Having made the connection between permanently having a large amount of mucus at the back of my throat and eating dairy I have been looking for new ideas to avoid diary in my foods. Although I drank huge quantities of milk as a child (only starting to drink both tea and coffee in my late teens), as an adult I completely stopped drinking milk to the extent that I really dislike the smell of milky coffee or tea. Oddly; and sadly for my waistline, my adult aversion to milk has not extended as far as cheese until last weekend where I had a plate of cheese after supper and really did not want to eat any of it.
I need to be careful to what I eat at breakfast as I tend to have wildly fluctuating blood sugar levels and there are only a few things that I can eat where I am not starving hungry by 11am, leaving me both grumpy and ready for lunch. This smoothie seems to do the trick, the addition of oats not only lowers the Glycaemic Index but makes the smoothie thick and creamy, I am also getting 2 portions of fruit in my breakfast, setting me well on my way to my five-a-day. This makes quite a large smoothie, around ¾ of a pint, enough to make it a complete breakfast meal to keep hunger pangs at bay until lunch.
Diary Free Smoothie – Serves one for breakfast or 2 to accompany breakfast
20g / ¾oz oats
1 banana – chilled
300ml / ½pt soy milk (I use homemade with no additives – but use your preferred brand)
Handful mixed berries – chilled or frozen
Pour the oats into a container and cover with the soy milk and leave in the fridge overnight. In the morning peel and add the banana and berries and whizz with a stick blender adding more soy milk if needed.
I make mine in a Lock and Lock container (my latest kitchen discovery as whatever you do to them with normal use, they will not leak) first thing in the morning and take it to work. Frozen berries whizz easily with my stick blender and mean that my smoothie is still chilled even after an hour’s commute in the summer.
Variations
Soak dried prunes, figs or dates with the oats, these are delicious but can give your smoothie a slightly unappetising brown tinge!
Hi, hippolyra.
It’s a certain person here known to you, but me is preserving me web anonymity innit, although you prob can guess who the geezer is. Last saw you at a certain concert. Now I subscribe to this blog in my newsreader, and it is brilliant.
Now a question about this smoothy. I fight an on/off battle with the bulge, and latterly have been rather losing it, due in no small part for a penchant for bread, carbs and the occasional pint. What i’m asking is; is this smoothie meant to be a replacement for breakfast?
Now i need to do the whole weight loss thing again, and shed, definately three, but hopefully 4 stone. I find eating a terrible pain in the proverbial, and sometimes it is just too easy to bang a packet meal in the micro :-(
My question is this. Bearing in mind that I do not mind eating the same meals every day (indeed it takes thinking out of the equation, and so food prep becomes automatic), I was wondering if, among your vast array of scrumminess here, I were to choose 3 meals, breakfast lunch and dinner, and eath the same each day, what would be best from the point of view of sensible weightloss whilst maintaining nutrition.
oats in a smoothie are a great way to keep you going but my preference is a smoothie with no dairy or dairy-substitutes (although sometimes I wonder if smoothie is the right word) – I really like banana for creaminess and thickness.
Like you I don’t like milk or cream but love cheese and yoghurt – I think the cultures change the way it affects you (am sure I have read something more scientific but can’t remember)
Hi Anon,
I would not want to restrict your diet, I just have one of these smoothies for breakfast and it keeps me full.
If you have the same stuff everyday you will get bored and cheat, the only way I can lose weight without any pain or feeling deprived is to eat low starchy carb – not the Atkins madness, but proteins served with lots of non sugary, starcy carbs. Google the South Beach Diet or Low GI, there are lots of ideas on the blog.
By all means bung a meal in the microwave but check the carb content and maybe have a curry with a large salad not rice? But many ready meals are full of sugar.
Tinned beans are my staple – there are lots of bean and lentil recipes on here – have a search.
Johanna – interesting re the no diary substitutes. Innocent do a lovely coconut and pineapple smoothie which is creamy and 100% fruit.
I’m a no-dairy girl and lock-n-lock devotee. I think we should be friends!
Michelle, consider yourself befriended!
yum! this looks good :) i always love a new smoothie recipes!
[...] has been too long since I blogged a smoothie. Thick, satisfying and delicious it feels vaguely sinful having chocolate for breakfast, but [...]