Arianne’s Amazing Healthy Banana Split Cacao Smoothie

My husband and son both have a major sweet tooth. I try as hard as I can to limit their sugar intake so I have to create some treats that will fulfill their sweet cravings as well as fulfill my desire to limit their sugar. This smoothie is easy to make and has protein, healthy fat, and carbohydrates and is also great for a mom on the move who needs something fast for a snack or meal.

The recipe below is for one person, I just triple the recipe to make it for my family. As with everything I make I don’t measure anything. I only make things that will still work out if I use more of one ingredient and less of another because I’m often in a rush and often have four frozen bananas and only 1 cup of almond milk. I make do and it always tastes good. We often have bananas going brown on our counter so whenever a banana starts to get brown (or when it’s completely brown and mushy because I didn’t notice it for a week) I peel it and throw it in a freezer bag so I always have frozen bananas on hand.

Total Time: 15 minutes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: None

Ingredients

• 1 cup nut milk (see recipe below or you can buy unsweetened almond milk from most health food stores)
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 tbsp organic coconut butter*
• 1 teaspoon of raw honey
• 3 tbsp fresh ground raw cacao nibs
• 1-3 tbsps of almond butter or whatever nut butter you prefer
• optional: add 1-3 tablespoons of Organic Chia seeds
• optional: add 1 free-range raw organic egg or other protein (I have an aversion to raw eggs and protein powder so I only use the almond butter as the protein)

*Organic Coconut Butter can be found near the nut butters in your grocery store and is a super healthy fat to make smoothies or add to warm cereal or soup to make them creamy.

Instructions

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend. If you want it to be sweeter add more honey. If you want the smoothie to be a thinner consistency add cold water or more nut milk (I also add water if I don’t have enough nut milk for recipe). If you want the smoothie to be thicker add more frozen banana.

Nut Milk Recipe

Take 1-2 cups of raw nuts (I love almonds or cashews) of your choice and add enough water to cover them and soak 2 hours up to overnight. Drain nuts out of the water and then add 2-4 cups of fresh cold water and blend in blender. Strain with a nut strainer bag or doubled up cheese cloth and conserve nut milk liquid. You can use the remaining dry ground up nuts in a bread recipe or put in compost. Refrigerate nut milk and use within 2-5 days.

Most nuts may be used individually or mixed (almond, pecan, walnut, brazil, macadamia, or other, peanuts are discouraged due to often high levels of molds and aflatoxins)