Cherry Almond Protein Yogurt Cup

Yogurt and cottage cheese cups have become a popular high protein snack trend, and with good reason!

You can:  

1. Mix in new ingredients without having to dirty another bowl. 

2. Increase the amount of protein by adding a scoop of collagen or favorite protein powder. 

3. Crack into a hardened dark chocolate shell with a spoon. Who doesn’t love that!? 

Yogurt and cottage cheese is often marketed as a healthy food; however, added sugar and flavorings can alter their health-promoting properties so choosing the best yogurt or cottage cheese cup is very important. 

A great first step in choosing the best yogurt or cottage cheese is simply reading the label. You want to look for a plain style that has few ingredients. They should include milk, the bacterial cultures used to turn milk into yogurt or cottage cheese, and not much else. If you consume plant-based yogurt, the same holds true.

Protein amount is also very important as it relates to this post. Greek yogurt has more protein and fewer carbs, while plant based yogurt tends to have less fat and no lactose. Organic may be richer in certain nutrients, but it’s lower in others. 

Cherry almond protein yogurt cup video will show you how you can make your own protein packed yogurt cup using a plant based yogurt but will show protein amounts for both greek style and cottage cheese cups for reference.

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo to #fromtherootsblog on Instagram. We love seeing what you come up with!

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Ingredients

• 1 plain flavored yogurt cup (non-dairy, greek, or cottage cheese)

• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder*

• 1 tsp almond extract

• 1-2 Tbsp dark chocolate chips, melted

• 1 Tbsp cherry preserve or fresh cherries, mashed

• 7 raw almonds, chopped

• Pinch of sea salt flakes

Directions

1. Mix protein powder, almond extract and cherries into your preferred yogurt cup. 

2. Top with melted dark chocolate, almonds and a pinch or two of sea salt flakes. 

3. Freeze for 10 minutes to harden the chocolate, crack into it with a spoon and enjoy!

Notes: *Equip Foods is my go-to for protein powder! Use code: ROOTS for 15% off your first order today!

White Chocolate Double Strawberry Blondies

These White Chocolate Double Strawberry Blondies are a fun way to elevate the classic blondie while being gluten-free, naturally sweetened, and dairy-free friendly.

I wanted to squeeze in one late summer recipe before moving on to fall recipes so I thought these white chocolate double strawberry blondies would be the perfect finisher! 

When I was in Las Vegas last month for a personal training conference, I so happily indulged in a strawberry shortcake milkshake in between sessions! It was truly amazing! Layers of ice cream, strawberry drizzle, and garnished with an entire slice of strawberry cake and a classic strawberry shortcake ice cream bar - the inner child in me was truly content! 

So, in like fashion, I had to create a healthier version that didn’t cause a major sugar crash in the middle of the day! Lol Almost felt like a hangover! 

And I know what you might be thinking…how is a strawberry shortcake milkshake anything like a blondie? And you are totally right - there is no comparison, haha. 

I don’t think it’s practical to recreate a layered milkshake - no matter how “healthy” I can make it, it would still be pretty dense! So to slim it down - this blondie contains two types of strawberries: fresh and freeze dried with white chocolate that cuts into the tartness of the strawberries all while salivating for more as I love pairing lemon with strawberries to provide a bright note at the end. 

Bonus - Breaking freeze dried strawberries down to powder form creates the natural pink color in the blondie batter!

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo to #fromtherootsblog on Instagram. We love seeing what you come up with!

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These White Chocolate Double Strawberry Blondies are a fun way to elevate the classic blondie while being gluten-free, naturally sweetened, and dairy-free friendly.

prep time: 10 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients 

• 1 cup oat flour

• ½ cup GF baking flour

• ⅓ cup pure maple syrup

• ¼ cup drippy natural peanut butter

• ¼ cup plant based or regular milk

• 1 egg

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• ½ tsp baking soda

• ¼ tsp baking powder

• ¼ tsp salt

• 2-4 Tbsp freeze dried strawberries (creates the pink color in batter)

• ½ cup white chocolate chips

• ½ cup sliced fresh strawberries

• Juice of ½ lemon + zest

Optional garnish

Additional freeze dried strawberries

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line an 8x8 inch baking pan with parchment paper. *Tip - leave some of the paper hanging over the edges for easy removal. 

