It’s officially here – the first day of school for Eliza is this Wednesday. How is it possible that I have an 8th grader? Honestly, I feel like I am in a time warp over here – when did my sweet little girl grow up? Getting ready for school this year has been interesting with lots of firsts for us.
Eliza took it upon herself to download her own school supply list, she requested a weekly planner and she is actively engaging in conversations about what foods she needs for me to get at the store for her lunch every day and what type of breakfasts she thinks would fill her up and keep her focused throughout the morning. Seriously, what? You might need to pinch me.
Eliza is a HUGE fan of smoothie bowls at home because according to her plain old smoothies just don’t fill her up enough to make it until lunch, but smoothie bowls that are packed full of fresh fruit, granola, seeds and nuts really hit the spot! I wasn’t quite sure how she would navigate eating a smoothie bowl on her way to school in the mornings and what exactly she would do with a spare bowl at school all day, but we were determined to make it work.
After digging around in our lunch box supplies for a bit we had an idea – thermoses! We could spend Sunday afternoon layering all of the dry ingredients for smoothie bowls into thermoses and prepping the fruit for the week into storage containers. Then each morning all we have to do is add the fresh fruit and pour her smoothie of the day on top. Super fast, super easy and super healthy! Man, this kid is smart.
Eliza has decided that for the first week of school she will be taking her favorite French Vanilla Granola mixed with Hemp Hearts and Hemp Heart Bites, a sprinkle of bee pollen, fresh raspberries, strawberries and our newest smoothie obsession – my super easy 4-ingredient pina colada smoothie! Seriously, so easy a 13-year old can make it by themselves in the morning!
Hemp Heart Bites are Manitoba Harvest’s newest creation and we are loving how they add lots of texture to our smoothie bowls and make a fun healthy choice for snacking on the run. Heck, I have even crumbled these up over a roasted sweet potato with a little brown sugar, butter and pecans. (It was a total winner and a great fall lunch in case you are on the lookout for delicious lunch inspiration!)
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If you are building these upside down smoothie bowls for easy weekday breakfasts only add the dry ingredients into the containers and store until ready to eat. Then layer on the fresh fruit, smoothie of choice and the toppings.
Ingredients
For the upside down bowl
- 1/4 cup homemade granola
- 1 tablespoon Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon fresh fruit of choice, divided: raspberries, strawberries, pineapple, mango, and blackberries are all great choices
- 6 Manitoba Harvest Hemp Heart Bites, roughly chopped, divided
- a sprinkle of bee pollen, optional
- assorted nuts and seeds, optional
For the smoothie
- 1/2 cup canned light coconut milk
- 1 banana cut into pieces (not frozen)
- 1 heaping cup frozen pineapple chunks
- 1/2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
Instructions
Build the upside down smoothie bowl
- In a large glass, mason jar or travel thermos add the granola, Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts, the 1/4 cup of fruit and 4 roughly choppedManitoba Harvest Hemp Heart Bites, a sprinkle of bee pollen and additional nuts and seeds if desired.
For the smoothie
- Combine the coconut milk, banana, frozen pineapple and lime juice in a high speed blender and process until completely smooth.
To serve
- Pour the smoothie over the dry ingredients and top with the additional tablespoon of fruit and the remaining 2 roughly choppedManitoba Harvest Hemp Heart Bites. Serve immediately.
Compensation for this post was provided by Manitoba Harvest. Opinions expressed here are my own.
Hi,
Just checked out the hemp website in regards to their gluten free status. I’m not sure I would give this product to my celiac daughter until they can be absolutely certain that is it free from gluten, does your son ever react to this produc? The piña colada bowl sounds delicious, I can’t wait to try it (I’m not celiac)
Thanks.
My son and husband have never had reactions to any Manitoba Harvest products and I know other celiacs who eat them and have never had a reaction, however if you are concerned I would definitely contact Manitoba Harvest first – they are wonderful people and are always happy to help! You can totally make the bowl without all of the hemp products if you like. Just add extra homemade granola 🙂
I am so down with an upside down smoothie bowl like this! Yum!
YES!!! Super easy and perfect for my daughter when she walks to school or for my son when I drive him to preschool. 🙂
This looks absolutely fantastic. I love the pineapple flavor!!
Pina coladas for breakfast! Count me in! I love this portable smoothie idea! Perfect for taking to work to eat at my desk. A smoothie never quite hits all the hungry spots, so I can’t wait to try out the smoothie bowl 🙂 Thanks for the great healthy breakfast idea.
Hooray! I am so glad you are excited to try this – my daughter loves smoothies, but they just do not fill her up so she becomes distracted and hungry before lunch. I hope you love these as much as we do!
Meg, your photos are always so stunning! love them!
Thank you Ashley! That means so much coming from you. Next time you are in LA I am totally making you a cocktail.
Fabulous idea! They look so pretty too 🙂 I hope Eliza is enjoying school 🙂
Thank you Emma!! She is having a great year so far 🙂
As a Manitoba girl, I am so impressed that Manitoba Hemp Hearts have found their way to a Southern girl! I love your blog. I am having a tough time finding food I can eat while on a restricted allergy elimination diet (no dairy, beans, green beans, garlic, almonds, or sugar) — and your recipes are a gold mine. Thanks!
I am so glad you are loving the recipes Simi! Elimination diets are so hard, bets of luck to you! 🙂