Thanks to all who participated in the Super Breakfast Bowl Challenge! I definitely have a whole slew of new recipes I’m going to be trying out!

Today’s winner is Nour from Practical Nutrition with her recipe for Banana Walnut Flax Muffins! Nour will be the proud new owner of Futter Nut Butters walnut butter and Mollie Katzen’s cookbook, Get Cooking.

Banana Flax Muffins

No time for breakfast? Make these delicious and healthy muffins ahead of time and grab on your way out. Made with whole wheat, flax seeds, walnuts, canola oil, and bananas, these muffins are an excellent source of many good-for-you foods. Even kids would love it!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c whole wheat flour 
• 3/4 c ground flax seeds
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 c canola oil
• 1/4 c reduced fat milk
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 c walnuts

Directions:

• In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients (flour, flax, sugar, and baking soda). In a separate bowl, mix the liquid ingredients (egg, vanilla, oil, milk, and bananas).
• Stir the liquids in the dry ingredients. Fold in the walnuts. If the batter is too dry, add more milk. Pour into 12 paper-lined muffin cups.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Thanks to all who took part in this blog challenge!

Jess

A Fete For Food

Walnuts have often got a bad rap, commonly being touted as the “fruitcake nut.” It’s time to redeem them and bring them into the nutritional limelight!

But first, what’s in it for you?

Futter Nut Butters agreed to let a lucky reader of the Super Breakfast Bowl Challenge try two jars of their awesome products! I bet you’ve never tried walnut butter before… here’s your chance! I also have a cookbook from Mollie Katzen called “Get Cooking.” Katzen is one of the experts for the California Walnut Board and her cookbook is no-nonsense, simple recipes that are chock-full of whole foods and delicious ingredients.

Onto the 411 about these nutritional gems…

Nutritional Lowdown

A little less than one-fourth cup of chopped walnuts, or a one-ounce serving, (or about 14 halves) provides 180 calories and 18 grams of fat. Whoa! EighTEEN grams of fat?! Well, 13 of these come from the polyunsaturated fat, and 2.5 grams come from alpha linolenic acid (ALA), a precursor to EPA and DHA, or the omega-3 fatty acids that we all hear are healthy for our heart. (After all, February is Heart Health Awareness Month.) But let’s not stop there. An ounce of walnuts also contains 4 grams of protein, fiber, manganese, phosphorus, iron, zinc, and a host of other good-for-you nutrients.

What’s ALA again?

Alpha linolenic acid is the omega-3 fatty acid precursor that is found in plant sources, as opposed to EPA and DHA, the omega-3s often heard about in fatty fish. Although there is no Dietary Reference Intake set by the government for ALA right now, the FDA recognizes that we should get 1.6 grams of ALA daily (for the purpose of nutrient content claims.) Since one ounce of walnuts contains 2.5 grams, you’re golden!

Aren’t walnuts going to make me fat?

Nope. Remember, calories in equals calories out, so while walnuts have more calories per gram than bread or meat, they can (and should) be incorporated into your diet, if, for nothing else, a chance to get in some much-needed ALA.

I’ve seen walnut oil in recipes. What’s this all about?

Walnut oil, like the more commonly recognized peanut oil, is the oil extracted from the nut. Walnut oil is a rich, luxurious nut oil and is great whisked with some balsamic vinegar and poured over a spinach salad with toasted walnuts and dried cranberries. Walnut oil has a relatively low smoke point, so it’s best not to heat it; buy it in small amounts, because the high amount of polyunsaturated fat oxidizes quickly when it comes in contact with air. As such, it’s best to refrigerate walnut oil and walnuts that have been cracked open or ones that you buy chopped. And, if you open a bag and they smell like paint thinner, toss ‘em! They’re rancid and are apt to do more harm than good.

How do you open shelled walnuts?

Here’s how it’s done. Kind of.

How do I get walnuts in for breakfast?

When I’m on the run and don’t have time for a steaming bowl of oats with chopped walnuts or nut butter, I snag one of these bars from my freezer. They’re simple to make, easy to transport, and very very delicious! I originally had the idea when I was training for a half marathon and buying Clif Nectar bars like they were going out of style. They were expensive, and I needed another way to meet my craving.

So, I have this corny and slightly inappropriate joke about this recipe that involves a date with a walnut, but I think I’ll keep that one to myself. Anyway, here’s a fabulous recipe for The Walnut-Date Breakfast Bar. In fact, it is my version of the Lemon, Vanilla and Cashew Clif Nectar Bar.

The Walnut-Date Breakfast Bar

(Note: They are not a beautiful food, but they sure are tasty.)

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup chopped dates

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

2 tsp olive oil

Directions:

Add walnuts to food processor and pulse on high until walnuts are a crumbly powder. Transfer to a bowl. Add dates to food processor and pulse for about 20 seconds. Add walnuts, lemon juice, olive oil, and walnut powder and pulse until mixture is a fine paste. Transfer to a bowl and mix with your hands to combine.  Make 8 1” mini-bars, transfer to a Ziplock bag or wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate. If you double the recipe, freeze them for later!

