Better Than a Fast Food Chocolate Shake

The next time you have a craving for a chocolate shake, or chocolate ice cream, try this recipe.  Dates replace added sugar and unsweetened coconut milk replaces the dairy.  For an extra healthy boost, try adding some ground flax or hemp seeds. 

Frozen bananas make a great start to almost any smoothie, here are a couple of ways to make them (be sure to use ripe bananas, not green ones):
Frozen Bananas Method 1:  Peel the bananas, cut into chunks, and lay the pieces out on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Put them in the freezer for several hours.  When they are frozen, take them out of the freezer and place them into a freezer bag or storage container and put them back into the freezer.  This way you always have frozen bananas smoothie ready.  
Frozen Bananas Method 2: Every once in a while, when bananas are on the verge of their brown death, I throw them into the freezer to use "someday".  If I don't have frozen bananas made from Frozen Bananas Method 1, I found that if I take a whole banana out of the freezer, cut off the top, and use a knife to cut off the peelings, they come off easily and then the banana can be sliced and used in a smoothie.  

Better Than a Fast Food Chocolate Shake
Makes 2 cups
7-8 soaked dates  (I used the small, pitted, dried dates)
2 frozen ripe bananas, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 cup of unsweetened coconut milk
splash of vanilla
1 T unsweetened cocoa powder

Soak the dates in a cup of water for 1-2 hours, just to soften them before blending.  Add the dates, frozen bananas, coconut milk, vanilla, and cocoa powder to a blender.  Blend until smooth and serve!