2. In a food processor, pulse 2-4+ Tbsp freeze dried strawberries until you get a powder like consistency. 

3. In a bowl, whisk the dry ingredients (flours, baking soda and powder, salt, freeze dried strawberry powder). 

4. In a separate bowl, whisk the wet ingredients (maple syrup, peanut butter, milk, egg, vanilla extract, juice of ½ lemon and zest). 

5. Stir the wet mixture into the dry mixture until well combined. 

6. Fold in the white chocolate chips and strawberries until everything is combined - do not overmix! I stop as soon as I no longer see flour chunks in the batter. The batter should be a thick consistency. 

7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing out the top in an even layer. 

8. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the center is set and lightly golden. Resist the urge to overbake! *Hence, what makes a blondie a gooey blondie! 

9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan before slicing into squares. 

Notes

• The more freeze dried strawberry powder you use, the more your batter will be pink! Just make sure that the batter doesn’t become too dry so may have to add 1 Tbsp of milk for desired batter consistency. 

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Pesto Chicken Salad with Pickled Grapes and Arugula

Pesto chicken salad with pickled grapes and arugula is the epitome of a refreshing summer dish! The complexity of flavors, textures, and ingredients creates a literal summer barbecue in your mouth! 

What’s great about this recipe is that it’s super easy to make! If you’ve got boiling water and cooking chicken then you are already ahead of the game! The only components you will need to do for this recipe are pickle grapes for about 10-15 minutes and make pesto sauce using a food processor or mortar and pestle. That’s it. 

Speaking of pickling, this meal is considered a six senses nourishing meal as the pickled grapes fit in the probiotics component. The probiotics in unpasteurized red wine vinegar can help to improve the microbiome and our digestive system. 

Six Senses Nourish Components: 

Non-starchy carbs |  arugula, basil

Starchy carbs |  pasta, grapes

Fat | Nuts, oil in pesto, cheese 

Protein | chicken, nutritional yeast, nuts

Flavor | basil pesto sauce, seasonings on chicken

Probiotics | red wine vinegar, nutritional yeast 

Another fun way of looking at this dish is that if you make batched cooked items on your designated batch cook day, ie: pesto, pasta, grilled chicken, and pickled grapes then it’s just a matter of throwing everything together with arugula and the optional toppings when ready to serve! 

If you would like more information on how to build more six senses nourish meals and why it’s an easy and seamless way of getting nutrient dense, whole foods into your diet, then check out the Nourishment Program for more information! 

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo to #fromtherootsblog on Instagram. We love seeing what you come up with!

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Pesto chicken salad with pickled grapes and arugula is the epitome of a refreshing summer dish! The complexity of flavors, textures, and ingredients creates a literal summer barbecue in your mouth! 

SERVINGS: 4-6 PREP: 10 MIN COOK TIME: 20 MIN

Ingredients

• 1 lb grilled chicken (seasoned Italian/classic)

• 1 box pasta of choice (GF or grain free preferred)

• 10-15 red grapes (halved)

• Couple handfuls of arugula

• ½ cup red wine vinegar (to pickle grapes)

• Pesto or premade pesto of choice

• ¼ cup pine nuts 

Garnish

• Cheese of choice (ie goat, feta, parmigiano reggiano) 

Directions

1. Using a food processor or mortar and pestle, prepare the pesto. 

2. Chop grapes in half and pickle in red wine vinegar for 10-15 minutes. 

3. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper and your favorite seasonings and cook using your preferred method (oven, pan fry, air fry, instant pot).

4. Boil pasta and cook until al dente. 

5. In a mixing bowl, mix in some of the green pesto to drained pasta. Chop up the chicken breasts into small chunks. Add the chicken and drained pickled grapes to the mixing bowl. 

6. Finally, add baby arugula, top with toasted pine nuts and cheese.

Prosciutto Wrapped Figs

A sweet, salty and acidic appetizer or snack delight that features figs stuffed with goat cheese and pistachios, wrapped with prosciutto, and air fried or baked to tender goodness.

Confession time: I don’t like figs, there I said it! Dried figs, sure. Fig newtons as a kid when that was the only snack you could find in the pantry, you bet. But fresh - you can forget it! 

So when my personal training client handed me a bag of freshly picked figs, I had no idea what to do. But she entrusted me to create a recipe using them and I didn’t want to let her down! So not only does this recipe goes out to my client … you know who you are ;) This fig recipe also goes out to my newfound fresh fig taste buds! 

