Super Simple Berry Smoothie Bowl and Facebook Live Event
Join me for an International Yoga Day and National Smoothie Day event on Facebook Live!
June 21st, 3 PM EST
I’m a believer in reality over perfection. All of us are stressed enough in day to day life and to be honest, no one (seriously, no one) needs to worry about if their smoothie bowl is pretty enough or if the sandwich they made for lunch is cut in the perfect triangle. We try the best we can and every attempt to get closer to our goals or an improvement in whatever sector we are working on is great. The internet, specifically Instagram these days, can give a very shimmery perfect-every-moment false perception about someone, especially if it’s very important to them to want to appear perfect. And that’s just day to day life.
Trying something new can make you anxious. Habits provide comfort. New has a lot of unknowns with lots of information to process. At the start of 2017, I started weaving in a little bit of content to the blog about wellness challenges. Since a large portion of my work revolves around being connected to my email and social platforms, I tried 24 hours digital free. And it was hard and I have not done it again since January (keeping it real). I also have been working on making over my beauty/product routine to be more eco-conscious and health conscious (there is a lot of honestly scary junk in many conventional beauty products). But there has been one thing I’ve been told I should do for years that I just cannot do. And that thing is yoga.
In general, I am not flexible. I have very long legs and to be perfectly honest, it is difficult for me to place my palms on the floor bending at the waist. Meanwhile, Chris is over here with his almost high school record breaking sit and reach numbers (true story). I also have a busy mind. This year I took up meditation (which I can only do thanks to the app Headspace) which has helped, but I know, and have been told by my yoga-teaching friends that yoga would also be helpful. The bottom line is yoga freaks me out a bit because I know I will not ‘be good at it’. And that’s coming from someone who works in the wellness space. So I’m up front admitting to you: I am afraid of failing at yoga so you’re not alone.
But here’s the good news for my fellow yoga-phobes. On June 21st, which is International Yoga Day, I’ll be in New York with goodnessKNOWS doing a Facebook Live event. We’ve got three segments, two yoga focused that you can do at home IN PRIVATE and not be embarrassed if you’re a beginner, and then me! I’ll be talking about mindful snacking and smoothie bowls 101 that are super easy and not ridiculous “here’s a parrot nesting in a tropical tree drawn with ombré smoothie ingredients” bowls.
So try something new with me in the comfort of your own home! I’ll be there with yoga and fitness expert Liz Germain from Super Sister Fitness and our host Ali Fedotowsky. And if you’re here for the super simple (I PROMISE!) smoothie bowl recipe from Facebook Live right now, hi! Keep scrolling for the recipe.
One of the other things I’ll be talking about on Facebook Live is mindful snacking. While I don’t outwardly call my habits or practices ‘mindful’ in terms of nutrition, it is a practice I personally follow. And let me emphasize, it does take practice. Here are a 3 tips to get you on your way:
- Get inspired externally, but listen internally: I love Pinterest and Instagram and going to the farmers market to get inspired to make what I am excited about. Right now I am all over the tomatoes. Remember that social streams aren’t for comparison or judgement (although it can be easy to fall into that trap)- use them for inspiration.
- You don’t have to make an entree: The concept of a segmented lunchbox or a bento box has been around forever! You get variety with natural portion control. That’s what I actually love about the goodnessKNOWS bars specifically: variety of flavor and texture, 4 squares which I can eat all at once or whatever the heck I want! A bento box can be filled to your personal hunger level.
- Make something mentally and physically satisfying: One reason we’re making a smoothie bowl during the Facebook Live segment (besides the fact that it’s smoothie day!) is because smoothie bowls are physically satisfying (they’re thick, spoonable and creamy and studies show the thicker the smoothie, the more full and satisfied you feel) but they’re also beautiful. They’re nourishing with a variety of produce and nuts and seeds, but you can make it look however you want. The one thing I dislike about smoothie bowls is how ‘perfectionist’ they’ve gotten. You DO NOT have to make it ‘pretty’. You make it however you want.
For this super simple smoothie bowl I went with a mixed berry base. Frozen berries are easy to find throughout the year, but because it’s summer right now, you can also top your bowl with fresh seasonal berries. I also paired them with goodnessKNOWS snack squares in the blueberry & almond flavor. Since they’re filled with whole nuts, real fruit, toasted oats and dark chocolate it takes the fuss out of adding a million toppings to your bowl. They’re already in squares! And if you’re like me in the snack-situation world you like multiple textures and tastes so having the dark chocolate is a major plus (and an extra plus: they contain 100 mg of naturally occurring cocoa flavanols, which is the good stuff in dark chocolate). While this mixed berry smoothie bowl uses the blueberry & almond goodnessKNOWS squares, you can absolutely use this formula to make your own smoothie bowl based on your favorite of the goodnessKNOWS six flavors. Let’s think about how delicious peach would be in summer…
Simple Berry Smoothie Bowl
(makes 2)
Ingredients:
- 2 frozen bananas, broken into chunks
- 2 cups mixed frozen berries
- 1/4 cup liquid of choice (almond milk, soy milk, skim milk, etc.)
- optional 2 servings of add-ins (protein powder, adaptogens like ginseng or a mushroom blend , etc.)
- garnish: chopped coconut flakes, almonds, fresh berries, goodnessKNOWS blueberry & almond squares (new packaging!)
Directions: Add frozen berries and banana to a blender and blend on low until small bits remain. Turn off blender and scrape down sides as needed with spatula. Once frozen fruit is in small pieces, add liquid and blend on low again, scraping or tamping as needed until the mixture is stiff but smooth. Add optional special ingredients (protein powder, etc.) and blend. Scoop into two bowls and add whole goodnessKNOWS squares, berries and almonds with a sprinkle of coconut.
Troubleshooting:
Is your liquid too loose?
Add in another chunk of frozen banana!
Is your smoothie bowl not blending well and still has chunks?
Add a tablespoon more liquid and make sure your sides of your blender are scraped down so all product is in the base of the blender where the blade is.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of goodnessKNOWS. The opinions and text are all mine.
Dietitian Nutritionist and cookbook author sharing flavor-forward recipes and simplified science-driven wellness.
