Today was all about the breakfast smoothie - literally because I didn't have the time to sit down and eat properly, I simply whacked all of this little lot in the blender and drank down my brekkie instead:
INGREDIENTS:
I started with:
a glass of skimmed milk
half a banana
half a cup of bran flakes
a handful of almonds
a teaspoon of local honey
METHOD:
Put all of that in the blender and blend for a bout 30 seconds!
RESULT:
OPTIONS:
Instead of skimmed milk you could use almond milk, or oat milk would be great too, especially the chocolate flavoured variety!
To make it thicker you could add more bran, more banana, or some natural yoghurt
To sweeten you could use maple syrup instead of honey, you could use more banana, or you could add some peanut butter, some chocolate milk or some chocolate chips too!
TIPS:
This was the first time I've made this smoothie, so to make it even better next time and for you to do better than me - make sure you only blend for approx 30-40 secs otherwise I found the heat from the blender heated it slightly and it would have been tastier colder - use ice cold milk (or ice cold/frozen yoghurt if you're adding that too) - add a couple ice cubes (remembering this will thin the mixture so you may want to add a little more bran to compensate) - if you're counting the calories use skimmed milk, no honey/syrup/peanut butter, plus try using fewer high calorie almonds and a little more bran to compensate and give the same consistency
To get involved you can find, like and follow us on social media:
Ok, so I seem to
have started a love affair with the avocado recently.For the past
couple of weeks I can’t get enough.Asking myself why I am craving and loving them so much I found out
they’re not too bad for me, so I’m polishing off about 2-3 a week right
now.
I'm eating
them like this - on toast with pumpkin seeds:
This is Tuesday's breakfast - and yes I'm
annoyingly taking pics on my phone of my food, but no filter or anything, so
you can see what it really looks like
Bread – toasted
Salted Butter – spread on hot toast
Avocado – sliced and popped on the buttered toast
Pumpkin Seeds – sprinkled on top the avocado, on top of the butter, on top
of the toast
If you’re on a budget (as I am) I’ve included the prices I paid here, and for
nutritional and calorie info take a look below:
Bread –Kingsmill 50/50 medium sliced 79p per loaf (Aldi) To reduce the cost go for an own brand supermarket wholemeal loaf.I just really like the taste of this one, but
you can do much better cost and health wise!
Butter –Salted 88p (Tesco
everyday value range) Cheapest of the own brand Tesco salted butters and I really don’t know why we
should pay any more – butter is butter.
Avocado –Medium x 2 pack £1.80
(Tesco, not organic just simple non branded) To reduce the cost you could buy one large (for approx. £1) and use only half
each time, wait until closing time and check the reduced stock that has today's
sell by date or just go down the market or outside the local 24hr shop where they
usually sell a bowlful (about 5) for next to nothing.You will find these are not all ripe, are
overripe, or don’t have as much taste, BUT they are damn cheap.
Pumpkin Seeds –150g bag £1.25 (Tesco whole foods range) To reduce costs, I’m sure you can buy these cheaper in bulk elsewhere, however
I have little to no food storage space, so a small bag is fine and honestly seems
to last forever even though Im using a big old handful each time.
ALSO – Did you know you can grow your own avocados indoors?Check this video out and give it a go.I’m going to try next time I eat avocado for
breakfast and will be sure to post pics and updates when mine grows
NUTRITION
INFO:
This
breakfast is not hard to make and takes no time, it tastes lovely, plus it
fills me up and that’s saying something!Altogether calorie wise it’s about 500
calories.(I worked this out using www.myfitnesspal.com, inputting the brands and the
weights of each ingredient).
In my
opinion, if you aim for 500 kcals per meal and eat 3 meals a day you have a
little left for snacks or leeway on a bigger lunch or dinner, before hitting an
average daily limit of 2000 kcals (ladies).For guys you’re looking at 2500 kclas per day average.
If you’re
not counting the calories – the fact is this healthy breakfast can fill you up
AND you’re getting your starchy carbohydrate in the bread (approx.
