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Smoothies While Traveling: Easier Than you May Think

November 23, 2016 by Sarah

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So this chica is back in Ecuador for a month!! I studied abroad here 4 years ago and during that time, I found an orphanage that I completely fell in love with. I came again to care for the little babies that left a bigger impact on my heart than words can describe. I plan to volunteer at the orphanage as much as I can and do catch-up work for my photography business, which I’m so blessed to be able to do remotely. This year has been a whirlwind, and I felt like I needed a little time to get away to take care of myself, do something I love more than anything in me, and refocus to determine my goals for the upcoming year.

Well, part of taking care of myself involves food, of course! I pre-contemplated this before leaving and brought some ingredients I could use to make sure I was still consuming a nutrient-rich diet while here. Because I’ve lived here before, I was a bit familiar with what I could get my hands on and what produce I’d have access to. All in all, I’m banking on smoothies as being my daily go-to, and here is how I prepared for this:

From home, I brought:

  • chia seeds
  • hemp seeds
  • e3live Renew Me powder (this stuff is the absolute best and definitely worth the money!)
  • goji berries
  • stick blender and a mason jar *more detail below

(Ideas of other powders include protein, maca, ashwaghanda, any herbal powders like He Shou Wu, Reishi, Chaga)

Buying local foods:

If you know the region a bit, you may know what to expect, but even if you don’t after doing some research, you can still improvise! Being that I’m in the Andean mountains, I was hoping I’d find some local maca and cacao. Yesterday I wandered around and found some at one of the Artisan markets! I was stoked! The cacao powder also has ginger 🙂

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I also found these exotic chocoalate bars, which was some extra icing on the cake!

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But back to smoothies.

I knew there’d be bananas and other exotic fruits, like passionfruit, granadilla, tomate de árbol, that I could add to the smoothies so I picked up some produce today as well. If you bring some of the more expensive ingredients from home (seeds, powders, superfoods), you won’t need to spend as much while traveling. And as far as space goes, I just put them in smaller bags, and the food I brought really didn’t take up that much room. Now Ecuador is very cheap, but produce is in many other places as well. Keep this in mind when you’re trying to eat healthy. I bought everything below for LESS THAN $7.

Fruits and Vegetables

*Equipment

As far as equipment, it definitely depends on what kind of trip you are taking. You may have a blender where you are going, and if you can, inquire at the place(s) you’re staying. When I was in Cabo San Lucas earlier this year, there was a kitchenette in the room with a blender. I took full advantage of that by making smoothies with chia and hemp seeds I brought with me. I am here in Ecuador for a month and did have a checked bag so I was able to bring this kind of thing along. Initially, I knew I wanted to bring a blender to make banana milk (because the only non-dairy milk they have here is soy milk), and I was going to bring a Shake N Take my mom gave me years back. Last minute, I decided to go with a Cuisinart stick blender and a wide mouth Mason jar instead because it’s much more powerful and better at blending and is not much bigger. It’s very, very portable and easy to clean. I’m staying in an Airbnb and have access to a kitchen, but it’s the family’s and is in a separate unit so I most likely will not be using it often.

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I’ll conclude with the smoothie I made this morning!

It had water, two bananas, passion fruit, mango, tamarind, chia and hemp seeds, maca, cacao, and e3live powder! Since I don’t readily have access to a kitchen, I just rinsed the attachment from the stick blender with some water over the smoothie and then rinsed the jar with water and drank it when I was done. Then I was able to clean out the little bit of smoothie remnants that were left in the bathroom sink! It was super easy and worked really well. Unless you have a good place to do dishes, my advice is to rinse it right away so it doesn’t dry and get caked on 🙂

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So there you have it! Do you have any thoughts or ideas for smoothies while traveling?! If so, leave a comment below!

Filed Under: Breakfast, Inspiration, Smoothies, Travel Tagged With: cacao, ecuador, fruits, ideas, maca, nuts, quito, seeds, smoothies, travel, vegetables

How to Make Your Oatmeal Work for You

January 6, 2016 by Sarah

Amp Up Your OatmealOatmeal is an easy go-to breakfast, and not to mention comforting on these winter days. I’d like to show you how you can amp up any ‘ol bowl of oatmeal (or hot cereal) with this one easy tip. But first, let’s talk about the different options for oatmeal or hot cereal because a healthy bowl of oatmeal usually does not start in a packet. Those instant flavored varieties tend to be laden with sugar and/or artificial flavors. I would recommend starting from scratch with some of these options:

  • Steel-cut oats – they take a little longer to cook but are higher in fiber
  • Organic rolled oats and/or oat bran – also high in fiber
  • Gluten free options include gluten-free rolled or steel-cut oats, quinoa flakes or organic yellow corn grits

Once you have a bowl of plain hot cereal of your choosing, it’s time for exciting part – livening it up a bit! This is my one tip that is a total time saver and ensures you are getting loads of nutrients at the start of your day:

Prepare a large bowl of add-ins (like the one below) to have on hand that you can add to your hot cereal any time you make it.

