Easy Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Cookies from Making It Grow

I had the honor of flying to South Carolina to film two cooking segments on the Public Television show Making It Grow.  I adore this show (they teach you all about plants!).  I LOVE to cook plants and help people Shed Pounds Sustainably by eating A LOT of them (without counting, weighing or measuring!).

On this segment, I show you how to make Easy Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Cookies.

Here’s why you want to watch…

• These cookies are SO easy and simple. 

• My favorite part – before these are cookies, it’s just oatmeal from the microwave!  So, it’s actually two recipes in one! 

• Once the microwaved oatmeal is done, you can eat it as is or bake it as bars or cookies!

Click play below to watch the episode and keep scrolling for the recipe! My segment starts at 16:51 (if you don’t want to watch the whole hour show although I do recommend it — especially if you like gardening!).

Onto the recipe…

Easy Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Cookies  

By: Nutritionist, Trisha Mandes, MPHN

Ingredients

• 1 cup regular rolled oats

• 1 cup banana sliced (about one large banana)

• ¼-½ cup blueberries (frozen or fresh!)

• 3 TB maple syrup OR date syrup

• Cinnamon

• Water

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Put 1 cup of rolled oats into shallow dish or bowl

3. Add the sliced banana and blueberries to the bowl

4. Coat up to the top of mixture with water so top of ingredients are covered and moistened

5. Microwave mixture for 2-3 minutes to soften. Add more water if needed

6. Use fork to smash up fruit to release juices to sweeten dish

7. Add maple syrup and cinnamon on top

8. Mix all ingredients together

9. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper

10. Use a spoon full of ingredients to form cookies

11. Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes 

12. Let cool before serving 

These are excellent as a mini-meal (a snack), for breakfast or a daily dessert.

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Interested in seeing if/how Trisha can help you Shed Pounds Sustainably even if you can’t exercise or have additional health concerns? Schedule a time to chat with her here. She’d love to talk to see if she can help you Shed Pounds Sustainably just like her clients.

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Take Control Now

Comment below and share… would you make these cookies!? 

How to make cashew sour cream + 10 ways to use it

Munchie Motivation

Hey it’s Nutritionist and Maintainable Weight Loss Coach, Trisha Mandes and it’s Munchie Motivation time! I’m here to show you how to turn your favorite munchies in to optimal eats so you satisfy your cravings while advancing your health.

Today, I’m sharing how to make cashew sour cream, 5 reasons you want to make it and 10 ways to eat it.

5 Reasons to Make Cashew Sour Cream

• it’s delicious! I think it’s better than “the real thing”

• only 5 ingredients

• takes 5 minutes to make!

• it’s versatile aka it goes with A LOT of optimal dishes

• it has more nutrition than regular sour cream (aka it has phytonutrients (regular sour cream has none) and a wider variety of vitamins and minerals)

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Cashew Sour Cream Recipe

(Thank you Angela Liddon for introducing us to this recipe and the many new things I love to cook because of you).

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups (225 g) raw cashews, soaked

• 3/4 cup water

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Soak cashews:

Soaking option one (if you're in a pinch): Place cashews in a microwave safe bowl with enough water to completely cover the cashews. Microwave for two minutes.

Soaking option two: place cashews in a bowl and cover completely with water. Let sit with a lid or plate on top for 8 hours. You can do this overnight.

Soaking option three: boil enough water to completely cover the cashews and pour the boiling water on-top of them. Soak for about an hour.

2. Rinse and drain the cashews (you don't want the soaking liquid in your cashew sour cream).

3. Place the drained cashews in a high-speed blender (you can use a regular blender but the final texture won't be as smooth. It'll be slightly grainy but the flavor will still be great).

4. Add the water, lemon, vinegar, and salt to the blender with the cashews. Blend on high until really smooth. You may need to blend for about three minutes straight. Stop half-way and scrape the sides of blender if need be.

5. Place in a small bowl with a lid and put in the fridge until chilled. It'll thicken slightly as it cools. Then use it in one of these five ways. If you have a different idea, let us know in the comments section below how you'd use cashew sour cream.

