Road To Rio Smoothie Bowl

Are you ready for the summer Olympics? We usually watch some of the Olympics and I even remember years ago waking up in the middle of the night to the sounds of the tv and going down to find S, my oldest, watching the Olympics. She was maybe 4 at the time, that wasn’t normal, but she was snuggled up watching and it was so cute I couldn’t get upset. I think the girls might be a little more excited, well A for sure, because one of the gymnastics hopefuls Maggie Nichols goes to the same gym as her. What was even crazier is we just missed the send off for her when we had to head down to California but we were staying only a couple miles away from where she was competing in the Gymnastics Finals for a spot on the Olympic team last month. I tried to get tickets for A but only could get full package, which we wouldn’t be able make the most use out of so it didn’t work out. The girls did watch her on TV and even though she took 6th overall and didn’t make the team they still love her and can’t wait to watch the Olympic gymnastics.

I had a couple snack ideas to make with the girls for the Opening Ceremony this Friday but nothing too big. I in previous years we’ve made a fruit platter that looked like the Olympic Rings and another year pizzas. Well the girls and I got this crazy idea last week to make a smoothie bowl to represent each one of the Olympic rings and have one each day leading up to the Opening Ceremony to count down the days. I thought oh that would be fun and a great way to switch up our smoothie bowl routine. Ok so doesn’t sound to difficult, smoothie bowls are kind of our thing. We wanted to try to make combos we haven’t made or posted in the past and try not to use any of the same ingredients (think we have a couple that are used more than once). Let’s just say things weren’t as easy as we thought. Since we wanted to keep things natural and anyone who has tried to make a blue smoothie knows this may be the hardest color to make. Well we tackled that, more to come when we post that smoothie bowl, except it wasn’t as dark or bright of a blue as we would have hoped for. Oh and of course I can make a good black smoothie when I’m not trying but trying to and keeping things different and a flavor the girls would like well that didn’t get as black as planned. I really should have just made my fav Black Smoothie Bowl but hey that leads me to our biggest challenge…. making 5 smoothie bowls at the same time and photographing them. Oh did I mention that it was storming last week and so I got them all made and an unexpected storm rolled in and I couldn’t even photograph them! Second attempt I didn’t have the best lighting but got them photographed. I couldn’t use my light box as I wanted to get a shot from above that looked like the rings and really wanted to use natural light.

So we got them all made, photographed, and every day this week we will be posting one of them counting down to the Olympic Opening Ceremony this Friday! Than you will have to tune into Instagram if you want to see what snacks we throw together for our little Opening Ceremony Party!

To start the countdown we have the Road To Rio Smoothie Bowl!

We named our blue smoothie bowl the Road to Rio Smoothie Bowl since the Olympics are in Rio, Brazil this year. We also decided to go a little tropical but had to keep it a light color so we could make it blue. Made with coconuts, Brazil nuts, coconut milk, maple water (can use more coconut water if desired), and frozen bananas! Full of delicious healthy fats it keeps you full. I did try soaking the Brazil nuts but found it didn’t make a huge difference so weather you want to soak them overnight or not the choice is up to you. We like this bowl in the morning for breakfast or as a late lunch/afternoon snack for a boost of energy. For toppings we like chopped Brazil nuts, shredded coconut, and fresh blueberries!

Probably the hardest Olympic smoothie bowl to make, blue! If you’ve ever tried to make a blue smoothie bowl you know that any of the “blue” foods turn your smoothie more purple than blue, or more of a green than blue if using sprulina. Yes we could have used blue food coloring, which you can do for yours if you want. Instead we went and did a little experiment to add to our fun and made blue food dye with red cabbage! Yes if you cook red cabbage, drain the liquid and reduce that down and add baking soda you get natural blue food coloring! No you can’t taste it, unless you add way too much which we did not want to do so we added a little and a couple tablespoons of frozen blueberries. Still not a BRIGHT blue but the family was happy with it and it tasted good so we went with it.

Oh and I didn’t forget that it is also Meatless Monday! I can’t wait to see what delicious dishes you are linking up with this week and hope you all find some inspiration in the links below! Thank you for joining Deborah and me.

Only 5 days until the Olympic Opening Ceremony! Come back tomorrow for another fun Olympic themed smoothie bowl and countdown to Rio with us!

Road To Rio Smoothie Bowl
Makes 1 serving
2 TBSP shredded unsweetened coconut
2 TBSP chopped raw unsalted brazil nuts, soaked overnight in water optional
1/2c coconut milk (So Delicious Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk)
1/2c maple water, or more coconut milk (Drink Maple Water)
2 frozen bananas, cut into chunks
natural cabbage blue color, or blue food coloring*
1- 2 TBSP frozen blueberries, optional*

Toppings: Brazil nuts, shredded unsweetened coconut, and fresh blueberries.

In a Vitamix, or high-speed blender with a taper tool, blend together coconut, Brazil nuts, coconut milk, maple water, and frozen bananas together until smooth. Add in a little blue coloring and or frozen blueberries to reach desired color. Pour into a bowl and top with Brazil nuts, shredded coconut, and fresh blueberries or toppings of choice. Enjoy!

Like it? PIN it for later! This Olympic themed smoothie bowl is a healthy delicious recipe to make anytime, not just during the Olympic games!

I’m also linking up with The Fit Foodie Mama and Running on Happy for their #MeatlessMonday link up!