Miranda Malisani – Nutrition Expert

I bake a lot of “weird” things (according to my kids) and sometimes these weird things turn out really well. This one did. It started as a Halloween experiment where I was trying to get the “vampire blood’ look, but I think I’m going to add this to our monthly baking rotation.

With beets, carrots and Medjool dates I am happy to add it to the kids lunch snacks. I added some chocolate chips because they’ll try anything with a chocolate chip on it. And it actually complimented the sweet earthy flavour of these ingredients combined.

Beets are a supportive root to include around this time of year.  They are a liver-loving food and help to keep the bowels moving. The vibrant red colour is not only a Halloween showcase but it also contains rich antioxidants that help keep the body in balance and feeling vibrant too!

The Ombre Muffin

(Gluten-free, dairy-free)

Makes 9 regular sized muffins

Ingredients: 

1 small beet, peeled

3 medium carrots, peeled

6 Medjool dates, pitted

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 organic egg

1/2 cup brown rice flour

3/4 cup sorghum flour

1/4 cup coconut sugar

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate

 Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Blend the beet, carrots, dates and coconut milk in a high powered blender until smooth
3. Add the organic egg until combined
4. In a medium bowl add flour, coconut sugar, baking soda, baking powder, sea salt and mix
5. Pour blender mixture into medium bowl and mix until combined
6. Add  1/4 cup chocolate chips to the mixture
7. Fill muffin liners 3/4 of the way full
8. Add the rest of the chocolate chips on the top of each muffin
9. Bake for 20-24 minutes or until your toothpick is dry after carefully testing in the centre of the muffin

Dead leaves, seaweed, rotten eggs, too.

Stir them in my witches’ brew.
I got magic, Alakazamakazoo.

Spider web, moldy bread, mucky mud, too.
Stir them in my witches’ brew.
I got magic! Alakazamakazoo

ooo – My witches’ brew – ooo
What’s it gonna do to you?
Boo! (Witches Brew, Hap Palmer)

There isn’t moldy bread, rotten eggs or mucky mud in this smoothie, but seaweed would have been a great idea. Seaweed has a crazy amazing amount of minerals that are needed to boost the immune system after the sugar gorge fest a.k.a Halloween.

Although this holiday is not high on the loved list for many Nutritionists because of the junk that gets passed out in heaps to our kids, which makes them crazy hyper, halts their desire for real foods (due to intensity of sweetness and it creating tastebud insensitivity) and makes them more likely to catch a virus due to the anti-nutrient effect that sugar has, I still love Halloween – but not for these reasons.

I am all for a good pumpkin carving / decorating the house and dressing up, but the main reason I love Halloween is because I can sneak any ingredients into my smoothies if they are poured into a bottle with a witch or haunted house on it. The coloured straw always helps too.

If you haven’t tried packaging your healthy smoothies in a fun and festive bottle or mason jar with a brightly coloured straw then do it! Kids eat with their eyes and when they feel the fun in it they are WAY more likely to drink the whole thing. I like to milk holidays and fun events for as loooong as possible, so the halloween bottles have already been pulled out and this morning was our first batch of Witches Brewberry.

Witches Brewberry Smoothie 

Serves 3-4 

2 cups unsweetened almond milk

1.5 scoop Vega Protein & Greens Vanilla

2 tbsp organic Kefir

1/2 cup frozen organic kale

3/4 cup organic frozen blueberries

1 tbsp pumpkin seed butter

1 tbsp hemp hearts

Directions:

1. Blend in a high powered blender

Halloween glass bottles from Michaels. 

Today’s dinner consisted of one of my boys eating his fish and not eating his broccoli and purple potatoes, the other one would only eat his broccoli and potatoes. Together they make a nutritionally balanced kid, but apart they like to make me work for it.

Of course I told them to eat it and they declined saying that they don’t like it, and you know how it goes from there. The food tug of war that no one ever wins…

So I walked away slightly annoyed and decided they are on a need to know basis for the next little bit while we make it through this picky period. I’m a believer in bringing them into the kitchen, having them cook with me and teaching them about food and health as much as I can without them rolling their eyes. In reality it’s not always feasible to get into these big lessons when everyone is hungry and you’ve got 20 minutes to make something.  Sometimes I just want them to eat their damn vegetables and be done with it.

I had to kick up my creativity in the easiest way I know how.

What do they both love…pancakes!

What is the most challenging green to include lately…kale!

So I’ll put kale in their pancakes.

Kale is a tad bitter so I had to add  some berries to counter with sweetness. I blended three different purees to add to Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free pancake mix.

Raspberry Puree 

1/2 cup organic frozen raspberries + 4 tbsp unsweetened coconut milk

Blueberry Puree 

1/2 cup organic frozen blueberries + 4 tbsp unsweetened coconut milk

Kale Puree 

1/2 cup organic frozen kale + 1 banana + 6 tbsp unsweetened coconut milk

I blended them all one at a time in my Vitamix. I then added it to the pancake batter and cooked up the pancakes as usual.

