My Ode to Bananas

I never appreciated bananas before I went vegan. Most known for potassium level, bananas also contain magnesium, manganese, vitamin C as well as B vitamins. They're basically chameleons when it comes to desserts such as smoothies and ice cream. They make a creamy dish and are great on their own, or take to any flavor that you add. Here are my favorite ways to eat bananas (other than raw of course!)

Smoothie base

Green tea ice cream

Banana Sorbet

Strawberry soft serve

Fried banana dessert

Peanut butter pops

Green Monster Guide

I have a green smoothie for breakfast at least 3-4 days a week, and there have been many weeks where I've made one every single day. (Shout out to my magic bullet here, I love the individual cup blending and it's blended smoothly for me every time!) Like everyone else, I thought they looked weird at first, but that didn't matter after I tasted my first one. It was delicious! And I always felt great heading into the day, I can't imagine a more vitamin packed breakfast.

So how do you make one of these bad boys you ask? Follow my 3 step formula and you'll get a delicious smoothie every time.

First, pick your fruit base. I always use frozen bananas. I buy bananas in bulk (and by that I mean get them from the dining hall) slice them, and store them in a ziploc bag in my freezer. (For other reasons I love frozen bananas, check out my ode to banana's post here) Feel free to use any fruit or combination or fruit. Frozen is always better because it chills your smoothie. You can add ice if you use fresh fruit, but it will dilute your smoothie.
Fruit Base Suggestions: Frozen bananas, berries, cantaloupe, honey due melon, apple, pear, mango, avocado etc.

Second, pack in the greens. I usually use kale, but again- this is flexible. Make sure your greens are rinsed and torn away from the stem. This is where your smoothie is going to get its punch of vitamins. Kale is high in vitamin K, C, beta carotene, and rich in calcium. It's also high in sulforaphane, a strong cancer fighting agent.
Green Suggestions: Kale (curly, red or dinosaur) collard greens, chard, spinach etc.

Thirdly, liquefy! For an extra creamy smoothie use a milk base. For extra vitamins, coconut water is great. If you're a tea fanatic like me, that's also an excellent base.
Suggestions: Almond milk, rice milk, coconut milk, hemp milk, soy milk, coconut water, green tea, white tea, oolong tea, black tea, mate tea, orange juice, pineapple juice, pom juice etc.

After these three steps, it's up to you for any add ins. Chia seeds, flax seeds and nut butters are great for adding protein.

Simple Green Monster Recipe

• 1 cup frozen fruit
• 1-2 cups chopped greens
• 1 cup liquid

Take my suggestions above, or pick your own, then blend and detox away!

The "I'm too broke to grocery shop this week" Scramble

It's one of THOSE weeks. The last and first week of the month are always the hardest, my bills always cut into my grocery allowance. But I've prepared for these situations by making sure I always have these four things on hand:

1) Pantry grains (quinoa, rice, pasta etc.)
2) A bag of frozen vegetables
3) At least 1 can of beans
4) Stir fry sauce, or stuff to make my own (usually soy sauce and dijon mustard)

These four things make up my emergency meal kit. No matter what, mixing those four things together will be delicious. You get your vegetable serving in, you get protein from the beans, and you get fiber from the grains. The sauce gives it the illusion of being a well thought out stir fry bowl (part of being in college is making sure the final product looks good and fancy, no matter how much thought you ACTUALLY put into it....)

So my emergency scramble for this week? Quinoa with kidney beans, green beans, corn and carrots with Trader Joe's Soyaki sauce. Roughly 450 calories, 18g of protein and 14g of fiber. Not too shabby.