Smoothie Bowl Breakfast

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Life is busy but there is always time to whip up a yummy smoothie bowl! All you need is fruit, milk, and healthy toppings. Super easy. I just add whatever frozen fruit I have in my freezer. We always have frozen bananas and blueberries so those appear in my smoothie bowls quite often. I also always add Spirulina to my smoothies as well for added health benefits.

 Just blend or process them with a splash of non dairy milk and you have an instant nutritious breakfast. As far as toppings go my favourites are pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, sliced almonds, homemade granola, shredded coconut, hemp hearts and fresh sliced fruit. If your on the go with your smoothie then pop it into a mason jar with your toppings for easy travel!

 There isn’t really a “recipe” for this but since people keep asking me what I put in my smoothies I said I’d post a couple for them to reference. The great thing about a smoothie is that you don’t need a recipe to dictate what you should or shouldn’t put in it. You just throw in what you enjoy and add the ingredients you have at home hiding in the freezer.

 Have fun experimenting with your yummy fruit choices and playing around with different toppings!

 

Blueberry Bliss Smoothie Bowl

  • 2 cups organic blueberries
  • 1 frozen organic banana
  • 1 Tbsp. Spirulina
  • Splash of unsweetened non dairy milk (my favourites are almond or coconut)

Blend or process ingredients. Pour it in your favouite bowl and add your awesome healthy toppings! Below are my suggestions. It can’t get any easier than that right?!

  • 1/4 – 1/3 cup Pumpkin seeds
  • 1 tsp. of chia seeds
  • 1 Tbsp. of Sliced almonds

  

Tropical Goodness Smoothie

  • 1  organic frozen banana
  • 2 cups pre packaged frozen pineapple, mango & coconut blend from your grocery store
  • 1 Tbsp. Spirulina

Blend all the ingredients up and top with your desired toppings.

Suggested toppings:

  • 1 Tbsp. of Hemp hearts
  • 1 Tbsp. shredded coconut
  • Sprinkle of homemade granola
  • Banana slices

 

Enjoy your breakfast smoothie bowls! Your body will thank you for the healthy fuel you are giving it! đź’•

~Debbie~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Banana Vegan Chip Muffins

My kids LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Banana Vegan Chip Muffins!!! I have many recipes that I use but this recipe is their favourite one! It’s very fast to make and they taste super yummy and moist. It’s loaded with ground flax seeds (flaxmeal) and even my very picky 6-year-old gives these muffins the thumbs up. By the way she doesn’t even like bananas and eats these muffins! I make these muffins and almost all my baking period with brown rice flour. It has many health benefits such as its rich in fiber, manganese, selenium, zinc, calcium and B vitamins. I also add healthy oats to these muffins but it would work with wheat germ as well. These muffins are made so often that when we don’t have them the kids ask me “mommy where are the muffins???” LOL  I’ve also made them without the vegan chocolate chips and they are still super good! I add in the chips to make the kids happy! I do however sometimes only add in 1/4 cup of them instead of the 1/3 cup and they actually notice! Then they ask me why there are less vegan chips in the batch of muffins when that happens. Sheesh!  This is why I put 1/3 cup in the recipe below! I also added a picture of them cooling off on the wire baking rack but sadly it’s not the greatest picture. Oh well you get the idea …

Yummy Banana Vegan Chip Muffins!

Yummy Banana Vegan Chip Muffins!

 

 

Banana Vegan Chip Muffins

 

Ingredients:

  • 3 Bananas, mashed
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil or oil of choice
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 3 TBSP ground flax (flaxmeal)
  • 6 TBSP water
  • 1/2 cup oats or wheat germ
  • 1/4 cup sucanat sugar or other sugar of choice
  • 1 cup brown rice flour
  • 2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
  • 3/4 cup almond milk (I use unsweetened)
  • 1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips

Tools:

  • 2 muffin tins
  • paper muffin liners
  • 2 medium-sized bowls

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 F
  2. Place 3 TBSP of flaxmeal in a small bowl add add the 6 TBSP water to it. Mix well and set aside for a few minutes.
  3. With a fork mash 3 ripe bananas in a medium-sized bowl.
  4. add 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 cup oil and 1/4 cup sugar to banana mixture. You can add more sugar if you like sweeter muffins but I think 1/4 cup is enough for us.
  5. In another medium-sized bowl add the 3/4 cup brown rice flour and oats.
  6. Add the baking powder to the flour mixture and combine well.
  7. Add the flaxmeal mixture into the wet ingredients and mix well.
  8. Next add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Now add the 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk. Combine.
  9. Toss in the vegan chips  and give it another mix.
  10. Line 1  12 muffin baking tin with paper liners and fill them half way for medium-sized muffins. Grab another muffin tin and place 4 more paper liners in it. Fill those suckers up too! You could also just do 12 larger muffins and bake them for 25-27 minutes. We prefer medium-sized muffins however.
  11. Pop them into a 400 F oven for 23-25 minutes.
  • Once they are baked I let them cool off inside the tins for about 5 minutes. Then I transfer them to a wire baking rack and let them cool completely before placing them into a air tight container.

*Makes 16 medium-sized muffins or 12 large muffins*

Enjoy! 🙂

Healthy Oat Bars

Here is my favourite recipe for healthy oat bars! I love this recipe that I came up with because it’s made with healthy dates and prunes. Dates have iron, calcium and fiber in them as well as countless other healthy benefits. Prunes also have fiber in them as well as vitamin C, A, K and they are said to be a good anti colorectal cancer food choice. I really like how the dates and prunes act as a sweetening agent in the recipe! I’ve added the option of adding pure maple syrup to them as well if desired. I’ve made them with and without the maple syrup and both ways taste really good to me. The maple syrup adds a bit of extra sweetness and of course a tasty kick to the bars though. I love oat bars because they are easy to make and can be a great snack to eat on the go! Another bonus is that this recipe is flour free too!

|**The bars do have almonds in them but you can make them nut free if allergies are a concern. **

 

Healthy Oat Bars

 

Ingredients:

  • 2 Cups Gluten Free Oats
  • 1 TBSP Cinnamon
  • 3/4 Cup Cranberries or other dried sulfate free fruit of choice
  • 3 TBSP Flaxmeal
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
  • 1/2 tsp – 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 TBSP Pure Maple Syrup (optional)
  • 12 Dates (I soak mine over night to make them easier
  • 6 Prunes
  • 1/3 cup warm water
  • 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds or you can substitute another seed

 

You will also need these simple items …

  1. Food Prosser or high-powered blender
  2.  You will need a baking pan. Depth will depend on how thick you want your bars to be.
  3. Parchment paper to line your baking dish or coconut oil to oil your dish with.

 

 

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 350
  2. In a food processor add the dates and prunes
  3. Add 1/3 cup warm water into the food processor and process until smooth. Add more water if needed until it’s well combined. Also add the vanilla extract and combine all ingredients well.
  4. In a large bowl add the oats, cinnamon, pumpkin seeds and flaxmeal.
  5. Add the cranberries or other dry fruit of choice & finely chopped almonds to dry mixture. Combine well.
  6. Add the date & prune mixture into the dry ingredients. Make sure to mix everything up well.
  7. If you’re adding in the maple syrup then toss it in now and combine well.
  8. Line your baking pan with parchment paper or oil it well
  9. Add the mixture to the baking pan and even it out well.
  10. Bake for 3o minutes

*Let rest until cooled off before cutting into bars*

 

Enjoy them! I know I do & they don’t last long at all! 🙂

 

 

Date Cranberry bars