My eldest is the true kale hater in our home and he ate two plates without noticing a thing. His palate normally has a leafy-green detector, but the flavour really worked to disguise any bitterness.

He loved it so much it’s going in his lunch tomorrow as a snack.

Can I get a Kale-Yeah!

<3 Miranda

After my Chocolate Avocado cake disappeared into the bellies of my boys in ONE day, I just had to bake something more with this creamy combo.

I love how an avocado acts as the perfect fat once smoothed out, I didn’t need any oil for this recipe.

I decided to use my Vitamix for this recipe because it’s my favourite kitchen toy and it gets the avocado to a pureed state without any little pieces.

Here’s the recipe: 

Chocolate Chip Avocado Mini Muffins

Makes 24 mini muffins

Ingredients: 

1 ripe avocado

1 ripe banana

1/4 cup raw honey

7 tbsp unsweetened organic apple sauce (the amount in a snack pack cup)

2 organic eggs

1 1/4 cup millet flour

2 tbsp raw cacao powder

2 tbsp coconut sugar

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F
2. In a high powered blender add the avocado, banana, honey, apple sauce, cacao, and coconut sugar and blend until it’s smooth
3. Add in the two eggs and blend on low to combine
4. In a medium bowl mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and combine
6. Add dark chocolate chips and evenly distribute
7. Add mini muffin liners to mini muffin tin
8. Add 1 tbsp of batter to each mini muffin liner
9. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until your toothpick is dry when carefully inserted in the middle
10. Let cool and enjoy!

Miranda <3

It’s fall, but we aren’t ready to give up our summer smoothie just yet.

This combo is loved by the boys for it’s creamy and sweet and has a fun purple colour.

We call it Blu-cado because blueberries and avocado are the stars of this smoothie. Not only do these two taste yummy together, but the Vitamin K in the blueberries is better absorbed with avocado’s healthy fat.

Blueberries are a super fruit for the brain. You could even call them brain-berries for they help to improve memory, and protect nerve cells for healthy cognitive function.

Avocado is also a power food for brain health. It’s healthy monounsaturated fats promote healthy blood flow.

This brain boosting smoothie makes a great breakfast and will keep bellies full for hours.

Here’s the recipe!

Blu-Cado Smoothie 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2.5 cups of unsweetened almond milk

2 scoops Vega Vanilla Protein & Greens 

1/2 ripe avocado

1 cup frozen organic blueberries

2 tbsp hemp hearts

1 tbsp pumpkin seed butter

2 tbsp unsweetened coconut yogurt

Directions: 

1. Blend in a high powdered blender. We used our Vitamix Professional Series 750 

Sometimes they just won’t eat the dinner I make.

It doesn’t matter what fancy bowl I use, dessert bribes or toy removal I threaten they just won’t eat it.

I’m a softy. I have never been that mom that says “well you’re going to bed hungry then!” or “you’ll eat what we have made and that’s that.” I can’t have them feel hungry. They’ll be even more of a disaster the next day if that were the case. A hungry kid means crazy tantrums and I like to minimize those as much as possible.

The other night my little one said at dinner that he wanted a smoothie. How could I possibly argue with that. Somedays I just want a smoothie for dinner too.

There are days where we all feel hungrier than others, or have aversions to certain foods or are more inclined to eat specific ingredients. I feel that listening to this body intuition is key to teaching kids to learn about what their body is telling them. This will help them as an adult to navigate their individual health needs.  Now the same thing doesn’t apply when they crave Moose Tracks ice cream and feel their body needs it! Real wholesome food is what we are after.

So I made him one that replaced all of the nutrients we made for dinner.

Protein, healthy fats, fibre and some colourful antioxidants. He made it with me and we went through all of the ingredients as we made it and he polished the whole glass.

I made enough that he could have it for breakfast the next day too.

Raspberry Vanilla Kids Smoothie

Serves: 2 kids

Ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1/2 cup organic frozen raspberries

1 scoop Vega Protein & Greens Vanilla

1/4 cup organic greek yogurt

1/4 cup avocado

small handful of baby kale

2 tbsp hemp hearts

Directions: 

1. Blend in a high powered blender. We used the Vitamix Professional Series 750 

An old friend from elementary school came to visit me with her two adorable kids a few weeks back. Growing up we spent many days together listening to Smashing Pumpkins, talking about boys while snacking on her mom’s amazing cereal bars.

It’s pretty special what you can experience when you indulge in enjoyable recollections of past events. I could almost taste those delicious bars when we were catching up. So I had to try my own version with a nutrition focus for my kids…and well, me too.

So here they are with protein, minerals and healthy fats….did I mention that there is AVOCADO in the chocolate “nice-ing” on top

Pumpkin seed butter is another star ingredient in this treat. It contains many minerals including phosphorus, iron, magnesium and zinc. Zinc is great for immune support and supporting better sleep. If you’re like me, you’ll want to include anything to their food to help improve sleep.

