The Anatomy of a Meal Part 2 (BONUS Recipe Inside!)

Since I received such a great response from the email and Social Media posts from last week, I thought it would be great to dive back into more ANATOMIES OF MEALS!

 

So often people will ask me for recipes or want me to tell them exactly what it needs to contain, but the reality is that it depends on a few factors! 

 

As a case study, let’s look at SMOOTHIES and how they are a great way to get a lot of COLOUR in your diet.

What Does a Smoothie Need to Be Considered A Meal?


If you’re drinking a smoothie as a meal, you’ll want to think of the anatomy of the meal (check out my blog post about this here). 

 

When a smoothie is a meal, it should have:

  • Protein

  • Healthy fat

  • Fruit AND Veg

  • Carbohydrates

If it’s A SIDE to a meal that already has those other components, then you can get away with just fruits or veggies.

Even in the context of a meal, it’s helpful to think about how it fits into your day. 

 

If you’re adding a whole bunch of the following, it may actually add up to being a lot more calories than you expected:

  • Hemp Hearts

  • Almond Butter

  • Avocado

Where if you’re having Greek yoghurt + berries or almond milk + berries + protein powder (both of which don’t really have enough fat), it may not be enough calories to keep you full. 

Anatomy of a Smoothie As a Meal:

 

Greens:

These are an easy addition to hide but are so often neglected.  If you have a box of greens in the fridge that you think you won’t finish - throw it in the freezer to use or start buying greens to have in the freezer (or fresh) for smoothies! Spinach has the least amount of flavour

 

Protein:

I want you to get a minimum of 10g of protein in your smoothie if this is a snack, and minimum 20g if you’re having it for a meal. You can get the protein in the form of protein powder, greek yogurt, tofu, or nuts/seeds.  If you’re having this as part of a meal with a good source of protein already it can be skipped.

 

Berries: 

Berries have many health benefits and add great flavour and fiber.

 

Fat:

Again if you’re using this as your meal - ensuring you get some healthy fat is important.  That fat could be avocado, 1 TBSP olive oil, any nut/seed, yoghurt, milk, etc.  If it’s an adjunct to a meal you can skip.

 

Bonus #1: 

Cauliflower, beets, or other vegetables.

 

If you have a high-powered blender you can usually add other secret vegetables without impacting the flavour.

 

Bonus #2:

Ground flax seeds - a fantastic fiber and nice hormone modulator. You can read about it here on a recent blog post!

 

TAKEAWAY: Don’t let adding in too many ingredients make a smoothie feel too difficult to fit into your busy life!

If you've made it this far…here's an Example Smoothie Recipe!

 

We usually just throw things in the blender but something like this can be nice:

  • 1 ½  cups spinach

  • 1 banana

  • 1 cup mixed berries

  • ½ cup frozen cauliflower

  • 1-2 scoops protein powder (I use an unflavoured whey protein isolate)

  • 1.5 cups water (could be anywhere from 1-2)

  • ½ cup medium fat yoghurt

This makes about 4 cups of smoothie, the kids like it too as a smoothie bowl (with granola, chocolate chips and cranberries on top).  

 

A go-to dinner on a busy weekend lacking in vegetables!

Nutrition, RecipesJanine Buisman Wilcoxnutrition