Nutrition Info: 1 bar: 120 calories, 3.5 gm fat (polyunsaturated), 23 gm carbohydrate, 2 gm fiber

For more information and recipes about walnuts and fabulous recipes, visit the California Walnut website.

Don’t forget- you have the weekend to test your recipes and submit your breakfast recipe for avocado (by Sunday), Monday for flaxseed, Tuesday for lentils, Wednesday for quinoa, and THURSDAY for the wonderful walnuts! I REALLY want you to win that walnut butter and Mollie Katzen’s cookbook! Make sure to email your breakfast creations to thesuperbreakfastbowlchallenge@gmail.com!

Best of luck and happy breakfasting!

Jess

A Fete For Food

afeteforfood@gmail.com

So—what’s the dealio with this so called “challenge?”

Okay—here’s the 411.

Five of us nutrition ladies—Jessica at A Fete For Food, Janel at Eat Well with Janel, Elizabeth at Don’t White Sugar Coat It, Lindsey at Healthy Blog Snack, and Corinne at Green Grapes Blog (yours truly), invite YOU to take the Super Breakfast Bowl Challenge! If you accept, you’ll incorporate a food that typically doesn’t make it onto your breakfast plate or into your usual b-fast bowl—or hey, if you’re really in a jam … your hand or napkin. Simply put, as long as ya eat breakfast within an hour of your rise-n-shine time, incorporate the chosen breakfast item, and send us a pic of your b-fast duds along with its recipe within six days of the highlighted item’s post—you’re good to go and eligible for prizes!!!!!!!!!!

Woo-hoo! Yes, we said prizes.

The Deal

But, before we get on to prizes, let’s talk a lot more nitty-gritty, shall we??? I know—details, details, details…

Starting next week—on February 8^th—we’ll each have a day where we’ll post why our ingredient is AWESOME and invite you to use the ingredient in your breakfast within the upcoming week.

The Five Super Breakfast Bowl Challenge Ingredients, Revealed

1. Avocado – Monday, February 8^th

• Pics and recipes needed Sunday, February 14^th

2. Flax Seed – Tuesday, February 9^th

• Pics and recipes needed Monday, February 15^th

3. Lentils – Wednesday, February 10^th

• Pics and recipes needed Tuesday, February 16^th

4. Quinoa – Thursday, February 11^th

• Pics and recipes needed Wednesday, February 17^th

5. Walnuts – Friday, February 12^th

• Pics and recipes needed Thursday, February 18^th

Now, to get clout and be eligible to receive a FAB prize—you’ll need to send a pic of your breakfast item along with its recipe to thesuperbreakfastbowlchallenge@gmail.com within six days of the ingredient’s post date (noted above).

For example, if Lindsey writes about avocado’s awesomeness next Monday, then you’ll have until Sunday to send in a pic of your avocado breakfast goodness! AND—if you win, on Monday, the picture of your breakfast along with its recipe will be posted on ALL of our blogs!

So … Basically …

Each “ingredient post” will appear on each of our 5 blogs and each person who sends in a breakfast pic with the chosen ingredient AND recipe will be eligible for a prize! But … wait, there’s more! The winner—chosen by a random number generator—will be featured on ALL of our blogs along with your name and blog/website name, if ya got one.

Don’t ya love it?!? Cooking experience, health, creativity, great prizes, and free publicity all in one!

So, if ya use all five ingredients and submit a pic each time, you’ll have FIVE opportunities to win some pretty fabulous items—if I don’t say so myself! Plus, get publicity across the blogosphere!

PRIZE TIME!

Now, what you’ve all been waiting for!

Below are the items you could nab if you enter each Super Breakfast Bowl Challenge!

1. Avocado: The Chef’n Vibe Avocado Slicer courtesy of Kitchen Stuff Plus, lots of Newman’s Own Organics fun, and an avocado gift pack courtesy of Avocados from Mexico!
2. Flax Seed: Fantastic Vega Products and Purely Elizabeth’s Perfect Pancake Mix and A wonderful Mighty Leaf Tea Top Brew Mug!
3. Lentils: A truly terrific text, Thrive—The Vegan Nutrition Guide. You can ALSO win the book 101 Optimal Life Foods by Registered Dietitian (aka Gu-a-titian) Dave Grotto.
4. Quinoa: Newman’s Own Organics loot—everything from delicious, decadent, dark chocolate to dried fruit!
5. Walnuts: Mollie Katzen’s get cooking. cookbook and a jar of walnut butter and a jar of chocolate walnut butter courtesy of Futters Nut Butters

GO ON—Challenge yourself to a Super Breakfast Bowl!

There’s never a time like the present! Send us your Super Breakfast Bowl Challenge pics with their recipe—come on now, you must share the health—and you could win some good loot in addition to some good ol’ blogger fun!

Looking forward to your breakfast creations!!!

Jessica at A Fete For Food

Janel at Eat Well with Janel

Elizabeth at Don’t White Sugar Coat It

Lindsey at Healthy Blog Snack

Corinne at Green Grapes Blog

PS there will be no GGB Challenge during February