Pumpkin Smoothie Recipe

Image copyright 2015, Michelle Dexter Garber

The big problems we have with smoothies in Ayurveda are:

1. They combine foods that don't digest well together, such as fruits and dairy.

2. They are usually cold because they contain ice or frozen fruits. Drinking iced beverages is like pouring water on your digestive fire.

These Ayurvedic objections have been circumvented in this recipe. I'm doing something a little different here. Typically, I talk about the traditional Ayurvedic ways of doing things: using only our hands as measurements in cooking, making everything completely from scratch...but here I am embarking on a quest to make Ayurvedic recipes adaptable to busy folks.

We have to face it that the modern world does not allow most people much time for food preparation. I am lucky enough to have a career built around my Ayurvedic life. Most people can't do that. So we have to make more efforts to bring this incredible ancient healing wisdom into harmony with the modern world. There are some areas that the modern person can and needs to change: daily meditation is an absolute necessity for mental health, whole and real foods need to be eaten, and we all need to simplify by letting go of taking on too much and feeling guilty for not accomplishing more. But in some ways, we can also make Ayurvedic eating easier. It is better for someone do the best they can to eat healthier, than to become so overwhelmed with all of our requirements that they do nothing at all.

Ingredients for my pumpkin smoothie...plus you will need some raw honey

Pumpkin Smoothie Recipe

-3/4 cup Almond milk

-1/2 can organic pumpkin

-1 tablespoon coconut cream

-1 tablespoon raw honey

-1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

I made this using a mixing wand. All you need to do is put all the ingredients into a blender of some type and blend for about 5 seconds. I like texture in my drinks, so I also added a handful of sliced almonds and then blended for about 5 more seconds. Then, because presentation is important to me, I sprinkled a pinch of the pumpkin pie spice on the top before I drank it. This was delicious! Now, it's time to play some more and see if I can thicken it up to make a custard!