Recipes

There are certain foods that comprise the quintessential breakfast selections, but few conjure the warm feelings of childhood better than pancakes! Fluffy, light and dripping in melted butter and sticky syrup, this treat was truly dessert on a plate, and then we took the breakfast pastry to the next level with sugary additives. Who doesn’t like banana, caramel and peanut butter or cinnamon, apple and mascarpone. Yet the classic remains chocolate chip! It’s time to bring back this morning indulgence in an adult and body friendly recipe that gives you all the things you need and nothing you don’t while still fulfilling our inner child breakfast craving. Mint Chocolate Chip PancakesGluten free options, vegan options, nut free options12 – 14 pancakes, yields two servings 1 cup of rolled oats (gluten free if necessary) 1/3 cup Greek Yogurt (thicker is best) 1 large egg 1 egg white 1 – 2 tbsp. almond milk (more to desired consistency based on liquid in yogurt) 1 tsp baking powder ¼ tsp salt 1 tbsp. honey, agave or maple syrup (optional) 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 scoops of Terra Origin Mint Greens Superfoods ¼ - ½ cup of dark chocolate chips (depends how chocolatey you like it) Place the oats in your blender or food processor and pulse a few times to break into coarse bits. You do not need flour, just smaller pieces. Mix the oats, baking powder, salt, and Terra Origin Mint Greens until thoroughly mixed. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix your eggs, then add the Greek yogurt, almond milk, sweetener and vanilla extract. Slow whisk in your dry ingredients. When everything is blended smoothly, let the bowl sit for 10-15 minutes as the oats absorb some of the liquid. You can then adjust your preferred consistency with more almond milk if needed. Lastly, fold in your chocolate chips. Heat your skillet on medium heat with a tablespoon of coconut oil and pour out your pancakes. When the edges begin to brown and the standard bubbles appear, you will feel a firm consistency, flip. If the skillet gets too hot, simply set it aside to cool a moment and lower your flame or electric setting. Add more coconut oil as necessary. For grain free: You can substitute 1 cup of almond flour. For nut free: You can substitute equal amounts of coconut or rice milk. Soy milk can be thick, so if you choose to use it, mix slowly and pay attention to your consistency. For vegan: Substitute one small to medium banana for the Greek yogurt and for the eggs take 1 ½ tablespoons of flax seeds, grind them and mix with 4 ½ tablespoons of water in a small dish. Set it aside and let it congeal. Then mix it with the rest of your ingredients. Choose agave or maple syrup as your sweetener. Buy a vegan dark chocolate chip. And most importantly, give your oats a finer grind, near flour consistency to mix with the flax egg and hold better. By subbing the standard white flour, we give our body much needed fiber and protein whether we use oats or almonds. The Greek yogurt replaces the high fat butter and oils in typical pancake mixes while the honey is a great substitute for plain sugar which is a common ingredient. Your non-dairy milk choice replaces the high fat dairy milk and choosing to only use the egg whites in one egg can help lower the cholesterol and fat content as well. The real winner in these delicious and healthy pancakes is Terra Origin’s Greens Superfoods in the mint flavor. What was once simply a sugary carb, now includes more than 45 vegetables, probiotics, digestive enzymes, herbs and antioxidants giving your body and immune system a massive influx of nutrients that pump you up with raw energy and stamina for your day! Now you can dive into your short stack with excitement and zero guilt. You can even go back for seconds!

