Strawberry Banana Smoothie

This smoothie is so simple, I wasn't even sure that it should be a blog post.  But it's so yummy that my son never says no when I ask him if he wants one.  Smoothies can be made with any fruit you like, use a banana as a base, your favorite non-dairy milk,  then add whatever frozen fruit you like.  Using frozen fruit instead of ice gives smoothies great texture.  Also, frozen fruit seems to blend better than ice and you won't have little ice chunks.  I have a Vita Mix blender, which works amazing.  If you have a slower speed blender that doesn't work great, try to thaw the frozen fruit slightly before blending, but don't thaw it all the way.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Makes 2 cups

1 medium banana

1 heaping cup of frozen organic strawberries

1 c vanilla coconut milk

OR to control the amount of sugar:

1 medium banana

1 heaping cup of frozen organic strawberries

1 c unsweetened coconut milk

splash of vanilla

sweetener of your choice (agave, honey, etc) to taste

Add the banana, strawberries, coconut milk, vanilla, and sweetener to the blender and blend until the strawberries are smooth.  Taste and add more sweetener if necessary. If you use sweetened, vanilla coconut milk, omit the vanilla and sweetener.

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!