Aloha, Come to Mama.
It's officially summer weather here in Los Angeles. My shoulders are tanned and my summer freckles are returning with a vengeance. It's lighter out longer (as I write this post, I'm sitting outside and it's 7PM with a beautiful golden light engulfing my backyard). I recently contributed a recipe to Yahoo Health where I spoke about my love of spring/summer breakfasts. These longer, warmer days are my favorite. I love taking my workouts outdoors, going for long walks (and runs when my tendonitis heals...more on that later). It also means I can have smoothies for almost every meal and not be considered a freak. Today was especially hot, so I whipped up a special parfait to bring to work tomorrow morning, and I can't wait to dive into it . HEADFIRST.
If it's not clear already, when I'm not eating big 'ol smoothie bowls, I'm eating breakfast straight out of a jar. Lately I've been waking up EXTRA early (4:45am) to attend hot yoga and then head straight to work. I love bringing jar-ed breakfasts with me because of their portability, deliciousness, and their obvious colorful and creative aesthetics.
Recently I discovered Aloha, a 'greens' powder that contains ONLY whole food ingredients. This was especially exciting to me for a few reasons. 1, I am trying to nix my caffeine addiction, and Aloha has been a great morning coffee replacement. (I just mix a green powder with hot water, lemon & honey) and 2, I've just been opening up my mind to a ton of new different flavors and products since moving to California. I'm finding that I'm eating 100x the amount of fresh herbs (parsley, cilantro, dill on everything!!) and edible flowers with my big lunch salads. Aloha contains things like organic spirulina, green peas, wheat grass and wild blueberries which was especially appealing to me.
So I made this Dragonfruit-Avocado Smoothie Parfait. It's so easy to make, and there are only a few ingredients. And I mean, look at those colors, there is no way you can't suddenly feel transported to Hawaii.
Pink Layer:
2 Pitaya Plus frozen smoothie packs
1.5 large frozen banana cut up into chunks
1/4 cup nut milk (I used my strawberry cashew milk from the other day)
blended.
Green layer:
1 Aloha Packet
1/2 cup organic baby spinach
1/4 frozen avocado
1/4 cup frozen pineapple
blended.
White layer:
1/2 cup fermented coconut yogurt from my friend Noah of Coconut Gods (sorry world- right now, this magical stuff is only available in a few select So Cal stores. You're truly missing out!) You can also use any sort of yogurt of your choice here.
My toppings:
coconut shreds
golden raisins
blackberries
Instructions:
Make the pink layer first, and then place into a spare bowl and into freezer. Then make your green layer. Place alternating layers in a large mason jar until full. Then add some coconut yogurt, and granola if you want something heavier. Store in fridge overnight and eat the next morning. For toppings you can really go anyway here- granola, nut butter, fresh fruit. Get creative!
On a sidenote, I've recently been 'diagnosed' with tendonitis in my left ankle from over-training in the fall. I'm so sad- so I've started to do acupuncture (today was my first day) and I start physical therapy next week. It was my first day doing acupuncture and my acupuncturist didn't even stick any needles into the ankle that hurts. That's right- she said "it's not her style to inject needles into the pain area" is this normal? What have your experiences been with acupuncture?
Yoga has been kind of helping my ankle but it still bothers me every now and then, even when I'm not running. I've also heard that tendonitis can keep coming back if you don't do PT right away. Any tips or thoughts are helpful for this. This is my first semi-serious 'injury'. It's been messed up for 3 months, so it feels good to at least have a diagnosis.
Does anybody have any tips for nixing caffeine? I've been struggling for months to give it up- it's just so hard but I need to do it because of the anxiety and jitters coffee has been giving me. Any tips are welcome!! Enjoy your day :)
ALOHA
