New Chapter
Prenatal Blueberry Oatmeal Power Bites
April 19, 2018 byAnneMauney of fANNEtastic Food
Hi, friends! I'm excited to continue to partner with New Chapterto keep the conversation going about prenatal and postnatal nutrition. Last time I shared my postnatal eating habitsand today, I wanted to talk a bit more about staying on top of nutrition while pregnant. I'm also including a fun and nutritious recipe for prenatal Blueberry Oatmeal Power Bites, which I seriously wish I had handy whileI was pregnant! But don't worry - you don't have to be pregnant to enjoy this recipe, I promise! :) They also make great middle of the night nursing fuel... or afternoon computer fuel!
When I was pregnant, I talked a lot on here about how I wasn’t super into food. Nothing sounded good to me and my cravings changed by the minute, and sometimes veggies were just about the last thing I could stomach. As you know, I’m all about intuitive eating and don’t think anyone, let alone pregnant people, should be stressing out about exact nutrients – but pregnancy does come along with some pretty specific nutrient needs. That’s why I’m a big supporter of prenatal vitamins, especially New Chapter’s Perfect Prenatal Multivitamin which includes probiotic-fermented vitamins and minerals. Their prenatal vitamin has no added sugar, no gelatin, is non-GMO project verified, contains no artificial flavors or colors, and is made with organic vegetables and herbs – pure, whole-food fermented ingredients to support you and your growing baby! *
In general, pregnant women have elevated nutrient needs, but they especially need additional calcium, folate, and iron to support a growing baby. Those nutrients are usually emphasized in prenatal vitamins, but here’s the thing: many multivitamins need to be taken with food to avoid nausea, and clearly the last thing a pregnant woman needs is to worry about taking something that could make her MORE nauseous. That’s where fermented vitamins come into play. When vitamins are fermented, they’re a lot easier on your stomach and much less likely to make you nauseous when taken without food (or with food).
New Chapter uses Saccharomyces cerevisiae (a species of yeast) and three strains of clinically researched probiotics to ferment their vitamins and minerals. This process unlocks and activates each nutrient, and makes the prenatal vitamin gentle enough to take anytime, even on an empty stomach. (You can read more about the New Chapter fermentation process and advantages on their science page.)
New Chapter’s Perfect Prenatal includes fermented folate to help support healthy birth weight and development of baby’s brain and spinal cord, fermented iron to help transport oxygen to the baby, and provides 100% of the daily value for iron. The Perfect Prenatal also provides fermented B Vitamins that help your body naturally produce energy. **
While taking a prenatal multivitamin is a great idea to meet specific vitamin and mineral needs, there’s one thing that vitamins don’t solve during pregnancy: constant hunger. Even if nothing in particular sounded good to me while I was pregnant, I was always hungry (and usually for carbs). Baked goods were life, but eating muffins for every meal didn’t usually equate to me feeling satisfied or getting in veggies, fiber, and healthy fats. Enter: these amazing baked oatmeal bites.
They’re packed with nutritious ingredients like oats, flax seed, almond butter, walnuts, bananas, blueberries, and cauliflower. Yep. Cauliflower. Sneaking veggies into baked goods is a great idea for pregnant women, and for anyone really – who doesn’t need more veggies in their life?! The cauliflower goes totally unnoticed. I was actually expecting to be able to find a weird hint of veggie flavor in these guys, but nope. Nothing but baked oatmeal deliciousness! Using riced cauliflower makes a huge difference, since the tiny pieces just blend right into the oats and can’t even be seen in the final product. To save time, buy the cauliflower already riced – most grocery stores now sell it in the bagged salad area.
These bites are perfect for making in advance and eating for breakfast or a snack throughout the week. If you’re making them more than a few days in advance, just pop them in the freezer and microwave to reheat! I think they’re equally delicious warm and room temperature. Portable fruits, veggies, whole grains, and healthy fats that you might actually crave during pregnancy?! Yes, please!
I also love that they share a similar ingredients list to New Chapter’s Perfect Prenatal Vitamin. New Chapter’s vitamins are made with whole food ingredients, and their prenatal vitamin includes blueberries, oats, and cauliflower sprouts so that you can reap the benefits of whole grains, whole berries and cruciferous veggies. Of course, these ingredients are healthy for anyone, and these power bites would be perfect for boosting any picky eater’s diet. Hot tip: if you use frozen instead of fresh blueberries, grab wild blueberries – they are extra flavorful and extra nutritious, too. I made a second batch of these using frozen wild blueberries and they were especially delicious!
Overall these muffins are hearty and super filling, sweet without being sugar bombs (they are sweetened just with pure maple syrup), and have a moist baked oatmeal texture that’s studded with crunchy walnuts and juicy blueberries. Definitely a new favorite recipe around here! This recipe is super easy, too. Just mash together the cauliflower and bananas, add the remaining wet ingredients, add the dry ingredients, and bake!
Click hereto visit fANNEtastic Food for the Prenatal Blueberry Oatmeal Power Bites recipe!
*Certified Organic by International Certification Services, Inc., Medina, ND, USA.
**These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
