Barley Grass Bliss Green Smoothie Bowl

Happy New Year everyone! I hope that you’ve all had a restful and enjoyable holiday period! Now that we’re into January and a fresh new year, we’re being bombarded with fad diets and extreme detoxes left right and centre and many people are out looking for that quick fix to get rid of some of the Christmas over-indulgences! Personally, I would not recommend diving straight into the nearest fad diet in an attempt to loose weight as quickly as possible, as this is less likely to be sustainable and is probably more un-healthy in the long run. How about, taking things slowly and focus on fuelling your body with nutrient dense, whole food ingredients, as well as trying to find food that you actually enjoy! After all, if you don’t enjoy what you’re eating or if it doesn’t make you feel good.. is that something that you’re going to want to continue long term?

 

After a period of lots of festive treats, I don’t diet or begin restricting myself of lots of things, but I do like to try and make sure that I’m getting lots of greens into as many meals as possible.. even breakfast! Typically, I would do this by adding grated courgette into my protein porridge (I know that this sounds strange.. but you can hardly taste it, honest!). However, if you’re more of a smoothie person in the morning, then this could be the perfect thing for you! This smoothie bowl is so thick and creamy, it actually tastes good enough to be a dessert! It’s also completely dairy and refined sugar free, as the bananas provide an incredible natural sweetness and create such a delicious, creamy consistency! For the greens, I’ve added in some avocado, which not only adds to the smooth and creamy texture, but is also a great source of health fats! I’ve also used a greens powder in here and I’ve opted for barley grass. If you don’t have this, you could always use a different greens powder of your choice; typically I would go for spirulina, but I had this one in my cupboard and wanted to give something new a try. I was really impressed with this product; it blends really well and the taste isn’t too prominent either- so if you find spiralling and wheatgrass a little too strong, then this might be a good option to try.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ripe bananas

1/2 avocado

 Small handful or organic cashew nuts

Dash of vanilla extract

Splash of almond milk

Tsp of barley grass powder (if you’re new to using greens powders, you can start with 1/2 tsp and adjust to taste)

 

Method:

Place all of the ingredients into a blender (I used the NutriBullet) and blend until smooth and creamy. You can add more almond milk until you reach the desired consistency.

Pour into a bowl and top with fresh berries, coconut and whatever else takes your fancy!