7% RDA per slice), plus a portion of your fruit/veg and good fats from
the avocado (by the way avos contain about 10-15% of your RDA fats – and the
majority of fat in an avo is monounsaturated – the good fat).You will also get a good chunk of dietary
fibre in an avocado – that’s probably the bit that fills you up in the
morning.Avocados provide approx. 30-35%
RDA fibre.
Avocados also provide you with
approx. 13-20% (depending on size) potassium.This is an essential mineral
(essential meaning the body cannot make it itself so relies on external food
sources to provide it).Potassium is
used by the body in electrolyte regulation, aiding the kidneys excrete sodium,
its aids nerve function, muscle contraction, maintaining a normal blood
pressure and has a protective effect on heart function.Potassium also regulates water and mineral
balance in your body.Bananas are what I
usually think of when thinking of potassium - bananas, oranges and tomatoes are
other good plant based sources of potassium if you are interested.
Before we
get onto the benefits of pumpkin seeds let me tell you avocados also hold
Vitamins – B6, E and C.
The pumpkin
seeds really surprised me.They taste
great and give a good crunch as a topping.PLUS they are amazingly full of good nutrients. They are high in potassium and fiber (as are the avocados) and they
are high in protein – in fact if you’re not eating meat stock up on
pumpkin seeds in all ways, shapes and forms.100g pumpkin seeds give approx. 38% RDA protein.They are also high in magnesium at 65% per 100g.Magnesium works with potassium and zinc and
is vital in maintaining a healthy nerve function.Guess what – pumpkin seeds contain the zinc
too.The zinc content can have a
beneficial effect on the prostate gland, it supports energy metabolism keeping
us fuller for longer and is necessary for a healthy libido….
Last but not
least pumpkin seeds also contain Tryptophan – this is an amino acid
that converts to serotonin in the brain.Correct levels of which keep us in a good mood, reduce anxiety and
stress and improve sleeping patterns.
What more do
you want from a simple breakfast/lunch/snack?
In
light of the recent election – and its backlash – this week we are talking
about a revolution!
Don’t
panic, I’m not talking politics here, but FOOD – we are joining Jamie Oliver in
his FOOD REVOLUTION and encouraging you to do the same.Read on, find out more, sign up, make some
noise, join the revolution!
1)What is Food Revolution Day?
Food Revolution Day is a global
campaign to put compulsory practical food education on the school curriculum.
Jamie passionately believes that by educating children about food in a fun and
engaging way, we can equip them with the basic skills they need to lead healthier,
happier lives, for themselves and their future families.
Straight from Jamie: "My
wish is to create a strong sustainable movement to educate every child about
food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight
obesity."
Watch
him on video here explaining a little bit more:
2)When is Food Revolution Day?
This year it’s FRIDAY 15th MAY 2015
That’s this Friday.Tomorrow!
3)How do I get involved?
There are many ways you can get
involved as a supporter, ambassador or if you’re a teacher via your school.
But first things first you can all sign the petition
(that currently has over 800,000 signatures from over 180 countries and is
growing fast) – sign here:
-Why
not educate a friend, family member or partner on your favorite dish to cook/eat
– then they can make it for you next time you go round for lunch/dinner
There
are so many other things you could do, this is by no means an exhaustive list –
if it involves buying and cooking something fresh, it gets others involved and
talking about quality food and cooking, if it involves any form of foodie
education however big or small just do it tomorrow on food revolution day –
Friday 15th May 2015.
You
can even just educate yourself by trying something new, shopping somewhere
different, using a local butcher, deli, or greengrocer and sussing out what’s
in your neighbourhood!
Ultimately
this is all about joining in, cooking, eating fresh, trying something new and
sharing your experiences in order to educate others.All of this can and should be done after you sign and share the petition
though as the ultimate aim is to get good food education out to the kids and
the masses so we all get to know eating
well can be easy and can be cheap – we can and should ALL be doing it and
really there isn’t any excuse not to look after ourselves and educate others to
do the same.