NO BAKE Chocolate Covered Cereal Bar

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup pumpkin seed butter

1/2 cup raw honey

3 tbsp virgin coconut oil

2 tbsp hemp hearts

2.5 cups bean-based O’s (I used half Power O’s and Sprouted Oat Honey O’s)

Directions: 

1. In a medium bowl add pumpkin seed butter, honey, coconut oil (needs to be liquid)
2. Pour in cereal and mix together so it’s evenly distributed and covered with the pumpkin seed butter, honey and coconut oil mixture.
3. You can either spread the mixture in a square baking pan (size depends on how thick you want it to be) or a mini muffin pan (add liners first)
4. Stick in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to firm up

MEANWHILE…

Chocolate “Nice-ing”

Ingredients: 

2 ripe avocados

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

Directions: 

1. Blend avocado (remove pit and shell), cocoa powder and maple syrup until smooth. I used my Vitamix Professional Series 750 and it quickly makes it super creamy.
2. Remove cereal bars from freezer and spread chocolate nice-ing on each cup or in pan.
3. Stick back into the freezer for 2 hours or until hardened.
4. Store in the freezer and remove when you want a delicious healthy treat!

Want to watch how it’s made. Check out Miranda’s Facebook Live Post

*Although ingredients used do not contain peanuts or treenuts, some are produced in a facilty with treenuts, peanuts, and other allergens.

Another throw together breakfast smoothie that worked out! And by worked out I mean the kids drank it.

My little one actually asked for a BIG glass, so I did an inner mom dance and carried on.

This one has a handful of baby kale and because of the chocolate colour they had NO IDEA.

It’s those little things that can make you feel like you’ve got it all together…that is until I go past my heaping load of laundry.

As you can see in the picture (posted on Instagram Story) I spelled help hearts instead of hemp hearts. I forgot that this back to school routine takes me time to adjust too.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie (with hidden baby kale)

Ingredients: 

2 cups unsweetened almond milk

4 heaping tablespoons of unsweetened coconut yogurt (sub in for your fave if you don’t have, but keep it lower in sugar)

1 handful organic baby kale (baby kale is less bitter)

1 heaping tablespoon of organic PB

2 tbsp hemp hearts

1.5 scoops of Vega Protein & Greens (Chocolate)

Directions: 

1. Blend and pretend you’re going to drink it all. LOL

 There is definitely no better compliment then when your kids say the love your food. They are the toughest critics and these days with my eldest going through a picky-eater phase, hearing him say these are my best muffins is THE BEST.

If you’ve been following my posts, you have figured out that I always try to jam in as many nutrients as possible, yet still make it kid-approved, with some sweetness and creaminess and taste-bud friendly texture. This mini is JUST THAT and so much more!

I’ve been using my browning bananas for most of my baking lately, but I used a new fruit that offers a creamy, velvety, fatty taste and is really one of nature’s incredible foods with over 20 different vitamins and minerals and monounsaturated (heart healthy) fat.

It’s AVOCADO – I used the not-so-common “alligator pear” title because my 6 year old can now read. He thinks he hates avocado, but these muffins prove otherwise!

Like all of my muffins, I use gluten-free flour (millet this time), avoid cow’s dairy and refined sugar.

ALLIGATOR PEAR & CHOCOLATE CHIP MINIS 

Makes 24 + enough left over for a mini cake pan

Ingredients: 

1/2 ripe avocado, mashed

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut yogurt (Yoso)

1/2 cup unsweetened organic apple sauce

1/4 cup virgin coconut oil (melted) + a little bit more for coating your mini pan

1 organic free-range egg (can swap for a flax egg)

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1.5 cups millet flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup dark chocolate or vegan chocolate chips

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven 350 F
2. line mini muffin tin and coat mini pan with coconut oil
3. In a medium bowl mix mashed avocado, coconut yogurt, apple sauce, coconut oil
4. In a small bowl mix millet flour, coconut sugar, baking soda, baking powder and sea salt
5. Add dry to wet ingredients
6. Stir until mixed
7. Add chocolate chips
8. Spoon in batter to mini muffin tin and pan
9. Bake for 15-17 mins (minis) or until toothpick is dry by muffins are still moist. Mini pan is 22-25 mins.
10. Put one or two aside for you because these ones are going to go fast!

Chia pudding is a energy-boosting, velvety tasting, good-for-everyone snack/dessert or even meal (if you make it with the right ingredients)

I make at least one batch every week and change up the flavours. Chocolate is usually my favourite, but I decided to change it up this week.

I’m SO SICK OF THIS BONE CHILLING WEATHER, so I made a tropical-tasting chia pudding to add some sunshine to our food.

Watch this video for the recipe!

<3
Miranda