Peanut Butter and Banana Roll-Up!

Greetings Ursinus!

Today we bring you a great way to mix up your average peanut butter sandwich to eat at any meal! Also be sure to check out the tips at the end of the post. Have a wonderful day and enjoy!

Peanut Butter and Banana Roll-Up!

What You’ll Need:

• One whole wheat wrap
• Peanut butter
• One banana
• Raisins (optional)
• A knife and plate

Instructions:

1. Ask for just a whole wheat wrap at the deli.
2. Grab some packets of peanut butter.
3. If you wish, get a small dish full of raisins provided at the salad topping station on the far right side of the fruit and yogurt bar.
4. Head to the cases of fruit and get a banana.
5. At a cutlery station, grab a plate and a knife.
6. At your seat, place your wrap on your plate and use your knife to spread your desired amount of peanut butter all over one flat side of your wrap.
7. If you chose to add raisins, sprinkle some all over the spread peanut butter. We recommend adding raisins for additional texture in the roll-up, as well as some added fiber. This may sound strange, however raisins act as a healthier alternative to grape jelly. They have the same grape flavor, but raisins give you the additional health benefits of fiber that come with eating the whole fruit source, as opposed to just its concentrated sugar content that you get when eating jelly.
8. Completely peel your banana and lay it on the wrap, off-center, so that it is an inch or two from one side.
9. Lift the short side of the wrap over and on top of the banana, the peanut butter should stick to the banana to help the wrap stay.
10. Next, roll the banana so that the side on top of it gets tucked between the banana and the other side of the wrap. Continue rolling the banana over the whole wrap until it is completely rolled up in the wrap and no peanut butter is exposed. It will end up looking similar to a burrito.
11. Finally, use your knife to cut off the excess wrap rolled up at both ends of the banana and devour.

Enjoy!

Fun facts and Food Tips:

• Looking for a way to spice up your healthy salad? Look no further than Wismer’s pizza station! The dining hall provides dried oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, and garlic powder in shakers next to the trays of pizza. Sprinkle one, or all three, onto your salad to make it a more exciting meal option without compromising its nutritional value with added oil, salt, or sugars. 

• Upper Wismer consistently offers freshly halved grapefruits throughout the year, but did you now that now is the best time to eat them? Grapefruits are in season from January through the early summer months, and since it is springtime, they are peaking in terms of favorable growing conditions, value, and flavor!

Apple, (Almond?), and Sunflower Seed Salad

Hello Ursinus,

Spring has sprung! In honor of the first day of spring yesterday, here is nice spring salad for you all to enjoy!

Apple, (Almond), and Sunflower Seed Salad

1. Head to the Salad Bar and get the greens of your choice, then we suggest getting cucumbers, carrots, and edamame. Feel free to add any other veggies of you want.
2. Now head to the other side of the salad bar and add the pre-cut apples.
3. Add some sliced almonds (if you want to given the information below and sunflower seeds.
4. Head back to the Salad Bar to coat your salad with either balsamic vinaigrette dressing or oil and balsamic vinegar.

Tip: If you want your salad really mixed up just grab another salad bowl place it on top of your current one and shake!

Now while almonds are a great source of protein, 1 cup has 20g of protein, there are some concerns. In the U.S. commercially produced almonds come from California. California is experiencing the worst drought in recent history. Considering that each individual almond uses 1.1 gallons of water; all that water needs to be drawn out of aquifers and used for agriculture purposes. However aquifers are not infinite sources of water, in fact they are the complete composite. The almonds used in this salad were water from finite freshwater under the ground. Not the most environmentally friendly thing. This just shows how even the smallest nut can have a large impact on our environment.

Enjoy!

For more information check out:

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/08/almonds-demon-nuts/379244/

Mediterranean Hummus Wrap

Happy Monday Ursinus!

We hope everyone had a relaxing spring break and is ready to conquer the last home stretch of the semester. Today we bring you a recipe that puts the Mediterranean bar in Wismer to good use, because let’s be honest, does anyone know how we’re supposed to eat those olives and artichokes? In addition to topping salads with the Mediterranean foods available, we recommend using them to create this delicious and wholesome wrap!

The star ingredient of this recipe is hummus: a great dip but also an awesome alternative spread for sandwiches and wraps. Hummus is plant-based and made primarily from chick peas, so it is friendlier towards the environment, animals, and your body. Hummus can pack a protein punch into your meal with less fat than many common spreads. The thick and creamy texture of hummus means that it is easy to also leave out the cheese from your sandwich or wrap if you wish to make your meal even more plant-powered! Here are some nutritional comparisons of hummus to other condiments you may use:

1 Tablespoon (13.8g) of…

	Hummus	Mayonnaise (contains eggs)	Cream Cheese (contains milk)
Calories	25	94	49
Fat (g)	1.4	10	5
Saturated fat (g)	0.2	1.6	2.8
Cholesterol (mg)	0	6	16
Carbohydrates (g)	2.1	0.1	0.6
Sugar (g)	0	0.1	0.5
Fiber (g)	0.9	0	0
Protein (g)	1.2	0.1	0.9
Sodium (mg)	57	88	47
Potassium (mg)	34	3	20

You can see that hummus is lower in calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sugar, and sodium than mayonnaise and cream cheese, but higher in the nutrients that are better for your health and energy levels: carbohydrates, fiber, protein, and potassium. This makes hummus a great food to incorporate into any meal!

Mediterranean Hummus Wrap!

What you’ll need:

• Whole wheat wrap
• A scoop of Hummus
• Veggies of choice, e.g. Spinach or lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, onions, tomatoes, etc.
• A few olives
• 3-5 roasted red pepper strips
• 1 or 2 artichokes
• Feta (optional, vegan without)
•  Knife and spoon 

Instructions:

1. Go to the deli and ask for just a whole wheat wrap.
2.  Go to the salad bar and get veggies of choice.
3. Go to the Mediterranean bar and get olives, artichokes, roasted red peppers, hummus, and feta (if desired).
4. Get the knife and spoon.
5. At your table, use the spoon to dollop and spread hummus all over one flat side of the wrap.
6. Use knife to cut the olives, roasted red peppers, artichokes, and any other veggies you feel necessary, into smaller pieces to fit and disperse them better in the wrap.
7. Lay all remaining ingredients on top of the hummus in a pile concentrated on one side of the wrap.
8. To fold your wrap, refer to the following diagram:

           Or bring your unfolded wrap to the deli and kindly ask the staff there to fold it for you.

       9. A final optional step you can take is to ask the deli staff member to toast your wrap for you!

Enjoy!