The secret to enjoying fresh figs is wrapping them in prosciutto and roasting or air frying them. Having the addition of goat cheese and pistachio for added creaminess and texture doesn’t hurt either. And to take it to an even magical level, enhance the complexity in sweet, salty, and acid flavors with a drizzle of honey. 

It quite literally cannot get any better than this! 

So if you are looking for a summer appetizer, macro balanced snack, or trying to figure out ways to use figs, then this is your recipe ladies and gentleman! 

And feel free to switch out ingredients: figs for dates, goat cheese for blue cheese, pistachio for almonds, honey for balsamic glaze, prosciutto for bacon, air frying for baking…you get my drift ;) 

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo to #fromtherootsblog on Instagram. We love seeing what you come up with!

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A sweet, salty and acidic appetizer or snack delight that features figs stuffed with goat cheese and pistachios, wrapped with prosciutto, and air fried or baked to tender goodness.

Servings: 4 | Prep Time: 4 min | Cook 5 min

Ingredients

• 8 figs

• ⅓ cup goat or blue cheese, softened

• 8 prosciutto slices

• 2 Tbsp raw pistachios, chopped

Garnish

Local honey and chopped pistachios

Directions 

1. Cut the figs in half and set aside. 

2. In a small bowl, mix softened goat cheese and chopped pistachios until well combined.  Dollop a small amount on one fig half and place the other fig half on top like a sandwich. Repeat with the remainder of figs where you should have 8 fig sandwiches. 

3. Wrap the prosciutto around each fig sandwich. The ends of the prosciutto should overlap. Place a wet toothpick through prosciutto wrapped fig so that it doesn’t fall apart. 

4. If using an air fryer: preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees and cook for 5-7 minutes flipping halfway until prosciutto is crispy. 

5. If using the oven: preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place in the oven on the top rack and roast for 8-10 minutes. 

6. Garnish with honey drizzle and leftover chopped pistachios and enjoy! 

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Summer Burger Salad

Burger in a bowl - all the amazing components from a barbeque or straight off the grill, but in salad form! 

Summertime barbeques are the best! A great time for family and friends to come together, hang out by the pool or grill, and just EAT! 

Some of my favorite barbeque dishes are burgers, grilled veggies, fresh fruits and refreshing salads! And if I’m lucky enough, there just might be some leftovers to bring home!

When that glorious time happens, I usually create summertime barbeque in a bowl or burger salad if you will, as a quick lunch or dinner! 

The components of my burger salad are: 

• Massaged kale (kale + sea salt + lemon juice + olive oil) 

• How to make massaged kale and nutrition benefits here. 

• Grass Fed burger patties

• Fresh fruit like strawberries

• Leftover pickles

• Feta or goat cheese crumbles (or just a slice of cheese on the burger)

• Air fried sweet potatoes (since lettuce burgers as a gluten free option is pretty boring!)

• Grilled asparagus

• And Random sauce that compliments the ingredients like buffalo sauce

That is pretty much it! So whatever you have leftover from last night’s barbeque or day grilling, make yourself a quick and easy burger salad! 

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo to #fromtherootsblog on Instagram. We love seeing what you come up with!

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Burger in a bowl - all the amazing components from a barbeque or straight off the grill; but in salad form! 

PREP TIME 10 MIN | Servings 4

Components

• 1–2 heaping cups massaged kale (or mixed greens)

• 4 cooked burger patties or 1 lb cooked ground grass fed beef, turkey, or bison

• ½ cup pickles, sliced

• 1 large sweet potato, cubed

• 1 bunch grilled asparagus spears

• 1 cup strawberries, sliced

• ½ cup feta or goat cheese

• Sauce of choice

Directions 

1. Prepare ingredients or have whatever is on hand from prior barbeque or grill sesh. 

2. To make air fryer sweet potatoes: 

   1. Peel and slice sweet potato into cubed or ¼ inch thick slices. 

   2. Add sweet potatoes to a large mixing bowl, drizzle with oil of choice and toss to combine. Sprinkle desired seasoning blend over the potatoes and toss to combine. 

   3. Transfer fries to an air fryer basket and cook on 400F for about 12-16 minutes, flipping halfway until golden brown and crisp on the outside. 

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