Low FODMAP kale and orange smoothie and hello in 2020! And on a new, shiny website! How have you all been? We’ve been working on this space behind the scenes since October last year (hence my lack of posting), catching five minutes here and there to get creative. Come January, I feel in a really good headspace to launch this new platform – and so ready to share with you some more FODMAP friendly recipes, further insight into my life living with IBS and tips and tricks to help navigate the growing world of gut health.
This first post back had to be a good one, but timely too. I’m not one for resolutions and I don’t do dry January or Veganuary – the post-Christmas month is hard enough! But I do think it’s nice to reflect back on the previous year, at what made me happy and what didn’t, what went well with work, what I’d like to change and then anything new I’d like to do, try or achieve. Along with being a bit (read: a lot) more planned when it came to blog content (shout out to Anna for bringing Monday.com into my life), I decided it wouldn’t be the worst thing to eat some more fruit and greens at breakfast time either.
You see, not only are my veins pure cheese after Christmas, runny boiled eggs (cooked 4 and a 1/2 minutes from boiling, always) and salted butter soldiers are my favourite all-time breakfast food. And probably what I eat 3/4 times a week. If something is going to be replacing them it’s 1. only because I’m craving some extra goodness and 2. got to be delicious.
Using seasonal kale and orange to feel more winter-appropriate, this smoothie is what I’ve turned to. It’s creamy, filling, totally enjoyable to drink and easily adapted to suit your own food tolerances and tastes. Smoothies packed with lots of different types of fruit and veg don’t sit well with my tum, so I like to keep things simple and more FODMAP friendly with only one or two fruits and one type of veg. I based the fruit and veg amounts of Kate’s smoothie mix and match ingredient handout with the idea of sticking to one ‘portion’ of fruit in each sitting, here, 1/2 an orange and 1/2 a banana. My tum also seems to tolerate smoothies better in the morning on an empty stomach, rather than later in the day, so I tend to keep them for breakfast time. As I always say with my recipes however, you know your body best, so play and adapt to suit you.
When I’m running out the door in January – or more likely, am working from home and still half asleep – I like things to be as simple as possible when it comes to a healthier breakfast. Prepping the kale, orange and banana in freezer bags and stashing them away to have on hand whenever the desire calls is a great way of being one step ahead of the game. Simply add the contents to a blender with the other ingredients (you don’t need the ice) and you’ve got a delicious start the day in just a few minutes.
Low FODMAP kale and orange smoothie recipes notes:
- This recipe hasn’t been tested for FODMAPs, however it follows Monash University’s FODMAP app data regarding portion sizes etc. As always, you know your body best, so adapt to suit you and have a chat with your GP/dietician if unsure
- Bananas were re-tested by Monash University in 2017, with ripe bananas being higher in FODMAPs than fresher, green bananas. A blog here with more detail if you’re banana inclined and keen to know more
Ingredients
1/2 orange, peeled
½ firm banana, peeled, broken into pieces
2 handfuls torn kale leaves
1 tablespoon peanut butter
2 tablespoons maple syrup
125ml unsweetened almond milk or lactose free milk
4 ice cubes
Method
- Put all of the ingredients into a blender and blitz until you have a smooth, thick, green smoothie. Add more milk or water to reach your desired consistency if you’d like. If using kale, orange and banana straight from the freezer, skip the ice.
Photographs by Emma Croman.
