Cascadian Farm Organic Goodness

Something about the greening of the grass in my backyard spurs the urge to make brunch. Where cold and gray winter mornings have me reaching for a bowl of warm oatmeal, I'm now craving crêpes or a spinach omelet eaten in the morning sun with the day still ahead, just as the summer is yet to come.

It's such cravings that lead to the production of 80 cinnamon rolls as I search for the one I am dreaming of. Of course, now armed with the recipe, it's only right that we should tinker a bit, and what came next was the spreading of blueberry preserves, tucked into an ever-so-lightly lemon-dusted dough and baked into fist-sized puffs of breakfast heaven.

These lemon blueberry rolls take a traditional cinnamon roll dough and introduce it to the brightness of lemon zest and a filling of blueberry preserves. They are a fun and unexpected twist on the classic.

Lemon Blueberry Rolls

1 ¼ cups whole milk

12 tablespoons unsalted butter

½ cup sugar

2 teaspoons lemon zest

½ teaspoon salt

2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast

4 cups all-purpose flour

For the filling:

10 oz Cascadian Farm Blueberry Fruit Spread

Before baking:

1 egg

2 tablespoons water

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

3 teaspoons milk

1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice

Heat the milk in a medium saucepan until bubbles form around the edges. Turn the burner off and add  butter, sugar, lemon zest and salt. Stir to combine, then continue stirring until the butter melts. Allow the mixture to sit until it reaches between 110º and 120º F. Add the yeast and let it sit for 10 minutes, until it turns frothy. 

Pour the milk mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer and start adding the flour a ½ cup at a time. Once all the flour is incorporated, cover and let it rise in the bowl for one full hour. Punch down the dough and knead lightly. Roll the dough into a large rectangle about ¼ inch thick. Spread the blueberry preserves over the entire surface and roll into a long tube. Cut 1 1/2" sections from the tube for the rolls. Place 2” apart on a parchment-lined sheet or in a baking dish. Allow to rise for 45-60 minutes. The dough will continue to rise after you put it in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 425º. Beat together egg and water and brush over the tops of the rolls. Bake for 8-12 minutes, remove from oven.

Mix together all glaze ingredients. Drizzle lightly over warm rolls. Serve warm or up to 24 hours later if stored in an airtight container.

Makes 20 cinnamon rolls.

Photo by Shaina Olmanson

Repeat after me: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It's been drilled into your head for years, right? I need no more convincing. I love breakfast. Oatmeal. Granola. Smoothies. Pancakes. Muffins. Eggs. Whether they're baked into a frittata or scrambled, fried or rolled.

Sure, you could roll your eggs into a fluffy omelet, but here in our house we're all about fuss free rolling. They come together quickly and easily, making them perfect for our large family. Excuse the running of the eggs. Our griddle is broken and slants.

Rolled Omelet

olive oil

6 large eggs

1-2 tablespoons half and half or milk

½ teaspoon salt

Your favorite fillings: cheese, vegetables, meat, herbs, salsa

Crack eggs into a large bowl. Add in half and half and salt. Beat well with fork until all whites are completely broken up and mixed in.

Heat griddle or large skilled with rounded sides to medium heat. Add enough olive oil to cover the bottom. Pour out about 2/3-cup worth of the egg mix onto the griddle. Immediately sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons of filling just off center. Using an offset spatula, flip the closest side of the egg over the filling. Continue rolling until you reach the end of the egg. Flip onto plate and serve immediately.

Makes 3 rolled eggs.

Photo and video by Shaina Olmanson

When people first find out that I’m a professional athlete, some will give me a look of envy and remark that I must be able to eat whatever I want. Because I swim, bike and run up to 6 hours a day, I suppose they think that I burn so many calories that I can chow down on chocolate bars and pizza between training sessions. That assumption couldn’t be further from the truth! I have to pay attention to what I eat, how much I eat and when I eat.

Of all of the meals that I eat throughout the day, breakfast is the most important one. I think of breakfast as my performance meal, as it fuels me for my training sessions for the day. My post-workout snacks and lunch are really just boosters that help to provide necessary nutrition to recover from workouts. For me, dinner is an opportunity to enjoy cooking, fill up on veggies and replace any depleted energy. By consuming most of my calories earlier in the day and/ or following a workout, when my metabolism is highest, food becomes fuel to power me through a hard set or to replenish tired muscles after a session.

