Building A Better Food System with Ashley Nickelsen of B.T.R. Nation
B.T.R came to life after Ashley watched both of her parents battle rare forms of cancer for over four years and witnessed the lack of healthy snacks available in hospital vending machines.
Happy Tuesday! I’m so excited to welcome on a guest that I’ve admired for a long time, Ashley Nickelsen of B.T.R. Nation. Through her parents’ cancer journeys she realized how unhealthy the hospital vending machines were/are. That lit a spark in her to begin building a company that revolutionizes everyone’s favorite snacks. It was a honor to speak with Ashley and for her to share her story with me + all you lovely listeners.
After a great week in Tennessee working on some recipe development projects, I’m now on the way to Cape Cod! I’ll be taking a much needed rest period, so you’ll be receiving shorter newsletters this week and next.
I’m excited to rest, recharge, and celebrate my birthday so that I come back even more energized to create!
Now let’s get on with it <3
Podcast
Ashley Nickelsen of B.T.R. Nation
B.T.R. NATION founder Ashley Nickelsen was inspired to create a truly clean snack while serving as the main caretaker for both of her parents as they battled rare forms of cancer. Witnessing the limited snack options available in hospital cafeterias and vending machines, all claiming to be “better-for-you,” Ashley yearned for a snack with a truly transparent and low-sugar ingredient. On a mission to create the snacks that were never available to her family, Ashley leveraged her background in food studies and biochemistry to the kitchen, making low-sugar protein bites boosted with plant-based, superfood ingredients. Today, B.T.R NATION remains dedicated to embodying her parent’s mantra of being bold, tenacious, & resilient. With each purchase, B.T.R. NATION donates a portion of profits to organizations committed to cancer research and awareness.
B.T.R continues to fulfill Ashley’s parent’s mantra of being bold, tenacious, & resilient and offers two products:
Superfood Nut Butter Cups: Nostalgic nut butter cup meets a decadent truffle. NO added sugar, NO sugar alcohols, and naturally sweetened with dates and 90% less sugar than the leading cup.
Superfood Snack Bars: Delicious flavors like Cinnamon Cookie Dough and Strawberry Shortcake, all 100% real ingredients, NO added sugar, NO sugar alcohols, NO stevia, 5g net carbs.
IG btr.nation | btrnation.com
Rapid-fire questions —
Go-to snack plate:
B.T.R. bar, Lesser Evil popcorn, Seventh Sunday’s or Lovebird cereal, Siete cookies, Simple Mills crackers, fruit, avocado
No. 1 piece of advice:
Find your purpose and live it like crazy.
Listen to the episode:
Recipes
Orange creamsicle semifreddo 🍊 made with Live Loud Foods candied citrus pistachios!
Ingredients
3/4 cup cold heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
Zest of 1 orange
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
4 large eggs
1 pouch of Live Loud Foods candied citrus pistachios
Directions
1. Freeze a loaf pan for ~30 minutes. Line with parchment paper.
2. Whip heavy cream and vanilla bean paste in a chilled bowl until soft peaks form. Fold in the orange zest. Return the bowl to the fridge.
3. In a small saucepan, make a simple syrup with the sugar and orange juice.
4. Beat the eggs for 1 minute or until foamy. While the mixer is running, slowly spoon in the hot syrup. Continue beating until the mixture is lighter in color and fluffy.
5. Fold in the whipped cream and sprinkle in the candied pistachios. Freeze overnight.
6. Pull the semifreddo out of the pan, slice, and serve! Enjoy with a side of more pistachios 💚🍊 [video]
ICYMI
Good Food Comes From Happy People
xx,
Lauren (Hodgen)
Dear Citrus Diaries Host | @ citrusdiaries.studio
Citrus Diaries Studio | Creative Director
If you’re interested in working together, drop me a line: hello@citrusdiaries.com 🍊