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10 Ways To Use Cashew Sour Cream

1. On optimal nachos

2. as a taco topping

3. on toast with sautéed garlicky kale on top

4. to toss sautéed or roasted veggies in for my flavor

5. on top of tofu scramble

6. a salad dressing base (i.e. to make cashew Caesar or Russian dressing)

7. dollop on “cream”-based soups as a garnish (i.e. creamy butternut squash or tomato soups)

8. as a dip for optimal potato fries

9. with burrito bowls

10. on-top of baked potatoes

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Now I’d love to hear from you so I can make Munchie Motivation even better for you…

Would you make this munchie at home? What would you eat the cashew sour cream with? Comment below.

And if you liked this video, if you learned anything or want more people to see it, please “like it” and share. Now, more than ever we need to become healthier Americans and inspire others to do the same.

Want optimal munchie recipes of your own? Click here and get 25 optimal recipes when you signup for my email updates.

Remember, optimal munchies can satisfy cravings and help you live longer at the same time. Tune in next Monday for another episode of Munchie Motivation and I hope to see you tomorrow on Take Control Tuesdays!

How to Make Optimal Chocolate Chip Cookies -- Munchie Motivation

Tis the season for holiday cookies! For this episode of “Munchie Motivation” I’m showing you how to make optimal chocolate chip cookies so you can satisfy your cravings and advance your health at the same time!

Instead of using white flour, eggs and butter, this recipe uses optimal ingredients while still being delicious AND my favorite part… they’re filling!

These cookies make it HARD to eat more than two (lol and I LOVE to eat!). These cookies erase the struggle of trying to “stay out of the cookie jar.”

Tomorrow, on Take Control Tuesdays, I’ll share why feeling full and satiated is a must for long-term weight loss and longevity. Forget trying to eat less and push the plate away.

Watch today’s episode of Munchie Motivation to learn how to make these 6 ingredient chocolate chip cookies that are not only delicious, but are gluten and flour free too.

How to Make Optimal Chocolate Chip Cookies -- Munchie Motivation

These cookies are good and are even better the next day, but what really attracts me to these -- chick peas. This may not sound exciting but the neutrality of the chickpeas binds and blends the chocolate and peanut together just right to make a traditionally not-so-good cookie, oh so good. They really taste good! They’re also gluten and flour free for those who avoid those products. Recipe hint: flatten the cookies out before baking instead of rolling them into balls to avoid the cookies breaking apart once baked.

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Grain-free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites from www.texanerin.com

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 C canned chickpeas, well-rinsed and patted dry

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/2 C + 2 TB natural peanut butter, SunButter Natural or almond butter (room temperature)

• 1/4 C honey or maple syrup

• 1 tsp baking powder

• A pinch of salt if your peanut butter doesn't have salt in it

• 1/2 C chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350°.  Combine all the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, in a food processor and process until very smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides and the top to get the little chunks of chickpeas and process again until they're combined.  Put in the chocolate chips and stir it if you can, or pulse it once or twice. The mixture will be very thick and sticky. With wet hands, form into 1 1/2" balls. This will make 14 cookie dough bites. Place onto a piece of parchment paper. If you want them to look more like normal cookies, press down slightly on the balls. Bake for about 10-13 minutes. The dough balls will still be very soft when you take them out of the oven. They will not set like normal cookies. Store in an airtight container at room temperature (or in the fridge) for up to 1 week.  

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Now I’d love to hear from you so I can make Munchie Motivation even better for you…

Would you make this munchie at home? Why or why not? Comment below.

And if you liked this video, if you learned anything or want more people to see it, please “like it” and share. Now, more than ever we need to become healthier Americans and inspire others to do the same.

Want optimal munchie recipes of your own? Click here and get 25 optimal recipes when you signup for my email updates.

Remember, optimal munchies can satisfy cravings and help you live longer at the same time. Tune in next Monday for another episode of Munchie Motivation and I hope to see you tomorrow on Take Control Tuesdays.

How to Eat Persimmons with Two Recipes

A requirement for sustainable weight loss isn't trying new foods (this is great news if there's not a lot of veggies you enjoy).

However, trying new optimal foods (whole, plant foods) can help curb the boredom of eating the same things each week.

