Sexy Sunday Smoothie Bowls

When Ivor moved to Peterborough from Boston, I knew that there was one thing he would miss above all else: the smoothie bowls from Energize, a healthy, local chain that offers only smoothies and smoothie bowls, juices, and salads.

Seeking to ease the (otherwise painless) transition on his first Sunday morning as a resident of Our Town, I took it upon myself to re-create his favorite bowl. Actually, I took it upon myself to level that bad boy up a notch or two, and reassure him that Energize in Brighton ain’t got nothin’ on me in P-bo.

I love to play in the kitchen, but on this particular morning, I did not feel like hanging out over the stove (you know, that whole hottest month on record thing), so these delicious bowls of cold, satisfying goodness leverage all kinds of get-it-done-quickly cheats for which I do not feel one ounce of guilt because they are ready in three quick easy steps and keep me powered up for hours. That’s why they are sexy Sunday smoothie bowls. Nothing is sexier than making my life easier and healthier all in one.

How I Blend:

Step #1 (and Cheat #1, too): Ready to Blend Smoothies

I’ll get right to the cheat: I used Ready-to-Blend smoothies, which are as clean as it gets and very low-glycemic (I am finishing the last of a Project Juice order, but they have discontinued this product, so I recommend Daily Harvest as another quality option for ready to blend smoothies. If you’re interested, though, Project Juice—a former client of mine—still has an array of amazing juices, cleanses, nuts, fun-flavored nut butters, granola and more).

The reason I leverage the ready-to-blend cheat is because they are pre-portioned and designed by a nutritionist who combines the ingredients not only for taste, but for function (energy, for example).

Because I was preparing enough for two people, and because I like to experiment with flavor combinations this way, I combined two ready-to-blend flavors (Peach Green Tea Mango and Kale Coconut Protein) and blended them with vanilla unsweetened almond milk (I often prepare my own almond or cashew milk, which is shockingly easy—more on that soon—but I used Califia Farms, which is only $2.99-3.49 at Market Basket—more on my MB hacks soon, too).

I admit that Ready-to-Blend smoothies are an indulgence (read: they are not cheap). So, the work-around that I recommend is to take glass jars and pre-portion your ingredients and then pop them in the freezer to use throughout the week.

Alyssa Lovas, a local holistic nutritionist and the owner of Live Free and Thrive Nutrition, has some great tips to do just this (click here for her tips, as well as a few recipes to get you started or reach out to her for more guidance (she offers a free 20 minute consultation to get started).

I also have a stash of smoothie recipe inspo on Pinterest; they are not necessarily nutritionist-approved, they just sound yummy to me.

With the ingredients and the liquid in the blender, let’s get to it.

Step #2: Make it a Bowl

To make it a bowl, instead of a smoothie, I went lighter on the almond milk to make the blend thicker and scoop-style instead of sipping-style, and separated my wonder-creation into two bowls.

Step #3: Top and Serve

The final step is to add the toppings of your choice. It’s summah-time, baby, and that means that not only is the living easy but the peaches are juicy. I nestled my 🍑 in with coconut chips, a scoop of organic almond butter, a sprinkle of bee pollen, a few cashews, ceylon cinnamon and a drizzle of honey.

If your mouth is watering, that is the right reaction. This bowl was so👏🏻damn👏🏻good👏🏻.

I won’t say that I’ve replaced Ivor’s Energize cravings, but if he must, he can still grab one during one of his three days in Boston and Massachusetts each week when he commutes to work with the psychiatric service arm of Tewksbury Hospital, the track and field team at MIT, the city communities through the Boston Parks Summer Fitness Series and Brighton senior center, and of course, his studio and students at Taireiki.

Hey, at least we have him four days a week in Our Town now including FREE YOGA at DEPOT PARK. And at least he has amazing, homemade smoothie bowls when he’s here.

Have any smoothie/smoothie bowl prep tips to add, or amazing recipes to share? Share in the comments below.

Hers and his.