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CHOCOLATE BANANA PEANUT BUTTER SMOOTHIE

CHOCOLATE BANANA PEANUT BUTTER SMOOTHIE

Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Smoothie. Oh, how can you go wrong! Delicious. low calorie, refined sugar-free, dairy-free to go breakfast aides weight loss.

INGREDIENTS - makes 1 serving

• 2C nut milk, unsweetened cashew, coconut or almond from carton not can @ 50 cals/cup or less. Quick & easy homemade cashew milk recipe follows
• 1 under ripe banana, better for weight loss or 1 ripe banana if you like it sweeter, sliced and frozen
• 2T All-natural peanut butter, just peanuts and salt, no added sugar or oils or Almond Butter, nothing added but salt
• 1t Pure Vanilla Extract or *Vanilla Bean, small piece split, see note
• 2T raw cacao powder like Dagoba or Nativas Naturals brand, preferably, instead of Dutch or alkaline processed cocoa powder

OR

• 1T Raw Cacao Powder +  1T Raw cacao nibs, 100% Raw Chocolate, nothing else added
• Optional – ice cubes
• Optional – 1 Medjool Dates, pitted, if needed to make it sweeter
• Optional – 1 Scoop Whey Protein Powder or Plant-based Protein Powder
• Optional – Banana ‘flowers’ and toothpick for garnish

DIRECTIONS:  freeze banana slices ahead of time. Slice banana. Wrap in parchment paper or wax paper. Cover with foil. Freeze until solid.

Remove frozen banana from freezer. Add all ingredients to a blender. Mix well.  *NOTE: if using vanilla bean, split and scrape. If smoothie is too thick, add more nut milk or filtered water. If smoothie isn’t thick enough or cold enough, add some ice to the blender. If smoothie isn’t sweet enough add a Medjool date, pitted, to blender. For extra protein, add a scoop of whey protein powder or plant-based protein powder on top of all other ingredients in blender, before mixing.

Optional – to make banana ‘flowers’ for garnish, use mini cookie cutters. Cut flowers out of fresh banana slices. Or use a small paring knife to cut flower shapes.  Insert toothpick through middle of two banana ‘flowers’ and place on rim of glass.

HOMEMADE CASHEW MILK – UNSWEETENED

INGREDIENTS

• 1C Raw Cashews
• 4C to 5C Filtered or Spring Water

DIRECTIONS – put cashews in a glass jar large enough to hold 4 cups of water. Add water. Soak cashews several hours or until tender.  Or boil water in large saucepan. Remove from heat. Let water cool. Bring water under 110 degrees {temperature which retains enzymes of raw food} or until lukewarm to the touch. Add raw cashews . Cover pan and soak 1 hour. Add cashews and water to blender. Mix well. If nut milk is too thick, add up to 1 cup of additional water. Strain mixture through fine mesh strainer into clean glass bottle. Or use a nut bag to remove small pieces. If using milk for smoothies, or other recipes where the pieces don’t matter, skip straining.  Optional, add 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract. Keep unused milk refrigerated. Shake well before using. Use fresh cashew milk within 5 days.

To sweeten nut milk add 3 to 5 Medjool Dates, pitted to water when soaking cashews. Then add to the blender along with the mixture.  Strain cashew milk before using. Unless using to make smoothies or other blended recipes. In that case, skip straining.

Almond milk is a little more time consuming because it involves longer soaking times and more straining due to the skins covering the almonds. Here’s the recipe link…

HOMEMADE ALMOND MILK

ABOUT ALL-NATURAL PEANUT BUTTER

You can get organic, all-natural peanut butter or almond butter freshly ground at most natural food stores. Or try a brand like Santa Cruz Organic Peanut Butter. Read labels, make sure peanut butter or almond butter does not contain refined sugar or added oil(s).

CACAO POWDER VERSES COCOA POWDER

Heat destroys most of the benefits of raw cacao beans. Dutch-processed cocoa powder uses beans roasted at high temperatures. Dutch processing uses harsh alkaline chemicals. This further destroys raw cacao beans natural benefits.  Use raw, organic cacao powder in your hot chocolate recipe. Navitas Naturals brand mills its cacao beans at low temperatures. This protects each beans full range of nutrients. Dagoba brand is good, too.

Metatags: Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Smoothie. Oh, how can you go wrong! Delicious. low calorie, refined sugar-free, dairy-free to go breakfast aides weight loss.