After at least 3 weeks of eating optimally, some of my clients start to expand their palate by trying new foods (and there's a strategic reason for waiting).

Why try new optimal foods?  Well, you might like them!  And, you'll also have a more diverse range of foods to happily choose from.  This will keep optimal eating interesting and exciting which helps with maintaining weight loss.

For example, one of my newest clients likes white rice.  She ate optimally for 3 weeks which included white rice (she also lost 10 pounds in these 3 weeks!). 

Then, after 3 weeks and great weight loss results, she tried brown rice, a new food for her.  And guess what?  She liked it! 

She liked brown rice even more than white rice because it had a "nuttier" flavor.  Now, she eats brown rice multiple times a week (and she started with a very limited palate). 

Today I'm sharing how to eat one of my favorite fruits to eat this time of year... persimmons!

Persimmons are subtly sweet and "spread-ible" like jelly and you may have never had them before!  

Here’s a sneak peak of the recipe’s ingredients…

Get the optimal Persimmon Bread Recipe here!

Get the optimal Butternut Squash and Persimmon recipe here!

Now I’d love to hear from you. Comment below and tell me…

1. Have you ever eaten a persimmon before? If so, what did you think?

2. What’s a fruit you’ve never had before but would like to try?

Then, accept my challenge and try a new optimal fruit or veggie! As always, report back and let me know what you think.

Remember — get educated, get support and take control because you can get the healthy body, you deserve.

How to make powdered mac n cheese that's plant-based, healthy and damn good!

When I was young I LOVED boxed macaroni and cheese.  Lol especially the next day when there were tiny "cheese balls" on the noodles (I know you know what I'm talking about).

But now, I can make an optimal version of powdered mac n cheese that gives me that same nostalgic feeling from being a kid, it's just A LOT healthier.  It's delicious, it's health improving and it's super easy to make.

I love this recipe so much that I made it on the set of "Making It Grow" last night (I'll email you when the replay is out).

Trish with Amanda McNulty (and her flower crown), the amazing host of Making It Grow

The recipe is so easy to make.  Once you've made your powdered "cheese" mix, you can have a cheese sauce ready within 2 minutes that's delicious, dairy free, gluten free, vegan and low in fat.  Lol yes, it really does taste good.

Before I introduce the recipe, you need to know where it came from.  My husband is a Chef and his good friend Mike Joyce, the head chef of Aldine Restaurant in Philadelphia, got us this cookbook as a wedding present.  It's one of the most delicious tasting, unique and spot on vegan cookbooks I've ever had and I highly recommend it.

How to Make Powdered and Plant-Based Macaroni and Cheese

(Recipe Below)

Plant-Based Powered Mac and Cheese

Sauce by Miyoko Schinner of The Homemade Vegan Pantry: The Art of Making Your Own Staples and pasta dish recreated by Nutritionist, Trisha Mandes, MPHN of www.TrishaMandes.com

Powdered Cheese Sauce Ingredients:

• 3/4 C nutritional yeast
• 3/4 C oat flour
• 1/4 C tapioca flour
• 1 T paprika
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp powdered mustard 

Pasta Ingredients:

• 100% whole grain pasta (whole wheat or brown rice or other)
• 1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
• 2 cups almond milk

Instructions for making powdered cheese mix:

1. Place all powdered cheese ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Mix with a whisk until equally mixed. 
2. Put in an airtight container, label it and store in the cupboard. 

Instructions for making the mac and cheese:

1. Cook pasta according to the instructions on the package.
2. Steam broccoli.
3. To make cheese sauce, put almond milk and 2/3 C cheese powder mix in a sauce pot.  Turn stove on high and begin mixing the powder mix and almond milk together using a whisk until it's evenly blended.  Continue to whisk as it comes to a boil and thickens.  As soon as it comes to a boil immediately remove it from heat, and continue whisking.
4. Place cooked pasta, broccoli and cheese sauce in a large bowl and toss until evenly coated with cheese.  Then plate and enjoy.

Now I'd love to hear from you.  Answer today's question and click 'comment' below to answer.

Take Control Now Question

How will you enjoy this cheese sauce?