*This post is sponsored by Real California Milk, but all opinions are our own.
Last month, we attended an educational and hands-on event with Real California Milk. We learned so much from the panel of experts and the other attendees! We had such a great discussion about diet culture, nutritional benefits of dairy, sustainability in the dairy industry, food styling and engaging with our audience on social media.
Our biggest takeaway from the event was the importance of the whole foods matrix and shifting to healthy eating patterns and eating intuitively. California dairy can easily be integrated into healthy eating since foods such as yogurt, cheese, and cottage cheese are healthy sources of protein and a great way to get your essential vitamins and minerals.
We’re both all about eating intuitively and finding balance. As you know, we love to exercise and eat healthily, but also love our fries! So, we loved learning about how to incorporate dairy products into our diet.
As part of the hands-on experience, we learned to make healthy, balanced, and very Instagrammable crostini. They provided us with the ingredients and broke it down by categories and benefits, so we can make our own based on our nutritional preferences!
Probiotics
Probiotics support healthy gut and metabolic function and may reduce risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The ingredient options include sour cream, whole fat yogurt, labne, and fermented veggies.
We picked whole fat yogurt for our crostini since they made a great base. But we love fermented veggies as well!
Antioxidants
Antioxidants support healthy immune system and help fight oxidative stress. Options here included fine herbs, chives, dill, extra virgin olive oil, parsley, and veggies/crudité rich in antioxidants.
We added herbs to our savory crostini and grabbed some veggies to snack on.
Phytochemicals
Phytochemicals reduce inflammation, support optimal metabolism, and promote healthy blood vessels. Here we chose from spices, fresh peppers, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, sriracha, hot sauce, jalapeños, garlic, and chive blossoms.
We added turmeric to our savory crostini because not only does it reduce inflammation, but it also added a great color to the yogurt.
Protein & Calcium
Protein and calcium provide energy, satiety, bone health, and support optimal heart/muscle/nerve function. Great sources of protein and calcium are whole fat yogurt and labne.
We used whole fat yogurt as a base in both of our sweet and savory crostini.
Underconsumed Food Groups
Underconsumed food groups provide nutrients to support optimal health. They provided us with peas, pea tendrils, beet puree, spinach puree, blackberries, blueberries, olives, and fresh citrus.
We mixed our whole fat yogurt with beet puree for our sweet crostini to add an amazing color to our base and topped it with berries and blood orange.
Diet Diversity
Diet diversity enhances diet quality and enjoyment. The finishing touches provided here included butter, pink peppercorns, shaved radishes, capers, charcoal salt, and breads.
We loved the charcoal salt because it added some color and flavor to our crostini.
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We had a lot of fun learning a lot from everyone! We loved how educational it was. Since there’s so much information out there right now, it’s difficult to figure out what’s true. But one thing we definitely learned is that California dairy producers use the nation’s leading sustainability practices! We’ll be looking for the Real California Milk seal on dairy products in grocery stores, so we know it’s made with milk from California dairy families.
You can use the Real California Milk product locator to find products at a store near you: https://www.realcaliforniamilk.com/product-locator. For more nutrition information and healthy recipe ideas, visit RealCaliforniaMilk.com.
J&G
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