So as part of my personal pandemic self-care, I decided to try and ride the wave of New Year resolution fitness and diet tweaking. So far, so good. I even splurged on a Ring Fit for the Nintendo Switch, because I normally loathe exercise, and need to be tricked into thinking it’s fun. Also, PANDEMIC, amiright? Splurges are what’s getting us through at this point…
So there I am, jogging in place and pretending I look cool, when the game starts throwing these smoothie references at me. Spinach smoothie? I’m good, thanks. Banana sesame smoothie? Intriguing. Milk pudding smoothie?
WAIT JUST A SECOND.
So, admittedly my mind registered this as a rice pudding smoothie, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it for days. Which could be worse, of course: It’s taken me about two weeks to stop craving frozen chocolate chip cookie dough every single day. It’s been a tough year.
I wasn’t expecting to be hit with food inspiration in a workout game, though. But this food blog thing is a blessing and a curse in some ways, because I can find catharsis from these fixations by making up a winning recipe.
I started with the rice pudding concept, but rice is pretty high in calories (isn’t everything delicious, though?), so that gave me pause. Then I thought about the pearls, and BOOM! Tapioca!
This recipe comes out to under 200 calories, which is pretty good since it leaves some calories for other stuff (I’m a grazer, so I prefer more than one item for a meal). It’s creamy, a little on the thicker side from the tapioca, and lightly sweetened from the fruit. I had my husband taste it for me, and he promptly ran off with the glass, so I figure that’s a definite upvote.
I’m still busy leveling up in the game, but from the sneak peek I took online, I think it’s safe to predict that there’ll be plenty more smoothie recipes that catch my eye going forward, so stay tuned! :)
Ring Fit Milk Pudding Smoothie Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 Tbs. small tapioca pearls
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup raisins or dates
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- dash vanilla extract
- dash almond extract (optional, but yum!)
- 1 cup almond milk
Cook the tapioca in the 1/2 cup water, or according to the package instructions. Once the tapioca is completely cooked, remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.
Combine the tapioca with all the other ingredients in blender; blend until smooth. Strain for a smoother consistency (the remaining fruity bits are great in oatmeal!). Chill until ready to drink, the pour into serving cups and add a dash of cinnamon. Enjoy!
