As long as I can remember I have been obsessed with cooking and healthy foods.I grew up with an Ad-Man dad, whose undeniable genius was responsible for such iconic slogans as "Coke is It" and "Leggo my Eggo." My dad also weighed 450 pounds. Every week he would adopt some miracle plan, and my whole family ended up eating whatever freeze-dried, saccharin loaded concoction he was testing as not to tempt him. By the time I was 9, I had already tried Atkins, Weight Watchers, and the Cabbage Soup Diet. Despite being scrawnier than most of my classmates, I lived on the liquid meals and diet sodas that filled our pantry. Looking back, what I remember most about those years is feeling very, very hungry - until the weekends, which I spent at my grandparents' house, learning to cook . My grandmother Beauty taught me how to nourish myself and others through cooking. Now as a nutritionist I am able to inspire other as she did me and my formerly fat dad is 210 pounds and vegan.
My Favorite superfood in addition to fresh fruits, vegetables and nuts is Matcha tea. Matcha means powdered green tea made from fresh shade-grown green tea leaves, harvested in the month of May in Japan. Matcha is packed with vitamins, minerals, nutrients, antioxidants and even amino acids that can sustain your body energetically and nutritionally for hours at a time.
I use it several times throughout the day- both for health, taste, and energy. I add the green powder to my morning smoothies, my home baked breakfast cookies as well as sprinkling it on my oatmeal meal or combining it with water and chia seeds for an energizing and filling drink on the go. Matcha provides sustained energy as well as a healthy shot of antioxidants because of the flavonoids. Unlike the caffeine in coffee, matcha promotes focus and calmness. It also has more antioxidants than goji berries, pomegranates, wild blueberries, oranges or broccoli. And has 9 times the beta-carotene than spinach.
My cookies below use matcha powder in addition to a host of other energy boosting super foods like almond flour and coconut oil - to sustain and energize you while filling you up. A win, win for taste and fuel.
Morning Matcha Energy Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups Almond Flour
- 1 1/4 cups Oat Flour
- Dash Ground Cinnamon
- Teaspoon of Vanilla
- Pinch of Sea Salt
- 1/3 cup Coconut Oil
- 1/2 cup Maple Syrup
- 1 tablespoon of Yuve Matcha Green Tea
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350'
- Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.
- In separate bowl mix wet ingredients.
- Blend wet into mixture.
- Spoon onto baking sheet (lined w. baking parchment or lightly greased)
- Using a small ice-cream scoop, place formed dough onto baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
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Dawn Lerman is a top Manhattan nutritionist, best selling author of "My Fat Dad: A Memoir of Food, Love, and Family with Recipes", and a contributor to the NewYork Times Well Blog . She has been featured on NBC, NPR, Huff Post TV as well as several other news outlets. Her company, Magnificent Mommies, provides nutrition education to students, teachers and corporations. Dawn counsels clients on weight loss, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other diet-related conditions. She is a sought-after speaker and cooking teacher.
