Chocolate Coffee Smoothie Bowl

Lately over winter break I have been plain obsessed with the beautiful works of art on Pinterest. The edible bowls of perfect toppings' lines. The kind so creamy and delicious that they leave you licking the bowl. What the heck am I talking about?? Smoothie bowls-- I had at least one per day. Sometimes two... sometimes three, heh heh heh. But there's absolutely nothing wrong with that (Now if it were slices of red velvet cake there would be a problem! <3)! Smoothie bowls are super nutritious thick smoothies that you can (and do, obviously) eat with a spoon. They are typically used with a frozen banana base for amazing, creamy texture, but I stay away from bananas so I used some avocado for equal (or... can I say better??) creaminess.

Oh, and do not forget the toppings. I REPEAT: do not forget the toppings! They are the absolute BEST part of smoothie bowls, besides eating them. You can be as creative as you want, and even make little patterns or something. Most Instagram and Pinterest photos stick to straight lines of yummy nuts 'n' stuff, and I agree- they look fabulous. Or then again, some people like chaos, so you could *cringe* just stir all your toppings together,

About this unusual flavor- can you taste the avocado? No! I can honestly say that you can't even taste it; the rich mocha flavor envelops you. And soon you're taking more and more bites, spooning out this fluffy (Am I crazy for thinking avocado smoothie bowls taste fluffy?) goodness into your mouth, and soon all your toppings have disappeared- And your scrumptious smoothie bowl is going, going, gone!

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Chocolate Coffee Smoothie Bowl 

• 2/3 cup almond or coconut milk
• 1/4 cup coffee
• 1/3 of an avocado (or about 1/4 cup mashed avocado)
• 1/2 cup cooked oatmeal (1/4 cup dry oats cooked)
• pinch salt
• 1.5 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• .5 tbsp Dutch- processed or Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder
• stevia equal to 3 tbsps sugar
• 5 ice cubes
• Toppings of choice- I like toasted coconut, chia seeds, oats, nuts, cacao nibs, but feel free to experiment. 

Blend all ingredients together, serve in a large bowl, and decorate with toppings of choice.

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Gingerbread Spice Cookie Oatmeal

It's the holiday season! What better way to celebrate Christmas than enjoying a warm, hearty bowl of Gingerbread Cookie Oatmeal?

This recipe is SO easy- there are no added spices, syrups, and whatnot!

What makes the gingerbread flavor, you might ask? ...Tea!

For Christmas I got this amazing tea: Celestial Seasonings Gingerbread Spice. As you may guess I love this tea, and I just HAD to make it into oatmeal. I got this idea from Chocolate Covered Katie's sugar cookie oatmeal, that used 2 Celestial Seasonings Sugar Cookie tea bags to cook your oatmeal in. As a side note I also received 2 boxes of that sugar cookie tea- yum! So onto my recipe...

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Gingerbread Spice Cookie Oatmeal 

• 2 Celestial Seasonings' Gingerbread Spice tea bags
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats 
• stevia, (or sweetener of choice) to taste

Heat water until almost boiling and pour over the two tea bags in a large 4-cup bowl or stovetop pot. Steep for 5 minutes and then use a fork to squish more flavor out of the bags. Discard the tea bags now. Then add in the 1/2 cup milk and cook oatmeal how you usually do in either microwave ( nuke for 3 minutes) or stovetop (bring tea and milk to a boil, add in oats, reduce heat to medium, and cook uncovered stirring occasionally for 5 mins). Stir and let sit for 2 minutes, add in stevia, and enjoy!
Note: I cooked my oatmeal the night before and overnight it absorbed water, so if you are cooking your oatmeal in the morning add less milk or none at all.

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Chocolate Almond Butter Balls

I've been super obsessed with nut butters these past few days. ever since my mom bought some of Wild Friends' chocolate almond butter with sunflower seeds from Trader Joe's. Then I went to my Aunt's house who had the same brand's vanilla espresso almond butter, and then vanilla sunflower seed butter. I was totally in love with all of them as I spread them heapingly on my "yellow pancake" for breakfast (A homemade breakfast thing in between a crepe and a pancake). Then I had a few heavenly bites of my sister's yellow pancake with vanilla sunbutter and pumpkin butter. Mmm, hers was amazing! Anyway, since I've been so in love with nut butters, I decided to create these lil' balls of bliss.

Fair warning: sorry for the lack of different angled photos- this has been the first time that my food I'm photographing has urgently called out to me to devour it. These balls are just sooo good.