Lucky Vitamin has posted a new video sharing two incredible gut healthy smoothie recipes featuring Terra Origin Vanilla Bone Broth Protein and Matcha Green Tea Probiotic Collagen Powder Peptides! We were excited to see what they whipped up in the kitchen and take a look at the additional ingredients that were chosen to protect your digestive system! Papaya & Banana Bone Broth Protein Smoothie 1 scoop Terra Origin Bone Broth Protein Vanilla 1/2 a ripe papaya 1 frozen banana 1 tablespoon lime juice 1/2 to 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk handful of ice if desired Matcha Latte Smoothie 1 scoop Terra Origin Probiotic Collagen Powder Peptides - Matcha Green Tea 1 cup unsweetened almond milk 1/2 cup kefir or plain non-fat Greek yogurt 1 cup spinach or kale 1 frozen banana 1 teaspoon vanilla extract sprinkle of cinnamon handful of ice When it comes to gut health, there are some simple things we can do to support our digestive system and boost our immune system. When the tight junctions, the small valves, in our intestines operate correctly they only permit the particles and nutrients our bodies need into the bloodstream. When these valves become weakened for a variety of reasons, they begin to let larger particles through creating leaky gut. These particles carry toxins which compromise our immune systems and that is when disease sets in. By incorporating the right foods, we can do things to protect our health and prevent the loosening of our tight junctions. These two recipes offer up some great gut support with ingredients like bone broth, papaya, coconut milk, collagen peptides, kefir, Greek yogurt, spinach and kale. Bone broth has become incredibly popular for those wanting to heal their digestive systems or increase vital nutrients in their diets. The collagen, gelatin and amino acids in bone broth help restore the gut lining by providing the building blocks for the cells to maintain the intestinal walls. Bone broth also helps reduce inflammation in the gut and soothe symptoms of IBS and digestive distress. Papaya is another key player in gut health as it is a natural source of the enzyme papain which makes digestion a lot easier. It is actually used as a meat tenderizer! Papaya also works as an anti-parasitic, provides a good dose of fiber and has a high water content for easing elimination. Coconut milk is an excellent flavor pairing with papaya bringing in healthy fats and dreams of the tropics. It also serves as a lactose-free option in a smoothie that boosts flavor and retains creaminess. Being a low-FODMAP food it is also great for people with IBS or sensitive digestion helping to ease digestive symptoms. Collagen peptides are now equal with bone broth when it comes to leaky gut support, digestive healing and supplement favorites! Amino acids like glycine and glutamine are found in collagen and both are key players in restoring the gut lining and reducing inflammation. It also helps to control oxidative stress in the intestines and improves overall digestion. When you mix collagen with kefir or Greek yogurt, you also get a huge dose of probiotics which help restore balance to the gut microbiome. When it comes to eating healthy, there are few vegetables that are better than leafy and cruciferous greens. Kale actually contains certain phytochemicals like indole-3-carbinol, I3C which has been shown to encourage stem cell growth and boost immune cells.  So if you can get a little extra, add it in. Take a look at their fun and tasty video to find ways you can get healthy and stay healthy with just a few simple tweaks in the kitchen!

We once thought that nothing could say good morning better than a hot stack of pancakes dripping in maple syrup. That was until Melanie, over at Headstands & Heels, took a classic breakfast and made it even better with the addition of mint, chocolate and a whole lot of good for your body ingredients. Now you can enjoy guilt-free pancakes every week while still getting that same great flavor you love. Take a look at the recipe below and whip up some nutrition packed flapjacks that are so good you may want them for breakfast, lunch or dinner!  

