, green smoothies have made the biggest impact on my health. If you haven’t tried green smoothies, check out my starter guide which is packed with info on smoothies. And signup for my Smoothie a Day newsletter where I send out one healthy smoothie each weekday.

I think this is my favorite green smoothie. If you don’t have the superfoods on hand, or don’t want to buy them just yet, you can easily make this smoothie sans superfoods. In fact, the strawberry-apple juice-banana-spinach combo is one of the best green smoothies to get started with. You can add in as many or as few of the superfoods as you have. The flax and chia are the least expensive and the acai is the most expensive.

Please share this wonderful recipe:

Strawberry Superfood Smoothie Recipe

This superfood smoothie uses the following superfoods: chia, acai, flax and ginger (I consider it a superfood). Even if you don’t want to try the superfoods, you should definitely try the ginger. It’s just a few cents per smoothie and since I started adding ginger to my smoothies, I’ve noticed an increase in my health. What’s great about all of these superfoods is that they don’t change the taste of the smoothie but increase the nutrition and the health benefits of the smoothie bigtime.

You can buy the superfoods at online retailers — I’ve found the best prices at Amazon and iHerb. You can also find the flax seeds and the chia seeds in the bulk department at Whole Foods and other natural grocers. This might be a good way to get started as you can buy a small amount before you invest in a larger bag of each. My favorite brand of superfoods is Navitas Naturals.

Here are some quick highlights of the health benefits of each of the superfoods.

Chia (more):

  • Chia seeds can help reduce blood pressure. The seeds contain one of the highest known plant sources of essential fatty acids (omega-3 and omega-6).
  • Chia seeds slow down the rate at which complex carbohydrates are digested and then assimilated into the body. The soluble fiber helps to stabilize blood glucose levels resulting in steady, sustained energy.

Flax (more):

  • The first unique feature of flax is its high omega-3 fatty acid content. Among all 129 World’s Healthiest Foods, flaxseeds comes out number one as a source of omega-3s.
  • The strong fiber content of flaxseeds—including their mucilaginous fiber—help to delay gastric emptying and can improve intestinal absorption of nutrients. Flaxseed fibers also help to steady the passage of food through our intestines.

Acai (more):

  • The acai berries have powerful detoxification capacities in the human body and is a well-known traditional source of dietary fiber.
  • Acai berries contain anti-inflammatory properties that may prevent the typical inflammation response associated with allergic reactions.
  • Acai berries may contribute to an ability to slow or reverse typical processes of aging related to inflammation and cellular oxidative damage…the berries are one of the planets highest sources of antioxidants.
Strawberry Superfood Smoothie Recipe
 

Prep time

Cook time

Total time

 

Author:
Recipe type: Drinks
Serves: 1

Ingredients
  • 1 cup strawberries
  • 1 banana (frozen)
  • 4 ounces apple juice (no sugar added)
  • 4 ounces water
  • 2 handfuls spinach
  • 1 tablespoon acai berry powder
  • 2 tablespoons flax seeds
  • 2 tablespoons chia seeds
  • ½ inch piece of ginger

Instructions
  1. Add everything to your blender, blend until smooth
  2. Top with optional chia seeds
  3. Enjoy!

Strawberry Green Superfood Smoothie

Get a fresh smoothie each morning with my Smoothie a Day newsletter!

Easy and Healthy Awesome Apple Crisps Recipe

Posted on by Allen Stern

Fuji ApplesDo you like potato chips? If so, I’ve got an easy recipe for healthy apple crisps chips that will make you never want a greasy, oily, filled with crap potato chip ever again! And these apple crisps are perfect for your kid’s lunchbags – they will love them and never realize all the healthy nutrition they are getting.

Before we get started, I gave a bag of the apple crisps to Lisa and here is her response, “Thank you so much for the delicious apple snack! I ate the apples…and they were as crispy as potato chips. I love it and would love to learn how to make some.” Here are the details Lisa!

These crisps (or chips) are be perfect for a healthy Superbowl party snack too – create a simple berry dip and that combo will be better than any pizza, wings or potato chips.

Late last year I posted my raw apple snack and never expected it to become the hit apple sensation that it has since. It’s so wonderful when I hear from parents that their young kids love my raw apple snack because it means that they aren’t eating cookies or other junk food. Now I’d like to share a new recipe I’ve come up with that is just as easy and just as awesome. I wish I could say which one is better but like a parent, all my kids are equally awesome :)

Apple Crisps Chips Recipe

This new recipe is so simple – you just need an apple, a way to slice the apple thinly and some cinnamon (plus some optional stevia powder). I have to be honest here...I AM COMPLETELY ADDICTED TO THESE APPLE CRISPS CHIPS.

