Welcome to the first edition of YOUR MONTHLY CRAVING.
Get ready for some easy, healthy and delicious recipes – OH, and we’re bringing back Mocktail Mondays. I’m EXCITED for you to get to meet another copywriter who works for Motherhood®: Ray Peraino.
Head’s up – he’s a wordy one! Over to you Ray:
“I’m a copywriter with a background in fine dining who’s afflicted with an insatiable sense of curiosity. I’m impulsive and excitable like a newly rescued Pitbull pup. I carry around a comically small notebook full of half-baked ideas, quotes, recipes I’ll never make and ridiculous doodles.There’s a lot of similarities between the marketing world and the professional kitchen — the pressure to create, the stress, the camaraderie, the indescribable urge to cater to others. Serving creativity on a fork or on a page both take a lot of thought, consideration, and time — most of which goes unseen or unappreciated, but I blissfully carry on in service, because, well, it’s what I love.”
It was through Ray that we met his friend Lauren, one of the “real moms” from our video series. Lauren shared about being a new mom and how it made her realize that taking care of herself first is vital in order to take care of others.
Lauren said, “Being a working mother and breastfeeding and pumping and juggling everything is very difficult. For my first pregnancy with Maui, nursing with him, I lost a lot of weight. I was not taking care of myself because you’re just trying to provide and you kind of forget about yourself. With the new baby, I’m going to really take care of myself and my son, and really focus on our health and making sure we’re all good.”
Ray recently called Lauren to see how her second pregnancy is going. He asked about how she is now taking care of herself after experiencing that difficulty with her first son. She used to buy bulk bags of granola to pick on all day because she was so exhausted. But this time around, she gets low-glycemic fruits and adds protein powder with different nut milks in a blender. She told him it changed her energy, which is good since as an optician she is on her feet all day!
In honor of Lauren, doing double-duty as a mom and a mama-in-the-making, Ray has provided us with a smoothie bowl [he’s so hip] topped with granola, because Lauren didn’t ditch the granola, she just knows that mama’s gotta eat more! Make it; tag it; I want to see it. Take it away Ray Ray! – Daina
Berry Smoothie Bowl with Protein & Granola
This simple recipe was inspired by Lauren’s go-to pregnancy breakfast. I jazzed it up a bit to pack in a few extra nutritional benefits. Oats and oat milk are a great source or iron which is a must to increase milk supply in nursing mothers. The toasted walnuts on top add some omega-3 ALA and the berries are loaded with antioxidants, low in sugar and high in fiber. The Omega-3s are a great source of healthy fats and have been associated with many benefits for baby like brain health and development.
Serves: 4-5
Ingredients
2-3 overflowing cups of mixed frozen berries
A few ice-cubes
Some splashes of Oat Milk (Sub almond or coconut milk). Remember, this is going to be something you’re going to be eating with a spoon, not pulling through a straw, so you want it to be thick- be conservative with the milk here. Add it a splash at a time to get things moving.
2 tablespoons almond butter
1 cup of organic, plain instant oats/oatmeal (These blend better, you don’t have to cook them before hand, they’re easier to digest than whole rolled oats and they add fiber to your smoothie without a ton of calories.)
1 Fistful of spinach (You won’t even taste it, scout’s honor.)
1 Serving of the plant-based protein powder of your choice (I highly recommend vanilla here.)
Instructions
- Place everything in your blender, mixing until smooth, adding oat milk as needed.
- Pour into bowls, top with your favorite organic granola and some toasted walnuts.
