Our love of California should now be pretty obvious, and if you follow myself and Nick on our other social channels, you’ll also know how much we like to stay fit and healthy. So when California Walnuts asked if we’d like to be involved in putting together some tasty dishes for February and National Heart Month, we jumped at the chance!

We love to try new dishes, especially as we’ve also been incorporating more non-meat dishes into our diets recently. We were excited about trying out some walnut recipes.

Why choose walnuts over anything else?

Firstly we wanted to understand more about California Walnuts. Did you know more than 99% of the walnuts produced in the U.S. are grown in the fertile soils of California? And internationally, walnuts supply two-thirds of the world’s walnut trade. I know, we had no idea either! 

Walnuts have the power of 3 to help a healthy heart

How can California Walnuts help you to be more Heart Healthy? Well, with the Power of 3!

• The Walnut tree is the only tree nut to contain a significant amount of the plant-based omega-3 and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). This means that walnuts are a great food for heart health 
• 30g of walnuts a day can help maintain normal blood cholesterol levels and help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Walnuts also have the heart-healthy seal of approval from the heart health charity, HEART UK.

We are using California walnuts for training

As part of our training for Ironman Oceanside 70.3, we have partnered with California Walnuts to try out a few of the recipes from their awesome website https://walnuts.org/ and help us to stay heart healthy, ready for our trip to the Sunshine State.

How to include them in your diet?

There are so many easy ways to incorporate walnuts into your diet. This could be as a snack or as part of your favourite dishes. Walnuts are also super versatile too! Walnuts are best kept in the fridge, but they can also be frozen for up to a year. I love having them crushed up on my famous overnight oats, meaning I get that walnut portion first thing in my day. 

Keep an eye on my Instagram and Youtube channels and see how we get on. If you’re interested in trying out any of the fabulous recipes yourself, just grab your walnuts from your local retailer and be sure to check the origin label for ‘USA’ or ‘California’. 

Breakfast – Overnight oats with walnuts

The recipe below is Cranberry Walnut Cookie Overnight Oats and it is SO easy to make – and delicious. This is based on 2 people.
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1 cup frozen whole cranberries
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3/4 cup chopped California Walnuts (you can toast them but I don’t for this)
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3/4 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
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1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
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1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
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1 tablespoon chia seeds
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1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
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1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
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1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

All you need to do is mix everything above together in a big bowl, then evenly put the mixed contents into two seperate bowls or tubs. Cover them up and pop them in the fridge overnight… Then in the morning – ta da! You have your delicious and nutrition California walnut overnight oats!Top with remaining walnuts and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Serve.

Make sure you tag us and California Walnuts in your pics using hashtags #ShareThePowerof3 #CaliforniaWalnuts #WellnessCracked. We would love to see your creations! 

*Post in collaboration with California Walnuts