< Previous20 There have been many recipe trends making their rounds the last little while, but one of the most delicious—and my personal favorite— is smoothie bowls. If you haven’t heard of a smoothie bowl, they’re like a classic smoothie, but with two noticeable differences. First, they have a thicker consistency and second, you can load on the toppings. One of the great things about smoothie bowls is that you can get as creative as you want with them. Honestly, the flavour possibilities are endless! They are perfect for any time of the day, making them a great way to incorporate more fruit and vegetables into your daily routine. Over the past few years, smoothie bowls have grown in popularity. More and more people are trying them out. As people explore flavor combinations and garnishing designs, it is easy to get excited to try another recipe. Plus, this is a dish that can be interactive with family and friends while promoting healthy eating. With the visually appealing nature of smoothie bowls, it’s fun to see the work of art you end up with. We all have our “go-to” meals and snacks that we default to when planning what to eat, especially when we are overwhelmed by the sea of trending new recipes. EXPERIENCE NEW FLAVORS WITH SMOOTHIE BOWLS And for all those social media lovers, your smoothie bowl creation could be your next fun, exciting post. I encourage you try my recipe to get started, or to switch things up if you’ve been looking for a unique recipe. You will not be disappointed. HANAN GHADBAN #SnackHealthy21 The great thing about Pure Flavor’s® Gourmet Mini Cucumbers is that they contain so many health benefits. In addition to their light, yet crunchy texture, they are loaded with fiber, Vitamin K, and are made up of over 90% water. The hydrating and nutritious benefits of these cucumbers make them a perfect addition to your smoothie bowl! Since we’re working with such a great ingredient, it only made sense to keep this smoothie bowl bright and packed with all the “good stuff”. I used ingredients that I know will compliment these delicious cucumbers, both in nutrition and flavour. Mangos have a sweet and very subtle tartness to them when they are ripe. Since it might be difficult to find fresh mangos out of season, frozen works best here. Using frozen fruit will also help you get to that perfect ‘soft serve’ texture. Along with mangos I’ve added avocado, bananas, some full fat plain Greek yogurt, a little unsweetened vanilla almond milk, a drizzle of honey and some flax seeds and chia seeds. When using bananas, I like to slice them up ahead of time and freeze them before tossing them into the blender with the other ingredients. Add the almond milk in small amounts until you’ve reached your desired consistency. I like to mix up both fresh and frozen fruit & veggies to get that ice-cream like texture. My kids are a little bit picky when it comes to vegetables, so I try to use the ones I know they enjoy. Luckily, they love Pure Flavor® Gourmet Mini Cucumbers. If you’ve been following along, you will see these pop up quite often in recipes and for snacking ideas. They are a definite lunch box favorite. Any chance I get to use them in a recipe, I take it! The smoothie blend should be thick enough that you will need a spoon to scoop it out of your blender. If this isn’t a super food smoothie bowl, I don’t know what is! And now comes the fun part… garnish! This is where you can really get creative. I use a vegetable peeler to cut thin strips of cucumber, which I twist and place on top of my smoothie bowl. Some of my other favourite toppings are avocado slices, coconut flakes, mango cubes, pomegranate arils, and an extra sprinkling of chia and flax seeds. This is definitely one of the circling trends that you are going to want to try for yourself. It’s simple, fresh, and super nutritious. The possibilities of what to combine and how to top it are endless – let your imagination run wild. It’s easy to see how you can use greenhouse grown vegetables in so many unique ways, no matter the season. MANGO CUCUMBER SMOOTHIE BOWL « Now the best part – dig in and enjoy! » 20 mineasy4 SEE THE RECIPE @ohmygoodiescc22 @fitmamarealfood SALMON SUSHI BOWL This sushi bowl is easy to prepare and is perfectly balanced for lunch or dinner! Fuel your day with a line-up of healthy meals that are packed full of fresh vegetables and great flavors! From bowls and salads to dinners and more, our greenhouse grown vegetables can help you Live Deliciously® all year long. 30 mineasy423 QUINOA TOMATO SALAD ITALIAN PASTA SALAD Perfect as a light lunch or side to dinner, this salad is light and refreshing. @mygourmetstory @jam_jar_kitchen This delicious Italian Pasta Salad is packed with fresh veggies, cheese and a zesty Italian dressing that will have your family asking for seconds! 