When I used to offer to “make” dinner for anyone – a family member, a friend, a date, I was genuinely impressed with my ability to go to King Soopers, purchase a FRESHCHETTA® Pizza, turn on the oven and bake it for 18-20 minutes at 400 degrees. I offered condiments like ranch for dipping the pizza and honey for dipping the crust. When Nick entered the picture, I had to be sure I always had ketchup on hand because the dude dips everything in ketchup. Says the girl with a ranch fetish.
This was the baseline of my diet. I also bought RED BARON® Deep Dish Minis in bulk and frequently scarfed those down before running out the door to Gaelic Football practice, happy hour with friends or another awkward first date. What did I eat for breakfast you ask? Nothing. Unless you count 4 cups of black coffee as breakfast. Lunches consisted of peanut butter and honey (there’s the honey again, I’m the granddaughter of a beekeeper) on wheat bread – wasn’t I healthy? And Lay’s Salt & Vinegar Flavored Potato Chips. Maybe once every three months, I’d buy baby carrots and eat 2-4 of those along with my child-like lunches. And red peppers. I’d eat one of those every couple weeks.
It was bad.
I equated eating healthy with dieting. And I equated dieting with weight issues. I’ve never really had issues with my weight (I may have that going for me, but don’t be mad, remember I have cancer) so I gave little thought to what I put in my body. I was playing Gaelic Football, Ultimate Frisbee, and going to the gym. I justified my diet with my level of fitness. This is a horrible idea.
Five years ago, after my initial cancer diagnosis, I started to realize I should probably consume some level of fruits and vegetables that didn’t come pre-processed on a frozen pizza in the form of tomato sauce.
So I went to Bed Bath & Beyond with a 20% off coupon and purchased a NutriBullet®.
It’s like the training wheels of healthy eating.
It eases you right in. I started juicing every day. And I noticed on days I didn’t, my body was craving it. I’d put kale, cucumber, carrot, ginger, chia and flax seeds in the bottom and mask those flavors with berries, then fill with water or almond milk. I must admit, the first time I used ginger, I had no idea of its potency and put in a giant root. Needless to say, that was disgusting. But I refused to waste my juice that day, so I powered through it. I made the same mistake the first time I tried turmeric, which is even more potent that ginger. You learn.
It’s not really “juicing” in the technical term, now that I do that, too. The drink has more of a smoothie consistency. Nick made fun of me at first because he was one of those humans who actually ate his fruits and vegetables. But he was quickly on board and in line at Bed Bath & Beyond (probably not with a 20% off coupon) buying his own NutriBullet. I remember questioning why he was doing this because one day we’d be married and then have two NutriBullets. Which is now the case.
Beyond smoothie juices, I created a recipe for what I call “Smoothie Bowls.” You should know, this is the only recipe I’ve ever created on my own. It was inspired by Etai’s Acai Smoothie Bowl, so maybe it’s not fair for me to take all the credit. Here is that recipe, roughly, because I’ve never measured it out and it typically depends on what we have on hand.
Smoothie Bowl (makes 2 servings)
Ingredients – blended
1-2 leaves of kale
2 carrots
3″ of cucumber
Top with berries or any fruit* you desire
1 tablespoon of chia seeds
1 tablespoon of flax seeds
2 tablespoons of almond milk
Ingredients – toppings
1/2 cup of gluten free granola
Handful of mint leaves
Honey (remove if vegan)
Cinnamon
Pomegranate seeds
Banana
Optional Ingredients
1 teaspoon of cranberry powder
1/4 teaspoon of amla powder
Shredded coconut (sprinkle on top)
Directions
In NutriBullet, put kale in first, followed by carrots, cucumbers, fruit (to fill line), chia/flax seeds and almond milk (+/- if you prefer runnier or thicker consistency). Blend thoroughly. Once blended, put into a bowl. Top with granola, mint leaves, drizzle with honey, add a shake of cinnamon, a handful of pomegranate seeds and sliced banana.
*if frozen, prep the night before and put in fridge (without almond milk), it will blend easier or nuke the fruit on defrost setting in microwave.
Obviously, there’s lots of room to get creative. Enjoy!
I’ve since made massive strides in my diet. But I credit the NutriBullet for giving me my start. To date, it is still the most used appliance by far in our kitchen. Some days, we even use it more than once. Now that I have a juicer, too, I still make a smoothie to compliment my breakfast (no more coffee!) or dinner. We aim to eat our fruits and veggies, the smoothie is just a bonus.
If you decide to order a NutriBullet online, don’t forget about Ebates! It gets you 6% back at Bed, Bath and Beyond.
What is your favorite kitchen appliance to help you in eating healthy?