Homemade Smoothie Bowl Recipe: Quality Food For Both the Body and the Budget

In this article, I will showcase a dish I have created/eaten recently and how we can eat healthy delicious food that is also good for our wallet and more importantly … feels great! At Let Go & Grow, we take a holistic approach emphasizing the importance of quality as being of the utmost importance while also offering an individual approach to meet the person where they are at in their journey.

Quality

The first thing I’d like to mention is that this meal above has plenty of sweetness. In the society we live in today, and oftentimes in health articles, sweet foods are made out to be a victim; and to that point many of them are definitely dangerous. But, if we shift the ingredients in our food as well as our mindset, we CAN eat sweet foods and still enjoy them in a healthy and powerful way. For a list of healthy and natural sugar substitutes, check here. The first 2 pictures were of my breakfast a few days ago. It is one of my signature smoothie bowls … with a special twist. Here are the ingredients. The base is composed of (all base ingredients mixed in a blender):

• 1 cup of organic frozen fruit blend that includes strawberries, banana, mango, pineapple

• Organic frozen blueberries to your liking

• 1 big spoonful of organic cacao powder

• About half a cup of “Orgain” organic protein almond milk

• 1 big scoop of organic peanut butter

• A touch of organic cinnamon

The toppings include (feel free to use substitutions):

• “Alter Eco” 100% cacao organic granola

• A touch of organic hemp seeds

Wow, my mouth is watering again as I type this! A big reason why we label this food as “quality” is because it is organic and made of whole foods. It has been proven in many research studies that non-organic foods are blasted with all sorts of unnecessary chemicals, pesticides, and additives that affect our health in an alarmingly negative way and can even stay in our bloodstream forever. For more information on the importance of eating organic and QUALITY food visit our article “Diet Philosophy: Drop the Dogma & Discover What Works for YOU”. For an even deeper dive into chemicals in food production look at this podcast from “The Model Health Show” with Shawn Stevenson.

Cost?

Yes, one might be thinking, “all those organic ingredients are great, but that is too expensive!” Well I say, let’s critically think. After the breakdown of prices of each of these ingredients, the price for this individual meal is just about $3 depending on what items you use or don’t use. Here is an approximate price breakdown of ingredients used in this bowl:

• Bag of mixed organic fruit $15: using 1 cup of it in this bowl makes it about $2

• Bag of frozen blueberries $9: about 50 cents used

• 1 banana costs 20 cents

• Almond milk $7: about $1 used

• Organic peanut butter $6: about 20 cents used

• Cacao powder $10: less than 20 cents used

• Organic cinnamon $1 for the whole shaker: amount used is too miniscule to count!

• Granola $7: about 70 cents used

• Bag of hemp seeds $8: a few cents used

The grand total for all the ingredients used was $63, but the price of this meal is about $5 with every ingredient used.

This would be equivalent to at least 7 days’ worth of this exact breakfast if you wanted to – with plenty of cacao powder, cinnamon, and hemp seeds to last even further. And even better, every ingredient is optional. Take a couple ingredients, it can come down to about $40 in total for most ingredients and less than $3 for this meal! A meal that is super high quality in ingredients, delicious taste, delivers long lasting energy, and more!

By comparison, a bacon egg and cheese sandwich and iced latte at Dunkin Donuts is $9 which can hurt the wallet, mind, and body, while giving us shorter term pleasure for about 5-30 min. Additionally, many people who get fast food go through the drive thru , so we are probably on the go doing a million things at once with high stress levels, hence decreasing proper digestion, and decreasing the ENJOYMENT of our meal. All that for a “cheaper” (not) meal and chronic long-term stress. For healthier fast food options, check our article, “Fast Food For Health Conscious Individuals + Travel Tips” right here.

Final Thoughts

This meal is a prime example of how eating healthy can work for you and not against you. Also, how eating organic can even be less expensive than non-organic and fast food. With increased awareness around eating, we can have a delicious and sweet meal while feeling good in both our body and budget – with zero guilt.

Here at Let Go & Grow, this is exactly what we stand for – fueling our holistic being so that we can operate in the most authentic and powerful way. For an in depth look to revamp your nutrition, our Mind-Body Reset (MBR) program is a step-by-step approach to set a strong foundation for your self-improvement journey. The essence of the MBR is to reconnect, reset, and remember: you reconnect to your truest self, reset your body and nervous system, and remember who, what, and where you are so that these new positive feelings build lasting powerful lifestyle habits and a solid foundation.

How do you choose to eat?

References

Diet philosophy: Drop the dogma & discover what works for you. Dr. Brooke Stuart. (2018, November 19). https://www.drbrookestuart.com/drop-diet-dogma-discover-works/

Join the mind body reset. Let Go & Grow. (2022, November 3). https://letgoandgrow.com/mind-body-reset/

Stevenson, S. (2023, May 14). The Model Health Show: The Shocking Truth About “Forever Chemicals” and the conveniences that are killing US – with Darin Olien on Apple Podcasts. Apple Podcasts. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-shocking-truth-about-forever-chemicals/id640246578?i=1000613005979