Vanilla Smoothie Bowl
Some of you may have seen my post a few weeks ago for a chocolate smoothie bowl. Because it has been so poplular, I decide to share the recipe for another version with you. This one also uses a frozen banana as the base. The banana helps to give it the thick creamy texture of an ice cream which is why I love it here, but if you hate bananas you could use any frozen fruit for the base (I have had success with pineapple and strawberries myself but pretty much anything you like should create a similar thick cold creamy consistency when blended enough). If the fruit base isn't your thing, just replace it with 1 cup plain greek yogurt but be warned your bowl may not turn out quite as thick- so you may need to add a little extra ice to thicken it.
I swear this bowl tastes like such a treat. It can be used for a nutrient packed breakfast but also doubles as an alternative when the ice cream monster comes calling....begging you to feed it! I love to make it mid-afternoon though when my energy starts to drop and I dream of a grown up nap but I know I have to rally to get us through all the evening sports and activities. It'd like a magical potion to give me the boost to make it through whatever else the day has in store for me.
If you just can not wait to try this yourself, here's what you need:
Ingredients:
3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 medium banana (frozen)
1/2 cup crushed ice
1 scoop vanilla protein powder of choice
1/2 tsp raw honey
Instructions:
Place all the ingredients into a blender and pulse until it reaches the desired consistency. It will be a bit thick because you want to be able to eat it with a spoon.
To make it look pretty and add a little extra texture you can top it with 1/2 cup of fresh berries, 1 TBSP oats, 1 TBSP slivered almonds or chopped pecans or a sprinkle of unsweetened coconut flakes.
I can't make this for myself without the kids begging at the counter for a taste before I have even scooped it out into my bowl, so I usually end up making a double batch and splitting it between all 5 of us. They just love deciding what to put on top and then it feels like a party. It's like for 10 minutes I'm the cool mom that lets them have 'ice cream' for an afternoon snack.
Feel free to take this basic recipe and experiment with it! Try using different fruits or adding 1 tsp of different flavors and seeing what funa dn delicious combinations you can come up with!
