• Choosing the Healthiest Foods for Your Family

    Welcome! I am a mom of a busy 8 year old and an adventurous 6 year old. I also happen to work for a great company called NuVal. NuVal is a nutritional scoring system that rates foods on a scale of 1-100, based on how nutritious they are. We are implementing NuVal in grocery stores around the country.

    NuVal may not be in your area yet. But I see the scores while they are "hot off the press" and because of that I am able to make better decisions about what to feed my family.

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    I am not a registered dietitian. I am just a mom who happens to work for NuVal. I am also an AFAA-certified Group Exercise Instructor. NuVal is a system designed to lead customers to the most nutritious food choices. It is not a diet or weight-loss plan. Before starting a diet, you should always consult your personal physician. The opinions expressed in this blog are the opinions of the writer and not the opinions of NuVal LLC.

Cooking With Catherine: Almond – Banana Smoothie

Monday, October 18, 2010 at 07:21 AM

Welcome to Cooking with Catherine, a regular feature here on A Better Bag of Groceries.  Catherine Katz, for those of you who are new here, is married to Dr. David Katz, the founder of ONQI, the algorithm which fuels NuVal scores.  Catherine is also a mom to five beautiful children and she holds a Ph. D. in neuroscience.

Catherine and I got together over a year ago when I discovered that she was reading A Better Bag of Groceries  (I was so honored!) and I also discovered that she was creative force behind the recipes in Dr. Katz’s cookbook, The Flavor Full Diet.  I have to tell all of you that Catherine is very, very sweet and we have a ton of fun collaborating on this project. 

Catherine has been following my life through the blog lately and she recently noticed that the pace had picked up considerably what with a move  and a wedding  and business travel  going on.  So, Catherine (like I mentioned – she is very sweet) suggested that I try out her Almond-Banana Smoothie for my next Cooking With Catherine feature. 

Catherine had this to say about her smoothie:

  • It’s quick and easy to make
  • It’s rich and satisfying
  • It’s rich in calcium
  • You can put it in a thermos and savor it while driving to work

Perfect!  So, I tried it out.

I found the recipe in The Flavor Full Diet.

I gathered my ingredients.

  • Maranatha Almond Butter:  NuVal score 56
  • 1/3 ripe banana:  NuVal score 91
  • 2 tablespoons fat-free vanilla yogurt:  NuVal score 73
  • 1/3 cup fat-free milk:  NuVal score 91
  • Drop of almond extract
  • 1/2 cup crushed ice

Instructions:

  1. Spread the almond butter on the tip of the banana.  (I was wondering what the purpose of this step was.  Then it dawned on me that it is so the almond butter won’t get stuck to the side or bottom of the container.  Makes sense!)
  2. Place the banana, yogurt, dry milk, fat free milk, almond extract, and ice in a blender and process until smooth.
  3.  

I used my Cuisinart SmartStick.  I was a little worried because we don’t have crushed ice.  Our lovely new stainless refrigerator is not set up for crushed ice, so we make ice cubes the old fashioned way.  But my SmartStick blew right threw them – no problem.  I love my SmartStick!

So, look back at that list of ingredients for a moment.  Do you see any added sugar?  Nope!  Catherine’s secret ingredient is the non-fat powdered milk.

Catherine says, “I use fat-free powdered milk to sweeten this smoothie without adding more sugar. The lactose in the milk is a natural sugar that does the trick without adding all those empty calories and adds calcium to boost!”

Well, it works!  I loved this smoothie.  And stay tuned because Catherine has some other delicious smoothie flavors and they are coming to this blog-space soon!

Posted by: Melissa 10 comments

Posted in: Cooking with Catherine Katz, smoothies

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10 Comments on “Cooking With Catherine: Almond – Banana Smoothie”

  1. #1 c neroni
    on Oct 18th, 2010 at 8:32 am

    This looks very fulfulling and easy to make. Great vitamin content!

  2. #2 Julie Farmer
    on Oct 18th, 2010 at 9:23 am

    I love smoothies for me and my family. this sounds great and I can’t wait to try it.

  3. #3 Julie Farmer
    on Oct 18th, 2010 at 9:27 am

    I see the dry milk was left out of the ingredient list, but from the picture it looks like 2 T?

  4. #4 Melissa
    on Oct 18th, 2010 at 9:38 am

    Hi Julie
    Yes. That’s right. 2 Tbsp of fat free powdered milk is the secret ingredient to this smoothie. Melissa

  5. #5 Barbara
    on Oct 18th, 2010 at 10:09 am

    Sounds like something I can take to work.Is the Almond Butter near the peanut butter in the markets??

  6. #6 Julie
    on Oct 18th, 2010 at 10:16 am

    I will definitely try this! I am lactose intolerant, so will try with almond milk.

  7. #7 Heather
    on Oct 18th, 2010 at 10:22 am

    I can’t wait to try this! I make a smoothie every morning after pilates and am always looking for something new. Thanks!

  8. #8 Catherine
    on Oct 18th, 2010 at 11:30 am

    Hi Heather! I do exactly as you do right after my “zumba” class and I look forward to this one especially!

  9. #9 Melissa
    on Oct 18th, 2010 at 2:36 pm

    Yes Mom. You can find Almond Butter right near peanut butter in the grocery store. Tomorrow’s Trade-up Tuesday is from that section. Hint hint!!
    Melissa

  10. #10 Tracy
    on Oct 19th, 2010 at 9:25 am

    Yum, I’ll have to try with Barney Butter, the best almond butter ever!!

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