Monthly Archives: January 2021

Banana Bread Smoothie

I love smoothies, and I’m always looking for new and different recipes. This Banana Bread Smoothie with Fiber One™ Original Cereal is the perfect fiber-filled way to enjoy the flavor of banana bread without baking!

Note: I worked with Fiber One™ Original on this paid post.

Banana Bread in a Glass

Fiber is one of those nutrients Americans struggle with. And by struggle with, I mean they don’t get enough on a regular basis. According to the Mayo Clinic, eating adequate fiber as part of a balanced diet is linked to a reduced risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and all types of cancer. Plus, fiber keeps you regular and promotes gut health. I don’t know about you, but that sounds good to me!

You may need more fiber, but there’s no need to turn to chalky supplements to get it. Take advantage of real food, such as Fiber One™ Original Cereal, to make easy and delicious recipes that help you include fiber without giving it a second thought.

If you’ve never added cereal to a smoothie, give it a try. This Banana Bread Smoothie has just enough cereal to amp up the flavor, and it supplies more than 40% of the Daily Value for fiber! It also provides a serving of fruit and a serving of dairy, all for under 300 calories.

What’s not to love?

Print Recipe

Banana Bread Smoothie

All the flavors of banana bread in a fiber-filled smoothie.

Prep Time10

Cook Time0

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: American

Keyword: banana, bananabread, bananarecipe, bananasmoothie, fiber

Servings: 2

Ingredients

2 medium frozen bananas, peeled and sliced
2/3 cup Fiber One^TM Original cereal, plus more for garnish, if desired
1 1/2 cups 1% low fat milk
1/4 cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt
2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

Place the banana, cereal, milk, yogurt, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and cinnamon in a blender or food processor.
Blend until smooth, about 1 minute.
Pour into 2 tall glasses and garnish with more crushed cereal and banana slices, if desired. Serve immediately.

Notes

Nutrition Information:

Per serving: 262 calories; 12 g protein; 59 g carbohydrates (21% DV), 3g total fat (4% DV); 11mg cholesterol (1% DV); 164 mg sodium (7% DV), 12g fiber (43% DV)

Raspberry Yogurt Fiber One™ Cereal Cups

It’s January, so you’ve probably given up dessert and other foods you adore in the name of healthy eating, but skipping your favorites can backfire, causing you to ditch your efforts. What good can come of dessert? Plenty, when there’s yogurt, fruit, and fiber involved! That’s why I love these Raspberry Yogurt Fiber One^™ Cereal Cups for a sweet ending to a meal.

Note: I worked with Fiber One™ Original on this paid post.

Fiber One cereal box with dessert cups filled with raspberry yogurt

Raspberry Yogurt Fiber One™ Cereal Cups

A Dessert with Benefits

Confession time: I love dessert! I indulge my sweet tooth every day, but not with just any candy, cookie, or cake. I prefer desserts with benefits, including fiber.

According to the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, we struggle to include enough fiber. When you think of dessert, fiber doesn’t usually come to mind, but high-fiber desserts can help satisfy fiber requirements. The Daily Value – the recommended daily amount – for fiber is 28 grams. One Raspberry Yogurt Fiber One^™Cereal Cups contains 13 grams of fiber!

You can make these yogurt cups with any fresh or frozen berry you like. They are are delicious for a weeknight dessert, and pretty enough to serve to guests. Make the cereal cups ahead of time and add the filling when you’re ready to serve.

Foods like Fiber One™ Original Cereal make it easier to get the fiber you need, and recipes that include the cereal, including my Greek Turkey Burgers with Tzatziki Sauce, make it delicious.

How do you “flaunt your fiber?” Let me know in the comments!

Dessert cups filled with raspberry yogurt

Print Recipe

Raspberry Yogurt Fiber One Cereal Cups

Say yes to dessert with this delicious, fiber-packed cereal cups!

Prep Time20

Cook Time10

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: fiber, Greekyogurt, raspberry

Servings: 5

Calories: 287kcal

Ingredients

2 cups Fiber One^TM Original cereal
8 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries, or fruit of your choice
3/4 cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375˚F. Coat a 6-cup standard muffin tin with cooking spray.
Add cereal to a food processor and process until it is the consistency of fine crumbs, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Transfer cereal to a medium mixing bowl.
Melt butter in microwave in a microwave-safe dish.
Add melted butter and sugar to the mixing bowl. Stir until well-combined.
Add a heaping ¼ cup of the cereal mixture to five of the muffin cups. Press evenly on the sides and bottom to form a cup.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes.
To make the filling, blend the raspberries and yogurt in a food processor until smooth, about 45 seconds. Transfer to a small bowl, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.
Remove the cereal cups by inverting the pan on a flat surface and tapping on the bottom of each of the muffin cups so they pop out in one piece.
To serve, fill each cereal cup to the brim with the fruit mixture. Garnish with sprigs of mint, if desired.

Notes

Nutrition Information:

Per serving: 287 calories; 6g protein; 35g carbohydrates (13% DV); 20g fat (25% DV); 12 g saturated fat (59% DV); 51mg cholesterol (4% DV); 248mg sodium (11% DV); 13 g fiber (47%)

The Best Time to Eat for Weight Loss

“What’s the best time to eat for weight loss?” I get that question a lot. Meal timing is a concept that Hillary Wright and I discuss in detail in our new book, The Menopause Diet Plan, A Natural Guide to Managing Hormones, Health, and Happiness. In our personal and professional experience, we’ve found that there are better times to eat to lose weight and discourage weight gain.

There are better times of the day to eat most of your calories.

Your circadian rhythms and weight loss

Does this sound familiar? You skip breakfast, eat a light lunch, and are famished at night, when eat your biggest meal at dinner, and then snack.

