Awhile back, some twitter-friends and I had a bit of a go-round where we discussed why we drank a lot of smoothies. The upshot was, that as busy as we are, smoothies tend to be the most efficient on-the-go calorie-disbursing mechanism for the active lifestyle of a digital humanist.
And although I’m a bit of a foodie and I love spending an evening putting together an artful “slow-food” meal, most mornings you’ll find me gulping down a high-protein smoothie as I’m checking email, getting the kids off to school, watering plants, exercising, feeding cats, etc. Most mornings it seems that I simply don’t have time to chew my food.
I keep the following ingredients on hand, and simply throw them together as I’m feeling ‘inspired:’
whey-based protein powder (usually chocolate or vanilla-flavored)
bananas
fresh fruit in season (especially berries, but also including PEACHES, persimmons, etc)
frozen organic fruit
yogurt or kefir
almonds & almond milk
honey
On weekends I tend to make fancier, gourmet-ish breakfast, which might mean homemade crepes, scones, pastries, or oeuf cocotte. Another favorite is fresh farmer’s cheese drizzled with a bit of honey and with some fresh fruit & almonds mixed in. Yum!
So…what are you favorite healthy-ish on-the-go meals? And if you do smoothies, what are your favorite ingredients?
From the CSA box, I’ve learned that I’ll happily eat almost anything in pizza format–kale pizza, bring it; shredded kohlrabi pizza, yes please.
Oh, I do that too with pizza! yum!
As for smoothies–you can get a boxed spice mix called T-Plus from South Asian groceries; it’s meant for chai-making, but it’s also very happy in a smoothie with berries, or banana, or vanilla/almond flavors. It doesn’t make the smoothie healthier (I don’t think), but it’s a little something different, and nice.
My smoothies are pretty similar, except that I freeze my bananas (right as they start to turn brown) for thicker smoothies, I leave out the almonds (allergies), and use maple syrup instead of honey for sweetness. Delicious.
I used to also add orange juice, usually, but lately we’ve been doing a lot of juicing (most common: kale, chard, and cucumber) and I’ve been adding that instead if I make too much juice to finish in one go. It’s surprisingly good in a smoothie.
I like to add greens, especially fresh spinach to my smoothies. If you add a half cup or so, it doesn’t affect the flavor, but adds nutrients. I generally also toss in flax seeds and chia seeds.
I have done that in the past & should start again–I nearly always have some spinach in the fridge. I was thinking that sweet peas would probably also be pretty tasty in a shake. 🙂