Coffee is the most popular beverage choice throughout Europe and most of the Western world. It doesn’t matter the season. We will drink it hot, cold, frozen, room temperature, blended, frothed, mixed, sweet, creamy, black, flavored, in the morning, through the afternoon and well into the night. Companies have made billions of dollars giving us caramel pumpkin lattes, sweet peppermint mochas and vanilla espresso, two pump Chai with light whip. These days we can make most of our favorite coffee drinks right in our kitchens, sometimes as easy as popping a metal pod in a machine. With all these decadent beverages being consumed and adored, we may forget about the impact of the sugar, artificial flavorings, heavy cream and processed syrups being used to give us the flavors we want. Whether starting out your day or curling up on a cold night, it's important to pay attention to what goes into your body. That’s why we wanted to share with you a delicious coffee blend that may not have made it to your favorites list, yet. The classic Mexican Café de Olla, or Pot Coffee. This beverage has a long and colorful history that enhances its tradition. During the Mexican Revolution of 1910, a ten year civil war that ended a dictatorship and set up Mexico as a constitutional republic, soldaderas, women who travelled with the soldiers, would set up the camps, cook the food and take care of the weary and wounded men. Even then coffee was an essential part of the day, but the soldaderas needed the drink to fortify the soldiers and help to heal more than hunger and morale. So the women added cinnamon. Cinnamon is known to be an anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial as well as having long been used for insulin resistance and diabetes. Then they added piloncillo, which is cane sugar that has not been processed and still retains its molasses. In this natural form, it is filled with enzymes that aid in digestion and can relieve gastric issues. It has iron which helped combat anemia with the poor diets of war, and it strengthens the immune system, much like honey. Using their knowledge of natural healing, they created a drink that would fill the bellies of soldiers, aid in maintaining their strength and health and still give them the coffee they wanted while resting in the camps. They would then prepare the beverage in a clay pot, or olla, that would impart its own flavor, much like cooking with a seasoned iron skillet. That is how the name café de olla came to be.  To this day clay pots sit on counter tops and in restaurants throughout Mexico filled with the thick, creamy dark brew. We decided to take this coffee classic and amp up its health boosting properties by adding in the new Terra Origin Coffee Flavored Bone Broth powder that has been reformulated to maximize its nutritional value.  The powerful gut support of bone broth is a perfect fit with the natural enzyme complex of piloncillo, and the impact of gut health on our immune system is further supported by the cinnamon. Now your morning coffee will work all afternoon to heal your digestive tract, boost your immune health, improve the strength and mobility of your joints, bones and tissues all while restoring the health to your hair, nails and skin. That is a very powerful cup of coffee, and it tastes amazing too! Mexican Café de Olla with the Power of Bone Broth 4 cups of water 1/3 cup of piloncillo (found in Mexican markets) 1 stick of organic Ceylon cinnamon ¼ cup of dark roasted Mexican coffee (Your preferred coffee will do, medium ground.) 2 scoops of Terra Origin 15-Serving Bone Broth Collagen Coffee Flavored   If you have a clay pot in your kitchen, then use it, but if not, any soup pot will work. Add the water, piloncillo and cinnamon stick to the pot and bring to a full boil. Stir until the piloncillo is completely dissolved. Then turn off the heat and add the ground coffee. Let it sit covered for 5 – 7 minutes. Pour through a fine mesh strainer into a carafe or pitcher and then add two scoops of the coffee Bone Broth Collage powder and whisk until fully mixed. Pour and enjoy! You can add your favorite creamer. It is really nice with vanilla almond or soy milk.

Get your goodness in a glass by throwing this lot in a blender. Add almond butter to help fat loss There’s evidence that almonds positively affect insulin sensitivity, as well as helping you feel full – and the butter has more good fats than most peanut butters. Toss in a teaspoon. Add spinach to aid brain function High levels of vitamin K slow cognitive decline, while folate and beta-carotene are brain boosters. A handful will do – frozen works fine. Add avocado to help nutrient absorption Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat-soluble, meaning that they need to be eaten with fat to be used. With high levels of monounsaturated fat, half an avocado makes the rest of your smoothie healthier. Add ginger to reduce DOMS In one study, volunteers who took regular doses of ginger reported less muscle pain after exercise. You only need a thumb-sized portion – peel it with a spoon. Add cherries to improve sleep quality High in fibre and vitamin C, cherries also promote production of the hormone melatonin, which improves sleep efficiency. A handful will do it. More Berries To Sub In For Cherries Add blackberries to build muscle A 100g serving of blackberries contains 19% of your daily vitamin K needs, and this fat-soluble vitamin is needed to synthesise protein into muscle. Add cranberries to burn fat They’re high in manganese – 100g contains 17% of your recommended daily intake of this element, which is essential for a fully-functioning metabolism. Add blueberries to slow down ageing Blueberries score low on the glycaemic index, meaning they don’t cause a blood-sugar spike, and are high in antioxidant polyphenols, which protect against free radical damage. Add raspberries to boost testosterone levels Raspberries, like red wine, contain quercetin, a polyphenol that prevents your body from excreting muscle-building, libido-boosting testosterone. Add elderberries to prevent wrinkles Vitamin C helps your body make new collagen, which helps keep your skin firm, fresh and young-looking, and 100g of elderberries contains 43% of your RDI.