Three Ways to Get your Pantry Ready for School

Can you believe it’s time to start thinking about school?

As the dietitian supporting Marian Hope, I wanted to share with you not only a fab back to school deal on real food products, but also an upcoming event to get your brain back in the school lunch game. Oh, and a super easy and REAL FOOD peanut butter cookie recipe for fun at the end.

First, let me introduce to you Thrive Market. This place is blowing my socks off. We are all working hard to give our kids real food that isn’t full of chemicals, hormone deregulators, and extra gunk we can’t even pronounce. That’s why I am so proud to be able to offer Marian Hope families a free 2-month membership AND 25% off at Thrive Market. By using THIS LINK you will get to check out all the great foods they have available.

Now, are you already dreading thinking up new ideas for breakfast and lunch when school kicks into gear? Well, there is a FREE event coming up at the Shawnee Natural Grocers. Here I will be giving you recipes, tastes, and tips for all your back to school eating needs. All recipes and demos will be gluten and dairy free. One of the main issues we will address is the need for neurotransmitter support through amino acids, via quality protein to keep kids going all the way until the homework is done. It is crucial that we nourish kids brains. Functional medicine practitioner Dr. Corey Priest will be joining me to get down and dirty about brain support for children.

Now for the fun part – the recipe!

Peanut Butter Cookies (from The Plant Power Way)

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon coconut oil

2 tablespoon ground flaxseeds

1/4 cup filtered water

1 cup organic, natural-style crunchy peanut butter

1 1/4 cups organic sugar

2 teaspoons high-quality vanilla extract

1 bar high quality dark chocolate

1 teaspoon large-grain sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a cookie sheet with the coconut oil using a paper towel
2. To make a flaxseed egg, mix the ground flaxseed and the filtered water. Let stand for 2 minutes and then whisk until the mixture has an egg-like texture. Add more filtered water as needed to get the consistency of an egg
3. In a medium bowl, mix the peanut butter and sugar, flaxseed “egg” and vanilla with clean hands until well combined
4. Roll 1 1/2 tablespoons of the mixture into smooth balls and place about 1” apart on the prepared baking sheet.
5. Press flat using a fork, making a lined pattern on the cookies.
6. Press on square of dark chocolate into the center of each cookie. Place large sea salt crystals on top of cookies.
7. Bake until golden around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool until they are slightly warm. Carefully transfer to serving plate using a spatula.

– Blakely Page, R.D.
Registered Dietitian
bpage@marianhope.org