WHERE'S THE BUCKWHEAT??

I miss my buckwheat groats. I ran out of the toasted cereal kind that I make that includes almond butter and agave nectar so I my back-up was the next best thing, already-toasted buckwheat (now kasha) from Bulk Barn. I have mixed feelings about this stuff. It's good when you're lazy but the groats are a little too toasted for my liking. I like little hints of green here and there, reminding me of their rawness. Plus, for some reason I think it has better crunch.

Anyhoo, after seven consecutive days of work I had today off to take my dad to the hospital (cataract surgery, all went well), but I had forgotten my kasha at work. So what the heck was left for me to eat for breakfast in a jiffy (while in the car on the way to the hospital)? Cheerios with blueberries and 2% milk. Not such a bad idea except that a) I miss the fiber in the buckwheat and b) I haven't had non-organic or non-lactose-free milk in months.

As a result, my stomach was not a fan of me for the rest of the day. I felt at times bloated, full of heartburn and a bit of acid reflux. Not a fun experience.

I decided to try out a recipe from The Eat-Clean Diet Book, hoping that my stomach would stop hating me. I settled on a smoothie recipe since dinner was about to be ready and I couldn't pass up my dad's tomato sauce, plus, I had a carton of almond milk lying around and half of the smoothie recipes call for alternatives to cow milk. Not specifically but Tosca Reno, the author, does give suggestions for other options.

This is my smoothie:
And to be honest, I'm not crazy about it. It contains oatmeal. Oatmeal, for pete's sake! Like what the hell is oatmeal doing in a smoothie? Apparently it's good thing but my tastebuds think not. Other than the oatmeal there's protein powder (my choice was from Vega), almond milk, wheat germ, ground flax seeds, a banana, some blueberries (my addition) and agave nectar (substitute for applesauce which I do not have on hand).

I think I used too much protein powder. I also think I will not use oatmeal again. Ever. Well, maybe not ever but it's definitely an acquired taste. I'm still in the middle of drinking this thing. It's still 3/4 full. Oops. Ah well. Cheers anyway.

Oh and here's another photo just for the hell of it: