"Power up" your meals in 2017

Whether you're just getting started on a healthy eating journey or are looking for ways to incorporate new tastes and dishes into your diet that pack a nutritional punch, power bowls are the way to go in 2017. This isn't just a a trendy way to eat (although "bowls" are projected to be one of the big trends in the culinary world for this year). It's a way to pack a whole bunch of good things into one bowl.

Power bowls aren't just for dinner. They are perfect for any time of the day! Here's the basic recipe:

1. The base: Choose a high-energy base, such as whole grains, quinoa, lentils, or noodles.

2. Protein: Choose lean protein such as chicken or fish, or go vegetarian with chickpeas, or tofu.

3. Fruits and veggies: The sky's the limit here! Add something leafy like kale, then go for colour and nutrition with beets, shredded carrots, cucumbers, red peppers,

4. Extras: Think of these like the accessories on your power bowl. Choose things that add crunchy and texture, such as seeds and/or nuts.

5. Dressing: Top everything off with a delicious, healthy dressing!

Voila! You have a delicious meal full of the good stuff your body needs.

Although you can certainly freestyle your bowl and customize it exactly to your liking, sometimes it's nice to have a road map. That's where these two books come in. Both Power Bowls: All You Need in One Healthy Bowl and 100 Weight Loss Bowls: Build Your Own Calorie-Controlled Diet Plan contain a huge array of recipes and inspiration for creating nutritious bowls for morning, noon, and night.

Power Bowls

This book starts out by giving you the basic recipe for the perfect power bowl (as outline above) and then goes on to give basic recipes for things like hummus, pickles, and granola that you might want to add to your bowl. (The book also gives you "permission" to buy these items pre-made -- there's no preachiness here!)

Then, you'll find 9 recipes for power bowls for your morning meal, such as Quinoa & Berry Porridge. The next chapter contains 10 recipes that are perfect for lunch on the go, such as Vegetarian Sushi Bowl, Cauliflower Rice Tabbouleh Bowl, and many others. The dinner chapter features such yumminess as the Roated Roots and Pulses Bowl and Spicy Black Bean Burrito Bowl.

Every recipe in this book is jam-packed with nutrition and delciiousness! The book also offers tips for how to prepare all of the ingredients ahead of time, so you can have a delicious bowl any time you want.

100 Weight Loss Bowls, by Heather Whinney

This book is along much the same lines, offering delicious inspiration for nutritious breakfast, lunch, and dinner bowls. Here, there are recipes that are under 300, 400, and 600 calories, designed to make it easier to fit these meals into your healthy eating weight-loss plan.

Perfect for helping you keep your daily calorie intake in a healthy range for weight loss, this book has so many awesome ideas! Just a few of the tasty and nutritious recipes you'll find here are smoothie bowls such as Kale & Orange Smoothie with Pumpkin Seed Granola, salads such as Gazpacho Salad with Hot Sauce Dressing (YUM!), and Hot & Sourr Pork Tenderloin with Quinoa and Steamed Bok Choy.

Side note: The photography in bot of these books will have your mouth watering instantly!

If you are looking to get on board with the "bowl" trend (and there are lots of healthy reasons why you should) these two books should be in your library.

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