Amp Up Your OatmealWhole Foods-50-2

Here are many ideas of things to add to the mix:

Nuts and Seeds 

  • Walnuts
  • Pecans
  • Almonds
  • Cashews
  • Hazelnuts
  • Brazil nuts
  • Hemp seeds
  • Chia seeds
  • Pumpkin seeds
  • Sesame seeds (black too, which is in the one I did!)
  • Ground flax seeds (show some love to those omega-3’s!)

Dried or Freeze-Dried Fruits

  • Currants
  • Blueberries
  • Apricots
  • Pineapple
  • Dates
  • Figs
  • Cherries
  • Cranberries
  • Raisins
  • Mango
  • Apple
  • Papaya
  • Goji berries

Other

  • Shredded coconut
  • Raw cacao powder or nibs
  • Cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, sea salt
  • Mesquite powder
  • Lucuma powder
  • Maca powder
  • Ashwagandha powder (more info on this here)
  • Dash of spirulina or chlorella powder

Amp Up Your Oatmeal

Making the Mix

My best advice is to make a mix of what you have on hand or what you have access to and add things in pretty equal proportions. If you absolutely love cranberries, by all means add more cranberries. Or walnuts. Or shredded coconut.

Make a mix depending on your liking, but don’t forget to add in all those little additional components that help supercharge the hot cereal – foods high in protein, fiber, healthy fats, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.

Add as much of the mix to your oatmeal as you desire. Also, if the dried fruit isn’t enough and you want to add a bit of sweetness, add some coconut palm sugar, rapadura, sucanat or raw honey (like below) at the end.

Amp Up Your Oatmeal

Do you have any other ideas for add-ins? How do you like to amp up your oatmeal?

Filed Under: Breakfast, Inspiration, Vegan Tagged With: breakfast, hot cereal, ideas, nutrients, nuts, Oatmeal, seeds

The Best Breakfast When You’re Pinched for Time

July 15, 2015 by Sarah

Breakfast on-the-go

We all have the mornings where we get up late or spend too much time getting ready. Breakfast is sometimes the last of our priorities when this happens, but it doesn’t have to be replaced by a Starbucks stop or a run to the drive-through. This idea is perfect for those days that you didn’t save enough time for breakfast but know that a good wholesome first meal is really going to give you the energy and nutrients you need to efficiently carry out your day.

What are they?

Trail mix bowls.

This is simply a mixture of chopped nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and other superfoods that you combine ahead of time and keep in the cupboard in a sealed container. It’s best to make a pretty large bowl so it lasts awhile. This is what the dry mixture looks like:

Breakfast on-the-go

When you’re in a rush, you can simply transfer some to a smaller bowl (with a lid) and pour your choice of milk over it. Grab a spoon and take it right with you! The longer you let the mixture soak, the juicier the dried fruits will become. If you’re in not as much of a rush, you can do what I did in the picture below. I soaked goji berries in warm water so they became nice and plump and then put those on top!

Breakfast on-the-go

You can also slice a banana or add different powders like I did here:

Breakfast on-the-goBreakfast on-the-go

The best part about these fruit/nut bowls is that they keep indefinitely in the cupboard just as any other dried fruit, nut or seed would. Keep the large bowl on hand and you’ll be happy you have it for those crunched mornings 🙂 My favorite bowls are the Pyrex glass storage set, which come with lids. If you get a set of them, you will have different sizes that are perfect for things like this breakfast. I use my pyrex bowls and lids so much!



What kinds of things to put in the trail mix??

Here are some ideas:

Nuts – almonds, walnuts, pecans, cashews

Seeds – buckwheat groats (nice and crunchy!), hemp seeds, chia seeds, ground flax seeds

Dried Fruits – currants, blueberries, apricots, pineapple rings, dates, figs, cherries, cranberries, raisins, mango, apple, papaya, goji berries

Other – coconut, cacao powder or nibs, cinnamon, mesquite powder, lucuma powder, maca poweder, ashwagandha powder, spirulina or chlorella powder, you can also add oats if you want to make it more filling!

I would do 2-4 kinds of nuts and seeds, 4 kinds of dried fruits and small amounts of anything extra. Pour just enough milk to cover the mixture when you’re ready to eat it and then enjoy!

Alright now go make up a batch so you have it on hand when you need it! 🙂

What’s your favorite breakfast when you’re in a time crunch??

I’d love to hear from you!

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Filed Under: Breakfast, Education, Inspiration, Raw Tagged With: breakfast, easy, fruit, healthy, hemp seeds, nuts, on-the-go, seeds

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My name is Sarah. This is a wellness blog where I hope to encourage and inspire you on your mission to healthier living. Read More…

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