WALNUT BUCKWHEAT CHOCOLATE SMOOTHIE

…AND WHAT I EAT IN A DAY

Walnut buckwheat chocolate smoothie has been my go to breakfast for many days in a row. It’s creamy, smooth, chocolatey without chocolate and deliciously nourishing. In addition to the smoothie recipe, I thought it would be a good time to share what I eat in a day, starting with this breakfast.

Balanced breakfast as a routine

Before this diet, my breakfast was loaded with carbs. I ate oatmeal or toast, a piece of fruit and some veggies. There’s nothing wrong with carbs, but for me, in the wrong proportion they’re not healthy.

In addition to hormonal issues with my thyroid, I’ve had blood sugar issues. I had gestational diabetes twice, even though I was not overweight and I was eating a pretty optimal diet before and when I was pregnant. I managed my gestational diabetes with a healthy diet, but I still have to get yearly blood sugar controls, so that I’m not in risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Learning to make balanced breakfast a routine has been one of the highlights of this wellness journey. I’ve learned to make breakfast with adequate protein and healthy fats, so that all the macro nutrients are balanced in a way that is good for me.

Making breakfast starts in the evening, when I put a small handful of nuts, seeds, buckwheat into a bowl, pour water on top so that everything is covered and let the bowl sit in the counter overnight. In the morning I drain and rinse nuts and buckwheat and blend it with other nourishing ingredients into a thick smoothie pudding.

Get the recipe here

Plant-based snacking

What I’ve noticed now is that I feel full after my breakfast in a way that I’ve never felt before. I also feel full of energy and I’m more focused. And something else has happened too. I don’t feel like snacking all the time anymore!

I used to snack between breakfast and lunch and lunch and dinner. Mostly fruit or a sweet treat I was recipe testing, or even overnight oats leftover from breakfast. I’ve named many of my snacks “dessert snacks”, because they’re sweet and creamy like dessert. Some of my favorite sweet snack (and breakfast) recipes are here.

Snacking is totally okay, but because I was snacking mostly on carbs, these snacks weren’t doing any good for me. In fact, it was like riding a roller coaster with my blood sugar, making me crave more and more carbs.

Lunch time struggles

Now that I don’t feel the need to snack, I have about 4 hours in between breakfast and lunch.

I’ve struggled with lunch the most. Not because I don’t know how to make wholesome food, but because it feels so time consuming to prepare everything from scratch. It FEELS time consuming, but it really isn’t.

Meal prepping is the key

I wish I had the meal prepping skills of Corey, who runs one of my favorite vegan family food Instagram’s @thevegansix I think a good meal prep is the key to eating wholesome food every day without struggles. And that’s what I’m learning now little by little.

I’ve started with the very basics:

• Cooking a big batch of quinoa
• Making a big soup, which lasts for days
• Chopping raw veggies and storing them in a glass container in the fridge
• Making a batch of my favorite roasted nuts, sunflower seed “parmesan” or quick almond feta
• Having fresh herbs always available, because herbs and the above mentioned nuts and seeds make any meal super delicious

My lunch is actually all these foods mixed together, so good! Creamy broccoli soup topped with quinoa, nuts and seeds and fresh herbs and greens. I also have some raw vegetables on the side. Not pictured here is my second helping of quinoa and herbs 🙂

Wholesome desserts

I have a sweet tooth but it’s not as bad as it used to be. Fruits such as bananas, watermelon, and berries taste very sweet now that I’m not used to eating refined sugar every day. My taste buds are working better in every way.

Creating all kinds of treats is my passion. I don’t just create wholesome treats, I also create sweet recipes containing refined sugars. And I eat all kinds of treats too! One part of this wellness journey is to learn to love all kinds of food.

My latest obsession is this berrylicious banana sweetened strawberry cake and if you have no time for baking, a quick treat is this no bake banana sweetened fruit tart. But then again, if you want a very sweet treat, this is what I’d go for now: Strawberry puree layer cake with berries of the season.

Dinner time bread cravings

I usually prep a buddha bowl type of meal like sweet potato fries and other roasted veggies with some grains or pasta for the whole family. Sometimes my husband cooks for the kids (like today) and I can get creative in the kitchen making something just for me.

I love to make flatbreads as they’re probably the easiest bread ever! I made this flatbread gluten-free using buckwheat flour and millet and it turned out crumbly but delicious.

The bread tastes delicious with avocado, herbs, sauerkraut and fresh veggies. Nourishing, simple and keeps me full.

No more evening snacking

I eat my dinner quite late, around 7 or 8 pm. It’s important to give my digestive system a rest so I try to have at least a 12 hour break between evening meal and breakfast. This seems to suit my natural rhythm of eating really well and I always feel good in the morning.

Evenings used to be my weakest moment when I indulged on everything. I usually ate bread, vegetables, vegan cheese, nuts and seeds, fruit, yogurt, and that wasn’t enough so I had a sweet treat for dessert. Usually I finished my evening snacking at 11 pm or even later! I would go to bed right after snacking, wake up at around 6 am and have breakfast at 6.30 or 7. This didn’t leave a lot of resting time for my gut.

Rhythm of eating

This new balanced rhythm of eating suits me much better than my previous eating habits. And I can really say this because after 3 weeks I am feeling much less bloated and tired.

My goal with this wellness journey is not only to heal my gut and find hormonal balance. I also aim to:

• develop a healthy relationship with food
• notice how different foods and eating rhythms affect my health
• introduce new healthier routines not revolving solely around food
• become a master of meal prepping!

If you’re not familiar with my wellness journey, here’s my background story on how I first started eating vegan, developed orthorexia, slipped into eating vegan junk food and developed lots of health issues along the way. Now I’m on a healing vegan wellness journey and I want to share my journey with you.. to inspire you to take care of yourself too ♥

And finally…here’s one of the most important meals of the day: my walnut buckwheat chocolate smoothie 🙂

Thank you for reading my journey!

Lots of love from the forest,

Tiina