AUGUST 14, 2024
SMART STARTS FOR A HEALTHY HEART
Make Banana Boats: A Camping and Backyard-Grilling Treat
Improve hydration, skip added sugars with better-for-you beverages
BY DONNA ERICKSON
FAMILY FEATURES How you start your morning can impact the rest of your day. If you’re looking to incorporate healthier choices into your morning routine, try a concept known as “habit stacking.” Building tiny, healthier habits into routines you already have, like enjoying a morning beverage or breakfast before you check your email instead of jumping right into the day’s tasks, can make it easier to stick to a new habit when it’s built into an existing routine. If you already enjoy the routine of breakfast to start the day, consider swapping sugary drinks for beverages without added sugars like unsweetened green or black tea. When incorporated as part of an overall healthy diet, unsweetened tea can help support heart health. If you need help getting started, Lipton, a proud national sponsor of the American Heart Association’s Life is Why campaign, created these easy-tomake, better-for-you tea recipes. A small handful of ingredients makes a big splash in Green Tea Berry Banana Smoothies, ideal for an on-the-go breakfast. For a little refreshment any time of day, simple Sparkling Green Tea Cranberry Spritzers offer a solution with 0 grams of added sugars while non-alcoholic Green Tea Mojito Mocktails provide natural sweetness with 100% fruit juice. Choosing beverages with no added sugars can contribute to a healthy heart, according to the American Heart Association, making these recipes perfect for daily habit stacking. Water is needed to keep your body running at its best, and because unsweetened tea is 99.5 % water, it provides a delicious way to help hydrate. Discover more ways to improve daily routines at Heart.org/ eatsmart.
GREEN TEA BERRY BANANA SMOOTHIES Recipe courtesy of the American Heart Association Servings: 4 (1 1/2 cups per serving)
wedges or lime zest twists (optional) In small saucepan over high heat, bring water to boil. Remove pan from heat. Submerge tea bags. Steep 4 minutes. Discard tea bags. Let tea mixture cool 30 minutes. Pour into pitcher. Refrigerate 2 hours, or until 3 cups water 8 single-serving green tea bags chilled. At serving time, add mint 16 ounces frozen mixed berries leaves to four glasses. Using (about 3 cups) 2 medium bananas, peeled, cut muddler or wooden spoon, mash mint leaves several times to in half and frozen release juices. Don’t mash into 1 cup fat-free plain Greek pulp. Add ice. yogurt Stir white grape juice and lime 2 teaspoons fresh-grated juice into tea mixture. Pour into peeled gingerroot (optional) glasses. Garnish each with lime 2 teaspoons vanilla extract wedge and mint leaf. (optional) Tip: To get more juice from 2 teaspoons chia or flax seeds citrus, before slicing, microwave (optional) fruit on high 30 seconds, or until In small saucepan over high warm. When cool enough to heat, bring water to boil. Remove handle, use citrus reamer or pan from heat. Submerge tea bags. Steep 4 minutes. Discard tea handheld juice press to juice citrus. bags. Let tea mixture cool 30 minutes. Pour into pitcher. SPARKLING GREEN TEA Refrigerate 2 hours, or until CRANBERRY SPRITZERS chilled. Recipe courtesy of the American In food processor or blender, Heart Association Servings: 4 (1 1/2 cups per process tea, berries, bananas and serving) yogurt until smooth. Add 4 cups water gingerroot and vanilla, if desired, and process until smooth. Pour 4 single-serving green tea bags into four glasses. Sprinkle with 1 cup 100% cranberry juice or chia seeds, if desired. 100% cranberry-pomegranate juice GREEN TEA MOJITO 2 cups ice cubes MOCKTAILS 1/2 cup seltzer (flavored or Recipe courtesy of the American Heart Association plain) or low-sodium club Servings: 4 (1 1/2 cups per soda, chilled serving) 4 orange slices or lime wedges 4 cups water (optional) 4 single-serving green tea bags In small saucepan over high 32-40 sprigs fresh mint, plus heat, bring water to boil. Remove additional for garnish, pan from heat. Submerge tea divided bags. Steep 4 minutes. Discard tea 2 cups ice cubes bags. Let tea mixture cool 30 1 cup 100% white grape juice minutes. Pour into pitcher. Stir in 1/2 cup fresh lime juice (about cranberry juice. Refrigerate 2 4 medium limes) hours, or until chilled. 1 medium lime, cut into four At serving time, put ice cubes in four glasses. Pour tea mixture into glasses. Top each serving with seltzer. Garnish with orange slices. Tip: To create cranberryflavored ice cubes, fill ice cube tray with 100% cranberry juice and freeze.
Benjamin Franklin gets credit for saying that there are only two things certain in life: death and taxes. Hey, Ben, do you mind if I add bananas to your list? No matter the time of the year, I’m always certain that when I take a trip to my local grocery store, there will be a bunch or more of the yellow treasures that end up in my shopping cart. They are relatively inexpensive and healthy (potassium-rich), and they come naturally well-wrapped. Toss bananas in your kids’ sports bags when they head off to soccer practice, or tuck them in your carry-on for an instant snack on a flight to your summer destination. You just can’t beat that dependable, always-in-season, always-there banana. No, I’m not a spokeswoman for the banana council, but I am a real fan of the fruit, even if I sometimes complain that they go from yellow to brown way too fast -- or when they end up smooshed in the bottom of a kid’s backpack, not to be discovered for a week or two. Here is another reason to make certain that enough bananas make it home from the grocery store. You can create, concoct and cook this yummy “Banana Boat” dessert treat with kids on a camping trip, or you can fire up the grill at a designated picnic spot at a city park or in your own backyard.
BANANA BOATS Serves 6 6 firm, ripe bananas Chocolate candy bars, broken into pieces, or chocolate chip morsels Marshmallows, miniature or regular Aluminum foil Slice each banana just through the skin, lengthwise without removing the peel. Use a teaspoon to scoop out a small amount of the banana, about the length of the slice, to create a little cavity. Tuck the chocolate bits and pieces and the marshmallows into the cavity of the sliced banana. Wrap each entire banana in foil and place directly on the coals of a campfire or on a grill. Cook until chocolate and marshmallows are melted, about 8-10 minutes. Remove with tongs. Unwrap and eat with a spoon. Yummy! Cook’s Note: Add nuts, granola, dried fruit or other toppings, if you wish. Tip: If you have extra bananas that are starting to turn brown, peel them, wrap them in plastic wrap, store them in a freezer bag, and freeze. Eat them whole while they’re slightly frozen, mash them for baking, or toss them into a blender with your favorite smoothie ingredients. *** Donna Erickson creates relationships and community through food and fun. Find more to nourish and delight you at www.donnaerickson.com. © 2024 Donna Erickson Distributed by King Features Synd.
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