Plus the best thing, well besides the awesome flavor of course, is that this recipe is single-serve, takes less than 1 minute to whip up, and is only 150 calories. Yep. They also taste even more fabulous with extra almond butter slathered on!  

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Chocolate Almond Butter Balls 

• 1 tbsp almond butter
• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tbsps coconut flour
• 3-4 tbsps almond milk
• liquid stevia equal to 1.5 tbsps of sugar, or to taste
• pinch salt

In a small bowl, microwave the almond butter and 1 tbsp of almond milk for 30 secs until melty. Stir until combined, then add in stevia and salt. Next add in cocoa powder and coconut flour 1 tbsp at a time. It should be very crumbly, so add in almond milk 1 tbsp at a time until the perfect doughy texture is achieved. Freeze for a few minutes or eat on the spot.

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Almond Joy Oatmeal

This oatmeal is literally my favorite in the whole world. Well, other than CCK's oatmeal raisin cookie oatmeal... but hers is too freakin' hard to beat. This almond joy oatmeal is just so rich and so decadent. It's perfect bliss. In one bite you taste the chewy chocolate oats to give it substance, the cool creaminess of coconut greek yogurt mixed in with the oatmeal and on top like fluffy whipped cream, the soft coconut flakes, sweet, mindblowing chocolate chips, the melt-in-your-mouth goodness of chocolate sauce, and finally the crunch and roasted flavor of almonds. And when all the while the world is moving around you, just bustling around their normal day, and you're planted in your chair savoring each and every bite, not letting your attention waver for a second. Can I please say sensory overload??

Doesn't that remind you of lava cake? Or a layer cake? Or just dessert in general?

Oh, by the way, this is the recipe I'm planning to enter in my school district's cooking contest. The recipe has to be a healthy breakfast item and you get extra credit points for certain foods, including yogurt and oatmeal. I know it will do great! ...I just wish I could include a photo. The first one on this post would win em' over for sure! 

(UPDATE: this recipe got 2nd place in the contest, with the award for "Tasty and Creative!!")

There are also two versions to this recipe: a high-protein one on the photos and a lighter one using coconut extract instead of Greek yogurt. Protein recipe has 280 calories and 21g protein, while the other recipe has 160 calories and 6g of protein. (Both without toppings, they're totally optional but totally recommended!)

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Almond Joy Oatmeal 

• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup water
• 1.5 tbsps unsweetened cocoa powder
• stevia equal to 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch salt
• 1/2 cup coconut Greek yogurt (OR 1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt with 1/8 tsp coconut extract stirred in OR just 1/4 tsp coconut extract)

Cook the oats and water in either stove or microwave as you usually do to make oatmeal. After the oats are cooked, add in the cocoa powder, stevia, and vanilla extract (And coconut extract if you're not using Greek yogurt). Then stir in half of the Greek yogurt and dollop the other half on top. Add toppings of choice and devour!

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Pecan Pie Smoothie

The recipe today is a yummy pecan pie smoothie. 

Sorry I'm off my schedule  (But hey, who's keeping track anyway? ;) ) but Thanksgiving festivities were really busy! They included a 5K Turkey Trot run, a surprise visit for my grandpa's 90th b-day, and 2 Thanksgiving dinners! This recipe is kinda relating to Thanksgiving, because it's pecan pie. 

Above: my current nail design! 

I've never actually had a pecan pie, but I somehow know the flavor. Sweet brown-sugary butterness with a touch of maple and a faint hint of caramel. ... Or so I thought when I first tried this recipe! The first time I got out most of my extracts (I recently bought all the extracts they had at Walmart!) and used a lot. Caramel, maple, butter, vanilla, and possibly even coconut.  That tasted too artificial so I dialed it down a few notches, so now it's more natural! I wonder: are extracts bad for you? I'll have to research because I use them in all my smoothies now...

This scrumptious, milkshake-like smoothie will satisfy your sweet tooth. Dessert, breakfast, or snack; your choice.

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Pecan Pie Smoothie

• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese
• 1 tbsp roasted pecans
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• Stevia equal to 2 tbsps sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 7-10 ice cubes
• optional 1/4 tsp butter extract
• optional 1/2 tsp xanthan gum (I highly recommend this! Gives the smoothie an amazing thick and creamy milkshake-like texture.) 

Blend all ingredients in a high-powered blender. Serve in a large 3-cup glass and top with whipped cream and/or pecans.

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