10 mineasy2 25 mineasy10 SEE THE RECIPE 24 Lisa Varacalli, Vice-Principal at St. Louis Elementary School in Leamington, Ontario, shares her experience with Pure Flavor’s® Adopt-A-School program, which helps fuel young minds by feeding students healthy Mini Munchies® veggie snack packs on a regular basis. How fortunate we are to live in a town where fresh and healthy veggies are grown every day of the year. Many of our students are well aware of what greenhouses look like and many have family members who work in the industry, but thanks to the generosity of Pure Flavor®, those students who are not as fortunate can experience the wealth of healthy eating on a weekly basis. Eating fresh vegetables every day is very important for a healthy diet and for learning. We are grateful to live in a generous community that reaches out and always supports each other! While we are partially funded by the Ontario Student Nutrition Program, as well as an additional grant from President’s Choice Children’s Charity, we rely on community donations to help support the needs in our school community. Pure Flavor® has been a long-time supporter of our nutrition program and we simply couldn’t offer the rich selection of healthy snacking veggies our kids need without their support. Kids of all ages are always excited when the cases full of Mini Munchies® Snack Packs arrive! MINI MUNCHIES ® ARE FUELING HEALTHY MINDS IN CLASS POCO AURORA LISA VARACALLI , Vice-Principal, St. Louis Elementary School 25 At the beginning of the Adopt-A-School program provided by Pure Flavor®, I would go into the classrooms to help deliver the vegetables, as well as to see what students would say about it. Mini Munchies® come with a variety of vegetables in each pack – tomatoes, mini peppers, and cocktail cucumbers. This ensures that every student finds a flavor they love every time! Initially, though, many of the younger students were not even aware of what the different vegetables were, so it was a great learning experience. Now, when I enter the classrooms, I see students eating the vegetables and talking about what they enjoy about each of them. It fills my heart to hear this and to see these students eating what was generously donated to us. With Mini Munchies®, Pure Flavor® has made it FUN for kids of all ages to snack on vegetables. Each pack has colorful characters that engage students and get them excited to taste what’s inside! Before the pandemic, snacks were often delivered to schools and handed out. Thankfully, these convenient snack packs make it easy and safe for students to safely handle them using all precautionary measures. It just shows how much Pure Flavor® prides themselves on their products and are always looking out for the community – not only enriching our bodies, but our minds too! « Not only does Pure Flavor’s® Adopt-A-School program give our young students the opportunity to have wholesome snacks, but it allows for our student volunteers to learn valuable skills when preparing and delivering the snacks. » JUNO BUMBLE ORIANA READ HER BLOG & MEET THE ST. LOUIS CRUSADERS CUCUMBER TURKEY WRAPS This simple and delicious wrap is full of crunch and flavor – the perfect addition to every lunchbox! 26 15 mineasy4 SEE THE RECIPE Getting kids of all ages to eat loads of veggies is one of the biggest challenges for many parents. We have come up with some fun, yet nutritious, ways to hopefully inspire your little ones to try more colors and flavors in their meals and snacks. CUCUMBER CHICKPEA MINI PIZZAS 25 mineasy4 15 mineasy4 Bright and fresh, this unique take on pizza is colorful and delicious! These rolled up pinwheels are a fun and nutritious sandwich alternative for kids! PEPPER SPINACH PINWHEELS 27 SEE THE RECIPE SEE THE RECIPE #SnackHealthyPure Hothouse Foods Inc. | PO Box 607 | Leamington, ON | N8H 3X4 | PURE-FLAVOR.COMNext >