While breakfast serves as fuel in my life as a hard-training athlete, the same principle of breakfast as performance meal is applicable to all lifestyles. With a good, nutritionally sound start to the day, energy levels are more stable, concentration is improved and weight loss goals are more manageable. My grandfather is a living testament to the power of a good breakfast; at 89 years old, he still works 50 to 60 hours a week with his greenhouse business. The secret, he told me, is that he starts every day with a big bowl of plain oatmeal. While I can only hope that his vigor has been genetically passed down to me, I know that his breakfast habit is one that I can always emulate.

Whether you need to maintain concentration in classes or work, have workouts to complete, are trying to keep up with your kids or are continuing to lift flats of plants at 89, breakfast is key to your success. Try to focus on whole grains, incorporate some fruit and protein into your breakfast and aim for organic foods. I like to start my day with a bowl of whole grain cereal topped with chopped apple, a handful of berries (fresh, if in season, or frozen), a sprinkle of flax or hemp seeds, a bit of yogurt and some almond or cow milk. There is a lot of delicious stuff in my power breakfast bowl: antioxidants, fiber, protein, fat (including Omega-3 fatty acids) and complex carbohydrates. I find that this combination of foods keeps my energy levels stable, avoiding the peak and subsequent crash that a simple carbohydrate-laden breakfast would produce. Needless to say, you would never see me at a fast-food drive-thru ordering a muffin and coffee at 7 am. With so much daily activity to fuel, I feel that breakfast is far too important to eat anything but filling, nutritious foods. Hopefully you too have a tasty power start to your busy day!

Smoothies can be a great way to start your day. Nutrient dense and portable, they can come with you in the car, and are a much better alternative to a donut or fast food breakfast sandwich on the go.

At our house they're not just for breakfast, though. Sometimes I sneak a smoothie in with lunch to accompany a small plate of my homemade macaroni and cheese or a grilled cheese sandwich or any other food that is delicious but lacking in the "eat the rainbow" side of things. Grains and cheese a balanced diet does not make, especially not for the little mouths I'm feeding. 

I like to make mine with 100% juices and yogurt. I also add in almond milk (best if you make your own by soaking almonds and blending with water), but soymilk and regular milk work just as well. For a sweetener, I go for honey, agave syrup or pure maple syrup. Rather than adding frozen yogurt or ice cream, I add a frozen banana. The texture is very much the same without all the added calories and sugar. And for the fruit? Organic frozen fruit works best.

Below are three of our family favorite smoothies, whether they're for mornings on the go, supplementing a delicious meal or just hanging out in the yard on a lovely spring day. Do you have a favorite flavor combination when it comes to smoothies?

Super Berry Smoothie

½ cup acai berry or pomegranate juice

½ cup almond milk, soymilk or milk

2 tablespoons honey

1 whole ripe banana (frozen or not)

½ cup frozen blueberries

½ cup frozen strawberries

Raspberry Peach Smoothie

½ cup white grape juice

½ cup almond milk, soymilk or milk

2 tablespoons honey

1 cup frozen raspberries

1 cup frozen peaches

Tropical Smoothie

½ cup apple juice

½ cup plain Greek yogurt

¼ cup almond milk, soymilk or milk

2 tablespoons honey

1 whole banana (frozen or not)

1 whole kiwi

½ cup frozen mangoes

½ cup frozen pineapple chunks

Add-Ins:

Wheatgrass

Wheat germ

Flax seeds

Chia seeds

Hemp seeds

Sesame seeds

Coconut

Spinach

Swiss chard

Kale

In a blender add first the juice, almond milk and the honey (and yogurt, if applicable). Top with fruit and any add-ins you choose. Start with blender on a low speed and raise the speed. If the blender gets stopped up, turn off, wait, stir if necessary, re-cover and turn back on. Continue to blend until a small cyclone forms and then allow to blend about one minute more. Turn the blender off, pour and enjoy.

Makes 2 small (kid-sized) or 1 large (adult-sized) smoothie.

We love that Joy Bauer told viewers of The Today Show to look for "whole grain" or "bran" in the first word of any breakfast cereal's list of ingredients. Of course, we kinda think the word "organic" is an important one too, but we'll still give you a high-five for some great advice!

We don't like to brag (ok, we'll brag a little) but if you take a peek at our ingredients, I think you'll find a whole lotta healthy breakfast going on!

Thanks Joy for sharing some really good advice! Oh, and thanks for your facebook shout-outs too :)