UPDATE: This article now in video form! —> Click Here 🙂
Smoothie Bowls have been all the rage this year. You’ve seen them on your Facebook or Instagram feed; a perfectly vibrant smoothie poured into a bowl and strategically topped with sliced fruit, granola, and bee pollen, looking almost too pretty to eat. Some of those bowls are serious works of art!
Source: Buzz Feed
If that’s your thing, more power to you. For most of us though, we don’t have that kind of time. But guess what? You don’t need that kind of time because you can whip an equally satisfying smoothie bowl in less than 5 minutes. Yes, you heard right - five minutes. But before I show you how this is done, a quick word on the sugar content of these SB’s.
While these SB’s are a delicious and nutritious experience, they can sometimes pack far more sugar than you realize, setting you up for a major sugar crash shortly after eating. I’ve experienced this first hand and it is #notfun
But it’s fruit sugar so it healthy, right? Yes, the sugar indeed comes from fruit so it is healthier. However, the state that the fruit is in - blended into liquid form - allows your body to absorb it much more quickly because it doesn’t have to break down any of the fruit’s fibers (like the skin and flesh of the fruit) which require time.
For example: When you eat whole strawberries, it takes your body time to break down the flesh and skin and seeds of those strawberries before they are fully digested and absorbed through your small intestine; this kind of absorption is a relatively slow process, delivering energy on a low and slow basis (this is what we call sustained energy). But with blended strawberries - aka a smoothie - the blender has already done the work of breaking down the fibers so those strawberries are ready to be absorbed once they hit the digestive tract.
So what we want to do with this smoothie then, is slow down that absorption process by adding intact fiber as well as protein to the SB:
Tip: Top your smoothie bowl with these intact fiber sources to help slow the digestion process and deliver energy over a longer period of time.Tip: Blend your smoothie with milk or yogurt to add some protein and also help slow the digestion and absorption process. Many smoothie bowls are made of mostly blended fruit and fruit juice, which you now know that in that liquid form, is quickly absorbed and will soon lead to a sugar crash.
Super important Prep Tip: Know your kitchen and place the things you use most often in easily accessible areas. When you know exactly where your blender is and it takes less than 10 seconds to retrieve, you’re able to crank out a SB in less than 5 minutes. This also goes for knowing where your ingredients are for the SB. Read this for more guidance on setting up your kitchen to your advantage.
1) Add frozen fruit, milk and/or yogurt, and cinnamon in a blender and blend until smooth.
2) Pour into a bowl.
3) Top with a handful of granola, nuts, or other desired topping with intact fiber.
Done.
Here are some examples of 5 Minute-SB’s I’ve made…
Base: frozen blueberries and raspberries + soy milk + cinnamon // Toppers: homemade granola + sesame seeds + peanut butter
Base: frozen banana + fresh spinach + soy milk + cinnamon // Toppers: homemade granola + whole berries and cherries
Base: Strawberries + Blackberries + banana + soy milk // Toppers: Homemade granola + peanut butter + blackberries + strawberries + coconut
Base: frozen blueberries and raspberries + soy milk + cinnamon // Toppers: homemade granola + sesame seeds + peanut butter
Base: unsweetened canned pumpkin + banana + soy milk + cinnamon & nutmeg // Toppers: blackberries + pecans + apples + chia seeds
SB’s like these are considered a healthy and balanced breakfast because they’re made with whole foods and contain at least three (usually four) of the five major food groups: fruit + grain + protein + dairy.
Now get out there and make yourself a SB 🙂
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