Thursday, January 14, 2010

Smoothie in a Bowl

Remember my post about not really digging smoothies in the a.m.? Yea, I like to sit down to breakfast, but I do love the taste (and nutritional punch) of smoothies. I've finally found the solution — raw blended "oats"! And that's really just a fancy way of sayin' "smoothie in a bowl with some nuts and stuff."

All week, I've been enjoying these Raw Blended "Oat" Bowls:

I found the recipe online but adapted it a little. It actually contains no oats at all, but rather banana, apple, cinnamon, flax seed, and a touch of acai powder. The acai is purely optional of course, but I won a bag from Lindsay at Cooking for a Vegan Lover. I've been adding a teaspoon to my "oats" for an antioxidant boost. Tomorrow, I'm gonna swap the acai for some raw cacao powder that I just acquired.

Another plus to smoothies in a bowl — you can add crunchy extras like walnuts and currants! Try drinking those through a straw. Yep, didn't think so.

Here's the recipe ...

Raw Blended "Oats"
(Serves 1)

1 Tbsp. golden flax seed
1 banana, broken into pieces
1 organic apple, peeled and chopped
1 tsp. cinnamon
Add ins: nuts, dried fruits, unsweetened coconut, almond butter, acai or cacao powder, whatever...

Soak the flax seed in 1/4 cup water overnight. The next morning, combine the flax seed, soaking water, banana, apple chunks, and cinnamon (also any powdered add-ins) in a blender and blend until smooth. You may need to add another 1/4 cup of water to make it blend well.

Stir in nuts and dried fruits. Eat in a bowl with a big ole' spoon.

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Since I'm at the halfway point in my 26-day Adventure Cleanse Tune-Up, I guess I should give you guys an update on how I feel. Honestly, I don't feel all that different. I have a little more sustained energy in my daily workouts. But I do feel the mid-afternoon crash way worse than before. I blame that on the lack of coffee, which I am still whining about.

And it certainly feels good knowing that I'm eating all kinds of goodness, but I wouldn't want to eat like this forever. I like processed foods, coffee, alcohol, wheat, and sugar (unrefined of course) way too much.

One thing I have noticed: I used to get really shaky and weak when I was hungry. If I didn't get food in me fast, I felt like I was going to die. But since I've been off sugar, I've noticed that my hunger isn't so urgent anymore. I guess all the sugar I was eating was really messing with my blood sugar, but the agave and high-glycemic fruits I've been consuming lately don't seem to have a bad effect. I've been reading a lot about the effects of sugar in Alicia Silverstone's new book, The Kind Diet. That being said, I'm not giving up evaporated cane juice or turbinado when this cleanse is over. I may try to cut back though.

16 comments:

Jenni (aka Vegyogini) said...

That's a really cool idea and I just might give it a try!

foodfeud said...

Just a question - what is the difference between regular and golden flax? Just the color/use, or do health benefits change too? Thanks!
Keep up the good work!

Devan said...

wow! raw blended "oats" look and sound so fantastic!!
I bet apple+berry would be a great mix for fruit!!

jessy said...

oooh, i love the idea of raw blended oats. i wish i had thought about it or come across it when i was doing my ACT cleanse - would have made it all that much more yummier. they look so good, Bianca! i've never had acai before, but i see it at our natural food store. it's a little expensive, but if it ever goes on sale i'm totally picking some up! w00t! that's cool that your hunger doesn't seem so urgent - and i think the fact that you aren't feeling too different just means that you were eating awesomely before! yay! i love the raw mashed taters from your last post, and you know i can't get enough of your collard greens - next time we make 'em i'm going to try them with agave, too!

p.s.- the new recipe on the tester site isn't coordinating with what it should be. i'm seeing an old recipe with a new picture. i might e-mail ya about it later today.

miss v said...

it sounds like you are doing well. i think because you eat fairly healthy anyways, and you exercise a lot, that your body doesn't have as much to detox.

i love the bowl idea. i always have to pulverize nuts to eat them in a smoothie - i'd like to have a little crunch!

Vegan In The VI said...

I agree with Miss V, your normal eats are extremely healthy so what needs cleaning? Apparently, when you make your mind up about something, you stick with it;-)

The Voracious Vegan said...

It is so cool to hear how you are feeling now that you are half way through. I try to really limit my refined sugar intake (sometimes I'm successful, other days not so much) because more than anything else it can throw me for a loop. It is interesting to note that you don't 'crash' so hard anymore. Food for thought!

The blended 'oats' look amazingly good, I think I would love to have that for breakfast.

Anonymous said...

That's how I feel when I am hungry, I never thought of a connection between that and sugar consumption though...

nora said...

That looks SO good, Bianca! I'm craving it even though i've never had it! haha

Serena said...

The smoothie in a bowl sounds so good :) Katie from http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com has a few similar recipes (check out her "banana bread in a bowl")
Also, I recently read The Kind Diet and I absolutely LOVE it. It's so informative and I totally don't mind replacing 90% of my sugar needs with Agave :)
after a while, I've noticed my taste buds getting more sensitive and now ripe bananas taste frighteningly sweet to me :P

Jenn said...

That's a really great idea/recipe for the raw oats. I love having hot cereal w/nuts and fruit for breakfast. So maybe I'll try cold hot cereal soon!

Jenn, HelloVeggie.Org

River - The Crafty Kook said...

This looks very interesting! I cannot stand the texture of oatmeal, even when it's blended, so this really sounds like a great alternative!

I also get the shakes when I'm hungry. They are so annoying!

Cooking With Dia said...

I love oats. I make oat milk from them every week-nothing tastes better! I never tried the ACT cleanse, but it's nice to read posts like this that let me know what to expect if I do try it.

RabbitFood said...

This "smoothie in a bowl" sounds amazing. I also greatly enjoy sitting down for breakfast, so this may be a good alternative for me. the addition of cocoa sounds awesome!

way to mix up your diet and keep things interesting on your cleanse!

Gena said...

Love hearing your thoughts on the ACT cleanse! It sounds as though you're doing beautifully, and I love all of the recipes you've been trying :)

Michal said...

im making this for breakfast tomorrow morning!!