Slow Rise Saturday: Blueberry, Almond Butter, and Cardamom Smoothie

This blueberry, almond butter, and cardamom smoothie is full of antioxidants, protein, and healthy fat. It’s satisfying and the flavour of cardamom pairs well with berries!

Welcome to a new feature on Up Beet Kitchen! “Slow Rise Saturdays” will include a healthy drink recipe and a roundup of reads that I’ve found interesting throughout the week. I might even include some recipes from other vegan blogs that have caught my eye!

I’ve been enjoying Gena’s “Weekend Reading” posts on The Full Helping blog and Laura’s “Happy Hour” posts on The First Mess blog for quite some time now, and I feel inspired to start a similar feature on my own site.

One of the biggest challenges with food blogging is finding a way to weave a personal narrative–or anything unrelated to the food at hand, for that matter–into a recipe post. I’m hoping that this weekly feature will allow me to connect a little bit more with you, my readers. As much as I enjoy writing about food, I also want to build a community in this little corner of the internet. I hope that you’ll join me in taking some time to slow down, sip on a tasty drink, and savour some good reads on Saturday mornings.

READS:

– The herbicide glyphosate (Roundup) persists in wild, edible plants, according to a British Columbia study: “Herbicides containing glyphosate are used by forest companies to kill aspen and other broadleaf plants in areas that have been logged and replanted with trees of commercial value such as Douglas fir and pine, according to the Ministry of Forests.”

-Oslo University Hospital is taking “Nature is the best medicine” to the next level, opening an outdoor care centre.

-Berlin’s new transit plan might be the envy of cities everywhere: “This week, the city announced its transit masterplan for 2019 to 2023 (with a period of focus that actually extends to 2035), and a major overhaul of the city’s transit networks is in the cards. The funds allocated are generous, to say the least: Berlin is committing a remarkable €28.1 billion, or just under $32 billion, to transportation projects.”

-I’ve read some interesting coverage about the Green New Deal this week. This article stood out: Hundreds of young protesters confronted Senator Mitch McConnell for “lining your pockets while we die in floods” and demanded climate action.

-I hadn’t heard of Fairhope, Alabama, until reading this article, but it sounds like it would be worth a visit: “(It) thrives as a place for artists, intellectuals and people of outsize character.”

If you make this blueberry, almond butter, and cardamom smoothie, share a photo to Instagram and tag me @upbeet.kitchen and #upbeetkitchen! Enjoy.