It’s no wonder! Skimping on food during the day leads to overeating at night as your hunger finally catches up with you. Excess calories aside, there is another reason why eating at night can make it harder to lose weight or prevent the pounds from creeping on over the years.

Researchers are beginning to understand how eating at night can mess with weight control and it involves circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms are part of your internal clock, which operates on a 24-hour schedule. They regulate your sleep/wake cycle, calorie burning, and hormones, including insulin, that affect how the body uses blood glucose. Blood glucose is the energy all cells need and is primarily produced by eating carbohydrates.

Chocolate cupcakes with piped vanilla frosting.

Skimping on food during the day makes it harder to resist treats at night.

How insulin works to regulate your weight

Insulin is released by the pancreas in response to the higher-than-normal levels of glucose in the blood that occur after eating. Insulin’s job is to “unlock” cells so that glucose can enter and return blood glucose concentrations to a normal range. Insulin also helps the body store the glucose that cells don’t need at the moment. Most of that glucose goes to fat cells for the body to use for energy between meals and snacks.

Because blood glucose regulation is influenced by circadian rhythms, there is a best time to eat for weight loss. Although genetics may play a role, it appears that the body is more sensitive to insulin during the day and more resistant to it at night. That means eating too much food at night leads to excess levels of insulin and other fat-storing hormones in the blood at the time of day when your body is designed to burn stored body fat. A pattern of overeating at night also strains your pancreas by forcing it to produce more insulin to reduce blood glucose levels.

Should you try intermittent fasting for weight loss and better health?

Consuming most of your calories earlier in the day may help you lose weight or not gain weight as easily as you age. One study divided 93 women into two different meal plans with the same number of calories for 12 weeks. Women who ate most of their calories at breakfast and lunch and had a small dinner lost nearly three times as much weight as those who consumed the most food at lunch and dinner.

In a recent study of overweight women with an average age of 40, researchers found not eating within two hours of bedtime or consuming all food within an 11-hour period every day (often called time-restricted eating) were associated with a lower overall calorie intake. Eating less at night, when your body is getting ready to sleep, can also help you get more rest. Adequate sleep is linked to easier weight control.

woman eating popcorn with remote control for TV in her hand

Eating less, or not at all, after dinner may be the ticket to easier weight control.

A no diet approach to weight control

Some people can eat at any time of day without consequence, but most cannot. If you’re struggling with snacking too much after dinner, here are some helpful tips that don’t involve drastic dieting:

• Include enough protein at every meal. Protein is filling and can decrease nighttime noshing.

• Eat 1/4 to 1/2 of your current nighttime snack. You will probably wake up hungry and be more likely to eat balanced meals throughout the day, which will help decrease nighttime hunger.

• Don’t eat in front of a screen or while reading. Mindful eating is important for knowing when you’ve had enough food. Sit at a table when snacking.

• Focus on non-food activities away from the kitchen.

Greek Turkey Burgers with Tzatziki Sauce

It’s a new year, and you probably want a clean slate when it comes to eating. Who doesn’t, considering the crazy year we’ve all just had? Instead of vowing to drastically reduce food intake, however, resolve to eat more – fiber, that is. We may not be able to travel overseas just yet, but you can take your tastebuds on a trip with these easy, delicious Greek Turkey Burgers with Tzatziki Sauce that serve up 25% of the Daily Value for fiber!

Note: I worked with Fiber One ™ Original on this paid post.

burgers on plate with Fiber One Cereal box

Greek Turkey Burgers with Tzatziki Sauce

Fiber is Filling

Fiber, found in grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, is filling, and promotes eating satisfaction so you may get fuller with less food. Fiber is present in foods that also contain other nutrients, including carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, which are beneficial plant compounds that help fight chronic conditions.

If you’re anything like most Americans, there’s a good chance you fall short on fiber. Drastic slimming programs that are popular each time we ring in a new year, such as the keto diet, juice cleanses, and super low-calorie eating plans, may only further decrease your fiber intake.

Don’t bother with fiber supplements to fill the fiber gap in your eating plan. It’s much more fun to focus on real food solutions, such as Fiber One^™ Original cereal; I use it in these burgers to increase the flavor, and the fiber.

I love cooking with Fiber One ™ Original Cereal, and would love to know what you like to make with it. How do you “flaunt your fiber?” Let me know in the comments!

Print Recipe

Greek Turkey Burgers with Tzatziki Sauce

Delicious, moist burgers with more fiber than most!

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: fiber, Greek

Servings: 6

Calories: 350kcal

Ingredients

1/4 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
16 ounces 99% lean ground turkey breast
1/2 cup 1% low-fat cottage cheese, pureed
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 large egg
2/3 cup Fiber One^TM Original Cereal, processed into fine crumbs
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
6 2-ounce whole wheat buns, toasted or grilled, if desired
3/4 cup prepared Tzatziki sauce
Lettuce, tomato, and sliced red onion, if desired

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, combine the spinach, turkey, cottage cheese, feta cheese, oregano, egg, cereal crumbs, and pepper. Mix well.
Form the burgers into 6 patties of equal size.
Coat a large grill pan (or any large pan you like) with cooking spray and set it over medium-high heat.
Add the turkey burgers and cook until browned on both sides, about 6 to 8 minutes per side. An instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of the patties should register 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
Place cooked turkey burgers on buns and top each with 2 tablespoons Tzatziki sauce. Add lettuce, tomatoes, and onions, if desired.

Notes

Nutrition information:

Per serving: 350 calories; 32 grams protein; 36 grams carbohydrate (13% DV); 10 grams fat (13% DV); 4 grams saturated fat (19% DV); 101 milligrams cholesterol (8% DV); 689 milligrams sodium (30% DV); 7 grams fiber (26% DV)

Better Is the New Perfect

Monthly Archives: January 2021