Do you have a favorite bedtime snack?  In my pre-diagnosis days I used to favor a bowl of cold cereal as a bedtime snack — some wholegrain carbs, a little protein, and a little hydration are the perfect bedtime combination to prevent waking up with a late-night hunger attack.  While the Gent still indulges in a low-sugar, wholegrain cereal for a nighttime snack, I’ve had to eliminate packaged cold cereal from my diet along with most other processed foods.

Happily, I have been doing so well on my new anti-inflammatory diet and yoga regimen that my rheumatologist has agreed to take me off the medication I’ve been on, so we can test the effectiveness of diet and exercise alone on my condition.  A bedtime snack is as important as ever, because I still take a variety of supplements, some in the morning and some at night, to help manage and mitigate some of my Sjogren’s Syndrome symptoms.  A small snack keeps those pills from rattling around, so to speak, and giving me a stomachache.

In lieu of the traditional glass of warm milk that old-fashioned sources tell us will usher us into dreamland, I like to blend up this super simple, yummy, dairy-free concoction, which I have found refreshing served cold on hot summer nights, and equally comforting served warm on chilly autumn nights.

Bedtime Almond Milk

1 cup almond milk

1 – 2 Tbsp Sunbutter (or creamy nut butter)

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Optional: half a banana thickens the drink while adding healthy carbs and a hint of sweet banana flavor

Blend and enjoy.  Good warm or cold.  (Note: To drink warm, I heat my almond milk in the microwave before blending with the other ingredients using an immersion blender.)