Since we all know how awesomely healthy apples are, here are some of the health benefits of cinnamon:

  • Studies have shown that just 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon per day can lower LDL cholesterol. (source)
  • Cinnamon has anti-inflammatory properties.
  • Several studies suggest that cinnamon may have a regulatory effect on blood sugar.
  • One study found that smelling cinnamon boosts cognitive function and memory.
  • And heck, it just tastes great!

To slice the apple thinly, I used this mandolin slicer. If you use a mandolin, please be careful. Lots of the reviews on any mandolin note that it is easy to take a finger off. This slicing must be done by an adult. I used the thickest setting on the mandolin – basically you want slices that are very thin but thick enough so they stay firm when you hold one in the air. If the slices are too thin, they will fall apart during the cooking. If they are too thick, they will take longer to cook and won’t be as crispy.

You can use a dehydrator to make this snack too but I don’t have one so this oven method works perfectly. There are lots of apple crisps recipes out there but so many seem to be filled with sugar and other non-healthy stuff.

You can easily add more apples to the oven – the only limit are the number of pans you have and how big your oven is. I run 2 trays at once using 3 total apples.

Easy and Healthy Awesome Apple Crisps Recipe
 

Prep time

Cook time

Total time

 

Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 1

Ingredients
  • 1 apple (can be any kind of apple, I used a Fuji variety)
  • cinnamon
  • stevia powder (optional) (I used NuNaturals)
  • pinch of grapeseed oil (or other high temp oil)

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees
  2. Slice apple thinly and place on non-stick pan (i used a pizza pan that has holes on the bottom)
  3. Lightly top the pan with the grapeseed oil – you want to use as little as possible
  4. Place apple slices on pan
  5. Dust apple slices with cinnamon and very lightly dust with stevia
  6. Place pan in oven and cook for 2-3 hours – you want the slices to be dry
  7. After each hour, remove pan from oven and lift the slices – the lifting will make sure they don’t stick and will give them a neat shape as they dry
  8. Remove pan from oven and let rest – the slices will become more crispy as they cool
  9. Serve and enjoy!

I know it seems like there are a lot of instructions but it really is as easy as “slice, dust, cook”. I hope you and your family and/or friends enjoy these apple crisps chips as much as I have.

Get a fresh smoothie each morning with my Smoothie a Day newsletter!

Tropical Pineapple Cilantro Green Smoothie

Posted on by Allen Stern

For many of us the cold and wet winter weather has arrived. I’d like to share a tropical green smoothie that will make you feel like it’s summer and you are on holiday! This green smoothie uses two very healthy herbs not typically found in smoothies: cilantro and turmeric. It’s been so amazing to see how green smoothies have helped with my weight loss and from awesome blog readers who tell me they have had similar results by just incorporating a smoothie into their daily routine.

I worked on this smoothie for a week to find a combination that is sweet and offers a super high level of nutrition. I was pleasantly surprised at the taste of the below smoothie recipe. I was also asked by a few of our Smoothie a Day newsletter subscribers to create slightly smaller serving size smoothies – this green smoothie is a 16 ounce smoothie that serves one.

It seems like tumeric will be the 2013 version of kale. I can’t seem to go on Facebook or Instagram without seeing something about how turmeric is the miracle herb/spice. Mother Nature has an overview of the health benefits of turmeric. Some notes:

  • The University of Maryland’s Medical Center states that turmeric’s powerful antioxidant properties fight cancer-causing free radicals, reducing or preventing some of the damage they can cause.
  • Dr. Randy J. Horwitz noted in his paper that, “Turmeric is one of the most potent natural anti-inflammatories available”.
  • Doctors at UCLA recently found that curcumin, the main component in turmeric, appeared to block an enzyme that promotes the growth of head and neck cancer.

Here is a visual representation of the ingredients in this smoothie. Note that the ginger in the photo is the full piece I purchased, not the piece you should use in this recipe. Also, the spinach decided not to appear in this photo but does play an important role in the final smoothie. I’d suggest starting with half of the cilantro shown below and then adjust after taste tasting. I even picked out a fun vacation glass from Belikin beer.

Pineapple Turmeric Cilantro Green Smoothie

Tropical Pineapple Cilantro Green Smoothie
 

Prep time

Cook time

Total time

 

Author:
Recipe type: Drinks
Serves: 1

Ingredients
  • ½ bunch cilantro
  • 1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
  • 1 tablespoon chia seeds
  • 6 ounces water and orange juice mix
  • 1-2 big handfuls of spinach
  • ½ to 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • ½ inch ginger root
  • 1 dropper stevia (I like NuNaturals alcohol-free stevia)

Instructions
  1. Blend and enjoy!
  2. Adjust the stevia level after blending to find the right sweetness level and remember that stevia is very concentrated so a little goes a long way.

Tropical Pineapple Cilantro Turmeric Smoothie

Get a fresh smoothie each morning with my Smoothie a Day newsletter!